Have you ever owned a diary…err, personal journal? Basically, people write their most intimate thoughts inside them and hide them from everyone. No one is ever meant to read them. Maybe it’s a good “outlet” for people to write down their experiences and concerns. I’ve heard that many therapists ask their patients to start one.
My wife, who has probably never read even one sentence from any of my blogs, voiced her concern that elements of our personal life would end up on the pages of a blog for all of the world to see. I’m not famous or interesting, nor do I have a desire to compromise my personal life, so the idea of a self-biographical account of my life was never considered. (Sorry, hon!)
Back in 2009, I came up with the idea for Source Blogger. OK, it’s not an original idea, meta-blogging. But, I’d like to believe that I consistently write some of the best quality content in my niche/category. And if you dusted off the cobwebs and went back into the archives, hopefully, you’d see this. As committed and driven I am about Source Blogger, it’s far from the most popular or recognized in the blogosphere. Right now.
Unlike a diary, Source Blogger is written by me to be read. I do want the exposure. But, how do you get it?
Today, we are going to look at 5 “tools” (Digg, Alexa Toolbar, Blog Catalog, Entrecard, CMF Ads) that claim to help you, in part, to reach your goals… and why I no longer use any of them. This blogger has matured.
Day 1: A Blog Is Born
Once you’ve created a concept for your blog and begin writing articles for it, your next step is to locate and utilize resources that will get you and your blog in front of other bloggers with similar interests.
It’s not a mystery. Places like Digg or Blog Catalog were originally good sources to keyword search for certain topics… with Digg being the #1 article submission site and Blog Catalog being the #1 blog forum site. And Entrecard and CMF Ads, being a good way to interact with active bloggers and discover other blogs.
Just in the short time that Source Blogger (originally launched on Blogger, now on WordPress) hit the scene, many of these sites either changed or did not really provide much value as they professed.
Let’s take a brief look at each of them. Shall we?
Digg
One of the perceptions of many new bloggers is that if they run to the largest article submission sites (Digg, Reddit, Mixx) and submit their content, then there is a the likelihood of being assaulted with thousands of “pageviews.” But, after submitting article after article, you see that scenario rarely happens or not at all due to oversaturation.
When Digg changed its parameters to only display your content to the people who followed you on Digg, you suddenly realized that the potential to reach a large audience was reduced to the 15-20 followers you had prior to the change.
Digg seemed to be lobbying for the big blogs in the space like the Huffington Post, Tech Crunch, and Mashable.
Goodbye, Digg.
Alexa Toolbar
Considering that Source Blogger is a “blog about blogging,” I figured the Alexa Toolbar would be a good barometer of determining the percentage of those bloggers historically portrayed to have interests in “techy” things like blogging, social media marketing, internet marketing, article marketing, and making money online who were visiting Source Blogger.
As Source Blogger’s Alexa Rank shot up to 50k, something strange happened after that. I started to really get decent, consistent traffic!
What was bizarre was that the more visits and pageviews I received, my Alexa Rank began to tumble? Odd, huh?
Goodbye, Alexa Toolbar.
Blog Catalog
Ok, never been a big fan of forums… but I did see it as a strategy for being involved in discussions that would enlighten other bloggers on who Source Blogger was and what our views were on particular blogging topics. A great way to do some networking, right?
Well….. unfortunately, that was NOT the case. The site has a band of active bloggers in the forum who are hostile towards bloggers like myself. Trying to market your blog and its content (no, not spamming or link dropping either) did not serve to induce the “clique-ish, overly-social” feel of the forum discussions. Leading you to consistently defend why your site had banner ads or a subscription box for news letters.
Goodbye, Blog Catalog. And Good Riddance!
Entrecard & CMF Ads
When you blog about blogging, any blogger, in any category, has the potential of being a reader.
So, for many months, I struggled with whether I should maintain the Entrecard & CMF widgets. Until you realized that only a very minute percentage of bloggers were actually active on the site. Once someone has seen and read your blog a few times, they will subscribe, leave some comments, etc. But, now that they have, I didn’t feel like I had to continue to offer them an incentive to do so.
In addition, offering an incentive for another blogger to visit my site definitely defeats the purpose of why I created the blog to begin with. I would prefer you visited out of a genuine interest, not for advertising credits (Entrecard) or fractional money amounts (.002 – CMF Ads).
When you begin hearing stories of people spending hours and hours visiting other blogs in the Entrecard, CMF Ads, Adgitize network, it becomes a very unhealthy, obsessive environment… one that I wish to separate myself from.Especially, when it is marketed as “blog advertising”.
If your blog traffic stems solely from other visitors on this network, you need to take a hard look at whether your blog is worth maintaining.
Goodbye, Entrecard & CMF Ads.
In Closing
At this point, I am more than happy with the traffic I receive from Google, Bing, Twitter, and other viral resources like comments and bloggers who discuss Source Blogger and link back to certain articles here. Even from google images! (An often overlooked source of traffic – keyword optimize those images!)
This may be an overly-uttered phrase, but blogging is hard work. And it does take months and years to develop your identity and reputation into someone who is respected and read. Often, the first step is distancing yourself from sites like Blog Catalog, Entrecard, and CMF Ads… to gain credibility in the eyes of others.
But, you can do it…. without having to invest in an enormous amount of your personal time vying for theses types of inorganic sources of blog traffic.
Part of the “maturity process” of a blogger was putting away “childish things”.
To Digg, Alexa, Blog Catalog, Entrecard, and CMF Ads… I wish you the best!
What do you guys think? Am I dismissing them too prematurely?
17 Comments
I’ve been diligently (obsessively) using Entrecard on one of my blogs and I’ve noticed that it utterly rips through Alexa. I don’t know why it’s so effective, but a brand new blog can go up millions in a couple weeks and end up with absurdly high ranks in various countries.
I don’t use any of that stuff on my main blog, though. The traffic it gets is pleasing for now and I get the odd boost from the social stuff.
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For the record I totally agree with you about Blog Catalog, though there are many great bloggers there the majority are a bunch of stuck up air heads! I’ve never been a fan especially of the little circle you mention. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels left out when visiting that place! If you want a community like that I would strongly suggest bloggers.com and not blog catalog.
I too feel the same way and have grown up from the Blog Catalog, MyBlogLog, and never understood the virality of digg. I have given the Entrecard thing a reprieve, for a bit. But it seems as though the same groups of people are the only people that use it are those without any real value in what they are doing.
Just like Brian, I too am glad to see that I’m not the only one that feels this way.
tony greene recently posted..March 2011 Online Earnings Are Somewhat Abysmal – Ehh
I’m the developer of CMF Ads, so I’m biased, but I think you’ve missed a critical benefit of many of these sites.
Regardless of the principle feature(s) or the issues you mention above, some of the sites have a very rich and vibrant community behind them. For instance, I’m happy to see a small group of members at CMF Ads participating in the forums and the chat room. It’s quite a close-knit group, but in a good way – the group is small, but not unwelcoming to newcomers.
If CMF Ads took away the advertising side of things and just had forums and a chat room, while this would destroy the original purpose, I have a feeling it would still hold together just fine. Not that we plan to do that – just saying that the community still makes the site worthwhile.
For me it’s not so much a case of whether someone uses a site or not, but whether they choose to diversify their traffic sources. I don’t recommend using one traffic source in isolation.
Out of interest, how come Digg and Blog Catalog are still in your sidebar? Also, I found it very surprising that you didn’t mention MyBlogLog, which I’ve often remarked serves very little purpose – simply because it doesn’t seem to do anything!
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Ben,
I really like CMF Ads. And yes, there is a community… but a stagnant one. Surprisingly, CMF is one of the most passive methods of earning money online… albeit very little. Like Entrecard though, there is only a small percentage of those bloggers actively using the site.
Eventually, bloggers move on and mature…
The MyBlogLog Button is on its way out…. to be replaced with a LinkedIn button!
Thanks for the visit, Ben!
Source Blogger recently posted..That Sexy Chick You Are Speaking To Online Is Really A Guy Those Sneaky Internet Marketers!
Most of the sites you mentioned depends on how you use those services. For example if you submit something tech related to Digg you have very little chance of succeeding there, but there are other categories that you can get traffic without too many Diggs. Also there is a social element involved in those sites, just submitting the link will not work.
MyBlogLog is discontinued so no point in still keeping the buttons there. Blog Catalog, Entrecard has its advantages, especially if you have a new blog
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Digg
I’m sorry to hear sites like Digg, Reddit etc haven’t worked out for you. I guess success on article submission sites comes down a few simple things:
1) write something members will enjoy reading
2) write something unique. no-one wants to read the same thing over
3) don’t set yourself apart from your audience. just write as a regular guy
4) content above the fold. no-one wants to scroll down to find the content
Most importantly listen to any feedback and if something doesn’t work, try to figure out what you’re doing wrong. I’m writing from experience – the Digg, Reddit, etc communities have been kind to my sites.
Alexa
I don’t really understand the fascination with Alexa. Only real stats matter: unique pageviews, reader interaction, etc. Alexa isn’t a true measure of anything.
CMF Ads
It’s not really fair to lump CMF Ads in with Entrecard. They’re two very different networks. CMF doesn’t encourage members to “spend hours and hours visiting other blogs” and is closer Project Wonderful than the likes of Entrecard / Adgitize.
CMF Ads isn’t about reaching out to other members. It’s about reaching out to their readers by advertising on their blogs. CMF (and Project Wonderful) perform consistently well for me providing I use a little common sense when placing ads.
I think perhaps you’re being a little harsh on CMF and I don’t feel I lose any credibility by continuing to place the widget in a prominent position.
To answer your final questions, you’ve dismissed Digg and CMF without realising their full potential. Alexa is pointless. Entrecard has it’s place but members need to realise popularity on Entrecard is not the same as having a popular blog.
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I don’t know if you’re reading CMF’s forums anymore so I’ll add this here…
In all seriousness, success can only be measured by you. If you feel your blog is successful, then it is.. All the hype about conversions, and et al, is meaningless if you aren’t happy with your own work.
You and I actually have a few things in common in regards to our blogs – marketing is hell. Not every social networking site or advertiser will fit every blog. I can’t begin to count how many times my blog has been rejected or called trash… It just makes me more determined to keep going.
If you want readers and passive traffic, look at this: http://aftr.tanaya.net
Its advertiser safe and does what you are looking for – a quite passive way to bring visitors.
As to BlogCatalog, they have turned to politically liberal that anyone who doesn’t see their “grand liberal agenda” gets rejected. I bounce back and forth between rejected and approved constantly.
Alexa can easily be manipulated. Its only value is for personal use only…
Digg, redit, mix, blogengage, entreview don’t do much for me either. You’re not alone in the struggles to get decent traffic. I have to fight and claw for every visitor I get…
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Hello Jeffery,
I found your post via the CMF forum and I thought I’d give you my two cents as briefly as possible.
I see that you’re using the word “childish” to make a play on the biblical quote, though you’re also using it as a dismissive and belittling term — and, actually, using it to make a judgmental (if not spiteful) post is in complete contradiction to the passage itself.
Perhaps you think this is ironic or flame-fodder and so you think it’s good for your blogging business; not being a regular reader, I can’t say… But in any case, your tone is more than opinionated; it is dismissive and condescending and that rather blocks your message. You’ve alienated instead of being opinionated yet helpful.
As for your opinions/observations, here are my brief comments based on over a decade of working on the web…
Digg & BlogCatalog Links at here are like links at any other community: they become popular by interest of the community members and are more likely to become popular when submitted by an active community member. In other words, unless you are an active member and know what the community likes (in terms of your link submission content, posting title and information), your submission will appear spammy and not get many clicks. This is true of all community sites, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Tumblr, etc. Be a dedicated member, or know one who actually likes your content and submits it themselves, and you may get a spike in traffic. (Like we CMF folks being here now lol) However…
As one who has had great success in having content picked-up at Digg, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, — even big sites like BoingBoing, etc., I can tell you that a spike in traffic isn’t going to garner you more regular readers or traffic. Only a small percentage will click deeper into your site or visit your main page etc. Most people need to see your site appear at many other sites (for different content) before they decide to really invest some time looking/reading. Don’t get me wrong, the exposure is nice (and flattering), but it’s no more than a temporary situational surge. It’s wiser to spend more time focused on your long-term focus (content) than the short-term surges.
Re: Alexa If I had a dime for every time I’ve written this… But here it goes again. Alexa is known to be heavily skewed (towards the Asian markets) and unreliable at anything past the top 100 blogs or so. Those top 100 mirror Nielsen ratings (as verified by paid memberships at both), but anything beneath them is a crap-shoot. It can be a useful metric to consider in terms of growth, for comparison to other sites, etc., along with other ratings and tools, but it cannot be counted on to use on it’s own. Primarily, the only reason it’s used at all is that it is established — and free.
CMF Others have clarified that CMF shouldn’t be tossed into the same pile as those you’ve tossed it in with, so I won’t beat that dead horse. I’ve never used Entrecard or the like — not because they are “childish” but because they do not suit any of my target markets, i.e. readers. These programs (and to some extent this fits BlogCatalog etc. too) are not aimed at finding readers, but rather focus on bloggers — bloggers out to build their own readership, not bloggers looking for sites to read or engage in.
I’ll be commenting more in the CMF forum thread — including defending you in a place or two lol So stop back there
Deanna,
Wow! What a long comment! I loved it!
Although we share the same online experience, as bloggers, for the most part, our views on the same subjects are often very different…
And that’s OK.
My objective for blogging was not simply to ram my thoughts and ideals down the throats of other bloggers/readers.
I love the interactive part of what we do, especially when it creates discussion.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for you in the blogosphere. And welcome to Source Blogger!
- Jeffrey Baril
Could you provide a link to or blog about tips for placing keywords in images? Thanks! I always enjoy readaing your posts, and usually find them as a result of reading something entirely different than what I originally began searching for!
Dave Lucas recently posted..America Trains Its Eyes On Chuck Schumer
Isn’t that an Entrecard widget I see? Just down there. By the way your layout is messed up on this browser.
King Blogger,
You have convinced me to remove the widget… permanently. (Sometimes, I go back and forth on it.)
I actually haven’t been getting complaints about my blog layout lately. Send me a pic of what it looks like for you?
Thanks!
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Update: Since I published this article in April of 2011, CMF Ads is extinct and Blog Catalog and Entrecard are destined to follow.
Both Blog Catalog and Entrecard died a long ago. They just don’t know it yet! LOL!
- Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..Why You Suck At Behavioral Questions, Resume Achievement, and Being The Man For The Job
Entrecard seems to be hanging on.
Hey, where’s your LinkedIn badge?
Dave Lucas recently posted..Follow-up to Source Blogger’s "Putting Away Childish Things: Digg, Alexa Toolbar, Blog Catalog, Entrecard, and CMF Ads"
Entrecard is OK if you have the time for it… but clicking on other’s people’s Entrecard widget?.. umm… I have better things to do. Plus, many of the Entrecard participants are foreign… and that sometimes seems to be a (cultural or language) barrier when interacting with some American blogs.
As far as LinkedIn… just didn’t see the reason to have that much personal information about my career history floating around out there. In addition, being a VP of Human Resources… I was besieged with networking group requests… and people wanting to forward me resumes.
In the end… DELETED.
How have you been, Dave?
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I’m good – thanks for asking! Blogging along, as usual!
By the way – nice article on “background checks” you wrote there!
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