Blogging and Marketing Resources for the Average Blogger and Business
Posts tagged Widgets
Numion: A Tool to Keep Your Blog Loading Fast
Feb 1st
The Numion Stopwatch
A good friend told me about a tool recently that is a very simple way to measure just how fast your blog loads. Sure, there are many of these utilities available on the Internet, but this one is free and easy to use, so it qualifies for a mention. It is The Numion Stopwatch.
Numion’s suite of tools includes “Yourspeed” and “Sitespeed” in addition to “Stopwatch.” In their “Bandwidth Calculators” they provide any type of visibility needed to help you tweek as much performance out of your blog or web site as possible.
In A Slightly New Look, I pontificated about the value in keeping a blog lean enough to load quickly and talked about the updates I had made to the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit. While I have added some things since then, you’ll see my measurements still aren’t bad.
Every day, I visit sites where there is so much animation, feed gathering, and widget population going on, it seems to take an eternity for the page to load. The Numion Stopwatch provides a look at the page loading and clocks it in a frame. Different types of sites of course have differing kinds of content, but it would seem obvious that keeping the page load fast would be pleasing to visitors.
CNN on the Clock
Let’s look at CNN.com. CNN is known for its big pipes out to the Internet, so it makes sense that in spite of considerable content on their home page, their load time is an impressive 3.56 seconds. That was achieved with a not insignificant amount of pictures and ads.
Google on the Clock
Now, let’s look at the Lean-Master, Google. Google’s pattern is that of stark necessity only, with an occasional updated logo commemorating a special day.
Even more rarely will they bring awareness to a serious topic. Again, their page loads almost as fast as the Enter Key or the mouse click retorts. Here, clocked at a blazing 0.23 seconds. Amazing, yes, but also expected.
The Kit on the Clock
In the spirit of full disclosure, let’s look at The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit. I have to admit, I did a few tests to see what what “typical.” The reason? Adgitize has been having no end of server problems in recent weeks and I had to try enough times to not let their problems skew the results. This appears to be a fair measurement at 3.401 seconds.
These are valid and positive examples, but I will hold short of throwing anyone under the bus with bad times. You know how you are – and if you don’t, I would recommend using the Numion Stopwatch to find out.
Thanks,
Dave
Updated Above the Fold Lists
Dec 29th
Updated "Above the Fold" Lists
Bloggers who pay attention to widgets from Adgitize and Entrecard have many reasons for doing so. One, of course is convenient “dropping.” We can debate the impacts on bounce rates vs. the exposure to new blogs. However, in this regard, the best blog real estate for any sort of advertising is “Above the Fold” on the opening screen without the need for scrolling.
With a new monitor used to maintain the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit comes the need to refresh the Above the Fold lists – and add a new one. To appear on the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit’s Above the Fold lists, the widget must be identifiable and clickable in the first 984 pixels on the screen. In the spirit of sharing the tools I’ve developed, this is what works for me. I hope it is beneficial to you.
The lists are now:
This is the sequence in which I use my lists and what appears to have the best value for me. I would appreciate your comments on your experience with Above the Fold drop lists (or new sites to add to the various lists!)
Hint: When using Google Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer, hold down the CTRL key when clicking the links on the list. Each click will open a new tab but will keep you right on this page and allow you rapid clicking through the list. As the list gets longer, it will of course take time to load them all. However, this is a very efficient way to get many easy-to-drop blogs served up in tabs.
If you find these “Above the Fold” lists beneficial, feel free to link directly to this or any of the pages.
Enjoy!
Dave
Overdue List Updates
Dec 7th
Ultimate Blogging Toolkit "Above the Fold" Lists
In my effort to get re-engaged in the blogging process, one of the tasks I’ve been focused on is updating the “Above the Fold” lists for Adgitize and Entrecard enabled sites. As a blogger, it is good to adjust your site, testing new monetizaton strategies, better usability and overall evolution. But through this lense, sometimes these changes eliminate sites from the lists.
(And for Jody Burdette, your Blog Review has begun and will be published soon!)
I recognize Entrecard has gone through significant changes with ownership and strategy adjustments, but it still provides benefits on two very important fronts:
- Entrecard still provides an excellent environment to experience new blogs and to be experienced by others.
- For those just interested in “clicking for credits,” the widget shows whether you’ve clicked to day or not (a significant benefit for those combining Adgitize, since Adgitize doesn’t indicate today’s click.)
Nothing significantly new with Adgitize. They keep serving up blogs, offering advertising at attractive rates and fostering interaction in their own way.
Here’s a few changes just made to the Entrecard and Adgitize Above the Fold List:
- Business Sphere Consulting removed: Adgitize scrolling required
- Doug’s Missoula Blog removed: Adgitize scrolling required
- Healthy Herbal Products removed: Entrecard scrolling required; Adgitize gone
- Kamila The Camel removed: Adgitize scrolling required
- Jhtongson removed: Adgitize scrolling required
- The Ad Master removed: Adgitize and Entrecard scrolling required
- 113 Dir removed: Entrecard gone
- 2 Witches removed: Adgitize and Entrecard scrolling required
What this has uncovered for me is the need to address the Entrecard Above the Fold List as well. In fact, I see an Adgitize Only List coming soon.
As always, drop a note if you have others to add.
Thanks,
Dave
A (Slightly) New Look
May 24th
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Spring Cleaning the Layout
After adding my Entrecard widget and my new Adgitize ads, I decided the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit needed a bit of a layout clean-up. Taking a queue from a blog I recently began following, Cromely has shaken up his design and it has inspired me to do the same.
With ads in one panel and support tools in the other, it should make it easy to find what you need and not be distracted. Does it work for you? If so, please share why. Even more important, if it doesn’t, please share that perspective!
In spite of the site not being overly crowded, it was important to me to keep a simple, orderly design. I’ve seen too many blogs that have so many toys, gadgets and widgets that I’m erring on the side of conservatism. Many of these sites have so many “do dads” to load, the page bogs down and I close the tab – and bypass the Entrecard drop and the experience that may have been. There’s not enough hours in a day.
Many of the excessive “noise” on overly widgetized pages are simply annoying. Scrolling ad boxes, in-line links that pop up an ad box when you inadvertently move your mouse across them, interstitial pages that come up when the page loads – requiring you to close it before proceeding… ENOUGH!
Sorry for shouting, but you get the point.
What about you? What are the most annoying irritants that you see on blogs? Which ones should we stay away from to keep our valued visitors coming back?
On the other hand, which one’s can’t you live without? Which ones draw traffic to your site? Which ones actually further your traffic and monetization goals? In two words, “what works?”
Share your ideas – we’ll all benefit.
Thanks,
Dave
PageRank as a Measurement Tool
Aug 9th
Posted by Dave in Uncategorized
1 comment
PR Checker Badges
Recently, I offered to provide free blog reviews. I am very pleased to say that the response has been great. I have several in the works and will be posting the next one soon. Thank you again. Where appropriate, I’ve been showing that blog’s Google PageRank (TM) as a way to further define their success. Since this is a great tool for getting a quick read on how Google sees your blog (or anyone else’s in which you are interested), I decided to place the tool here for your convenience.
What is PageRank, you say? Let me explain.
Many of you already have a badge on your blogs showing your PageRank, but you may not know what drives the number. First, there are many sites that measure and provide statistics. The one I use, PR Checker, is simple and has the best looking selection of badges.
Let’s start with how Google describes it. After all, it’s their trademarked and patented tool. (In the spirit of full disclosure, notice the TM above for every reference on my site.) Google says,
“PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages ‘important’.”
Of course, it is much more complex that this, but in essence, “the higher the ranked sites that link to your site, the higher your PageRank.”
As I often do, I turn to our friends at Wikipedia to dig deeper. This entry is about all the detail I care to consider – or serve up. If you have trouble sleeping at night, I’m sure you can find even more detailed descriptions on the web.
A while back, I posted about the value of relationships in a post comparing online and offline businesses. This is probably the number one piece of advice I could give. Visit blogs, engage in the topics, provide clear perspectives, make your visit there valuable, and they will reciprocate. A relationship is built, a link back may ensue and you’ve just added some PageRank juice to your site.
Dave