Blogging and continuing missed conversations

blog tools, blogcatalog, blogging, bumpzee, mybloglog, spicypage, tumbleweed 7 Responses »

May 152007

Continuing the conversation on your blog

This post isn’t really aimed at the hardcore experienced blogger, its more aimed at those just starting out, people like me in fact. I’m fairly knew to all this and tend to blog from a search centric POV. Whilst its generally true that its search engines that will give most bloggers their traffic, there are nonetheless a variety of other ways you can drive traffic and build the conversation within your sphere.

Blogging is popular for many reasons. Be it a tool for self expression, a tool for self promotion or just a general communication medium, its a fantastic way to reach out and have a conversation with people with similar interests.

Most of us are aware of the fantastic tools and platforms out there that enable us to see who is referencing us and in what context.

Trackbacks the process of ‘pinging’ a blog automatically is one such way. Checking your technorati stats is another. Using other 3rd party plugins or embed code is another still; Feedburner, Google anlaytics, Webtrends, Clicktracks to name but a few.Not to forget of course, the old trusty web server log files. Oh and lets not forget the ever increasing number of social media blogging communities that have sprang up recently. MBL, BumpZee, SpicyPage and my current favorite of course, BlogCatalog.

The really great thing about these is that they enable you to put a human face to your readership, letting you see who recently visited you, seeing new faces, clicking through to their sites or pages at their community and seeing what they have to say about whatever it is they do. Ive found some great blogs this way, that I otherwise may simply have missed.

I started blogging as ‘robwatts’ in January 2007. Yep, thats not so long ago at all. If you want to read my figures and stats here they are.

I currently have a little over 110 subscribers - a technorati authority score of 208 with a rank of 19,424 and an alexa rank of 102,721 My Google PR is 4.

In comparison to other sites these numbers are very small beer, yet to be frank, I didn’t start blogging to win any popularity contest or acquire willy waving look at how big I am type scores, yet it is nice to know that people are interested in some of the things I have to say, and that these are beginning to be reflected in the various metrics fore-shown.

Its funny, but when you initially start out talking about whatever it is you discuss, you realize that, by and large you have a very small audience indeed. You might well write the most fantastic of stuff, yet if you don’t have the readership or eyeballs on your content, then not many people are going to be able to see or comment upon it. can you do anything about this? Sure you can…Ive already touched on one such automated way, but for the benefit of those who may have missed it, I’ll cover it again.

Catch your Tumbleweed

If your blogposts are blowing about in the wind, wailing away crying for a little attention then maybe you just have to let people know they are there.

I guess this was one of the thoughts that swam around in the depths of my subconscious which with a prompt or 2 pushed me in the right direction.The creative process is one of those things that can just sneak up and bite you on the behind. I was thinking about some of my posts that hadn’t received comments, and half jokingly blogged on it back in April.

I challenged the blog community (or my tiny growing readership at the time) to calculate what their ‘tumbleweed’ score was for their blog and added as an afterthought, that I might even develop a plugin to help people automagically display their scores. Some bloggers like Andy responded, and made me realise that actually, this could well be a handy little addition to the blogging productivity box. The idea was that by having a visible metric, you could see how your posts were being responded to over a given timeframe, as well as show old posts that your newly aquired readers may have missed. So was born the tumbleweed plugin for wordpress.

Its nothing incredible of course, it just uses a little SQL and some basic maths. It may not work on all WP setups either, but it should work on most.

As for people using other blogging platforms, the short response at the moment is that it just will not work on your set ups. Blogger is kinda restrictive in terms of how it enables you to interact with the back end so my hands are a little tied. If I get enough interest or requests I may well look at creating something similar for platforms like Typepad,Drupal etc.

If youv’e written stuff that you think was good and think that people might benefit from seeing/reading again and want a little prompter to help you see how you are performing in a fun light hearted way, then tumbleweed could well be the thing for you.

Meantime, whatever it is you are doing or writing about, enjoy it!

Search Marketing Services Holistic Search

8 random facts about me meme

blogging, meme 9 Responses »

May 112007

Its Friday, a time to wind down and chill, so I’m gonna respond to this little meme.

I’ve been tagged by Robin over at Fortune Watch (check out his blog for some great finance tips and pointers)

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I’m not one for adhering to rules so in this regard I’m gonna reshape it a little and make 2 lists.

Random Personal

I am a big fan of Carry On films
I once left an aeroplane in a wheelchair (was it a small plane or a big wheelchair, you decide..)
I cycle between 50 and 80 miles per week
My son is bigger than me already and that concerns me muchly
I used to wonder why I was born on the same day as the bombing of Hiroshima
I once watched 5 series of the Soprano’s in less than 3 weeks.
I learnt I needed glasses by accident, prior to this I just assumed that the world was a little murky
I follow the fortunes of Arsenal Football Club and love Thierry Henry

Random Tech

I recently purchased an 80gb IPOD Video from ebay and love it
My steps to learning HTML began through viewing the source in web browsers, editing them and noting the effect. I subsequently decided to buy a book.
I have 6 computers in the house 5 of them are deficient in a way or other, yet they all work.
I spend in excess of 80 hours per week online
My favourite search engine despite its many shortcomings is Google
I once built a win a car website and thought the world and its wife would participate in my draw.
40% of my working week is spent at home
In 1999 I built a flash website that had a 3 minute pre loader. I gave up flash development shortly thereafter
Tagging Nellioness Mama Papa Hobo Tony Mark Steph and Paula

10 magnificent steps on becoming a crappy blogger

blogging, fun, self promo 27 Responses »

Apr 202007

Brad over at wordsell wrote an interesting piece on being a failsperson. It has inspired me to write a quick and dirty 10 ways to become a crappy blogger.

Do feel free to add a POV or two at the bottom!

Meme tagged – why do I blog

blogging, fun, meme 4 Responses »

Apr 182007

Me been tagged. Becky (one of my favouritie bloggers) tagged me on this meme stuff. Its a funny old word ‘meme’, try saying it with scrunched nostrils. According to the define:meme thingy over at google its a cultural viral thing.

Anyhow, why do I blog?

Great question. I think i like to occasionly help out and express a view or two. I blog in all manner of environs, its sure cheaper than seeing a therapist Ive used blogs to say all manner of things that Ive encountered in my life. Sometimes, well most of the time in fact! It’s great to receive feedback and perspective. Some people are marvellous in how they respond and I’ve made some truly great ‘virtual friends’ Blogging has that way of allowing you to really hear what a person is saying and where they are coming from, you get an excellent sense for their ‘voice’ and you learn a thing or 2 along the way, both about yourself and others in general.. I guess Im just an avid people watcher at heart, so blogging really helps massage that one particular muscle of my psyche.

I spose now ive got to do the meme thing and mention 5 people who I’d like to tag.

um…Lyndon, Andy Steph, Shane and Jill

Want success on the web? Work hard, say something

andy beard, blogging, hard graft, jill whalen, loren feldman, matt cutts, nick wilson 7 Responses »

Mar 312007

Then the answer is simple. Work damn hard, have something to say.

I watched a video the other day from some guy in New York going by the name of Loren Feldman. I can’t find the link or recall where I saw it, but in a nutshell, Loren was talking about (in his own inimitable style) how this whole A list blogging thing is by and large bullshit. Bullsit in the sense of it really isn’y some mythical hard to attain thing. A-listers dont just happen overnight, they are not annointed to the A-list by the A-list illuminati, uh uh, no siree, they all get there through the same tried and tested route that applies to practically any other area of this thing called life and success relative to it. Hard work and having something to say.

I was looking at the work rate of various people I happen to read. Some, like Matt have slacked off a little, perhaps he isn’t hungry anymore, or perhaps he’s just a different case altogether. Matt worked hard long before he was a blogger. Matt was known amongst all manner of circles and could be seen hovering haunts like WMW whereby he’d rebutt inconstistenies or create the odd new one or two . By the time he started to blog though, he was already pretty well known amongst the tech community. The Googleguyilites and the Cuttlets were more or less a pretty instant readerbase. Matt didn’t have to work too hard at soldifying his position within it, yet still has to pump out the odd gem or two. Armed with access to an algo that hold the keys to web success, most people read what Matt says with a very keen eye. Poor guy really, he not only has to watch what he says, he also has to watch what he doesn’t say too!Anyways, Matt is one example of someone who worked hard in one dept and built a blogging success based upon past endeavours.

Nick Wilson is another. For those who don’t know he is the chap who created threadwatch. I remember reading Nick over at WMW and then subsequently at various other places like SEW, HR, even IHY and recall thinking on occassions, fuck, this geezer is everywhere, where does he get the energy. Then boom along came Threadwatch. Post after post after post of bang on the money commentary and insight into issues of the day that affected or influenced the world and the spaces I inhabited. It didn’t take too long before Nick had built up a nice little readership and community, that attacted all manner of people from all manner of spaces. Nick worked hard and reaped the rewards and went on to do similar things with Performancing.

Jill Whalen bless, whilst no big star in the blogosphere has nonetheless worked phenomenally hard over at her High Rankings forum, abley assisted by a fine team of mods of course. The point is however that Jill lead it. Jill worked very hard night and day sharing her knowledge, building a user base, creating a community, that took the time to get in there and unravel some of the myths and crap that are out there regarding search engines and SEO.

Someone who Ive been particularly impressed with of late and man, I do wonder where he both finds the time energy and focus is Andy Beard.

Take this year thus far.

March 2007 (46)

February 2007 (59)

January 2007 (86)

Thats 191 articles.

Not 191 have a look at this this interesting, or my top 5 links of the week/day type posts, oh no. Each and every one is full of well considered opinons with links to prop up a postion or statement.

Andy creates useful readable content that actually adds value to the space. He does the work and shares the results with his readers and visitors and as a result has seen a steady increase in both his subscriptions and I don’t doubt his general regular readership. Add to that fact that Andy can be seen in all manner of other places interacting and participating in forums, blogs and what not and you begin to get some level of appreciation for how hard he works. With appreciation comes recognition, with recognition comes reward.

Mark my words, if you wan’t to see what it takes to become an A lister than a look at the works of these 4 alone will give you some insight.

There are 100′s of others I could have referenced here. They all have one thing in common, they all have something to say and they all work damn hard at saying it. There is no secret formula its the work damn hard at saying it thats the tough part.

Work hard, say something.

Blog promotion quick and dirty short guide

blogging, marketing, promotion 12 Responses »

Mar 132007

Promote your blog…if you want to of course

Ever wondered how some people get more readers than others? Here’s a quick and dirty guide to gaining more readers and growing your blog base.

Sometimes it works on word of mouth. Some people have an exceptional ability for writing that others are just knocked sideways by and tell others.

Be it via email or IM or linking or just plain old fashioned conversation. After all, we aren’t all budding Billy Waggle Daggers and most of us (if we are interested even) will struggle to gain a big readership. It’ll be a slow long haul, but provided we write something thats legible and appeals to an audience of sorts, then overtime it will build. People like to be commented on and tend to comment on stories or issues that are of interest to them in some way. Be it making them laugh or cry or just striking a general chord.

There are things you can do to get yourself out there though, and there are lots of tools, techniques and websites that can help.

Monetize your blog or website – Earn money from your passions

adsense, blogging, monetization 11 Responses »

Mar 022007

Earning money from your website or blog

This piece isn’t aimed at the uber serious long toothed web marketer, its aimed at people new to it all, people who are just seeking new or different perspectives on monetising their websites.
Adsense - Most of us know what it is, some of us do exceptionally well with it too. The stories about people commonly earning in excess of $10,000 dollars a month really are very true. Trust me, I know, Ive been there and worked with single domain sites that pulled in figures above and beyond,in the right niche its very much achievable.

I’m not going to go into the fine specifics of how its done as there are already lots of little tips and sites out there discussing this.

I like Michael’s videos not only because he knows what he’s talking about but because he presents in a non hyped up way. He also has a great balance between showing the potential that someone using AdSense can earn with it but also making it clear that it’s not ‘easy’ money (ie it takes hard work).

Darren Rowse was refering to Michael Cheneys adsense videos , a product I haven’t looked at personally, but as I trust Darren’s judgement I’m happy to go with what he says on it. I’m not going to purchase them though, because well, besides the bighead view of I doubt it would show me that much more than what I already know, I just don’t have the time right now either, Im too busy blogging and doing other day to day work stuff.

Valuing your readership – Front page links for top commenters

blogging, plugins 42 Responses »

Feb 252007

I recently installed a plugin that enables you to show your top commenters. It’s there to the right of the screen. I wanted to reward my mostive active participants.
As some of you may have read already, I don’t nofollow my commenters I think it’s a lame thing to do to people who take the time to comment on what you have said. Some blogging platforms place restrictions at the core program level making it very difficult for people to do very much about it. Not everyone can get in there and hack or change things they dislike. Lots of bloggers probably don’t even realise that their commenters are nofollowed simply because they are not as tech savvy as the next person. Not everyone surfs with a customised css file or firefox search status plugin! It’s refreshing to read that people with a broad reach like Robert Scoble are re-evaluating their positions although some like Anil Dash remain less convinced.

Anyways, this isn’t another anti nofollow rant, its more a case of talking about building a readership and rewarding those who participate and some of the stuff that has to be done to make that happen.

6 SEO Blogs I try and read daily

blogging, networking, seo blogs 4 Responses »

Feb 212007

What blogs do you read daily? I have quite a few in my feedreader some of which I check out daily. Here are my current flavours of the day.

Andy Beard – Andy writes some killer posts. Full of interesting little muses search and tech related. Don’t just take my word for it, go across and read his blog.
Communicontent – Nick is always pointing to new things and perspectives. If I want to read a post about product x or blog platform y, or fancy a chuckle at some rant of a podcast then I’m seldom disappointed.
Cornwall SEO – Lyndon is relatively new to this whole SEO blog thing. He’s made a flying start, I like his style, you will too, check him out.
DaveN – Doesn’t post with too much regularity, but when he does its often got a useful nugget or two embedded. He is a northerner though, so soft southern bastards beware.
GrayWolf – Engages in the odd spot of collective bash the idiot shenanighans, but usually not without good reason. Check him out though, he’s a good read and knows his stuff.
Matt Cutts – Whats there to be said about Matt Cutts that hasn’t already. The arch deflector of probing Q’s. What he says is often interesting and entertaining. As for what he doesn’t say…thars gold in dem dar hills.

I read a whole lot of other blogs and forums too, in fact far too many to list in any top 6 type post. Im amazed that I manage to get anything done at all! What with Threadwatch, High Rankings, Searchengineland, Bill Slawski, Lee Odden Peter Da vanzo, Darren Rowse Aaron Wall, Joe Whyte, SEG, WMW, Y!, googleblog, MSN Live, Digitalpoint, WPN, Cre8….I could go on and on and on for quite some time here.

I’m not as great a lover of forums as I once was. They are often either noisy or just a waste of time. Of those I do frequent, its often either to a. help out in some way because I’m in a philanthropic mindframe/bored witless or b. because Ive followed a link from a blog or a reader somewhere to some red hot topic.

This is the the whole thing with this SEO/SEM gig. You just have to read lots and lots of stuff everyday. Its an occupational hazrd. If you don’t then you might miss something important. You have to be selective with who you read too which is where a good feedreader really comes into its own. You want to read stuff put out by people who are ahead of the curve, or really into what they are doing.

There are a few places I don’t read at any more, simply because they slipped below my radar, they dont make it on to my map anymore, IOW, nobody talks about them, so they must be offering little of value; to me at least, else people would be gabbing about them.
IHY, v7, webmasterworkshop, SEW are a few that spring to mind yet there was a time when I’d pop in to them at least once a week, now its more like once a QTR if that!
Its also interesting how the personalities of these places shaped my thinking too. The absence of DS at SEW for example, kinda pushed the impetus towards SEL. Whereas the rants and raves of DH at IHY simply switched me off altogether.Even the rants became boring! An important lesson though. It shows that what you say and how you say it can and does have a lasting impact upon what you do. That old backrub thing, you scratch mine and I’ll scratch yours is as relevant as it is in the press keyboard environment as it is in the press flesh world.

People also remember who is and who isn’t nice to them, in this internet world, if you behave like an ass then its likely to be there for a while. As a result, people often thrive or die by their reputation, the phrase reap what you sow could never be so relevant in this particular space, just google or yahoo Dave Pasternack or Doug Heil for a little more insight.
So, what do you do to keep yourself on the ‘radar’ do you even think of your blogging in that way? Do you care even? Is blogging more about you and a bit of self expression, or is it a career building real world business thing?

2000 bloggers

blogging, linkbait 2 Responses »

Jan 302007

What a great idea, nuff said really.

Will a long Blogroll flush your site down the search engine ranking toilet?

blogging, blogrolls, google, links, search, seo, social media 10 Responses »

Jan 232007

Brad wrote an interesting piece today which got me thinking about the topic of linking out, authority scores, pagerank leakage and all those old chestnuts.

Lots of papers out there on PageRank and theories and counter theories on how linking out can effect your PR adversely/positively and all that, so I’m not going to rehash any of those arguments.

I have to confess, there was a time when I was kinda obsessed with the whole SEO PR leakage thing too, worring about ‘bleeding’ precious PR and all that jazz, however I do think the ‘game’ has moved on a little, in terms of the SE algo’s have matured to a more considered examination of what is and what is not a good or a bad page worth ranking. Why do I think this? Well just go and look at a few well ranking sites and see how they link out. One immediate one that springs to mind is Wikipedia, although their recent decision to stick a nofollow tag on their outbounds may come back and bite them ( I hope) .

MyBlogLog – Y! Privacy and Widgetisation

big brother, blogging, data protection, mybloglog, privacy, search, social media 11 Responses »

Jan 152007

I love the recent Y! acquisition, mybloglog. Its like a myspace with bells on. Ive encountered some really nice and interesting people too. In case you haven’t seen or used it before its a social media platform. You can join communities, add contacts, upload photos and if you install a piece of code you can get stats and display photos of visitors from their network on your site as they arrive.

On the user front I think its kinda cool. IMO I think It adds an extra dimension to ones website by way of showing an extra human dimension. You can see the latest faces of people who have visited and if you so feel inclined, go and check them out to see what they are all about; at least thats what Ive found myself doing!

Their stats page is cool too. Gives you a non fussy overview of where your readers came from, what they viewed and what they clicked. It even tells you what ads they clicked on too.

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Rob Watts – SEO – SEM – Social Media

Blogging and continuing missed conversations

8 random facts about me meme

Meme tagged – why do I blog

Want success on the web? Work hard, say something

Blog promotion quick and dirty short guide

Promote your blog…if you want to of course

Valuing your readership – Front page links for top commenters

6 SEO Blogs I try and read daily

2000 bloggers

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