Begging for traffic…Is that really what we want?
I was studying a course on convergence of new media, and hence was required to do a technology update paper on “search engine optimization“. For most anime bloggers, it is clear that we are always (a little or a lot) concerned about the amount of readers and traffic that comes to the blog.
For those who sometimes visit their statistics software, they will notice that search engines do bring in a decent amount of traffic to the blog compared to hyperlinks. It is also important to note that pagerank is also affected by this SEO tweaking, which means that if you are running a site that has advertisements, you will want to improve your traffic using this method. Some of the key methods mentioned are to utilize various key words frequently, site navigation, meta tags and affiliation linking. However, much of my reading of this method seems to make the site look like an advertising whoring activity.
So, will you ever engage in such methods? Do you feel that it’s somewhat trying too hard to do something that is supposed to be merely leisure?
P/s: for those wondering about Blue Drop and Ghost Hound summaries, they will be out today. I will skip episode 3 though, and go straight to episode 4. My school work is finally subsiding, and I am enjoying a bit of free time currently. I am still suffering from the effects of doing too much work…
Browse Timeline
- « Survey report: So Impz’s anime coursework paper is done!
- » Gundam 00 - 03: Gundam Jesus Solves All!
Comments (15)
optimization, I thought you were refering to the site’s performance (lol)
but anyway, it boils down to how you name the title of the post (an e.g (type “ar tonelico news” in google) u will get what i mean.) that will attract visitors.
For my case, there is no real need to go “all out” just to optimize a site to attract visitors technically (meta tags, affilations, etc) of course, if you want to earn money and really serious about the blog, such methods can be deployed and implemented.
hope this does not sound like crap to u. 
and good to hear that you are enjoying a bit of free time. time to take a break eh 
For me, since we took our site independent, it’s been a balance–I wanted ads and I wanted increased reader traffic, and whenever I post I try to have descriptive titles, appropriate tags, etc. I also try to put ads in places that are visible, but not too intrusive. But I don’t see my site as being a moneymaking venture first and foremost.
Mike added these pithy words on Oct 25 07 at 11:40 pmWell, since I write when I want to and about what I want(but mostly anime/games) I sometimes feel sad that there aren´t any comments on the site. But then again, if people don´t have anything to say well there isn´t much I can do about it then.
And from the statics on my site I do see that people are visiting the site, which is basically why I put it up so I´m happy.
No, don´t optimize the site. Since I do this for fun. If someone should pay me then it wouldn´t be the same since then it would be important to follow set rules and such, and the me right now don´t do very well with set rules 
I don’t optimize for search engines and since I don’t run AdSense anymore I don’t bother with keyword density. Ever since I stopped paying attention to it, I’ve enjoyed my blog a lot more.
super rats added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 12:47 amI thought the same as oOga with the mention of optimization. LOL.
With regards to search engine optimization, I don’t really focus on the “optimization” per se, because that will be really stressful. And, you will somewhat lose focus in improving the quality of the post.
It’s great to see more visitors and commentators who stumble upon your posts through search engines though, in which providing a catchy and suggestive post title (and a catchy post overall) helps a lot, IMO.
usagijen added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 2:46 amI think there are plenty of ways in which optimizing your site for search engines also coincides with providing value to your readers. However, once you start to get all into keyword density and things that are more to game search engines and less to impress your readers, you probably need to reconsider why you have a webpage.
Kabitzin added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 4:59 amPersonally, I don’t much worry over SEO for my blog. I try to generate content that folks will want to read, and basically ignore the rest. If I get comments, that’s great. If I get a few clicks on my adsense, that’s great. I just like seeing that what I am writing is getting read.
Kidan added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 6:17 amI didn’t tried to optimize my posts at Extrange is Metrosexual, but I would oddly end up as top result with searches like Loli wallpaper, Bitter Virgin, Milf and GAR; even if I only had that word refered ONCE in the post…
Optimization isn’t just about using keywords, it’s also about the link cluster factor: Google is famous for being the 1st to use PageRank™ system (it was that system who gave birth to Google.
What PageRank does is inserting each site into a social network and give it a value depending on his overall importance in the network. Then he uses that importance to see how much his “votes” weight; when another site is linked inside that site, it gives x votes to that page.
So, one way to optimize is making sure you are linked by pages with a high ranking.
Extrange added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 6:51 amSEO is snake oil for normal blogs. It only works for bottom-feeders who scam Google and Yahoo out of ad revenue by catching random clicks. It does exactly nothing to collect and retain the readership.
I see a significant amount of search traffic too, but, mind, 90% of hits is search for images. Yes, they do drive ads, but there is no click-through, and even then they only end at 30 to 40%. Normal readers is what I have to optimize for. Sounds like a good deal for readers, actually.
So if anything I’m thinking about pessimizing Ani-nouto in search queries, because of all the useless traffic that comes from that.
Why don’t you talk to Maestro about it? I know he gave it quite a bit of thought and tried various approaches.
Author added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 10:50 amAt the moment I don’t really focus to much on SEO. For a starting blog (like mine) I think building content is the first thing to do. Then creating a presence in the niche is the next step, like commenting on other’s blogs or forums and backlinking them. With those two aspects one can attain a decent amount of readership. I didn’t succeed too well with that at the moment^^
After that I might get more into SEO, since it’s a more advanced technique. Lately, there have been some discussions about pagerank not being too important. That’s something I don’t have to worry about too much right now.
David added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 1:39 pmTheres so many thing involve in SEO and theres sometimes too much info that makes it confusing. I just try to apply what I know and then try to keep a constant flow of interesting postings.
alafista added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 8:15 pmOther than the basic permalinks structure I don’t really bother with any SEO strategy as well. I find that SEO can be very tricky and not really worth the effort in the long run since you need to keep changing how your blog works. Just the basic works well enough for me.
Nekonron added these pithy words on Oct 26 07 at 10:15 pmFor all,
The thought of this came about when I realized that anime blogs are becoming bigger and that it seems harder right now to capture audience. In a way, I do wonder if people often think of ways to improve their visibility online, and the growing reliance of having feedback and traffic flow results in such an issue.
It’s perhaps not as widespread in anime, as it is not financially driven as yet. Nevertheless, it is a disturbing trend for me, yet somewhat required eventually in the long run.
I fully agree with Kabitizin, as most people who engage in SEO do it for monetary reasons. I guess once you start doing that, a blog is no longer a true blog.
Impz added these pithy words on Oct 27 07 at 6:04 amIt only works for bottom-feeders who scam Google and Yahoo out of ad revenue by catching random clicks
The only person being scammed is YOU. For every 5 cents you earn off Google Adsense they get $1+. They use YOUR bandwidth. They use YOUR space. You are the hoe, Google is the PIMP.
Rednights added these pithy words on Oct 29 07 at 7:26 amI really don’t know. I want to be read, but I don’t think about earning any money. Do I optimize? No.
Michael added these pithy words on Oct 30 07 at 9:23 am