Blogging and the Visitors from the Search Engines

I haven't written a post here for more than three months. To my readers, if I ever have one, please accept my apologies. It's not that I quit blogging, it is just that I am so busy these days. I have more or less ten blogs to maintain, and I can only update 3 or 4 of them.

And this blog quite has no direction at all. hehe. But it has traffic. Yep, visitors from search engines. I am on page one when you search for Beach wedding venue in Cebu, and Cebu Garden Wedding Venues. I used to occupy Google's top spot when you search for the later.

That single post alone which I linked above got more than fifty inquiries about the wedding venue. My knowledge on search engine optimization helped me market the place. Despite the fact that there is another website dedicated to Wedding Venues in Cebu, I still managed to top on certain long-tail keywords.

But sometimes, it is frustrating too when some hijacker comes around.(she's a visitor from the search engines too) She gets the list of those who posted their emails here, then she sends them wedding coordination offers, etc... She even shamelessly introduced herself as our partner wedding coordinator, or something to that effect. She even had the guts to call the venue owner and asked for some commissions.

I got her name. I noticed that is her habit to comment on wedding websites, leave her email ad and offer her services. A schoolmate of my wife in high school, who happened to inquire about the wedding venue, told us about the guerrilla marketing tactics of this wedding coordinator. I am sure some people, who found the Punta Engaño wedding venue through this site, hired her services too.

Anyway, this post is not to discredit her. And if you have hired that person and is dissatisfied with her services, go rant somewhere else. If she did well, then it's fine with us.

I better transfer my wedding venue posts to my wordpress blogs wherein I can protect our potential clients. This is no longer about blogging anything under the sun. Blogging is indeed a tool to promote one's business.


p.s. In a few weeks, I will put up a website for our Furniture and cabinet-making business. I have already bought the domain. Watch out for it!

Goodbye Cbox

Today I'll drop my Cbox. If you don't know what it is, it's tagboard wherein visitors make their presence felt by leaving a message, either a legit one or a spam.

The Cbox (or Tagboard) has its wonderful uses. But I think I'll do away with it for now. If my readers want to leave a message, they just have to comment in any of my post. A legit commenter can read and input the image that will appear before they click the submit button.

I think it's better that way.

Another Year?

This blog turns 1 today. Congrats to me! Not so big a feat though, unlike my early weeks when this site, despite being only 75 days old, got a PR3. Then, the spank. I wasn't even earning big bucks and seems like the big G dashed all my hopes. Only a few PP but a big black-eye.

So what's next? Another year? Or transfer all my contents to my own domain and hosting? I'll wait for the next update, and rethink from there.

No More Of the Paid Posts

I haven't been to the sites where paid post opportunities were given for many weeks now. I almost forgot my log-in passwords. It's been a while since I wrote a sponsored entry. I lost interest when Google slapped me with a penalty that bought my pagerank to nil. It's also kind of frustrating when all the opps are for those with PR only and you have to race with others the very few available opps for those without PR. I know that some wait till dawn for a writing opportunity to come.

I also don't want to bid for a 300 worded entry that would require me to write positively on a product that I cannot relate and cannot possibly use in the near future. There would be less truth in that. I used to have fun writing entries then inserting a link somewhere at the bottom as if to conceal that paid post. Yeah, that was fun. But some readers would not like that.

For now, I am not doing any paid post. It's not the only way to make money online.

No New Story

It's almost a month since my last post here. It's really hard to keep up when you have so many blogs, and your internet connection is limited to some freebies. This post is even brought to you by a borrowed Smart Bro device.

What new story should I write? My literary blog has no update. My other blogs have one or two posts a week. Or even none. Am I running out of words and ideas? Is there anything new to blog about?

Actually there are so many things to blog about. But I can seem to start a post about them. It's not about lack of passion or action. Maybe I need some refreshing. Or am I into this blogging burn-out?

Blog Direction

If you have read my latest posts, it seems that this has already become a sports blog. No, this is not part of my original intention. This Nifty Universe is supposed to be about everything, not just sports.

I'll have to do a lot of reworking for this blog. Maybe I'll transfer to a new domain, or a sub-domain. Maybe I'll do niche blogging, and perhaps try out niche marketing too.

I'll have to work on my my PR also. This blog used to have a PR of 3. I haven't done any sponsored posts for a while. So, if this blog won't receive any update by the next round, I'll surely move on to somewhere.

The Blog Awards Challenge

I first learned about it in Talksmart’s blog, but didn’t get the chance to revisit the site for the past three weeks. But today, I happened to hop into someone else’s site promoting the said challenge.

The Blog Awards Challenge

The Blog Awards Challenge is a blog competition combining literary skills, interactivity and peer polling. The Blog Awards Challenge is bi-weekly theme-based writing event for everyone in the blogosphere. A challenge is posted in the site every two weeks. Bloggers who wish to compete will write about the theme and post the entry on their respective blogs.

This competition is open to all bloggers, regardless of race, age and status. The first Theme will be posted on April 13, 2008. But before that day happens, they have a contest for bloggers promoting the Blog Awards Challenge. A nifty shuffle Ipod as a prize is not bad. But I’m actually looking forward for the challenge. Read more about the challenge and the contest rules in the Blog Awards Challenge website.

Entrecard's New Pricing: Too Expensive?

From the Entrecard's Blog came this announcement dated April 7, 2008:

“Starting today, your ad price is determined solely by demand for your ad spot. Every time someone purchases, or applies to purchase an ad on your site, your price doubles. Every time an ad finishes running, your price halves.

To calculate your price at any given moment, just start at 2 credits, and double it for everyone waiting for an ad on your site. For example, if you have 5 people approved and stacked in the “On your widget” column of the dashboard, and 5 people waiting for approval, you would calculate 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2, or 2 to the power of 10, which eqauls 1024 credits. And then in 24 hours, when an ad has completed running, their price would go down to 512. If no one bought an ad that day, tomorrow it would go down to 256. And then if someone bought an ad for 256, the price would go back up to 512.

So the price will actually fluctuate with each ad that has been bought and each ad that completes. If no one has bought an ad on you in a while, your price will get very cheap very quick. And if you want to buy an ad on a high-profile blog, you’ll be able to whenever you want, as long as you have enough credits.”

Some blogs had become ridiculously priced. Imagine the most expensive ones require 262,144 ec! At the current going rate of $6 per 1000 ec, that would be $1,572.86 cost for a 24-hr adtime!

Having joined entrecard a few weeks ago, I only have over 700 ec left in my account. I've already spent around 600 ec on ads in more than a dozen blogs. I am not sure if it was well-spent but I'm satisfied of the overall results. Maybe I just have to freeze ad buying for now coz it's just "too expensive" (i'm referring to the text on the entrecard boxes on blogs I couldn't afford).

But before someone pushes the panic button, try reading the entrecard blog first. Everything will be normalized in a couple of days, as they promised. So all we have to do is to hold on. And if you can afford advertising on these popular blogs today, why not?

Instant Web Traffic

This blog was on its busiest the last few days. My average traffic quadrupled, my Alexa rank leaped by 4M, and my Izearank jumped by around 4k notches. What happened?

Two things: Entrecard and Key Words

Entrecard

Entrecard is your internet business card. See that icon under “blog of the day” in my right sidebar? That is my advertiser’s entrecard. Mine is advertised somewhere. This nifty advertising creation allows bloggers to advertise their blogs without spending a cent.

Whenever you visit a blog that has entrecard in it, you drop a card and you earn 1 ec. Whenever other blogggers visit your blog and drop a card, you also earn 1 ec. When others want to advertise on your blog for a day, you are paid a certain number of ec. When you want to advertise in others’ blogs, you pay them in ec depending on their price. There is an unwritten rule that when someone drops a card on your blog, you drop on them in return. Probably 50 – 60% of the entrecarders follow that. Register now if you want that instant traffic, and keep on dropping.

Hot and Burning Key Words

If you ask me why in the world I was writing about the bar exam results, the American idol, and even the UFC, I will tell you that it was just a strategy to invite traffic. And it worked. I didn’t just copy and paste from others. I had friends who took the bar, I was able to watch American idol in Q TV, and I am a fan of the UFC. That is why it is easy for me to write on such topics. I did not write about Ms. Dolly Parton, though that keyword was one of hottest in Google hottrends, because I don’t know her until the ‘Dolly Parton’ Week in American Idol season 7. I am a generation behind so forgive my ignorance.

Now back to the title. Why do I the need traffic for? It is for experimentation, monetization and motivation. How much money did I get for all those traffic? It’s laughable and forgettable. Maybe it is for now. I still have a lot to learn from the masters in terms of converting traffic into money. But again, these are just “instant” actions, and just like all other instants out there (e.g. instant noodles, instant drinks) may not be able to sustain a blog in the long run.

The Next Google Page Rank Update

When is the next google page rank update in 2008? They say it used to be done quarterly. But now, who knows if it could be this day, this week or the next. I don't have insider information either. Some suggested that it could occur in the middle of April. That's 2 weeks from now!

This site, started in the last day of October, got PR3 in January 2008 but smacked in the March round. My cubicle neighbor got his PR3 in the late February update but lost it immediately within two weeks. Along with the lost PR goes the motivation to blog. But the disinterest was only temporary. We’re blogging like madmen again, even buying our own domains and hosting.

But hey, are we blogging for rankings? Other bloggers dismiss the importance of page rank or that green bar in the google toolbar. They say that it’s useless and serves only its creator. Even the mention of PR is a nuisance to their ears. But try saying that to a PPP postie with PR0. After the bonus post, they are just salivating at the many opps they’re not qualified to do. Izea’s ranking alternative is not yet fully applied leaving many in frustration.

There are others who are blogging for rankings. Not just the PR, but all other rankings that exist in the world wide web: SERP, Technorati, Izea, Ratified, Alexa, etc.. Ego tripping, huh! But if it’s for a living, it’s hard work.

While waiting for the next PR update, why don’t we just build our blog’s foundation: Content, design, traffic, links, etc…I’m planning to change my template to a more professional looking one. I still have to find something that pleases my eyes.

Update: The latest round of updates began April 29, 2008. This may last a week or more. The PR of this site, which used to be 3, was not reinstated by Google. But who knows what might happen in the next few days.

The SEO Experiment: 2007 Philippine Bar Exam Results

The list of 2007 Phil Bar topnotchers and full list of passers are posted in here. (Or you just scroll down the post prior to this one)

However, it was really just an SEO experiment on my part. The lure of getting traffic, aside from the entrecarders, and landing in the early pages of google search are just too tempting. This site can be found on page 7. Those who were able to place on page 1 had done well in their optimization. It's not the SC website topping the search engines anymore. It's the blogs. But I'm not totally sure which keywords brought the traffic in. I'll check my webmaster tools later.

Having placed in the first 2 pages in the "Flowers to Cebu" keywords in google and the only blog among the flower shops, I stopped my experiment. I was engrossed with the sponsored post thing, which was easy money. That is probably why the big G swooped down my PR in their latest update. (Sunjun, this is the reason why I no longer have my PR)

Then there was my dotcom. It is really nice to have one and with a nifty-looking wordpress template. My best posts about blogging are in there. And for three weeks, it got nominated in some awards site. Too bad I was not good enough in campaigning. But I had problems too. Many times my site was inaccessible. Then, a day before its first monthsary, I messed up the files in the file server after the host reset the whole thing. So, my Blogcebuworld is still in limbo right now.

So this is blogging: blog for yourself, for the readers, then for the search engines.

Officially Miley Cyrus

I came across her name, Miley Cyrus, in the internet many times, but didn’t really bother to investigate who this kid really is.

Born Destiny Hope Cyrus, she became famous for her as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana role in one of the hit series of Disney Channel. And now, she officially changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus. It sounds like that of his father, famous country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

That change of name would not really be a problem for her or her fans. As a matter of fact, it is a good thing. Names are really confusing to those who don't really know the real person behind the name.

And as for my blogging, I wouldn’t trade my real name for the many other names I used in the internet. Those are just pseudonyms in the likes of Rizal and other early heroes.

Announcement

Even before my new blog is christened, it has reached the doorsteps of the Composed Gentleman, and even got a nomination as Filipino Blog of the Week for Week98 (March 1-7, 2008).

I don't know how and why, but what the heck! So, this is both an announcement and a campaign. My new blog is BLOGCEBUWORLD.COM. Help me welcome this baby.

And please vote for me. Please visit this SITE and on the right sidebar you can find the poll widget. Vote for Blogcebuworld once everyday till the end of the week.

Thank you very much for your support! I'm still gonna keep and maintain this nifty universe site.

Monetizing 102: Blogsvertise

I joined Blogsvertise and will soon write posts for their advertisers. This is jut one of the opportunities bloggers can monetize their sites. Joining is easy. Register and blog about them. Once approved by the administrator, you will get writing assignments. You need to write about 2-3 paragraphs ( or a minimum of 75 words) and link to the advertisers’ websites at least 3 times in your blog posts. You can accept or decline the assignment within 5 days or the offer expires.

Writing an entry for Blogsvertise is not really difficult as you can write it your style. You can make a review, or just relate to it in your everyday happenings. Approval of the entry made is fast. You get paid thru Paypal 30 days after the post is approved. If you don’t have a paypal account, go get one now and start getting paid to blog.

Blogging 101: For Ms. Rose

What is a blog? Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines it as, “a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer”. It is short for a weblog.

Think about those diaries you used to hide under your bed, wherein you put daily entries about your thoughts and experiences. Sometimes, you even put codes to hide the real names of your crushes. Think about those formal themes you used to do in elementary and high school, and those scribblings you do for fun. Think about those unsent letters of hate and love, and those parting words you drafted when you think you could no longer take it anymore. Think about those stories formed in your mind, or those critical book or movie reviews you want to write.

Those I mentioned above can be posted online to form a blog. For a start, one can use free hosted sites like blogger (owned by google), wordpress and i.ph. I love the layout of i.ph but sorry I have to leave them. Firewall problem. I’ve never used wordpress, but it has better-looking templates. I don’t want Multiply because people there only want the pictures. Those at friendster are concerned only of their friends’ lists and not their friends’ blog content. I am happy at blogger. But I certainly want my own domain.

In a blog, you can either use your name or an alias (if you’re shy or just want some mystery). There are pros and cons to both, but it really depends. You can have fun in either or in both ways. Identity confusion would be a problem later if you use both.

If you think you don’t know how to write, think again. Unless you commence writing, you can never write better. Maybe we can’t read your mind, but you can type in the keyboard and write your thoughts, free-flowing like the wind outside the corners of my cubicle. Don’t mind the monsters that will attempt to discourage you. We’ve got more than 14 years of schooling to learn how to write. It may not be perfect though.

Who are we to judge the writer because of the misfired metaphors and the feeble grammatical constructions? That blog, that website that contains your precious thoughts, is yours, with or without readers.

Monetizing 101

In a post I mentioned before, there are ways of monetizing one’s blog. One is to get paid to blog. So I joined Smorty and got my blog approved in less than 48 hours. That how fast they approve blogs to get you started immediately.

Smorty is a service connecting advertisers with thousands of blogs. When an advertiser starts an advertising campaign to advertise on blogs, bloggers write unique reviews and link back to the advertiser’s website using specific keywords. The buzz created can eventually benefit the advertisers as these increase their product exposure and search engine rankings. It’s a great feeling to be on the internet’s no.1 spot.

For bloggers, you get paid for writing about the things you love. You can forget about ranting and blogging about nothing when don’t have anything else to keep your blog moving. You can certainly blog for money. There are plenty of paid blogging opportunities with Smorty, and the good thing is, they pay you on paypal weekly.

A Cebuano Blogger's Frail SEO Attempt

Thanks to google’s webmasters tools and to the posts of Marhgil. I’m learning fast on how to improve traffic to my blog. Cyril, my cubicle neighbor, is also excited on this SEO thing.

There are few keywords where I’m on google’s page 1. It brought considerable traffic to this site (though not really converting into adsense clicks). Take for example the GMA vs ABS CBN entries that I have here. Though there is not enough content here about their age-old rivalry, still, plenty stumbled in this site. So I’m constrained to give updates.

In last night’s news, ABS CBN brought to open their witnesses. GMA, however, claimed that there was nothing new to the allegations, and even sought swift court action on their suit. But the judge might inhibit himself. His cousin works for ABS CBN.

Here’s a new one: GMA said that AGB Nielsen reported that ABS CBN also contacted metered homes. Hmmm…That would probably make them on equal footing.

But we viewers are not really concerned about their feud. Give us good shows. I’m really getting redundant here.

Ok, back to SEO. The truth is: I want to optimize keywords like “Flowers to Cebu” and “Cebu Weddings”. This site is on page 3 for the former and page 1 on the latter. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. I know I’ll be competing with flower shops and wedding planners on this. But these are something that my wife is really good at: floral arrangements and coordinating weddings. I’ll see how far I can get before getting a dotcom for an online flower shop. Getting a small pie of this industry won’t hurt the big players.

New Year's Resolution

I don't really have something specific right now. I quit thinking about how to trim down and lose weight. I've been including that in my yearly list since 2002 when I started to expand horizonally. But I had zero success.

I'd slow down in badminton. I can't go back to my fighting form unless I'd shape up and trim down. I have to forget about winning trophies again. I got plenty of invites from various groups but I got my arsenal of excuses. Busy here, travel there. Actually, it's my knees that has been bothering me.

I'd blog more. But it won't just be about blogging. There certainly are plenty of opportunities online that I have to explore. Perhaps this is my new "New Year's Resolution".

Halo-halo Stories: A Year-Ender Post

Former Pakistan PM Bhenazir Bhutto was assassinated the other day. After many attempts, a suicide bomber finally succeeded in getting close. She was immediately buried yesterday. Not enough time for her supporters to mourn. Again, fingers are pointed at Al-Qaeda.

“Dumbledore is gay!” says JK Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter series. Should we expect a new book to expound on this declaration? Nah! But why didn’t Dumbledore declare it in Hogwarts? Oops, enough said. It won’t make any difference to the story anyway.

Sex scandals, pinay scandal, Cebu scandal, whatever scandals are there to create a spark on the imagination, and of course, internet hits. Yesterday’s issue of the local daily contained news of a scandal that happened in the adjacent city. Two female job-order employees of the City Hall were allegedly made to play with the genitals of their senior male superior. No play – no pay, so they complained. Hmmm…waiting for a follow up news on this, as investigations are still on-going.

Shit explodes, kills 11 and wounds 100 others in Glorietta. That should be the headline if it can be proven that it’s gas, not bomb, that caused the explosion. I hope for swift justice and compensation for the victims, though.

Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton seemed to have hugged the entertainment highlights this year. I’m sure we’ll hear more of them in 2008.

GMA is still the President of the Philippines. Trillanes wasn’t able to get enough support since his friends were somewhere else. We’ll just hope Mrs. President do better for the country in 2008.

The peso closed at P41.401 as against the US dollar for this year 2007. That’s more than 35% reduction from the high of P56 three years ago. And the sad thing, prices of almost everything are still high. So, my friends who are living outside the Philippines, you need to pour in more dollars for your families here.

Goodbye 2007, welcome 2008! Happy New Year everyone! I wish we’d all be better off next year.

Earn Online Thru Sponsored Posts

I mentioned in my previous post some ways of earning money thru blogging. One of them is by making sponsored posts. This feature post is a continuation, not a duplication of what I posted before.

These are some of the sites wherein you can earn thru sponsored posts: Smorty, Pay Per Post, Blogvertise, BlogToProfit, Bidvertise, SponsoredReview, PayU2blog, Bloggertizer, etc… I’m not providing the link, but you can just googlesearch them if you’re really interested.

The basic requirements are very simple and are mostly similar among these competing sites. You need a 90-day-old blog with at least 20 posts, written in English and with correct grammar. Register, submit your blog, and wait for approval. They evaluate your blog based on certain criteria and they email their approval as fast as 12 hours, and as long as 5 days. Once approved, they gave you the writing assignments, or they serve as a link between you and the advertiser. But these assignments vary and depend on the following: URL, Location, Categories and PR (and other rankings)

URL. Blogs are not created equal. Many advertisers prefer dotcom over others. Other free sites like wordpress do not allow paid posts. There are bloggers who, in their eagerness to earn more, maintain two or more sites, one of which is a dotcom.

Location. The bloggers’ geographic location also matters. Don’t ever think of racial discrimination here. Advertisers just prefer bloggers who are nearer to their target market.

Blog Category. It is always suggested that bloggers write and develop content on certain categories, one that they’re really good at. Advertisers prefer blogs with contents that are more or less related to their products or services.

PR. Some blogs are just too good that they rose above others very fast. Blame that on their owners’ knowledge of SEO. But that can be learned too. Blogs with more traffic and higher PR get more paid opportunities. Advertisers believe that when their site is linked to a site that has a higher PR, their own PR also increases. (Oh PR! No one can really fully explain how google does its math.)

If you think you are qualified and have a chance to make it big, join now in the bandwagon of paid blogging. But be sure to open a paypal account first. They pay you through it.