Blogging, link exchanges, and a question of etiquette
I was browsing a few of the blogs that I link to and I started to notice that some of them have stopped linking back to me. Is this a current trend with blogging? The thing with links is that, yes, it is better to have one-way, inbound links than it is to do link exchanges with anyone and everyone, but conversely, are people breaking an unwritten rule of etiquette by initiating link swaps and then removing the links some time later? I’m not singling out any particular blogger here because more than one has done it, but blogging is becoming an increasingly dog eat dog world. I find myself becoming obsessed with page ranks and statistics and code and things that before I paid no attention to.
I’d say that it’s almost impossible to become an established blogger without taking steps to optimizing your blog, but does there ever come a point when you take it too seriously? My stats have been steadily increasing and my blog is currently at PR4 on Google, with around 600 unique visitors a day, according to Google Analytics. I attribute the increase in visitor numbers since September to two things: firstly, my new layout has made a huge amount of difference because it’s clean and easy to navigate; secondly, I now post daily, sometimes more than once a day, in short, sharp bursts, generally avoiding bloated posts that nobody will read. If you look at all the top blogs, they are all straight to the point with their writing.
Back to my initial observations, I am still working at making this blog better. There are some things I need to tweak, especially since my database loss this week, but I feel like I’m getting there. Money earnt from this blog is not excessive but it’s covered my hosting expenses and other such costs, plus a little bit more.
I see a lot of blogs about Thailand that are great, but the posts are just too long. People who read blog posts don’t want to be lectured; they want to be entertained while they surf. Most people who read a blog won’t stay on it for an excessive amount of time, and that’s why I think The Bangkok Bugle is one of the best Thai-based blogs around. I wouldn’t say my blog is a success, but when I hit PR5 I’ll let you know. And for anyone reading this, yes, I will do link swaps if your blog has something on it I’d like to read. And no, I won’t remove my links unless you turn out to be a very bad person.
Techno' tags: Blogging, Link backs
May 24th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Hey Matt,
Do you know that the ICT had blocked all the blogspot.com subdomain? Which means that millions of bloggers can not access their blog anymore….
According to Bangkok Pundit:
"The reason from what I have been able to find out this is because MICT wanted the following websites blocked:
* saturdayvoice.no-ip.info 74.200.204.106
* shoutmix.com/?saturday
* www2.shoutmix.com/?saturday
* satradio2.myvnc.com 61.47.47.215
* satradio1.myvnc.com 203.146.127.113
* http://www.saturdayvoice.blogspot.com
* saturdayvoice.blogspot.com
All these website are associated with Saturday Voice Against Dictatorship. They were one of the 3 radio stations who spoke to Thaksin last week. It seems that incompetent IT staff just blocked the whole blogspot.com subdomain.""
~R
May 24th, 2007 at 10:35 am
I heard about this but I can still access all site, including those above. I've not had any trouble accessing blogger or any blogspot sites, but I think it depends who your provider is. Are those sites blocked for you?
May 24th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I feel for you. I got the same sentiments. Other bloggers would offer links but when you check a few weeks later, it becomes one way.
Sad to say the blogosphere is beginning to be like Myspace on it's heyday. When we're not hot any longer (as they think), we are ditched for some (apparently) hotter blogger. Too bad.
One way to treat it (as I do), if my link is gone theirs is off too. Play the game of finding new ones — apparently the current trend.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I'm just figuring out the blogging scene now so I appreciate your insights. I like your point about integrity in blogging. I enjoy reading your blog so I have you as a link; and I miss Bangkok so read so many stories here. Don't change a thing. All the best. Steve
May 24th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Hey Steve,
I guess it all depends how much you view your blogging as a business. The more you do it, the more business-minded you become. Once adsense start clicking up and you get more efficient, I guess it's a natural process, but I think it's important to strike a balance.
Good luck with it all anyway!
May 25th, 2007 at 2:26 am
Hi Matt,
I gather that TRUE users are not affected by the ban. Others will only have to use Proxy servers, though I should remind everybody that such use is prohibited by a recent new Thai law with stiff penalties such as a maximum of five-years imprisonment and fines up to 100,000 baht ($2,700).
Let's go and figure… All of that to read my favourite blog on Thai recipe…
~R
May 25th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Matt – Thanks so much for your glowing commendation about The Bangkok Bugle. For me it's fun and a way to communicate with friends and family around the world. The fact other people read it and like it is just, well, slightly bemusing. I have no desire to make money from it whatsoever – and I guess that's why what I write isn't commercial in any way.I think you're right when you say short and to-the-point is what every blog should be. Include pictures from time to time too and I don't think you can go wrong.
By the way, I still can't access my own blog from the office (via TOT) but have no problems from home. I can still update from work though because that's done from the blogger domain. So even though some people can't access blogspot blogs they can still be updated. Don't tell anyone though. ;-)
May 26th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Hi Matt, You have a great blog! And this post was useful to me as a (relatively) new blogger. While comments on my blog and increasing traffic motivates me to blog more often, I am not sure if I will try to make money from it; personally, I don't like ads on blogs.
May 28th, 2007 at 9:00 am
http://www.kikiat.com/ThaiWeb/Thai/blog/expat/expat-19.php Here you've got a link that's going to stay ! ;-)