Living in the age of the internet, you expect everything to happen right away. You want your page to load fast, you want your comment to be approved fast and you expect a directory or a service to review your site quickly.
There are some directories and listings that just take their sweet time though. Today we'll review two of them.
DMOZ - It's the directory everyone wants into, as Google itself composes its directory results from the DMOZ listings. Getting listed in DMOZ gives you a definite edge over the competition. Unfortunately, its run by a bunch of overworked (and sometimes lazy) volunteer editors, who list sites at their own discretion and take their sweet time doing so. I should know, I used to be one. Getting your site listed is next to impossible.
Technorati - Claiming your blog on Technorati seems to be the thing to do. It's supposed to give you extra exposure or some such. I haven't been able to confirm those wonder benefits, though, as my blog is currently stuck somewhere in the review queue, has been there for about two months now. Slooooow!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Above The Fold Ads - It Really Does Help
I've previously written about my problem with the none existent clickthrough. It's been a month since, and I found that placing ads above the fold improved matters dramatically.
Not much to be said really. Above the fold works, below the fold - does not.
Not much to be said really. Above the fold works, below the fold - does not.
Monday, November 30, 2009
On Comment Stealing
I wasn't always happy with Blogspot's prevention of comment editing, but I'm starting to see why this might actually be a positive idea.
I've seen Wordpress blog owners use and abuse their comment editing privileges. Some bloggers seem to think that it's okay to strip links from a comment on a whim. Well, it is not okay!
Stripping a comment from its link as a punishment of sorts, just because the expressed opinion is not isn your favor - it's childish and stupid. It's stealing. There is an unspoken arrangement, comments for links, and you're violating it.
If you don't like an opinion - don't publish the comment, it's as simple as that. Blogspot got it right.
I've seen Wordpress blog owners use and abuse their comment editing privileges. Some bloggers seem to think that it's okay to strip links from a comment on a whim. Well, it is not okay!
Stripping a comment from its link as a punishment of sorts, just because the expressed opinion is not isn your favor - it's childish and stupid. It's stealing. There is an unspoken arrangement, comments for links, and you're violating it.
If you don't like an opinion - don't publish the comment, it's as simple as that. Blogspot got it right.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Why Can't Comments be Edited?
I'm really bugged by my inability ot edit visitor comments in my Blogspot blog. It's so annoying. You can only publish or delete them, that's it.
A Googling quest shows that you could hack the comments once upon a time, but no more. That option was blocked by Blogspot way back in 2007. I hate this.
A Googling quest shows that you could hack the comments once upon a time, but no more. That option was blocked by Blogspot way back in 2007. I hate this.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Writing HTML/XML in Blogspot
Sometimes you need to write code, but Blogspot doesn't make it easy on you, as it interprets your HTML/XML instead of displaying it. This is what you shall do:
Replace all the < in your code with <
Replace all the > in your code with >
Perfectly formatted code, just the way you wanted it!
Replace all the < in your code with <
Replace all the > in your code with >
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<note>
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
</note>
Perfectly formatted code, just the way you wanted it!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Playing Around with Ad Locations
On my other site, I have Google Adsense ads. The ads were there since the beginning. Last three months I've finally been having a fair amount of quality traffic, a fair share of impressions... and not a single click.
I can only hope that's because those ads are located below the fold, rather than the other option - that my audience isn't interested in what those ads serve.
Experiment time! I'm going to place the ads (one skyscraper unit), above the fold. Keep it there for another 3 months, then report back. Still no clicks? Then the Adsense will have to go.
I can only hope that's because those ads are located below the fold, rather than the other option - that my audience isn't interested in what those ads serve.
Experiment time! I'm going to place the ads (one skyscraper unit), above the fold. Keep it there for another 3 months, then report back. Still no clicks? Then the Adsense will have to go.
Setting Up a Custom Blogspot Domain with Namecheap.com
If you're a newbie to DNS management, setting up your custom domain that was registered on namecheap.com might seem like a pain. It's actually quite easy:
Getting there:
Important: If there are some default settings already set, change them to what you need, don't keep them as is.
Create a CNAME record. Use the following settings:
Create four A records. Use the following settings:
After saving the changes, your screen should look like this:
Set up your Blogspot settings:
Getting there:
- Log in into your Namecheap account
- Choose the "Manage Domains" tab and click on the domain name which you want to connect with your Blogspot blog
- On the left sidebar choose "All Host Records"
Important: If there are some default settings already set, change them to what you need, don't keep them as is.
Create a CNAME record. Use the following settings:
- HOST NAME : www
- IP ADDRESS/ URL:
ghs.google.com - RECORD TYPE: CNAME
Create four A records. Use the following settings:
- HOST NAME : @
- IP ADDRESS/ URL: 216.239.32.21
- RECORD TYPE: A
- HOST NAME : @
- IP ADDRESS/ URL: 216.239.34.21
- RECORD TYPE: A
- HOST NAME : @
- IP ADDRESS/ URL: 216.239.36.21
- RECORD TYPE: A
- HOST NAME : @
- IP ADDRESS/ URL: 216.239.38.21
- RECORD TYPE: A
After saving the changes, your screen should look like this:
Set up your Blogspot settings:
- Go to Settings -> Publishing -> Custom Domain -> Switch to advanced settings
- Enter your domain name into the "Your Domain" field
- Save Settings
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