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http://www.jimsmarketingblog.com/ -
Original page
http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2008/11/19/internet-marketing-experiment-update/ -
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BTW, my Twitter username is avfguy - so follow me! (twitter.com/avfguy)
@smartmarketing
This has been an interesting experiment! I am pleased to see that your spam rate has not gone up, as I know that was a concern. As for Google, who cares. You are building such a great following and fostering so much confidence in the power of conversation. That is "True" networking at its finest. Great job! Please keep us updated on future developments.
Cheers!
Virginia @Cars4Causes
Hope the new blog's a success!
Keith,
Google is becoming the focal point or lots of website owners and bloggers. That HAS to be wrong!
Virginia,
Hi Virginia. The whole point of this is to develop a small business marketing community - built around people.
I'm just using it as an online diary also use it to post things I have picked up from the emailsI receive and re-blog them If I feel that people find them interesting.
I also use it to post my observations when I'm out and about, I love observing people, sit me on a park bench and I'd happily observe people all day long, as long as the sun is out :)
Twitter username:@wizard1974uk
With this thinking in mind, I have personally found that the more I share, the more I am likely to get some kind of worthwhile feedback. To me, this kind of 'experiential marketing' is very much like the idea of 'paying it forward' - the more you give equals the more you get.
Kind of like practicing some good karma online.
With your experiment, I believe you are not only paying it forward, but introducing the idea of actively creating interactions online...which, to me, equals to some pretty decent karma online.
@iKyleR is my twitter username!
I think people probably just don't realise that this blog offers do-follow links - or they are unaware as to the value of them?
I found this through Twitter myself: http://twitter.com/wooleyduck
Thanks for the comment.
There are already lots of posts about how to use SU. I wonder if anyone would like to recommend one to you?
This is strange, my Google traffic account to about 46+% of all visitors and I never seen drop in numbers due to DoFollow implementation. And I've been doing it for well over year.
Thanks for the comment. Maybe it's a 'blip' - as I said, it's only 12 days since I begun the experiment and only a few months since I started the blog.
It will be interesting to watch over the coming weeks / months Alex.
Love the article, will be adding do follow to my blog.
I'm still new at this and you've been helpful to me in twitter as well.
@debworks is my twitter name!
thanks,
Deb
I hope it works for you!
Google (and other) engines are in the business of finding (and recommending) quality content on a given subject matter and they change their heuristics all the time (more than once per day, on average.) Anyone that believes they know a magic trick (like follow vs. no follow) for influencing Google is mistaken.
Our philosophy has always been: create quality, on-message content and let the search engines do their job. The search engines will continue to adapt and get better at what they do.
Any attempt to develop content *for* search engines is misguided because the search engines change so quickly. But what does not (and will not) change is that search engines are looking for quality, on-message content.
@faseidl
Andrea/ @MakingMusicMag
Thanks for that. I agree that it's not always a great move to write or develop content JUST for search engines.
I do some SEO here, but will alter my style of writing for Google - I write for people.
I've been following your Blog since you started the DoFollow and thanks for posting the update today. It proves building any kind of business is about relationships, which is the key success and you have proven this. It's prompted me to review, update and renew my blog, Thanks Jim!
@seandb1
@pcrowe
I was interested in hearing your results before I followed your lead, so THANK YOU for sharing this with us!
You rock!!
Jeannette
Thanks for doing this, and thanks for keeping us posted on the results! : )
@carolehayes
David Perkins (aka: trafficmechanic)
follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/trafficmechanic
I use a number of SEO tools on this blog - but it's a very small part of what I do.
Marketing seems to work just fine.
http://www.twitter.com/ralphphotograph
I'm going to edit my dofollow post to include a link to this post.
I started a research on the use of social media to drive your at home business, by using free tools available online, and if used properly, will help drive revenue for you. I became a home-business owner, in Tastefully Simple, to try this philosophy out to see if it works.
Wish me luck!
@brandyfavilla
@tastefullysimpl
Thanks for all your help.
Newbie twitter Lea
www.twitter.com/mindmatrix
I welcome new twitterers at http://www.twitter.com/CoachEva1
Good question! Certainly not in the short or medium term; as a brand new blog doesn't get stacks of search engine traffic even if it plays the Google game.
Medium to long term - yes, it could. I don't believe it will though.
It's just a thought...
:)
Best,
Nicola
I think Google are a very smart company. They will adapt, but only if needed.
Nicola
http://twitter.com/the_gman
Once it "clicks" that commenting on another's site can lead to their readership visiting your site (as well as other benefits) I think u will find the numbers steadily increasing.
There are so many internet nd small business marketers out there on the web. It took me a week of scoping yours and others sites to decide that your blog is of more value to me to visit regularly.
others will follow~its all part of that attraction factor (which may have something to do with your John Travolta likeness :-)
Thanks for the comment. However, I think you managed to completely miss the point I was making. I am not looking for traffic from Google - It's the exact opposite!
The numbers are already here - Because the blog is being marketed without the help of Google. This means there was no long wait while Google decided what to do.
I started marketing this blog just 11 weeks ago and have not spent a penny advertising it - Yet it's already attracting more readers (and more comments) than many blogs have managed after years of playing 'the google game.'
Jim, on Twitter you mentioned that the majority of your traffic comes from sources other than Google. So, how much did the drop in Google traffic affect your blog?
You can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/midnighttango
Thanks,
@avfguy
I know very little about Blogger, though maybe another reader will be able to answer you question?
The drop in Google traffic meant nothing, because they were not giving me anything much to begin with.
That would be a VERY long post!!!
I have studied marketing for over 22 years and put everything I have learnt into developing this blog.
The blog is also only just barely getting started - so, as one of my old bosses once told me;
"Watch what I do - if it works, copy it!"
I'm just glad to follow someone with 22 years of experience in marketing (since I have the same in sales manager development), and I'm learning a bunch just from reading your articles. Thanks for thinking of others and not GOOGLE with what you are doing.
Regards,
Lance @salesmanageslns
Thanks
Lea @mindmatrix
Always welcoming new followers http://twitter.com/publicpsend
I've been using do-follow on my blog since I started blogging for the very reason you mention above - the Internet is about people and not Google. Also, this posts fits well with your previous post about people not hits.
I'd rather have less traffic but some quality readers who want to consume my information than a load of traffic taking up my bandwidth who don't want to be on my site.
I think that was an excellent idea to write a post outlining the fact that you allow do-follow on your blog.
Good on ya!
Trish
@floridafuture
@iKyleR
It's also great to see so many familiar @usernames!!!
@gailkonopbaker
Oh, and I'm @kate__k on Twitter
I've only been doing this for about six months, and I'm learning everyday that I have a lot left to learn.
My specialty is the Environment, but I'm learning more about blogging than I ever knew possible. Thanks for the great article.
@TwilightEarth on Twitter
@andrewosterberg on twitter
Isn't sharing ideas and what we find of interest a big part of social media?
Google will adjust, they are smart and fast folks.
I hope that I'll be able to follow suit. I am going to look at your previous posts to find out how to fix the no-follow in my blog. I'm so glad that this is working out for you and hope that I will also have similar luck, but I have only just begun and won't have any results for a while.
On Twitter, I am aptly lisanardionline. Talk to you soon.
Lisa
Thank you for following me on Twitter at @idaconcpts. Your blog writing style is very down-to-earth and down-to-business. Congrats on making points in a simple, concise manner.
Regarding your marketing experiment. My experience at my web analytics blog is:
1. Stumbleupon
In just one day, I received more than 400 hits, which is a lot for my humble blog with a total of 3000+ readers to date.
2. Search Engine Optimization
Having a blogroll of relevant blogs of marketing and web analytics; linking keywords to relevant websites; tagging and creating keywords, are just a couple of the ways that I am able to make Google like me.
3. Referrals from friend blogs.
4. Links from social networking sites such as Twitter, Linkedin, Techhui (local Hawaii IT association).
Please keep us posted on your experiment.
Some links are better than others. Links from high page rank sites are more 'valuable'.
I use seo and articles and forum comments to drive traffic to my websites and blogs, recently I've added Twitter to my arsenal.
Daily effort to create links to your site really does pay off.
Glad I found you.
http://www.twitter.com/lynnelee
@lynnelee
Interesting post and experiment, what I am not sure is exactly why you would want to have do-follow links when it there is the possibility of them harming your site, should it link to any site that Google or indeed some of the other search engines do not approve of? I guess the fact that you are getting more people linking back to your blog could more than compensate for this and if you manually weed out the bad eggs it could really pay off...
Think I have talked myself into the answer here!
It raised a good question that I hadn't pondered yet and that is if backtrack and linkbacks count in the do-follow process?
I suppose if the blog is entirely do-follow than that is an extra incentive to get others to link back to your site.
Twitter/Stumble: jpearce01
I'm curious about your change in Google traffic. Are you measuring that in absolute numbers or as a percentage of total traffic sources? Just wondering if do-follow is increasing traffic from other sources, so Google as a percentage is down.
Even if the absolute numbers are down, that's not entirely surprising. Commenting for link juice strikes me as one of those practices that Google would like to stamp out, even though they'll take many good, legitimate comments with them.
Thank you! Cindy
http://www.twitter.com/Method3AM http://www.twitter.com/CindyColoma
Just a thought that occurs. I know I get some google traffic but I am not sure how many actually stay around long enough to comment on articles. Tracking is out of my control on ehow.
I would like to experimient sometime after I reach my next moentary plateau. ALRADY
It would be interesting to know what the increased links are targeting on your blog.