Microblogger » General http://www.microblogger.com Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:06:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Linking Out To Other Sites http://www.microblogger.com/linking-out-to-other-sites.htm http://www.microblogger.com/linking-out-to-other-sites.htm#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:06:14 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/?p=25 When you’re a new blogger trying to make a name for yourself and increase your exposure, the best thing you can do is write compelling content that people will be interested in reading. The second best thing is to start linking to other sites in your niche. Compelling content will keep someone who finds your site, on your site. Linking to other sites will get other bloggers’ attention because everyone looks to see who sends traffic to them and who is linking to them.

I recommend linking to other similarly sized blogs. Linking to the largest and most popular blog in your niche is going to less effective because their traffic will make it difficult to see your referrals. If you send one or two people to their site and they get a thousand hits an hour, your referrals will be lost. If you send one or two people to a site that gets ten or even a hundred visits an hour, you stand a better chance of getting noticed.

Don’t send emails at first. Don’t send emails “asking permission” to link to someone, you know that an email isn’t necessary and they know an email isn’t necessary; don’t use your links as an excuse to email someone. There are plenty of reasons to contact someone, don’t use such a transparent reason. If you link a few times and start seeing traffic back from their admin panel or something similar, you know they’ve started noticing. Then you can email them and perhaps ask for a guest post or vice versa.

Linking out to sites also has a side benefit, you start associating yourself with a particular neighborhood and that never hurts.

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/linking-out-to-other-sites.htm/feed 0 Improve CTR by Removing Borders & Lines http://www.microblogger.com/improve-ctr-by-removing-borders-lines.htm http://www.microblogger.com/improve-ctr-by-removing-borders-lines.htm#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2006 14:07:17 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/improve-ctr-by-removing-borders-lines.htm One of the recent changes I had made to one of my more popular blogs (Blueprint for Financial Prosperity) was to remove a verticla gray line separating the sidebars from the main content. The initial reason for having the vertical line in the first place was to help the flow of the page and guide the reader when they were viewing articles. The problem is that the small and subtle vertical line would prevent a reader’s eyes from floating over to the ads past the content.

I removed the lines as a little bit of a test and my CTR improved by 50% as did my earnings. I didn’t think such a small change would have such a significant impact but it did.

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/improve-ctr-by-removing-borders-lines.htm/feed 0 Blinking Blogs http://www.microblogger.com/blinking-blogs.htm http://www.microblogger.com/blinking-blogs.htm#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2006 14:57:41 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/blinking-blogs.htm Problogger carried an article yesterday in which it is reported that web users take 1/20th of a second to evaluate a website’s design. Isn’t this just thin-slicing (a la Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink?)

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/blinking-blogs.htm/feed 0 Publicly Display Your Statistics http://www.microblogger.com/publicly-display-your-statistics.htm http://www.microblogger.com/publicly-display-your-statistics.htm#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2006 01:52:43 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/?p=12 Site statistics and RSS subscriptions make up your street cred and reach on the Web. When advertisers visit your site and consider paying you to show an ad, they want to know how many unique visitors show up and how many people read your words daily.

Let’s say you only have 15 unique visitors a day… that’s fine, don’t be afraid of it. If a prospective advertiser likes your site (which is one of the main reasons why they’d advertise in the first place) the second step is finding out your readership. If it’s low, they put it on their radar and wait to come back later. If it’s high, they might contact you to find out your rates. If it’s hidden, they have no idea and they could potentially forget about you. The path of least resistance is the one they’ll take.

There is nothing bad about low readership – unless you make it an issue. Nothing is more embarassing than having a prospective advertiser contact you only to find out you only have 15 visitors so let them know early!

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/publicly-display-your-statistics.htm/feed 0 Sell Your Blog! http://www.microblogger.com/sell-your-blog.htm http://www.microblogger.com/sell-your-blog.htm#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:35:18 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/sell-your-blog.htm Sitepoint has a forum dedicated to the selling of blogs, only $9.95 per listing.

For some thoughts on how to value a blog, read this article at Performancing.com.

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/sell-your-blog.htm/feed 0 26 Steps To Get 15,000 Hits A Day http://www.microblogger.com/26-steps-to-get-15000-hits-a-day.htm http://www.microblogger.com/26-steps-to-get-15000-hits-a-day.htm#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2005 05:58:02 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/26-steps-to-get-15000-hits-a-day.htm Twenty six letters, twenty six steps, how convenient! These are some great tips on how to build a great site. Notice the common theme: Build great content.

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/26-steps-to-get-15000-hits-a-day.htm/feed 0 Understanding Who Clicks Ads http://www.microblogger.com/understanding-who-clicks-ads.htm http://www.microblogger.com/understanding-who-clicks-ads.htm#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2005 22:11:36 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/understanding-who-clicks-ads.htm If I were to divide up all the people who visit your blog into two categories, I’d split them up into searchers and readers. A searcher is someone who fired up a search engine, started to look for something, and ended up on your blog. A reader is someone who is going through their daily web routine and managed to end up on your blog, whether it be because you’re on his or her blogroll, subscription list, etc. A search will click on an advertisement where as a reader will most likely not.


To understand why, you need to take the perspective of the user. If I need to find a particular bit of information, or more importantly, a particular product, I’m actually looking at advertisements. If I’m trying to figure out the local vendors who can sell me windows or window installation services, I’m going to look at the advertisements on your page about window installation. If I’m reading about the intricacies of filing my taxes, I’ll be interested to find out how much professional services could cost me – especially once I actually start reading about the tax code. As a searcher, I am seeking professional services and will look at advertisements because professionals will advertise.

Additionally, if I am a searcher, chances are I reached your blog via Google or Yahoo or some other search engine. It will likely be the first time I’ve ever seen your blog and I will not have developed advertisement blindness for your layout. The combination of a new layout and my desire for more professional information usually leads to significantly higher CTRs.

Let’s say I’m a loyal reader of your blog. Today I fire up my browser and I visit your blog. I ignore the Adsense or YPN ads I’ve already ignored for the last few months, even if you added images or changed the color, and I go straight for the content where its always been. I read the article, follow some links, and that’s the end of that. Even if I read it once a week, I still ignore the ads because I’m only reading, I’m not searching. I seek no particular information, service or product and so the advertisements are irrelevant.

Even if I started somewhere else and clicked to your blog, I’m not looking for anything. I’m reading leisurely, perhaps catching up on news, getting that new bit of information, or checking out that new product review. I’m less likely to be interested in making a purchase because I’m browsing.

The searchers will click whereas the readers will not.

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/understanding-who-clicks-ads.htm/feed 0 A Blogger Must Be Patient http://www.microblogger.com/a-blogger-must-be-patient.htm http://www.microblogger.com/a-blogger-must-be-patient.htm#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2005 22:02:25 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/a-blogger-must-be-patient.htm Patience is key for a blogger because it can oftentimes take weeks and months before the search engines find you. It will take time before you’ve written enough posts to attract readers and earn their trust. It will take time before you hit the coveted tipping point where all your hard work finally pays off. Until then, plug onward and upward and eventually the hard work will pay off.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of aspiring bloggers quit because they don’t see the fruits of their labor. While I don’t have concrete statistics, the sheer number of dead blogs out there is a testament to how difficult it is to persevere and continue to write when it seems as though no one is listening.

And when it happens, don’t consider yourself lucky. You deserved it.

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/a-blogger-must-be-patient.htm/feed 0 Understanding Heatmaps http://www.microblogger.com/understanding-heatmaps.htm http://www.microblogger.com/understanding-heatmaps.htm#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2005 20:58:54 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/?p=5 A heatmap measures how long the typical internet reader keeps his eyes transfixed on a certain location of the page and overlays that over your page. An example of a heatmap is available on Google’s Adsense Tips page and it illustrates a lot of important ideas.


Most internet users are left to right, top to bottom
Call it the Western language bias (as opposed to Eastern languages that go right to left, top to bottom), but material towards the left gets more attention than the material to the right. Content towards the top of the screen, with above the navigation as the exception, gets more attention than content towards the bottom. How do you use this information? Put your Google Adsense ads to the left, just below your top level navigation.

Content is critical
I wrote about how quality content is what will increase your popularity? Well, all the orange areas are around the primary content because that’s why people are there. Write quality content.

Above the navigation and below the footer areas are dead
I suspect a lot of the content above the top level navigation consists of logos and banners and so regular readers ignore them. Search engine readers want content, so they gloss over the logos too. RSS readers will likely do the same. Logos don’t really mean much which is why they get little coverage. Think of the last few times you’ve been to CNN, do you remember the banner ad? I only remember that when I visit ESPN.com I have to deal with that banner advertisement that expands and gets in the way of good content.

As for the footer, no one makes it down that far (only search engines). They will hit the content way before then and will most likely have moved on. This makes it the optimal place to put simple text ads for advertisers who merely want the value in the link – not in the visibility.

Study the heatmap a little more and see if you can glean out some from it… it’s worth studying and full understanding.

If you haven’t signed up for Google Adsense, I recommend you do so:

]]> http://www.microblogger.com/understanding-heatmaps.htm/feed 0 Welcome to Microblogger http://www.microblogger.com/welcome-to-microblogger.htm http://www.microblogger.com/welcome-to-microblogger.htm#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2005 15:59:22 +0000 jim http://www.microblogger.com/?p=2 What is a microblogger? A microblogger is a blogger who likes the idea of becoming a problogger but hasn’t quite made it just yet. Everyone starts off, at one point or another, as a microblogger and through hard (and intelligent) work and diligence, works his or her way up to becoming a problogger.

What is the purpose of this site? Well, I feel the premier site for a blogger trying to generate the most income remains Darren’s Problogger.net but I feel that a lot of the ideas he’s pushed forward work well for mid-size to larger bloggers and don’t work as well with the little guys. I’m not saying a microblogger shouldn’t read problogger, because you 100% definitely should. (There is a wealth of information there and it’s like when your parents tried to teach you something. It may not apply now, but wait a few days/weeks/months and you’ll find that its very applicable.) I just think there’s a bit of information left unsaid that a small-time blogger may find valuable.

I basically only have one blog, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, which I started from the ground up back in February. It started with a PageRank of ZERO, no presence in Google, fewer than 10 unique hits a day (half of which were from me, myself from home, myself from work), no RSS subscribers, and Google Adsense barely let me in the door.

It now clocks in at around 600 uniques, 400 RSS subscribers, a homepage PageRank of 5, and I received some press in the New York Times business section. I am still a microblogger but I think some of the things I’ve learned along the way and some of the thoughts I’ve had may have some value for some of you.

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