Written on July 13th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 11:07 am by Aaron Brazell
YouTube Comes of Age
We’ve recently been playing with video blogging more. Darren has done several in the past weeks and I’ve got a couple buried around too. The most popular video hosting service around, YouTube, has come under fire recently for performance and availability reasons. It’s a big service. They have done a reasonable job, in my opinion, of scaling well with astronomical growth. Truth is, serving up video is a massive undertaking, especially on that scale. I don’t really fault YouTube for having growing pains. AOL did back in the mid-90s when they made the bold move of offering, wait for it… unliited dialup. MySpace seems to experience “glitches” regularly. It seems natural for a growing service to hit some bumps.
This graph was posted on the Qumana blog today (originally from Read/Write Web) charting Yahoo Video (Green), Google Video (Blue) and YouTube (Red) visitors.
My question is how much more can YouTube grow without self-imploding.
Written on July 13th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse
What would I do different if I had to start my blog over? - Guy Kawasaki
The following is an answer from Guy Kawasaki responding to my one question interview question of what he’d do differently if he had to start his blog over again.
I have a slightly different take on this. If I could start all over again, I would not have created a web site (ie, www.guykawasaki.com). I would have started with a blog and used my siderail for all the “brochure” functions of
my site.
As I look back, I have done almost nothing to my site for the past eighteen months. By contrast, I change my blog about every eighteen hours. Five hundred people used to visit my site per day. About 10,000 people visit my blog or subscribe to a RSS or email feed per day. A blog is much more useful than a web site for my needs.
Getting back to your actual question, I don’t think I would do much differently other than starting to blog sooner. TypePad was a good choice–and continues to be. I have embarked on a search for the perfect HTML editor, but the combination of Nvu and MarsEdit seems to be doing the trick. I still don’t understand all the tagging and search engine stuff, but that’s just a matter of time.
Written on July 12th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse
What would I do different if I had to start my blog over? - Duncan Riley
The following is an answer from Duncan Riley responding to my one question interview question of what he’d do differently if he had to start his blog over again.
‘What would you do differently if you had to start your blog again?’
Naturally this is a difficult question because when I first started blogging the blogosphere was a different place, there was little to no advertising, search engine optimisation wasn’t common knowledge (amongst bloggers), and the design skills/ tools necessary to build great pages was a lot harder to come by. There are a couple of things I would have done differently if I would have started my blog today (using today’s knowledge and tools).
1. I’d use WordPress
Sorry to all the MovableType (MT) fans, because I had many years of great use from MT, but using MT was a chore. It was a chore to learn the scripting layout behind it, it was a chore to have to rebuild the blog every time you made a post, it was a chore in having to deal with the server issues MT use to cause, and ever worse still, it was a gigantic chore moving MT from one server to another. For a DIY blogging package WordPress leads the way in terms of ease of use, particularly for the beginner. However, if I didn’t want to go down the DIY path I’d sign up to TypePad without a doubt, it’s a great service if you don’t want to worry about hosting and need quick support…but then again I’ve always been a DIY/ control freek.
2. I’d learn more about search engine optimisation
Although I’ve been on the web writing pages since 1995, my knowledge of search engine optimisation went as far as knowing that incoming links help SERPs. I didn’t realise things like keywords, SEF URL’s, and even the way you lay out your code influenced the traffic you can get from search engines. I remember when I went from MT to WordPress and having to set up a modrewrite in the.htaccess file as the URL’s on the pages changed….because my MT pages use to have numbers in them for the pages, not the page title. You can never have enough SEO knowledge, I’m by no means today an expert, but it’s important for someone starting out to get a broad understanding of some of the concepts of SEO to give themselves a great chance.
3. I’d pay for a professional design
Of course, I didn’t have the funds back then to afford a professional design, and as much as my design skills have improved over the years, I’d probably, if starting again today (with a major blog) pay for a decent design. Although content is obviously the key in any blog, design helps make your blog memorable.
4. More original content
Back then I use to post a lot of links out to other stories elsewhere because I was a little shy in expressing myself in terms of opinions (don’t laugh people, it was quite true). One valuable lesson I’ve learnt, despite making some mistakes along the way, is that’s it’s not only important to be yourself, but to express yourself as well, and this means original content.
5. Networking/ relationships
I did get the networking thing when I started blogging, but I didn’t realise probably enough the importance of turning your contacts and readers into relationships. I’ve got to know many people in passing over the years, but if I had my time again I would have spent more time building those relationships into something more solid.
There is one key thing I wouldn’t change, and that’s research. If you are really looking at setting up a really successful blog, do your research first, look at what else is available in the blogosphere in your particular content/ interest area. Note what you like and dislike about the competition, think about what isn’t currently being provided in terms of content and delivery, and use all of this research to carve out your blogging niche….because hard work, dedication and patience can and still does deliver results in the blogosphere.
Written on July 11th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 01:07 pm by Aaron Brazell
Effective Blog Architecture
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things for me as a professional blogger with decent depth in my archives - some really good content and some (perhaps more) not so great content - is figuring out the best way to present it. Blog architecture is a challenging topic since most blogs are structured pretty much identically.
Sometimes concepts are presented that just smack of “obvious”. Chris Pearson presented one such concept today. In his view, most of his readers (and I would venture most of my readers and most of Darren’s readers) consume blogs via RSS and RSS is reverse chronological by its nature. By default, most blogs are also ordered reverse chronologically.
Chris instead challenges his readers to think outside the box and avoid being redundant. If RSS is already reverse-chronological, why do the same thing on the web? Why not take a more nebulous approach to blog presentations - perhaps placing the “best of” on the home page or taking a Digg approach and letting entries with more comments migrate up to the front page.
The second approach is an idea that I had but would likely work best on a niche blog as opposed to personal blogs. The idea that mostly niche readers will read niche blogs suggests that a blogger would not get unrelated “junk entries” that garner a lot of comments on the front page.
I’m interested in hearing different ideas on presenting blog data in an alternate way. What are your thoughts?
Written on July 11th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 09:07 am by Brian Clark
The Secret of Product Blogs That Sell
One of the most effective ways to make money with a blog — and a method that is gaining steam — is product blogging. Essentially, your blog is built around selling one or more products, either directly from you or via affiliate programs and joint ventures with others.
There’s many ways to go about this. You could have a blog designed to promote information products that you have created — such as ebooks or audio/video products — that go into much greater detail about the subject matter than your free posts provide. You could do the same with other people’s information products via affiliate programs.
Or, your blog posts themselves could be designed to promote your catalog of software or hard goods directly. Some people like to call this catablogging, and again, you could do a catablog with affiliate programs if you don’t have products of your own.
And of course, there are endless combinations and hybrids that you can come up with.
Whatever your product blogging model, one crucial skill will determine whether you make an optimal amount of cash for your efforts. You’ll need to be able to craft words that sell, which is a nice definition of the art and science of copywriting.
In my next couple of guest posts here at enternetusers, I am going to do case studies on two different approaches to product blogging. Then I’ll follow up with a look at product blogs powered by affiliate programs, which anyone can start up quickly and, if done correctly, very profitably.
If you’re not familiar with the basics of copywriting, feel free to check out this introductory copywriting tutorial I put together over at my place. Copywriting skills are an essential element to the new conversational style of blog marketing, and this free tutorial should get you up and running in no time.
Written on July 11th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse
What would I do different if I had to start my blog over? - Merlin Mann
The following is an answer from Merlin Mann from 43 Folders responding to my one question interview question of what he’d do differently if he had to start his blog over again.
I would have bought a reliable crystal ball — which would have presaged that, in the not-too-distant future, 43 Folders would not be “just a blog.”
If I’d thought ahead a little, I would have realized that stuff like a wiki, forum, job board, etc., would all be a good fit, and that I’d better build out around the idea that the highest value for readers would be in having those pieces work well together — seamlessly, in context, and very much not like a blog plus a few strap-on subdomains.
Maybe most importantly for the primary “blog” portion of the site, I wish I’d realized that the date and time of a “post” were usually its least important attributes. Unlike a news site or typical “funny thing my kittycat did” blog, the content is evergreen — it’s not wedded to “now” or “then” for its context and relevance — so I wish I’d better planned how to make it easy for people to navigate around their interests, rather than having to undertake a backwards death march through time. It’s like having arranged your library of books by cover color.
Other than that? I dunno. These things are always a crap shoot, and it’s very hard to know how “successful” any unfunded, unadvertised, and unmarketed website will ever be; with money and marketing, of course, you can make *anything* popular these days. But we knew that.
So, for the one-person operation (with an exiting site), I think it really pays to watch stats and search traffic, listen to comments, and then try to evolve around the way fans _and_ strangers are trying to use your site. Visitors are unconsciously teaching you lessons every day, and it’s wise to make sure you glean those fields as often as possible, and then turn it into smart site changes.
Finally, be picky about the shortcuts and cheese that you choose to quickly get “popular.” Link begging, black hat SEO, and other games tend not to help much in the long run if you truly want to grow a site that’s about content and voice. Resist the urge to chase the ghostly shadows cast by statistical popularity. It’s a cargo cult, and when you overdo it with the money- and Google-worship, your IRL readers will know it. And tell you. And often just leave.
Written on July 10th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse
What would I do different if I had to start my blog over? - Gina Trapani
The following is an answer from Gina Trapani from Scribbling.net and Lifehacker responding to my one question interview question of what she’d do differently if she had to start his blog over again.
I would have:
…never assumed no one would ever read it.
…changed more names.
…included more photos.
…published more posts.
…thought more about what the consequences of my boss, Mom, other half, buddies, old girlfriends, long lost high school friends, co-workers and past teachers reading it would be.
…asked myself “How will this post read, and will it matter, five years from now?” before I hit that Publish button every time.
…remembered that “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” more often.
…stuck to topics of wide interest on my “public face” blog and kept the personal life stuff for a private LiveJournal. With a handle.
…more Actively developed my writing skills. (Writing well is writing well, blog or not.)
…taken things less personally.
…grown a thicker skin faster.
…focused more on posting things that got me jazzed up, rather than worrying about lack of updates.
…never, ever published a post that started with “Sorry I haven’t posted more…”
Written on July 9th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 08:07 am by Aaron Brazell
Controlling the Googlebot
How to control what gets indexed by Google and when? That is the question. Most of the time, we want Google to snarf up as many pages as possible. In my own experience, I can think of a few times when indexing was not something I wanted and I had to go back to Google to actually have pages removed.
In the immortal words of Darren Rowse, there’s a tangent to follow: In my case, a church website I run inadvertently had information about missionaries that were in sensitive areas of the world and information about them actually placed them in danger. While I typically wanted information about the church and functions of the church indexed for people to find, I did not want this information indexable. While I spun my wheels to correct the sensitivie information, I realized that anyone in the world could find enough information about these people via Google that I had to resort to Google’s url removal tool.
Matt Cutts provides a concise and link-filled guide to information to control the Googlebot’s indexing. Though details can be found at Matt’s site, here is a short rundown:
- At a site or directory level, use.htaccess to add password protection.
- At a site or directory level, make use of a
robots.txtfile. - At a page level, use the noindex
<meta>tag. - At a link level, use a
nofollowattribute. - If the content has already been crawled, use the Google url removal tool as a last resort.
I would add just a point on common sense and intelligent web concepts. There is a saying that says that nothing you do on the internet is anonymous. There is something to be said about thinking before you act. It’s harder to cleanup from a boneheaded mistake such as the one I made for the church whose site I ran, than it is to think before posting anything online. If you don’t want the world to see it, then don’t rely on the mechanisms listed above. Simply don’t post it.
Written on July 9th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 04:07 am by Aaron Brazell
Gaining the Second Indented Google Listing
You might wonder how you can get Google to grant you a second indented link underneath a primary result in SERPs on a search phrase. To demonstrate what I’m talking about, I searched for blogs and adsense which conveniently, this blog has the number one ranking on. At the top of the SERPs, there is a primary/indented secondary listing:
Addendum: I lost half of my original entry, so I’m rewriting what I wrote though probably not nearly as inspired as I was 4 hours ago when I wrote this. ;)
If you search for a keyphrase that is used on your blog, such as blogs and adsense look for your second entry that is listed in the SERPs. In Darren’s case, the second entry is in the coveted indented second entry. However, if it is not, one way to get that spot is to begin linking to that second entry from within your blog. There are different ways this can be done: deep linking, placing a link in a sidebar, etc. I’d recommend doing this contextually rather than take the appearance of “keyword stuffing”. Google may penalize you if they feel that you are simply keyword stuffing.
After you have done this, it’s time to wait awhile. Hopefully, over time you’ll see your entry migrate into that second and indented position.
Written on July 9th, surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia392 zone.at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse
What would I do different if I had to start my blog over? - Seth Godin
The following is an answer from Seth Godin responding to my one question interview question of what he’d do differently if he had to start his blog over again.
The best things about blogs is that you get to “start them again” every day, and I do. So when there’s something I don’t like, I can change it!
Maybe, if I had to pick something, it would be directing to a domain I own (sethgodin.com) instead of sethgodin.typepad.com.
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