BlogLab ::: eXperiment FAIL

"The mechanics of search engines and emergence of trends are changing the quality of googles." ~ J. Felonious Fisch

What?

Search engines like google are powered by algorithms that have been refined to a point of near pseudo-self-awareness.

Earlier this year the title I gave to a particular post atracted search engines (and visitors) like flies: "Paris Hilton Sex Arab Britney Nude Charlie Sheen Photo Video Shakira Hot Free Hareega Bush Libya Man Men Girl Teen Obama Osama Sexxx XXX Nokia TV Bin" - it was done intentionally, experimentally, after I'd seen a similar headline on another blog. I tethered it to a post about traffic and my dear internet friends Windy and Lainy.

And it worked like a charm. I got 7X the usual daily traffic for nearly 4 days in a row before it trickled off.

Fast forward to THIS WEEK. I chanced upon an article all about tinkering with searches, search engines, social networks and SEO. Before proceeding, read "Experiments on Google+ and Twitter Influencing Search Rankings"

A very interesting article, yes?

Inspired by that article, I constructed a new post, entitled "Assist a Mom Euclidean Taeniasis of Galapagos Portly Domesticus Connochaetes mta Elizabeth Smart Shuttle Launch Rupert Murdoch Euclidean Perry Euxlis".

Now, based on what you've seen so far, you'd think my new post would be an SEO "Slam dunk". It was not. It attacted ZERO search engine-directed traffic!Here's my analysis:

New algorithms recently put into service are pouring through topics, headlines and keywoprds faster than mice through a sack of grain. By the time I published MY experimental post, the terms seomoz used in its experiment had decayed in importance and relevance to such degree as they no longer mattered.

The "curve of deterioration" was short for my first post, and my second, experimental post could best be compared to a horse race: there was a race on Tuesday, I entered my horse, but me and my horse didn't show up athe track until Thursday. We ran in record time! We beat everybody. But we missed the actual race, so "nothing counts."

MORAL: You're going to have to get up awfully early (or be extremely lucky) to impress the search engines!

Good Luck, and BLOG ON!

ANOTHER HEAD-SCRATCHER ::: I've seen a lot of 'contest posts' where blogs encourage bloggers (and others) to win a cash prize by essentially making the visitors jump thru hoops in competition for the prize. So, I decided to offer my own unique contest. I decided to give USD $100 away to one lucky player. But there's been no 'buzz' and ZERO search-engine traffic. And although the URL is high-ranked on one of the stat-widgets appearing in the right-hand column on this humble weblog, I haven't seen one single instance of anyone arriving on the blog from another URL to that particular post. Frankly, I'm PUZZLED!

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Google Doesn't Love Me Anymore

It's on! Battle for control of the interverse!

Stargate TV-show fans know that as Teal'c has told the Jaffa many times that the Goa'uld may be powerful but they are NOT gods, I will tell you bloggers that Darren Rowse and Steve Ruebel may be a-list respected bloggers, but they also are NOT gods.

You hear about it whenever Rowse and Ruebel are right about something, but it gets "forgotten" when thay are not (anybody remember "lifestreaming" which was going to replace blogging? hahahahaa!)

Why Lifestream? To Model Leonardo Da Vinci - Steve Rubel

www.steverubel.com/why-lifestream-to-model-leonardo-da-vinci - Cached

Jun 26, 2009 – There have been a number of posts since I wrote yesterday that I am quitting blogging in favor of lifestreaming. A few of you wrote in ...

And who can forget that groundbreaker, Google BUZZ?

Google Buzz: We Might Be On To Something

www.dailyblogtips.com/google-buzz/ - Cached

Feb 11, 2010 – To illustrate my point: I received a Google Wave invite early on from a friend,... Darren Rowse also posted a similar post on Problogger. ...

Now, in July 2011, everybody's suddenly an expert on Google +1! It's amazing! They're spilling out of the woodwork! (there's also a lot of confusion about the Google+1 button and the Google facebook alternative. Are they one and the same? Related? Totally different? What is YOUR understanding of that? Care to leav it in comments, please?)

I was moved to comment on one of these "Google expert" articles. I wrote (see image above) that bloggers shouldn't act like lemmings and walk off digital cliffs on the say-so of Rowse or Rubel.

Here's a new knee-slapper for ya! Rubel now thinks TWITTER should be SCARED!

He bloggeth thus: "Social media networks have typically have one of two lineages - not both. They either first catch on with teens and twenty-somethings or they catch on with nerds (of which I count myself as one). Eventually there’s overlap.

Group A Graduates (Youth) Friendster, MySpace, Facebook and now Tumblr I would argue

Group B Graduates (Geeks) Blogs, Twitter, Friendfeed (RIP) and now Google+ I would say

I am seeing a lot of the same patterns here as when Twitter took off at SxSW several years ago. Except this time it’s much faster! Media, brands and celebs are jumping in. And, by it’s nature, Google+ can be a much more public network than Facebook will ever be."

"The bigger they are, the harder they FAIL."



Tags: problogger, Micro Persuasion



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Google Vs. Facebook Vs. Twitter

Big Brother 13 premieres tonight (July 7) on CBS
Did you know that those so-called "scraper" blogs could actually be your friends? And those fake twitter followers too?

Hello! Thanks for dropping by! How on earth did YOU arrive HERE? Can you tell me by leaving a message in my "comments" area below?

You may have noticed that I am running a few experiments here on this humble weblog. Here is one. The fascination with these experiments has temporarily sidetracked my blog redesign plans. And the I wonder if I should really bother with a re-design at all, considering... ah yes, considering WHAT, you ask? Well, that "WHAT" is something I am not willing to share right at this moment.

COMING SOON: a contest where you could win $100!

Assist a Mom Euclidean Taeniasis of Galapagos Portly Domesticus Connochaetes mta Elizabeth Smart Shuttle Launch Rupert Murdoch Euclidean Perry Euxlis

...and the bloggers are correct! Heck even GOOGLE agrees!



The guru bloggers have been quiet lately. Maybe they've been counting the money they made selling their latest PDF's and eBooks!

I've told you that I've been considering a new template - and I came THIS CLOSE to activating it this week - but I'm holding off - something whispering in my ear "not yet".

Meanwhile, the latest "blogger buzz" (and battle cry) seems to be "LESS IS MORE" ---, minimalists would definitely agree!

Brankica posts that cry of "LESS IS MORE" right out of the gate in an article on weblogbetter.com ::: "For those of you that have been reading my blog for awhile, I guess you may have noticed that I am removing social buttons left and right. There are also some numbers displayed and some hidden.

Brankica goes on to discuss what one should display on one's blog when it comes down to numbers of followers, subscribers, alexa rank, etc. To which I commented "Numbers mean nothing. You can buy 2000 twitter followers on fiverr for $5 – you can buy subcribers to your blog and purchase ‘hits” as well. There are A-list blogs that have 0 page rank. There are crappy scraper blogs that are autogenerated with PR5 and “5000″ subscribers!

I don’t display too much in the way of twitter and very little facebook information. I have a personal cap of 300 I follow on twitter. My facebook is my business. I do have some google connect numbers displaying, but I feel those are kinda sketchy, and they’ll probably be gone when I redesign the blog.

I have a bunch of sharing buttons on my blog. I keep them there just in case someone wants to use one of them. They rarely do, but WHEN they do, I get beaucoup visitors!

As for alexa: there are so many conflicting stories about it! I think I might still have the widget (or at least a link to alexa) on my blog.

I use 3 different sitemeter services PLUS the google/blogspot one that now comes with the platform. None of them ever agree. There was a day in May one hitcounter racked up 212 visits for the entire day, while google showed 1,511 “unique’ visits! Did you know that if someone is reading your blog via Google Reader that visitor is never counted? (Except maybe by Google – is that where those higher numbers come in?)
I think that there is a fashion rule that we can and should apply to blogging – Less Is More (most of the time)."

Hasan of MarketingTheInternet posted "Lessons Copywriters Can Take from Charlie Chaplin" on blog.2createawebsite.com ::: "Make sure your blog or website’s template is clean, simple and visible. The template of your blog or website should not be complex with too many graphics and pictures. It should easily be able to load on all a web browsers." - to which I commented - "The latest trend appears to be 'less is more' so your article is right on track!" - and it absolutely IS on track. I recommend you study the article!

Bloggers Say "Less is more!"

Maybe you did something to invoke the wrath of the googlegod. Or maybe you're not getting the right keywords out. Or maybe your blog is getting buried beneath tons of other blogs. Relax. There is hope.

NEW: GOOGLE MUSIC BETA

Google Apps manager attacks Microsoft Office 365 http://tgr.ph/lRhdju

Google generally fails at all things social.... Google Now Showing Local +1 Counts http://t.co/ytJk

As of today, I have a PR3. If that dropped to 0 or rose to 7, would it make any difference? Honestly, I don't know for sure. I've been in both places, and nothing seems like it really changed...

This morning Hesham posted "Have You Noticed Google PageRank Update Today?" on Famous Bloggers. He writes:

Check your Google PageRank Now!

Here is the link to Google PageRank checker tool.

I wonder if Google will keep the update going, this is July 2011 update, so the next update should be in three months from now, the next PR update will be next October if I am right!

Have you notice any changes to your site’s PageRank? Positive or negative?

What you did to get higher Google PageRank?

Please, share your blog’s PR and let us know whether you think it’s fair or not!

Now here's a semi-updated traffic article I wrote in 2010:

So you wanna know how to increase traffic without relying on Google or Bing or Technorati?
Here's how! Before you begin: this will take a little EFFORT on your part, but you'll be rewarded in the end!

1 - Twitter - You don't tweet? Open an account NOW. Follow the rules and recommendations. Do a little research. Once you fly with the twitterati, and your blog is linked from your twitter homepage, you'll get a few links every day that go direct to your blog. If you write a great article, others will tweet about it!

2 - Facebook - FB is currently THE place to be! You can get services your automated so that your blogposts show up on Facebook and pass through to twitter. I do that! Now, traffic to your blog isn't going to jump overnight. But in time, if you produce quality stuff, you'll get readers. Trust me, 25 regular solid readers are better than 225 one-time visitors! BTW: MySpace is good too, especially if you are associated with music.

3 - C-Box - *** UPDATE: Unfortunately, SPAMMERS took over C-Box and I had to remove it from my blogs. If you have a small audience with targeted content in a niche area, you may not have any trouble with spammers. But, as soon as ONE appears, others inevitably follow.

Do you have an avatar? Y'now, a little picture, a little graphic image of you - something people will associate with you and your web presence by sight... once you have one you like, get it up there on your blog, on Facebook, MySpace, twitter, MyBlogLog etc. etc.

4 - email - put the URL of your blog in the signature of every email you generate!

5 - Blogs - if you read other blogs regularly, be sure to comment. Don't say something stupid, like "nice blog" or "check out MY blog." Start off by just commenting. Leave your name but NOT your URL. If the blogger you're following happens to write about something you've blogged about in the last 5 or 10 days, THEN add your comment with a link to what YOU posted. Be sure to explain why you agree or disagree with the other blogger's article!

FORGET Digg, StumbleUpon and Technorati. Unless you've written a truly SPECTACULAR article. be honest. When's the last time that you (or I) have done that?

Which brings us to

6 - PRESS Releases - for when you actually DO come out with a SPECTACULAR article (or an EXCLUSIVE - you've got that cellphone in your pocket - most now have cameras - if you snap a newsworthy photo and you can write something about it (interview the person if you're the only 'reporter' on the scene) you have the makings of a SPECIAL article! (You may even catch the attention of MSM (main steam media)!

7 - Business Cards - if you are a problogger or you are in business, as long as your blog isn't some craxy x-rated thing or all about some kooky off-topic subject you'd be ashamed to let people who know you read, add the URL to your business cards.

8 - local newspaper ads - if you blog about things in your area or city, check out some of the weekly tabloids - some accept ads for blogs and they don't charge more than $5 or $10. Ask if they'll give you a discount if you order 10 weeks in a row. Especially NOW, the Autumn-Winter times of year when people will be indoors (and right after Xmas when people will be test-driving new netbooks and laptops) are extra good times to get your URL out there!

9 - PING your blog each and every time you write something new! Try pingler.com for starters!

10 - YouTube - I really don't use YouTube as much as I should. It works VERY WELL for bloggers who have video to share. I mention it here because I've heard so many positive comments from those who do use it. Like Multiply or Mobi, it's a niche group, but if you're "in" with that group, it will help you build traffic!

Feel free to share your feedback with me by leaving me a comment using either "comments" feature below. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help answer them for you. Take a moment to subscribe to my RSS Feed and be sure to start following me on Twitter.



Tags: blog traffic, hits

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Google PageRank Changed

How do you decide if it's time to re-design your template or retire some of your widgets? Or whether to take over another blog that's up for sale? Should you increase monetization efforts? Is it time to register your own domain?

Have some of your more recent decisions backfired? Perhaps if you were a tad more systematic, a bit more analytical, you'd make better choices.

MY decision process is a distillation of my 10 years as a blogger. It is simple:

• Gather the facts.
• Deliberate.
• Create a "probabilities array".
• Listen to what the Inner Voice says.

If you think that listening to one's inner voice negates the first three items of the protocol, think again!

(Information + Analysis) X (Pros + Cons) = Decision

Let's break it down.

FACTS! Collect your data. If the decision involves widgets for services, consider how these widgets have helped (or harmed) your weblog historically. EXAMPLE: if, for the last several months, your tagboard has repeatedly been spammed and people are leaving you insults, it may be time to get rid of it.

If the decision involves taking over another blog, do your homework! Check that blog's PR and backlinks. Can it be parlayed into an additional income stream? Evaluate what you might do if you took it over. How would you go about improving traffic, pagerank and SEO? Calculate whether you will be able to devote the additional time needed to properly tend the new blog. Consider the merits (and deficiencies) of cross-posting.

DELIBERATE! Jump brain-first into the information. Pencil your thoughts on index cards, NOT on the computer! That forces you to confront information "analog-ically".

ARRAY! Using a notebook, create a "vision board" of possible outcomes that come as a result of any sound decision. Use a variety of scenarios. Draw upon your own experience as well as the experiences of others. EXAMPLE: You are trying to decide between using cmf ads or adgitize on your blog. Where will you place the widget? How mcuh time can you or will you have to devote to the new service? Google each service on blogsearch - include terms such as "why I like cmfads" and "leaving adgitize" so you read the experiences of other bloggers. You want to give yourself a crystal clear picture of the benefits and drawbacks .

DECIDE! It's all about YOU! Ask yourself, "can I make this work?" If you think you can, you most probably will.

Lastly, keep in mind that not all decisions work out perfectly. Don't beat yourself up or lose hope if things fail. Rinse and repeat! Your ratio of good vs. bad decisions will improve over time,and you WILL be successful! Good luck!







Tags: better blogging, weblog better



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Making The Tough Call: Are YOU Ignoring Various Possibilities When Making Blogging Decisions?

All of the blogging "gurus" and others recommending you get your own domain are about to get their asses handed to them on a platter:

Google tests a new feature that replaces the URL with the site's name in search results snippets. David, who noticed this change, says that he searched for [madvertise] and "most of the results looked normal, with the website title, snippet and URL. However, two search results displayed the website name instead of the URL. In the attached screenshot, the 6th and 7th results show 'LinkedIn' and 'Facebook' respectively, in the place where the URL should be."

This could be a real game-changer, in a hurry! In a related matter, I posted this over the weekend:

I was poking around blogger the other day and found the materials I need to improve this blog, I think 100%, to get it into a template and format that I believe will not only bring it up to 2011 standards but remain within the Google realm of protection. What's that, you say? A couple years ago a blogger friend was stark raving mad. They thought their blog had been attacked by hackers. Turns out two things happened at around the same time, and the blogger had not checked her blog for a few days. Her image hosting service had expires. Adding insult to injury, the guy who authored her template let his domain expire. She lost her template and images in one 24-hour period. But things got worse. Her own domain expired. And somebody swooped in and grabbed her blog's name (and of course all her traffic: she'd been getting about 400 visitors a day). So say what you will about Google and blog*spot. the service is less likely to (1)cost you any money and (2) fail if you forget to pay the bill or if your template designer checks his or her website.

If that is not enough to convince you, note that URL bars are disappearing in CHROME. I HATE the idea of CLOUD COMPUTING. I LOVE the idea of having a back-up for my stuff, but I want my stuff ON MY PC, not dwelling in some cloud that could be erased or deleted.

Heer's a link to an article on optimizing your blog SEO through the use of Q and A style titles.

Infographic: Global Internet Traffic Expected to Quadruple by 2015





Tags: Google Chrome, cloud computing



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URL Not Displaying in Chrome

Stop rallying around all those icky "blogging gurus" who really want to dip into your paypal account more than they want to help you succeed!

This post is dedicated to all of you poor blogging scrubs who sincerely want to make money. You've heard the golden word: MONETIZE! Day after day new posts appear by "blogging gurus" who promise untold fortune and fame if you buy and download their PDF or eBook. Who gets rich here? They do!

These "blogging gurus" get tons of FREE publicity and rack up a lot of interviews by bloggers who fawn over their every word. Interviews that turn out to be nothing more than adverts for the same old stuff that everybody and his brother and then some are selling somewhere online! Michael Fortin calls it "A Disturbing Trend in Internet Marketing".

If you look at all of the "guru" stuff carefully, you'll find they essentially are all selling the same thing. These "gurus" practice "The law of subtraction," the process of getting YOU to subtract YOUR money from your account (and turn it over to them!)

Michael Fortin's words in a post about "The Secret" come to mind and apply to the "blogging secrets revealed by your friendly guru" craze: "And the people who sell the secret as such are the worse of the bunch, in my opinion. Those greedy vultures are masters in the art of repackaging material in a way that caters to a specific market in need of the package — and not the thing being packaged."

Want some fun, fabulous FREE blogging advice? I've put my entire FREE series "THE BLOGGING CLASS" online at The One Minute Blogger. There's $200 guru-dollarsworth of information and good advice, and you get it all FREE. Nothing to subscribe to. No annoying pop-up screens. Nothing to download. Just FREE!

RELATED ::: End of the road for Social Media "gurus"?






Tags: blogging tips, underground blogging secrets



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The Law of Subtraction - It's No Secret!

Funny how "experts" on social media continue to pop out of the woodwork!

Here's a blogger who reports on the Lady Gaga craze with a post about Gaga's use of social networking.

Truth is, the internet moves so fast, stuff that happened, say, 10 years ago, these social media moguls are not even aware of

But Charu Dwivedi misses the more important, more fascinating back-story. I gave her a little back-in-the-day schoolin' via her comments area:

Perhaps, Charu, you give Gaga a little too much credit. Don't be overhelmed by her! Well, you know Gaga began as a copycat clone of Madonna, but conquered the nay-sayers (myself included) by going to the Material Girl and receiving her blessing!

An early and very successful launch of a career via the internet (and existing social media at the time) was the career of Christina Aguilera. Hang on a sec and I'll find the URL ... here it is...
http://www.stayfreemagazine.or...

And if you'll allow another URL, this one references Lady Gaga and another Media milker, Nicki Minaj
http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com...

And, dear reader, in case you didn't know: Nicki Minaj hadn’t come out with her debut album yet, but made hip hop history by becoming the first female rapper to be named on MTV’s “hottest MC’s list.” THANKS TO P-R and Social Media!

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Social Media Marketing 101