More Info for Bloggers

A little while ago in this post I mentioned a new service called BlogRush that aims to help bloggers attract more visitors. I know a number of you signed up with BlogRush as a result of that post, so I hope you are reasonably pleased with the results you are getting.

I thought you might like to know that the people behind BlogRush have just launched a new (and, again, free) website called TrafficJam. TrafficJam displays the most popular blog posts in the BlogRush network, both overall and in specific categories.

I was pleased to find that my recent post about the new Qassia revenue-sharing website was at number 18 in Traffic Jam's Writing & Literature category, so it appears on the first page for this category. The rankings are updated regularly, of course, so my post may have gone up or down by the time you read this!

For BlogRush members, TrafficJam provides an opportunity for your best posts to gain extra publicity. And it's also very useful for seeing the post titles that are attracting the greatest interest from readers (coming up with good titles for your posts is the key to getting more visitors from BlogRush)

But even if you're not a BlogRush member, you might still want to use TrafficJam to review the most popular posts in any category. If you're looking for ideas for topics for your own blog that will attract readers, TrafficJam should prove a useful research tool - and it's also a good tool for discovering blogs you may not have seen before covering your area/s of particular interest.

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.