Over the years Performancing has delivered many differences services to its readers: PMetrics, Plugins, Perfcast, the Performancing podcast, and Performancing Themes.
Performancing has released 20 different themes, designed by some of the best WordPress themers known, in little more than 2 years. Today we can proudly announce you that all our free themes have been released under the GPL License. [Read more…] about Performancing Themes go GPL
One of the misconceptions many bloggers have about SEO is the more links, the better. This statement is misleading because not all links are created equal. As I do SEO work for Performancing Services, I often come across sites with a low number of links doing well on the search engines. These sites outrank their competitors who have much more links than them. How is this possible?
This is possible because Google puts much more weight on the quality of links over the quantity. [Read more…] about In Link Building, Quality Trumps Quantity
Among the trending topics on Twitter earlier this week was keywords related to the late Corazon Aquino, who was a former president of the Republic of the Philippines. Hailed as an icon of democracy, the former head of state passed away on August 1st, and tens of thousands of citizens flocked to the streets to escort her funeral cortage. The expression of support was also shown online. For a few days, Filipino citizens from all over the world sent messages of support through blogs and other social media, including Twitter.
In fact, “Cory Aquino” was among the top trending topics for a few days. Users have been talking about the events at the wake and funeral, and about her contributions to her country from the 1980’s up to the present, often attaching the #Cory hashtag. However, I’ve also been noticing some irrelevant tweets containing the #Cory hashtag. That made me wonder about how people will ride on the popularity of trending topics in the hope of getting their share of the limelight. It also makes me wonder how easily groups of Twitter users can game the system.
Irrelevant posts tagged with a certain hashtag can do one of two things. First, it will make your tweet appear on search results for that hashtag. So if you’re out to get attention, it might be a good idea to attach popular tags to your tweet, no matter how trivial or irrelevant. Secondly, it adds to the volume of tweets with that hashtag attached. So you could imagine that a keyword could trend if a ton of people wrote unrelated tweets, but with the same hashtag.
This could be one way the system can be gamed. It’s akin to keyword stuffing, which was one of the ways website owners optimized their sites for search engines. This practice is now frowned upon, of course, and could cause penalties from the search engines. But with Twitter, weeding out unwanted tweets from trending counts might be difficult, if not impossible. Granted, Twitter can exclude certain hashtags from their trending topics list, particularly if these violate terms of service, or if these constitute content not applicable for general consumption. They have done this before.
However, it might be different with tweets with irrelevant tags. The most they can probably do is not count a particular tweet under a particular hashtag if it is found to be irrelevant. But through what mechanism can this be done would be the question. Twitter staff cannot monitor every tweet and trending topic manually, and it might not be as easy to determine relevance without human intervention. Maybe Twitter can implement a report/feedback mechanism so that users can point out improperly-tagged tweets, and when the number of reports reaches a critical level, then those hashtags or posts would be looked into–something like a “bury” or “vote down” mechanism.
I think the best way to deal with this is to tweet responsibly. I’ve always advocated the idea of being careful with what you say online, be it on a blog post, video, tweet or just about any medium. Social media is powerful, and as such, it should be wielded with care and responsibility. And so, the next time you feel like adding an irrelevant hashtag to your tweet just to get attention, think again. Are you contributing positively to the Twitter community with what you are doing? Or are you just adding pointless drivel?
One of the things I’ve been doing lately is writing offline. It feels weird to write blog posts, and not make them immediately available online. I keep looking at them, and editing them, using larger, more intelligent looking words, and moving things around. It is a horrible time sink and also really amusing to me as I come to the cafe and post a bunch of content that I’ve previously written.
Currently, I write, edit and organize my blog posts using Crimson Editor, a tool I also use for programming.
I know many people like to use other pieces of software specifically focused on blogging and blogging offline, but I find, probably due to my web development background, that organizing a post in a simple text editor is easier. I can’t organize categories and tags really, but I feel more comfortable keeping one application open for development, notes, and blog posts, rather than three.
I have been using NetNewsWire for keeping up with RSS feeds though, since I am only online at the cafe. I typically like using Bloglines the best, despite their issues, but hosted applications are only useful when you have Internet access.
I think that many people forget that while Internet is becoming more ubiquitous, it isn’t everywhere, all the time yet, and so offline options need to be considered as well. If you are developing an online application, it wouldn’t hurt to figure out a way (maybe through AIR) to give people an offline way of reading/interacting with their data until they get offline.
One of my favorite websites that takes advantage of offline/online issues is Gmail. Properly configured with Google Gears, I am able to delete e-mails, respond, tag, and more and once I connect to the cafe’s net access, it syncs up my changes, and a fair bit of e-mail work still gets completed without having to resort to applications like Outlook.
I have to admit though, working with a limited window of Internet access has been very stressful for me. I am used to being connected all the time, and have become dependent on the Internet. In the end though, I’ve always loved hearing what other people use though for blogging software, especially when offline. So what applications or services do you use to stay “connected”?
Even bloggers who profess a quality-over-quantity focus stress the need for regular posting, if only to keep the blog visible within a niche. The question is, how can a blogger retain focus for what’s admittedly a repetitive task? Here are five ways that have proven useful for yours truly. [Read more…] about 5 Ways to Remain Focused on Your Blog
Not that it’s hardcore, but there are bloggers who keep a rather meticulous watch on posts that have yielded them huge returns in views. Be it a seasonal event that has a recurring every year or a product update to a previously popular item, bloggers have been taught to maximize traffic (with a simple link mostly) by updating previous posts in the body with more than just using a related post plugin.
Blogging has changed, bringing less focus on well-constructed blog updates to the more “as-it-happens” rush of a Facebook timeline and Twitter. Given that the pulse of the Internet is more immediate in these times, do you still bother to scour your archives, edit previous posts and then re-blast them onto your social networks? Or is this too much work?
One of the smartest things a new blogger can do, other than writing their own content, is to keep track of what others are doing. This is especially true if you are running a news focused blog, or are trying to compete with another blogger. Many of you probably understand that there are RSS feeds, and that you can subscribe to them, but do you know how or why?
In talking to a client of mine, I was asked, “why do I want to subscribe, rather than just bookmark and check back in?”
The simple answer to this is: so new content gets pushed to you. If you don’t want to miss potentially important content, and want to receive it in a reasonably timely fashion, making sure to subscribe to various RSS feeds, is like buying into your own, personalized newspaper consisting of all your favorite blogs. This will allow you to be more efficient, and if you turn that time savings into writing time, you’ll produce more content.
If you are still bookmarking sites, and visiting them each day, or getting their content in your e-mail inbox. How does that help you? Why are you still doing that when we have RSS subscriptions now that are near instant in pushing content out to you, easy to manage, and powerful, when you dive deep into controlling them.
Currently, I use Bloglines as my RSS reader of choice. It is a hosted, web-based service that makes subscribing, managing subscriptions and reading my subscriptions from any computer connected to the Internet very easy. I know the more popular choice is Google Reader, another hosted service, but I’ve never been completely happy with their user interface (probably because I used Bloglines first and have become accustomed to how it works).
There are also hundreds of desktop clients that you can install on your computer, no matter the operating system you use, and thus allow you to download and read your content when not connected to the Internet, or notify you when you have new content to read in a more “attention grabbing” way than an online RSS reader can do.
If you are looking for more information on the best available options, LifeHacker did a roundup a while back with some great choices.
Start using an RSS reader, keep yourself organized and informed, and you might just be more productive on your blog, but don’t blame me if you start subscribing to everything under the sun, and it consumes your whole day. RSS subscription overload can be a common problem as well. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
In my life as a blogger, I’ve been sent a few items for review, like books, gadgets, food items, coffee and software. Some of these have been given to me gratis. Some, I’ve had to return. Most of the time, I review items that I’ve bought myself, especially if these are related to the niche of my blogs (mostly gadgets and technology).
If you ask if I’ve ever solicited items for review, my answer would be yes. I have asked some PR agencies and gadget distributors for review items that I could borrow, so I wouldn’t have to spend big bucks on these. But those have been loaned equipment, which I’ve had to take photos of, use (and abuse) and then return after a week’s time.
But I think one hot issue today is the fact that bloggers who review items are seen in a bad light, especially if companies and PR agencies approach them to give free samples or free products. Take for instance how mommy bloggers have come to be considered a force to reckon with. NPR reports that one such debatable issue is “blog-ola” or free goodies, products, trips and other perks many marketers are giving to bloggers in hopes of getting favorable publicity or positive reviews.
“Bloggers used to have sponsors sponsor their writing,” … “Now, they’re actually writing for sponsors, and I think that’s changed the dynamic of the blogosphere a great deal.”
There are three points that are debatable here, and it mostly involves ethics in blogging about commercial products.
Influence peddling. There is a difference between sponsors approaching you in the hopes of their product being reviewed, and your making these sponsorships as the major reason behind running a blog, to the point of your blog becoming too commercial in nature. The former would perhaps be a normal offshoot of running a publication. This is also a benefit enjoyed by traditional publications, and not only blogs, as part of PR agencies’ responsibilities to their clients. But the latter is tantamount to influence peddling. You know you have a voice in the online world. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the benefits of being influential, but when you start selling your influence for monetary gain (in cash or in kind), then it’s a different ball game.
Editorial independence. The issue here is whether you are able to differentiate editorial from commercial content. In many cases, the difference might not seem too obvious as, say, compared to a traditional publication. In a newspaper, you know the difference between automotive reviews in the Motoring pages from the editorials on the Op-Ed pages. The motoring columnists are probably lent cars, trucks and SUVs for review. But the editor writes his daily piece as part of his opinions on current events and issues.
However, the question remains whether an opinion columnist can be swayed toward giving favorable opinions or reviews with free products, services or other compensation. And because many of these products, services and items sent in for review (solicited or not) are free, a blogger’s conundrum is whether to publish an all-out, honest review, or just highlight the good parts, for worry that the freebies might end.
Tainting the image of blogs and bloggers. Blogs are supposedly seen as being written with honest voices, because these are published by ordinary individuals like you and me. But if you are writing with the mindset of being approached by companies and PR firms for freebies, you kind of lose the honesty. And this is one of those things that have tainted the image of blogs, blogging and bloggers all over the world. While blogging and other social media are world-changing, in that they have changed the way we communicate, connect and engage, these have also opened up many ethical questions.
Have you ever been sent products, software, services or other items for review, in the hopes of being featured on your blog? How have you reacted or responded? If you do welcome the idea of writing reviews on your blog, have you ever solicited products, or at least opened up your blog for such submissions? And if you do write reviews, do you focus only on the good side, or are you honest with writing your evaluation, including the bad parts?
The world seems to view bloggers as influence-mongering freeloaders. What can we do to change this?
Image by multisanti via Flickr