BlogRush - A New Way to Get Visitors to Your Blog
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that for the last few weeks a small box has appeared in the right-hand column of my blog headed 'From the Blogosphere' (you may need to scroll down a bit to see this). The box is part of a new - and free - service for bloggers called BlogRush.
BlogRush aims to help bloggers attract more traffic. The way it works is that when you sign up (which as mentioned is free) you get some code to put on your blog. The code displays the BlogRush widget - the little box I've mentioned - which shows the titles of the latest posts on five other blogs in a related field (writing, in my case). If any of these piques your interest, you can click on the title to visit the blog concerned.
But what makes BlogRush particularly interesting for bloggers is that every time a visitor sees the widget on your blog, the title of your latest post is displayed on the widget of someone else's blog. So, in effect, the titles of your blog posts are being syndicated across the 'Blogosphere', and hopefully some of the people who see it will click through to visit your blog.
I've been evaluating BlogRush for a few weeks now, so here are my initial thoughts. First of all, the programme is NOT likely to generate hordes of visitors for you. I'm finding that I get about one visit per 400 impressions. I might be able to improve this a bit by creating more compelling titles for my posts, but realistically I think it's unlikely anyone will do better than around one in 300.
So is BlogRush a waste of time? Well, I don't think so. For one thing, even though most people may not be clicking on my blog title, they will still be seeing 'Nick Daws Writing Blog' on a wide range of writing-related blogs, and that can't hurt as far as getting me and my blog's name recognised.
A second feature of BlogRush I like is that, as well as impressions earned every time someone visits your blog, the system also allocates extra 'bonus' impressions. In my case, I am getting roughly one bonus impression for every one that I earn (so for every 100 visitors to my blog, the title of my latest blog post gets shown about 200 times on other people's blogs). I understand that new blogs with few visitors get a higher ratio of bonus impressions, on the basis that they need the extra traffic most!
A third 'plus' is that you can also introduce new BlogRush members, and you earn extra impressions every time someone views the blog of someone you introduced. This works down through eight levels. You don't need to do anything special to publicise BlogRush either. The widget has a tab on the bottom for people to click if they want more information, and anyone signing up via your blog will be credited to your downline. This is the first time I have mentioned BlogRush anywhere, but I have already recruited three other bloggers into my network from this source.
A final benefit of BlogRush has been unexpected. On various occasions I have noticed an interesting-sounding title on my blog's widget, and have clicked through to view the blog in question (there is no objection from BlogRush to members doing this, by the way). By this means I have discovered a number of other interesting blogs that I might otherwise never have known about.
Overall, if you're a blogger, I think BlogRush is well worth giving a spin. OK, it may not bring you thousands of extra visitors overnight, but it's a free - and in my experience hassle-free - way to help build up your readership. And any people who come to your blog via BlogRush are likely to have a genuine interest in your blog's subject area. They are more likely to stick around and become regular readers than those who simply arrive via a search engine listing.
Anyway, if you'd like to know more about BlogRush, just click on any of the links in this post, or on the tab at the foot of the BlogRush widget on the right. There is a very professional five-minute video on the information page which explains exactly how the system works. If you decide to join, simply click on the button below this and follow the on-screen instructions to get your widget code.
Incidentally, if you do decide to join, you will find that there is a longer video you can watch that explains exactly how you can check your stats, change the colour and size of your widget, block certain posts from being syndicated, and much more. Again, I highly recommend watching this, as it explains some features of BlogRush you might otherwise remain unaware of.
Good luck, and see you on BlogRush!
Postscript: Just wanted to say it's great to see that so many of you have decided to take up this opportunity, and I've been delighted to see your blog posts and titles already popping up in the widget on my blog. If you're having any problems getting BlogRush set up, do feel free to ask me and I'll help if I can. You can put a comment on this blog post, or contact me via my homepage at www.nickdaws.co.uk.
BlogRush aims to help bloggers attract more traffic. The way it works is that when you sign up (which as mentioned is free) you get some code to put on your blog. The code displays the BlogRush widget - the little box I've mentioned - which shows the titles of the latest posts on five other blogs in a related field (writing, in my case). If any of these piques your interest, you can click on the title to visit the blog concerned.
But what makes BlogRush particularly interesting for bloggers is that every time a visitor sees the widget on your blog, the title of your latest post is displayed on the widget of someone else's blog. So, in effect, the titles of your blog posts are being syndicated across the 'Blogosphere', and hopefully some of the people who see it will click through to visit your blog.
I've been evaluating BlogRush for a few weeks now, so here are my initial thoughts. First of all, the programme is NOT likely to generate hordes of visitors for you. I'm finding that I get about one visit per 400 impressions. I might be able to improve this a bit by creating more compelling titles for my posts, but realistically I think it's unlikely anyone will do better than around one in 300.
So is BlogRush a waste of time? Well, I don't think so. For one thing, even though most people may not be clicking on my blog title, they will still be seeing 'Nick Daws Writing Blog' on a wide range of writing-related blogs, and that can't hurt as far as getting me and my blog's name recognised.
A second feature of BlogRush I like is that, as well as impressions earned every time someone visits your blog, the system also allocates extra 'bonus' impressions. In my case, I am getting roughly one bonus impression for every one that I earn (so for every 100 visitors to my blog, the title of my latest blog post gets shown about 200 times on other people's blogs). I understand that new blogs with few visitors get a higher ratio of bonus impressions, on the basis that they need the extra traffic most!
A third 'plus' is that you can also introduce new BlogRush members, and you earn extra impressions every time someone views the blog of someone you introduced. This works down through eight levels. You don't need to do anything special to publicise BlogRush either. The widget has a tab on the bottom for people to click if they want more information, and anyone signing up via your blog will be credited to your downline. This is the first time I have mentioned BlogRush anywhere, but I have already recruited three other bloggers into my network from this source.
A final benefit of BlogRush has been unexpected. On various occasions I have noticed an interesting-sounding title on my blog's widget, and have clicked through to view the blog in question (there is no objection from BlogRush to members doing this, by the way). By this means I have discovered a number of other interesting blogs that I might otherwise never have known about.
Overall, if you're a blogger, I think BlogRush is well worth giving a spin. OK, it may not bring you thousands of extra visitors overnight, but it's a free - and in my experience hassle-free - way to help build up your readership. And any people who come to your blog via BlogRush are likely to have a genuine interest in your blog's subject area. They are more likely to stick around and become regular readers than those who simply arrive via a search engine listing.
Anyway, if you'd like to know more about BlogRush, just click on any of the links in this post, or on the tab at the foot of the BlogRush widget on the right. There is a very professional five-minute video on the information page which explains exactly how the system works. If you decide to join, simply click on the button below this and follow the on-screen instructions to get your widget code.
Incidentally, if you do decide to join, you will find that there is a longer video you can watch that explains exactly how you can check your stats, change the colour and size of your widget, block certain posts from being syndicated, and much more. Again, I highly recommend watching this, as it explains some features of BlogRush you might otherwise remain unaware of.
Good luck, and see you on BlogRush!
Postscript: Just wanted to say it's great to see that so many of you have decided to take up this opportunity, and I've been delighted to see your blog posts and titles already popping up in the widget on my blog. If you're having any problems getting BlogRush set up, do feel free to ask me and I'll help if I can. You can put a comment on this blog post, or contact me via my homepage at www.nickdaws.co.uk.
Nick at 3:42 AM 
12 Comments:
Hi, Nick,
I added it to my blog, just awaiting approval. However I did get in a knot finding out what RSS was when they asked me for my feed URL! :0)
Suzie x
Thanks, Suzie. Glad you worked this out (maybe with Mark's help?!). I had to wait about 12 hours for my blog to be approved (it's done manually). Hopefully you won't have to wait too long either.
Let me know how it goes!
I see BlogRush is up on your blog, Suzie, so I guess you've been approved. Congratulations!
The right-hand side of the widget is getting chopped off (on my Firefox browser anyway), so you might perhaps want to consider switching to the narrower 120px widget (in BlogRush, click on My Blogs/Flavor/Edit). You will need to paste in new code for this.
You could also try changing the colour of the widget to blend in better with your site if you like. This is done from the Flavor menu, as above. You don't have to change your code if all you are doing is changing the colour, but it does take a little while for the new colour to become active on your blog.
Nick
I had the smae problem as Suzie, but I haven't solved it. I'm with blogger.com, so where do I find my site feed url?
David
Hi David
Log in to your Blogger account. From the Dashboard, click on Settings. On the page that appears, click on Site Feed in the menu that appears near the top of the screen (it's between Archiving and Email).
The first box that appears will be your Site Feed URL. It will look something like this: http://mywritingblog2313.blogspot.com/atom.xml. (That's my own blog's RSS feed, of course). This is the URL you need to enter into BlogRush.
Hope that's OK, but let me know if not. Btw, it's also worth clicking on Help in BlogRush. They have a video 'How to Install BlogRush on a Blogger (Blogspot) blog' (as well as videos about installing BlogRush on other sorts of blog.
Good luck!
Hi Nick, David again.
I eventally sorted the site feed, and I duly posted it to blogrush. I pasted the code into my blog template, my account has been approved, but the box isn't showing.
Any clues, or could you point me to the relevant help section on blogrush?
Nick, David yet again. Forget my last comment. I found the relevant page on blogrush and everything is now tickety boo. Cheers.
Thanks, David. Glad to hear you're up and running!
Hi Nick,
I registered with Blogrush almost a week ago. I followed all the instructions given and as yet I haven't heard anything back from them. The widget hasn't appeared and I haven't been told whether or not I've been declined. I've also Emailed customer support without reply. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Jon
Sorry to hear you're having problems. I've looked at your blog and can't see any reason why it would have been turned down. The widget won't appear until your blog has been approved, but even so you shouldn't have to wait a week for this. I also took a look at your blog's source code, and the necessary code for BlogRush certainly appears to be in there.
I'd suggest you email their support desk again - sometimes emails do go missing (which is why many web services nowadays use a support ticket system instead). I'll also try emailing them, to see if that helps.
Don't worry, though, I'm sure you'll be up and running soon!
Hi Nick, just thought I'd let you know I'm know an official Blogrusher.
I asked for some help from the help group at blogspot and someone suggested that I change my URL. It worked.
Thanks, Jon. That's great news! I must admit, I wondered what had happened when I tried to access your blog on the old URL this morning and got a 'not found' message.
I hope BlogRush starts to bring you some extra traffic soon.
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