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Okay, I’m Gonna’ Use the "B" Word

September 23rd, 2007 Posted by Chanya

Although it’s just a week old BlogRush is already introducing a few enhancements:

1. More Descriptive Categories
When I signed up for BlogRush I had a hard time deciding which category to place this blog under. Was it “Computers and Internet” or “Technology”? I eventually selected Technology and I think that’s the correct category, based on the other blog titles being displayed in the BlogRush widget at my site. However, the category “Technology” is extremely broad so I’m glad to hear that the BlogRush folks are planning to provide more specific categories.

2. Prohibiting auto-loaded scripts
As with anything, there are folks out there attempting to “beat the system.” People have written scripts that auto-click the BlogRush widgets on their pages (or simulate the process) in order to increase their click-through rates. BlogRush is aware of this problem and is working to resolve it. They plan to terminate the accounts of those abusing the system and ban them from BlogRush. I’m not sure how much time and effort this will take but this will probably be an ongoing challenge for them.

3. No More Automatic Sign-ups
Since BlogRush launched they’ve served up more than 40 million blog post titles. This is quite a feat except:

-some of this traffic is being generated by automated scripts as stated above.
-some of the “blogs” registered with BlogRush aren’t really blogs. They’re just static web pages with ads.
-the quality of some of the blogs is very poor, according to BlogRush.

To remedy these problems BlogRush no longer allows auto-approval of accounts. Approvals will be handled manually. If your blog isn’t really a blog or if, according to BlogRush, “the quality of the blog is poor”, the account request will be disapproved. Additionally, they plan to go through EVERY BLOG REGISTERED WITH THEM and disable the accounts of blogs that are poor in quality.

This is of course, a very subjective process. To diminish some of the negative feedback they’re bound to receive, they may want to publish a Standards document that outlines the criteria they’ll use to identify an acceptable blog.

4. Track by Post
Users will soon be able to track their click-through activity by post. This will be a great feature because it will give bloggers a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. Actually, it will probably be a better tool for determining which blog titles are attracting readers. You’ll have to use tools like StatCounter or Google Analytics to determine whether your readers stay at your site after getting there through BlogRush.

5. Blog Title “Right Sizing”
According to BlogRush, this feature will let you “auto-optimize your syndication based on the highest click-rate.” In English this means you’ll have the ability to serve up the blog titles that attract the most readers. This is a good idea and will help drive more traffic to your site.

Clearly, implementing some of the changes proposed by BlogRush (i.e., reviewing every blog for quality) will require substantial resources and time. However, if successful, their product will be much more functional for their account holders. I wish them well - and hope my blog passes their scrutiny.

UPDATE: Since yesterday, my BlogRush credits have gone from -60 to 14. Looks like it got as high as 80 but then dipped down to 14. I’m starting to wonder if these stats are reliable. I’ll keep you posted.