Bush Mackel

Yesterday we had a lot of good talk about Page Rank, Google, and penalizations. And looking back in our conversation, I don’t think I really picked a side in the whole thing.

Now don’t get me wrong – I think for instance that Opal‘s tendency to look outside of Google for monetization is a smart thing.

I mean, say you rely on Google and then you get hit with a huge penalty that takes away all your PR, Adsense and traffic in the SERPS.

You’re basically screwed. And it doesn’t help matters that Google isn’t warning webmasters first before stripping them of PR. (I mean, what is the point of webmaster tools if Google isn’t going to tell us about problems they are finding with our sites).

The Penalty Situation
So here’s what is a happemin’ – I originally read about the situation on Court’s blog, and it seems that the big G is laying the smacketh down on sites that are selling text links. Now thus far I’ve been unsucessful with text link ads but I’ve still been giving it the college try.

Until now.

I read a FANtasic article about text links and google. It’s long, but it’s well worth the read. If you want the short version of how I feel now, here it goes…

• Google is first and foremost provides a search engine and is constantly trying to make that search engine the best in the world. The practice of selling text links undermines what they’re trying to accomplish and makes their search engine not as good as what it aims to be.
• My current PR and Alexa Rank is so low right now that even if I WERE to sell text links, it probably wouldn’t outweigh how much I could make with a better PR. So the threat of penalty is enough for me to stop text link ads for now.

Interesting to Note
First, I have to re-iterate how much I think you should read that article. I think it is simply one of the best articles I’ve read in quite sometime and certainly deserves your attention.

Once again, it seems like Page Rank is making its way back into our daily conversations.

Lots of my readers have been saying lately that they’re seeing some changing values for their PR, with most saying that their PR has actually dropped.

Does this mean that the heralded PR update is finally making its way through the blogosphere or are people just getting penalized?

Is An Update Happening?
It would seem as if an update of SOME kind is happening. Just comparing the PRs I recorded for sites in this month’s Blog Earnings Report compared to the month before, you can see at least one change – Apexad‘s site dropping from PR5 to 4. And others like Opal T have also said that they’re seeing some change on their sites too.

Hopefully I also will be saying soon that I see a change. (And I’m thinking that when since I’m already a PR1 – the big G wouldn’t be so cruel as to drop me to PR 0).

Have you guys been seeing changing PR on your sites?

That’s right kids and it seems to be causing quite a ruckus in web development circles, but I’m sure it’s doing wonders for Ad Tracker’s site and certainly falls in line with what we talked about here on my They Cry Outrage (and Then They Comment) post where you challenge readers beliefs or something they hold dear, and watch everyone come out of the woodworks to say something.

BUT GET THIS!

On the same They Cry Outrage… post, Ad Tracker herself made comments about the subject which now strikes me as hilarious given her current situation!

LOL!!

“what if I were to one day to talk about bringing troops home from Iraq or why the US shouldn’t have an official language…”

That sounds like evil on a John Chow level! I love it!

I have actually considered setting aside one day a week for controversial topics, I just haven’t had the guts yet.

Isn’t it fun to draw the lurkers out of hiding though?

Bush – That’s called “Provoking Thoughtful Interaction” and there’s nothing wrong with it. In fact I think it’s smart.

I try to do it on my blog. The difference is I try to use thoughtful introspection to promote reactions. That’s about the only method I could think of to stir the pot on my blog. I’ve kind of set the mold for a “nice-nice, feel-good” kind of place. If I made a post about politics or global warming (same thing?) I’m afraid the place would suffer a melt down. (A big pink, cotton-candy meltdown. That’s not a pretty image.)

So What do YOU Think?
Well it would seem that Ad Tracker has seen quite the opposite of “a big pink, cotton-candy meltdown”, but instead an explosion of traffic and links! Now in fairness, Ad Tracker put her post into a “Humor” category, but I think the tiny text was missed by most that linked to her. So is this post on par with “John Chow evilness”? I’m not sure how people view Ad Tracker’s website (in terms of seriousness), but if say ProBlogger or John Chow had a post like this, how would you view it? Ethical and Humorous? Or just a ploy for more links and traffic?

What do you think? PR Updates and that Ad Tracker post make me think that you guys will have a lot to say! Let’s hear it!

In Part 2 of Cut the Fat, I said that the next installment would deal with Action Plans.

But now after taking a bit of time away from my blog, I don’t feel that a section about Action Plans should necessarily be in the Cut the Fat series.

So instead of that, we’re going to skip ahead for now to what you’re probably more interested in, Shaping Up Your Blogging!

Where You Could Use a Shape Up
If you remember back from Cut the Fat (Part 1), I talked a lot about how once I stopped doing all the things I didn’t look forward to I (shockingly) became a lot happier. Blogging like anything else, is the same sort of beast. I mean think about it. In a given week, list all the stuff you do that’s a part of your blogging efforts. Here are some examples :

• Writing random posts.
• Writing topical posts.
• Writing sponsored posts.
• Updating your sitemap.
• Checking your analytical stats.
• Improving your technorati stats.
• Improving your Alexa and Page rank.
• Getting sponsors.

The list goes on and on. Now take those things and figure out what you like and what you don’t. Now the trick to this cutting the fat thing is eliminating what we don’t like without negatively effecting our goals. Make sense? Let’s take the general topic of posting for example.

• Somewhere along the way you started caring more about your bottom line every month and so you’re writing way too many sponsored posts.
• You’re writing about things in your blog’s so called niche, but stuff that you personally can’t and don’t want to write about everyday.

And here’s the problem :

• If you stop writing your sponsored posts, you WILL HURT your bottom line.
• If you stop writing about things in your blog’s niche, your loyal readers who have been drawn to the topic you write about will stop coming. And of course, there’s nothing worse for a blogger than talking to her/himself.

So What’s a Desperate Blogger To Do?
Sticking with the “posting problem”, you should first realize that if you’re not enjoying it, you either have problems now or will surely face problems later. And you’ll know the problems when you can’t think of anything to write, you don’t want to write, or your posts become of such low quality that you can’t stand to even publish them. But have no fear, there are solutions to these problems, you just have to bold enough to take them…

• Sponsored posts – If you can’t stand writing sponsored posts, DON’T WRITE THEM. There are other ways to monetize your blog including direct advertising. Sure it may take a little extra work to get your blog to where it is attractive enough for others to want to buy advertising on it, but it’s worth it if it will stop you from hating to write.
• Writing posts you don’t care about – This is an easy one too. Can you guess the answer? DON’T WRITE THEM. If the problem is that you have found out that you’re not as passionate about your blog’s topic as you used to, pick a new one. Better to write about something you love, than something you don’t. And you’d probably be surprised at how many of your readers will stick around once you’ve made the switch. I mean hey, no matter how many stick around, it’s better than starting from scratch right?

You may have noticed that sometimes my site doesn’t respond as quickly as it should. I’d say 90% of the time it’s good, but now that I’m on my blog 24-7, that 10% is really killing me.

Even though I’ve been pretty happy with my current host, I’m beginning to think that’s just because my host now is so much better than my last. To put it another way…

I think I can do better.

My Current Digs
I don’t think I’m hurting myself in anyway by revealing this, so if you care to know the situation I’m in now, check out the VPS Linux Plans for WebIntellects. Of course the main reason why I went with their entry level VPS plan was because it was cheap and did everything I needed it to which was mostly PHP and databasing. They also have a swanky PLESK interface which I have grown quite attached to.

This is Where YOU Come In!
I know I’ve said it before, but I really feel good about everyone who is a regular reader of this site. That’s why I’m asking you for help! If you’re really happy with your host and wanna make a quick buck, post a comment with an affiliate link! (And don’t worry, I’ll make sure they don’t stay in the SPAM catcher for long if they end up there). And I’m not saying this is what I absolutely need, but it would be great if this is what your service could provide:

• PHP, SQL (duh)
• Lots o Space, Lots o Bandwith
• CONTROL – I come from a Computer Science background, so I’m not necessarily looking for the easiest thing out there, but most full featured. (Root access anyone)?
• Maybe a PLESK interface? Maybe not.
• Some freebies like SPAM control and the like?
• Ability to host TONS of sites!

So hey, I hope you guys can help me out. I’m not promising I’ll pick one, but I’m definitely leaning towards switching and switching fast!

Out of nowhere, my friend Brad over at Do the Justice sent me an e-mail saying that there’s a rumble ’round the internet concerning the PR Update.

Mainly that there wouldn’t be one.

*groan*

Like just about everyone else in this web development game, I’ve been waiting on pins and needs for this update. Should you be worrying if it never comes?

The Story
From this post on Search Engine Roundtable, Matt Cutts says,

As far as the toolbar PageRank, I definitely wouldn’t expect to see it in the next few days. Probably not even in the next couple weeks, if I had to guess.

Since I really try to not rehash posts on other sites, I strongly suggest for you to go visit the post as it was pretty interesting but this begs the question…

Focusing on the Important Things
Even if the Google Page Rank Update never comes, that shouldn’t mean that you or I should stop doing the important things in regards to our websites. Think about it… Focusing on seo basics and other important web development techniques will ensure that no matter what kind of rank system comes up in the future, we’ll be all but ready to jump all over it. So while we’re all waiting, make sure you’re doing the following:

• SEO Basics – You know the deal – Making sure your titles are good, keyword and description meta tags are concise and contain your keywords, making your code neat so spiders have no problems finding content, anchor text, et.

• Incoming Links – Making sure that you have a ton of incoming links is crucial in establishing authority with search engines. And if you’re targeting certain keywords (which you should be doing), make sure you have that in the link text too!

• Content – Content is still king right? Well, give your visitors a reason to come back! And YOU KNOW there’s nothing that looks better to your readers than frequently updated content that’s interesting and useful.

Not too long ago, I was sitting at my computer looking at my blogs and faced an unusual predicament.

I didn’t know what I should do!

The problem was that I had already written a post for the the next day, and my other blog was already “current” so I felt like I didn’t have anything to do!

Let me tell you: That’s a weird feeling. I mean, I’m ALWAYS doing something on one of my blogs!

So What’s a Blogger To Do?

• Write posts for a rainy day – Even though I write posts in advance, (when I’m on my game), I hardly ever write posts for a rainy day. But I should start. These are posts that can be posted at any time when you run into a serious case of writers block or when you’re away on vacation. As a rule of thumb, they shouldn’t contain time relative info such as things in the news.
• Tweak your layout – Add something new to your sidebars or optimize the stuff you already have. Try new ad positions to improve your CTR. What about getting to that header or favicon that you’ve been saying you were gonna get to months ago?
• Scrutinize your stats – Taking the time to look at your stats can do wonders for your site especially if you haven’t done it in a while. Taking the time to look at your search engine traffic may inspire you to re-write or edit an old post to get you some more visitors. Or maybe there’s a site that is sending you ton of visitors you didn’t know about…And maybe you should send it some love.
• Catch up on memes – I’ve been slacking on memes lately. I’m sorry. If you’re anything like me, sometimes you just need to take a day and catch up on all of them. Of course then when you do that ppl start hatin’ on you, but hey – “These are the breaks”. (#);D
• Reach out to fellow bloggers – Meet a new friend, or reconnect with an old one. Don’t forget, relationships are what makes the blogosphere go ’round and make this thang called blogging worth doing!

Two months ago, I discovered Daily Burger.com’s “make money online blog list” and was inspired to make a list of my own…A study of his list that broke down the revenue totals with Alexa Rank, Page Rank and Revenue Source.

For the past two months, I’ve gone back to Daily Burger but it seems like there hasn’t been a post in quite some time. So I decided to have my own Blog Earning Reports! Apart from names and sites appearing on the list this time around, you’ll also see my pitful numbers… At the bottom of the list!

If anyone is interested, here’s how my earnings shook out:

1. $50.00 – Pay Per Post
2. $35.00 – ReviewMe
3. $10.62 – AdSense
4. $10.00 – Blogsvertise

All in all my profits have gone up quite a bit from last month, but they’re still nothing to write home about. (Just on my blog) Worse yet, since I’m under the cap for Blogsvertise and AdSense, there’s no telling when I’ll actually SEE that money. And of course with PPP I have to wait a freakin’ month to get that money. *ugh* Oh well. I figure though that if I can keep earnings up I won’t care that payments are deferred a month because I’ll constantly have money coming in anyway.

Anyone else care to share? If you are so nice to post your earnings and the rest, I’ll go ahead and update this post w/ your information (including a shiny new link for your site/post)!

Lately it seems that all I’ve been doing is talking up Chuck at I Hate Your Job. But don’t think I’ve gone soft, it’s for good reason!

For someone who has been in the blogging game for as short a time as he, Chuck seems to be nailing a lot of stuff right out of the gate.

Well, the other day I took a glance at his about page.

And once again, he nailed it.

• Introduces the site – Have you ever been to a new site and find yourself feeling lost because you don’t know what the site is about? Well right up front Chuck tells you what IHYJ is about and in the process even gets a subscription plug in there.
• Highlights popular posts – What a better way to draw new visitors in then by leading them by the hand to your best work! Introducing your site in this way shows new readers that your site is worth coming to, evident by your past work.
• Introduces himself – Everyone wants to know who’s behind a site and by introducing yourself to your readers, you let them know that you’re a person, just like them.
• Provides contact information -You gotta make it easy for readers and advertisers to make contact, so by adding a contact form (or at the very least) listing your contact information on your about page, you bridge that gap.

What He Could Be Doing Better
For all the things that Chuck is doing right, he doesn’t have a picture of himself on his About page! Readers love to see pictures of authors because it obviously makes a site a bit more personable and advertisers like to see author pictures because it gives a signal to them that this blog isn’t just another “blog in the crowd”.

What I Could Be Doing Better
Currently, my about page is a one page bio on myself. This might have been passable at the inception of this blog, but it’s not just gonna fly anymore. I need to highlight the site more, and certainly need to get some contact info up. Thankfully by stumbling onto IHYJ’s about page, I was reminded that I need to make some changes.

How about you? Time to make a change?

A little while ago, I seemed to recall Everton saying something to the effect of, “If the CTR on your AdSense ads is less than 1%, you’re doing something wrong”. Well, it’s been about a month since I’ve implemented my ads and obviously, I want to know if I’m doing something wrong.

I figured that with the tracking I setup through AdSense this would be an easy task. I was in for a surprise.

Taking Care of Business
I needed to figure out where the leaks in my CTR were and needed to address those leaks by pulling those ads. You can guess where I went next. Right to my AdSense page!

Conclusion
I wanted to go ahead and test a new design next month to see if would help out my ads, but I feel like if I do some better targeting, I can get some really good and clean data going forward. So, time to retag, sit back for another month and hope for the best.

Have any of you had similar experiences or can you recommend some analytics software to help me out?

Sure the title of this post is borrowed from the ill fated Saved By the Bell: The College Years but hey – Do you ever feel like you’re standing on the edge of tomorrow?

Well, I feel like that right now. With all the stuff I have going on right now (computer wise), I just have a feeling that very soon it’s going to all come together.

Do you agree?

What’s Really Good
You regular readers know that I’m working very hard to get myself out of the rat race. Before I knew about blogs I thought that “traditional” websites were the way to go. But the fact of the matter is (and this is coming from a web developer’s position) blogs make a lot of things a lot easier including traffic, content creation (using a CMS like WordPress), search engine love and ultimately monetization. And something that shouldn’t go unsaid is the fact that I love blogging and connecting with other people.

Edge of Tomorrow
This month has kinda been eh eh. My posts have been ok, I’ve gotten back on track with my frequency but unless the PR update hits soon, I don’t think that I’m going to have anything momentus happen this month. But that’s ok. Next month hopefully I’ll have some PR and that will certainly mean some more revenue on this site, and maybe some on my other site too. Furthermore, if I can get my a$$ in gear, hopefully I can get another client or two for my web design services and will really be able to contribute some nice side money back to the family.

So yeah, even though the ultimate goal is to live off my net doings, if I could accomplish $1000/mo from webdesign + blogging, I would be super super happy. And I just have this feeling that it’s going to happen sooner than I once thought it would. (#):)