Please Tell Me Why I Suck!
Douglas KarrThanks for stopping by my personal blog on Marketing Technology! Over 50,000 visitors a month find my content worth returning for, so don't forget to subscribe to the Marketing Technology Blog RSS feed or to the Marketing Technology Email to have new content sent directly to your inbox. You may also find my other business blog helpful, Social Media Domination.
I love goals. I especially love goals when I set them myself. Late last year I set a goal for myself that I would break the 5,000 mark on Technorati in 2007. This was in addition to some other goals that I had set. With the exception of my health (I really need to lose weight), I’ve demolished every goal that I’ve set for myself, in addition to my Technorati Rank.
These last few weeks, my blog seems to be ’stuck’ on growth, though. I would ordinarily write this off as folks drifting off for the summer. When it’s your ‘rank’ that’s not moving, though, that’s definitely pointing to some other issue since we all have to put up with the summer blahs. A few weeks ago, I was excited to see my blog hanging around 2,010… now it’s back up to 2,125.
Is my content lagging?
Am I going off topic?
Do I just plain suck?
I’ve actually gone so far as to purchase some Adwords for the site. I’m concentrating on corporate blogging and social media, as well as geographically purchasing Adwords for Indianapolis. I’ve gotten about 15,000 impressions on the ads but only a few clicks. I don’t mind that, too much, since clicks cost money. The goal of the advertising is really name recognition, not physical traffic. I figure if I can get my name out there in the right audience, the traffic will follow. Let me know if you see one of these ads and tell me what you think of it.
I would also love to hear what you miss about my blog that was remarkable before but hasn’t been lately. If you’re shy and don’t want to comment in public, feel free to use my contact page. My ‘fame and fortune’ seem to be coming primarily from my WordPress Plugins, not the other content on the site. That’s a little disconcerting since I do quite a bit of research on my topics each day.
Of course, if you’d like to really help with my content AND my Technorati Rank, write about my blog and how it sucks on your blog. I promise I’m open to criticism and look forward to implementing some change as soon as possible.
Technorati only counts links in the past six months, so that means in order for your rank to keep increasing you need to always surpass whatever rate of links you were getting six months ago.
I found that things got really slow between 1900-2100… then 1450-1900 went pretty fast.
Then I got sick of it all
I’d hate to just write a post for the sake of a post, though. I know he’s not advising that, but that’s what it might be. I like to think I’m adding value that folks can’t find elsewhere. I’m always in search of the unique… something that’s hard to find!
I agree that Technorati’s 6 month retention is probably the culprit.
And here was I thinking the top 10,000 would be a good goal
Top 5 would definitely make my day! Top 10,000 is definitely something to be proud of. I honestly don’t pay much attention to the actual number - just that it’s improving. Lately it’s been moving backwards so I’m concerned.
We’ll both keep plugging away! No doubt you’ll be surpassing me soon!
Doug
Lots of blogs hit patches where there is not much activity. I know that on my blog. My subscriber numbers have doubled over the last 6 months, but traffic recently has remained pretty constant, and my Technorati ranking is stuck around the 100K mark. But it doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm for blogging.
I really enjoy publishing and writing articles and I will keep plugging away. I try not to focus too much on my stats these days but it is good to set targets like you’ve done.
I’ve seen some bloggers have incredible success within a few months of launching a blog and that is great to see, but for most of us, it takes a lot of effort over several years to see any real return.
My advice would be to keep writing the blog. If you enjoy doing that then don’t stop.
We’ll keep plugging away!
You don’t suck! I’ve noticed that traffic, incoming links, and new subscribers go in waves. You’re producing valuable content which will continue to get attention. I bet in three weeks you’ll wonder why you wrote this post!
-Pat
As well, I did notice I’m up to #41 on Todd And’s Power 150 Marketing Blogs. Wow! I jumped up quite a bit there!
Just one observation. I realize that you are looking for the corporate traffic, but you might want to consider lightening up your image a little. You will notice that the Seth Godin’s, Steve Rubels (and the Bloke Blokes
go out of their way to present a more lighthearted image. But then again, they are a little older and have already reached a certain level in the corporate world. So it is a judgement call and something that you might consider experimenting with.
Like Itch said, some make it to the top fast. But they are mostly opportunists who have managed to game the system, or were networked with an a-lister who helped them along the way. But for the rest of us doing it the honest way it takes a great deal of time and effort.
Keep on keeping on bro.
…BB
So glad you’re doing well!
And then you have to take into consideration who your target audience is. A blog that features less specialized content will naturally have a better chance of gaining a large audience. In other words, it really counts where your rating stands compared to other blogs and sites about marketing and technology.
As a last reserve, you can always use headlines containing references to female body parts;)
Keep up the good work and keep the smile.