Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

I Made $6.84 with AdSense! You Can, Too!

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

I’ve been waiting a while to run a post like this, but figured it would be considered “incentivizing clicks” by Google. Well, with an official zero advertising on this blog, bar a few affiliate links from October, there is absolutely no harm to come of posting this. Maybe. So, without further ado, here is how I made $6.84 in a year through AdSense.

Sometime around now last year, I started my first actually-displays-in-Google-results and gets-readers-style blog. I think it may have been a bit before, like March, when I signed up for AdSense, but it was close.

That said, I randomly checked out my account today. Naturally, I saw a line of zeroes, so, as always, I selected “All time” from the dropdown box.

$6.84.

Huh. I wonder why it went up.

Maybe Google just has sympathy for me.

That means I make about 13 cents a week from AdSense.

Hm, at that rate, I can pay for one of my five domain names in just a few more months.

Thus, I present to you the steps you can take in order to make $0.13 per week with AdSense:

Paste it onto non-targeted sites

Whether it be poor keyword selection, covering a wide variety of unrelated niches, or simply running it on a site whose audience doesn’t even view ads (e.g. Tech blogs which run articles about Adblock Plus), this is an important step to preventing bringing in the big bucks with AdSense.

Don’t optimize your positioning

To get the most bang for your buck, so to speak, put a well-blended 125×125 in your sidebar, below the fold, and past any content regular visitors will see, preferably surrounded by content nobody will read (a blog roll, for example). Don’t read about the heat map, don’t try different positions, and definitely don’t do any research.

Don’t get any traffic

Stumbling your own articles and putting them into irrelevant categories is a great way to kill any targeting you once had. Additionally, participate in social networks nobody uses, be very overbearing in your approach to drive away any potential interest, and always be sure to follow the three Bs: beg, bitch, and be beligerent.

Drive away any traffic you do get

  • Include a welcome message for stumblers asking for a thumbs up (remember the three Bs)
  • Fill your blog only with spam and pictures of your ugly puppy
  • Have an eye-disintegrating design
  • Provide no access to RSS/email subscriptions (you know, just to prevent any repeat visitors)
  • Insult any commentors (or don’t follow up at all)
  • Steal content from other sites with no attribution
  • Host your blog on a free service (preferably Blogger) or free hosting complete with banner ads
  • Provide no real useful information

Last but not least…

Take absolutely no advice whatsoever (not even your own!) related to making more money online.

Follow this post like The Bible (Or, you know, the Kama Sutra) and I guarantee you will make as little money online as is humanly possible while still running ads.

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The Schools of StumbleUpon

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Taking a completely random survey of the Internet over the past year or so, by throwing a rock in any given direction, you’re bound to find more than one article about this hip new thing called Social Media Marketing. It’s different from search engine marketing in the sense that you’re optimizing your content through making it genuinely interesting rather than making it easier for search engines to read. A common up-hill battle many people face is doing these both at the same time, but that’s an article for another day.

What I’m here to talk to you about today, specifically, is StumbleUpon, and the arguments I typically hear for and against it.

StumbleUpon accounts for X% of the traffic my blog receives

You’ll often hear some success stories from people preaching this ubiquitous service, quoting parts of their analytics application, revealing insane traffic spikes. Some people even accomplish upwards of tripling their traffic just by getting a few people to hit the thumbs up.

Unfortunately, what they’ve forgotten to tell you is that traffic from StumbleUpon tends to be that of very fickle people. These are the people who are looking for pretty pictures, list posts, and some form of political argument. If you have a gorgeous, yet politically charged, photo next to the catchiest title in the world, you’ll probably get some decent traffic. Unfortunately, if your blog post is focused on fixing your finances (or web development…) and isn’t in the form of “Best Tools for X,” don’t expect a bounce rate lower than 75% and definitely don’t expect the average time on-site to be higher than 30 seconds.

StumbleUpon is the worst source for conversion rates ever

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the other kind of person obsessed with numbers, just in a negative way. These are the ones who put tracking numbers on every letter they send just to make sure they can obsessively check which marketing material has done its job.

These people are the ones who will complain about anything they don’t feel is worth their time and StumbleUpon is definitely one of the opportunities in their firing lines.

They feel that the two or three new readers from a successful StumbleUpon campaign are not worth the time it took to submit a review. While I can see the point here, and the frustration, any new reader, to me, is worth much more than that.

StumbleUpon… Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of that

This is what you’ll typically hear from bloggers who aren’t concerned with traffic, an audience, making money online, visibility, or even making it through the month. You’ll recognize them by their long, in-depth content with no particular purpose other than to express how they feel.

They don’t know what StumbleUpon is, what it does, or how it works. They just write away until their little hearts’ content and move along at a later date.

Unfortunately, this is the boat Butch and I fall into.

I use that to find cool pictures!

Another kind of blogger who might be considered out-of-the-know, these people might not even be bloggers at all. In fact, they account for the high bounce rates and low time-on-page metrics, because all they want is a pretty picture, a funny joke, or a junk e-mail to pass along. Don’t worry too much about pleasing these people if you have any actual content, because you won’t. Don’t sell out and put up some pictures just for them. Granted, it’s a good idea either way. I just don’t like pictures.

Yeah, I love it! By the way, plz like and review!

Oh, the world of the SU spammer. These are the people who start following you at 3:32 AM. They seem nice enough, but when you add them, suddenly you’re flooded with bizarre pages which have no relevance to your interests whatsoever.

Most spammers find SU very beneficial, as most don’t have the heart to Just Say No. Unfortunately, this won’t change any time soon, so it’s best to just remove them and move along.

While I’m positive I’ve missed many schools of thought on StumbleUpon, I think most people fit into one of the above. Whether they brag or complain about metrics, chances are they are incapable of seeing the other side.

If you find people to be completely clueless as to the advantages (Me, for example), you should enlighten them, as they’ll quickly succumb to the logic and jump on the bandwagon.

If you find people to be spammers, however, ignore them immediately.

No, I will not like and review. Not even if you say, “Please.”

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8 Reasons Why List Posts Are Killing You

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

I’m participating in Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog month, mostly because I’m left feeling insecure with our whole two regular readers. For the record, if you haven’t signed up, you probably should, because it seems to be genuinely helpful to building a half-way decent blog, and I’m a firm believer that if you work on something regularly for thirty days, obsessing constantly, you’ll have a good product by the end.

Day 1 involved building an elevator pitch which I’m going to somehow incorporate into the non-existant about us page on this blog, as I think we came up with a pretty damn good one.

Day 2 is titled “Write a List Post.” My initial thought was “Oh, sweet Jesus, unsubscribe now!”

Forgive me for ranting (yet again), but I have a couple things I need to get off my chest.

Note now that I do not think list posts are inherently bad. I think there are many valid reasons for writing one and the advantages are there. I just think they’re a bit overdone.

Without further ado, these are my 8 reasons to not right a list post.

1. You’re not thinking about it

This is what most people tend to do when they write a list post, using an abused formula: Top + [Number] + [Strong Hyperbole (e.g. Deadly, Super, Totally Retarded)] + What you’re summarizing + (optional) Of [current year].

Examples off the top of my head:

  • Top 100 Deadly Social Media Tools of 2007
  • 20 Incredibly Stupid Moves a Business Can Make in 2008
  • 99 Obvious Reasons Why I Hate List Posts
  • etc.

A formula, like a list post, is not inherently a Bad Thing. However, when not thought out, it is a deadly, totally stupid, insane (etc.) thing. Much like pointing a loaded gun on yourself, at one point, you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot.

2. You’re not genuinely helpful

This is what happens to 98% (made it up, but it’s close) of the list posts I read:

  1. Scan the title. Still interesting? Move on.
  2. Read the bolded parts of the intro. Still have my attention? Move on.
  3. Scan the list for software I already know/quotes I’ve already heard/a picture that seems relatively cool compared to the rest of the BS the post is filled with/etc. Probably not interesting anymore, but for the sake of argument:
  4. Leave a comment saying, “Yeah, I’ve heard of [GIMP/'Long is the road that out of darkness leads up to light'/Ophelia by John Everett Millais]. Thanks for the great list. Keep ‘em coming.”

Then I hit the stumble button and hope I don’t come across another list post. The point is that I, and most bloggers, are productive people, and like to feel that we’ve not wasted our time on something. If you have a list of provocative quotes that changed the face of the world, then go for it. If you have a list of 10 programs that everybody and his grandmother has heard of, don’t end the title with “You Need To Know About.” Please.

3. You’re alienating your audience

While list posts are an excellent tool for getting a lot of traffic (nobody’s going to argue that), they’re also a great, easy way to completely rid yourself of any subscribers you may have at the time. If you go from genuinely helpful to social media whore overnight, and continue that trend too long or too frequently, you’re going to lose your subscribers. If you have to write a list, include some semblance of value for your regular readers, or you’re going to lose them (if you happen to lose them, feel free to send them our way).

4. I’ve read this before

A reader shouldn’t feel like he or she has read this post a million times elsewhere. Such is the problem with software posts. If we already know about it, stop.

5. I know this already

Similarly, a reader should have to actually think about the content at hand and be learning something new (this is just like the “being useful” problem).

This is definitely the pitfall I’m hitting on this post. You all know this already. But for whatever reason, you’re still doing it! Stop!

6. You’re trying to summarize a complicated problem into “10 Easy Steps You Can Do Today!”

One of the best things about such posts is that they tend to inspire action. It’s one at a time. This is how goals are broken down by millionaires: turn it into a list of next actions that take just a moment to complete. It’s one of the best ways to motivate yourself.

Unfortunately, there are problems not meant to be solved or explained in 10 steps. This is why The Simple Dollar broke down “fixing your finances” into 30 days, each with its own step, explanation, actions, and motivator. It’s a complicated process and it takes time. If you make it 10 easy steps, it’s either going to have to be a very superficial problem or a very superficial fix for a complicated problem. If you must solve a problem, please, provide yourself ample time and opportunity to do so.

7. You’re doing it just to linkwhore

If the only reason you have for writing a post is to generate traffic, and you’re not trying to actually help, provide good content, or inspire people, don’t publish it. Hold on to the post until it actually helps somebody.

8. You’re doing it wrong

This isn’t so much a problem, but rather a summary: If you’re breaking more than one of these rules, writing fluff with the intent to generate traffic while using a formula, then you’re doing it wrong.

So, again, forgive me for complaining, but I fear hitting the stumble button with all the trite content I’m discovering these days. Please, for the love of puppies, stop producing useless content.

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How Clean is Your Site?

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

Hello and welcome to How Clean is Your Site?, the show where we figure out just how much mess you’ve got laying around and cluttering up the interface. The problem goes like this: You’ve been looking at your conversion rates, your bounce rate, your number of views, or what have you, and realize you’ve got a problem: People aren’t coming, or if they are, they’re not sticking around. You’ve got a low PageRank, low visibility, high bounce rate, and this just needs to change.

Here’s how it works: You look at this list, skim for things that apply to you, check them off, and when you’re through you should either have a better-optimized website, or else you should probably go through again and be a little more honest with yourself. So what’s your problem?

I don’t have any visitors.

Well that’s quite a doozy to fix on our first try, but with a little hard work we can scrape off the excess, leaving a clean, highly visible website.

Is your website visible?

Basically, can people actually find you if they’re looking? Are you listed in search engines? Do you have links leading to your pages from other, larger websites? Can people find you if they’re not looking? Do you have advertisements on other, relevant websites?

Submit your site to all sorts of directories, feeds, what have you. Ensure you have good content first and don’t spam. Join a few online communities such as forums and be sure to include a link back to your website in your profile, signature, or whatever else is applicable.

Now, what’s another problem?

My bounce rate is high.

Well this is a pretty complicated fix that takes much research and insight. You see, when your bounce rate is high, it can mean a few things: first, it could mean you have boring content. Second, it could mean people simply can’t find your other pages, even if they’re looking. Third, it could mean they’re not sticking with your site long enough to read your content on the basis of how it appears.

Design is a major issue to be overcome. If you don’t have the skills, hire somebody else to fix your layout. Make sure it’s accesible, and not just pretty, as having to put forth effort to visit a website is definitely not on everybody’s to-do list.

If you have bad content, this is difficult to fix. If you’re not the most talented writer, you can still try your best. Be sure to proof-read to eliminate errors and maybe have others read over it before it’s published. Consider keeping every article for 24 hours like we do and make your changes when it’s “cold” in your mind and you can look at it more objectively.

If your site has a poor layout or if other pages are not easy to find, this is another potential contributor to a high bounce rate. For WordPress blogs, this is an easy fix: simply install a related posts plug-in. For other blogs, I’m not sure of a fix, and for general website constructed from scratch, the fix involves including a lot of extra links alongside your content. The best way for such sites is to switch to a content management system such as WordPress to include links for you.

Be sure to always include a link to your homepage from every page as it helps for search engine optimization and getting people to your homepage (and thus to the rest of your content).

Our final problem on today’s post:

I’m not getting any clicks on my advertisements.

Well, this is also a complicated problem. Not getting a good click-through rate on advertisements can lead to poor income which is less than the cost of hosting and a domain name (in other words, not worth your time and energy).

The solutions to this problem are mentioned all over Google’s adsense tutorials, Yahoo’s tutorial, etc. But it basically boils down to this: Have a good placement. First, be sure advertisements are “above the fold,” or visible without having to scroll down your pages. Make sure they look like they’re part of your content, but also that they stand out enough to avoid being simply ignored.

Another problem with this is many people using web browsers like FireFox also use AdBlock Plus. That means your ads aren’t visible to them. However, while it does kill some potential clicks, it shouldn’t be that detrimental.

That sums up this episode of How Clean is Your Site? Next time, we’ll tackle another tough issue: conversion rates. Thanks for viewing and be sure to stay tuned for Marketing With Butch.

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Posted in Blogging, Web Development, Writing | 2 Comments »

Why Start a Corporate Blog?

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Corporate blogs are an elusive creature popping up all over the face of the Internet. From Microsoft to Google, many companies and corporations are now starting to update their users regularly with inside information, tips, and news. This is an occasion which has never been witnessed before, save a few insider conferences in the past.

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Rebuilding After Being Hacked

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Recently, OMG Blog, one of Butch’s favorite blogs, was hacked. Beside problems with fixing code, passwords, and otherwise defending one’s site from future attacks, there are other problems to be faced when you are hacked, such as rebuilding peoples’ perceptions of your brand.

When a professional marketplace like Amazon is hacked, people are wary of buying through them, as they don’t feel their information is secure. When a blog is hacked, people are wary to read, as they don’t know if the information is accurate. After all, who’s stupid enough to leave their site vulnerable? And for other sites, the “stupid” factor comes in even stronger. Your opinion no longer matters because you left your site vulnerable.

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How to Start a Blog Network – Part 1

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

It’s no secret: blog networks are one of the best ways to drive traffic to your blog. If you’re an owner of a fledgling blog just now getting its first set of feathers, then you understand that blog traffic is one of the most incredible, mindgasm-inducing phrases of all time.

I immediately clicked a link to a list of blog networks. I scanned, reading the descriptions carefully, and even searching the page once for one word. “Damn,” I said. “There are no gay blog networks.”

I turned to Butch as I realized this. “Baby,” I said, “we have two choices.”

“What’s that?” he replied.

“We can either save up, like, thousands of great articles and join Gawker,” I said.

He snickered. “Or?”

“Or,” I replied, “we can start our own blog network.”

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