This is the eXtra for Every Publisher podcast where I cover a few of the stories that interested me from the top 50 making money online blogs as listed by 45n5’s top 100 list.
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Originally posted on October 28, 2007 @ 11:23 pm
Everyone today is absolutely buzzing about the recent manual adjustment of some very high profile sites. It looks like Problogger.net and Copyblogger.com are just two of the sites hit with a two point drop in their ranks.
DailyBlogTips.com has a list of sites being effected in a post entitled, “Google Changing the PageRank Algorithm?“.
One thing that I find odd about this whole thing is Google’s selection of sites as it doesn’t seem to just be high level sites, but a bunch of smaller ones as well, if you read the comments on various blogs, you will see it extends beyond the dozen or two blogs that are well known and rightfully concerned about this shift.
Many bloggers have also come up with theories pertaining to the reduction in PageRanks, and they are all spreading some fear, uncertainty and doubt around the blogosphere. It would be nice to know the real reason for these penalties, but I doubt Google will share that information.
I think this is the push that bloggers, and advertising systems needed to remove Google’s PageRank from their valuation systems. Now is the time to come up with a more complex formula to decide a sites advertising worth. Take their unique visitors, add in their RSS subscribers, look at their growth, and factor in a dozen other pieces of information, and you will come up with a system that hopefully, can’t easily be gamed.
Keep watch on your blogs PageRank, and the traffic that Google is sending you. Hopefully, this is just Google stirring the pot, and will settle down soon.
Originally posted on October 24, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
So, things continue to do really well here, despite just realizing that I haven’t made any good teaching posts lately. I have been working hard on my new job and thinking about how I got to where I am currently.
The reason for this post is to announce that I am only seven spots away from sitting in the top 50 on the 45n5 Top 100 Make Money Online blog ranking list.
I might actually make it into the top 50 by the end of this month, but I have to outpace some very steep competition. If my experience writing here has taught me anything, it is that no niche is too saturated. If eXtra for Every Publisher can become a top 50 blog in its niche in less than half a year, to me that really says something.
A big thanks again to Mark of 45n5.com for creating this list, everyone who comments on this site, and all those that have sent a link my way. I really appreciate it.
For all of you looking forward to more posts on how you can do the same with your own blogs, please continue to read, as I will have more posts teaching you how I got to this point so quickly in the coming weeks.
Originally posted on November 3, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
Over on Freelance Folder there is an amazing post that talks about improving your productivity, and really it centers around reducing your distractions. Something that can be quite difficult, but also very important.
I find myself struggling with this periodically because my office is at home, and currently so is my wife, but there are some great points in the article.
Here is a sample:
Work in a separate room if possible
Last year I moved to the sitting room to keep an eye on the baby while my wife worked on her computer; this was because the computer could not be moved around and I had a laptop. But soon it became a free for all situation; everybody in the house needed my attention or my counsel for everything.
There were times when I could only achieve three to four hours of professional work during the whole day. And of course the baby always wanted to be on top of my table and bang on my laptop keys. Eventually I had to take a stand and move to a separate — fortunately a spare — room.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like a separate room is enough in our small house, and I might have to look at an office share or something so that I can get the peace and quiet I need to focus on producing a large amount of amazing content for everyone to read.
Definitely a great post over on Freelance Folder, and a great site for bloggers, and really all types of freelancers.
Originally posted on October 30, 2007 @ 10:43 pm
Google Blogoscoped has posted about link usability, and some of their eleven tips could mean the difference between someone clicking on your links, or ignoring them completely.
Here is one of the eleven tips in the post:
The first link should be the most important. As a rule of thumb – and there may be exceptions – the first link in a blog post or article will gain the most attention, and the highest click rates. So make sure it’s also the most relevant one for your article. If you are discussing new website XYZ, then make a link to XYZ the first link in your article – not necessarily within the first sentence, but just the first link – and put links to related material over subsequent words. This allows visitors to be guided best.
I have used this tactic many times to get people to click on affiliate links. Just put it before any other links in your post, and even before reading the whole post, people will click on them.
Originally posted on October 28, 2007 @ 3:18 pm