DISQUS

Wow, I did the same thing this morning. Seriously, it does feel liberating. Out of all the ones I cancelled yours I've kept.

I thought the email you sent out with the title "what we can learn from criminals" was going to be about Gary Halbert!

Don't get me wrong.. I know Gary was no criminal. I read his whole story. And in no way do I think he was ever a criminal.

Sorry,, had to post that. Thought it might make you laugh as well.

Regards,

Jeff

Teli, in my 6 years of doing SEO I've noticed a few things. One is that if you have a solid PR for awhile and all the sudden it dips or increases that means googles updating pr and from what I've seen whatever that new # is you get a glimpse of is what you're going to get.

Of course google changes all the time and no one can say for sure what they'll do next so it's up to each SEO or webmaster to track it for themselves.

I am not tracking copyblogger's pr but I can tell you it takes then more then a few days for the PR to settle,, it's more like weeks even months I've seen.

Jeff

Oh and Vlad,, you might want to start hiding your affiliate links with javascript so it doesn't look like that's all you are promoting. I believe google might penalize for sites that link out with a lot of affiliate links. Peace.

Teli, in my 6 years of doing SEO I've noticed a few things. One is that if you have a solid PR for awhile and all the sudden it dips or increases that means googles updating pr and from what I've seen whatever that new # is you get a glimpse of is what you're going to get.

Of course google changes all the time and no one can say for sure what they'll do next so it's up to each SEO or webmaster to track it for themselves.

I am not tracking copyblogger's pr but I can tell you it takes then more then a few days for the PR to settle,, it's more like weeks even months I've seen.

Jeff

Oh and Vlad,, you might want to start hiding your affiliate links with javascript so it doesn't look like that's all you are promoting. I believe google might penalize for sites that link out with a lot of affiliate links. Peace.

Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you'll get... So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I've never seen them do.

It's all a waiting game but I'd say if you are seeing a new pagerank # then that's what it will stay at once the google dance is all over.

Anyway, pagerank isn't all it's cracked up to be so I wouldn't worry about it.

Peace,

Jeff

Well the truth is that any variation you see after an update is what you'll get... So one day you see your site is a pagerank 2 and then it jumps back to a 4 for awhile but 2 is what it will be unless Google decides to rollback which I've never seen them do.

It's all a waiting game but I'd say if you are seeing a new pagerank # then that's what it will stay at once the google dance is all over.

Anyway, pagerank isn't all it's cracked up to be so I wouldn't worry about it.

Peace,

Jeff

Google lowers PR for websites using green in their design... Didn't anyone mention that to you?... Joke aside.

I can tell you why it has really happened. It's because you link out too much. You have links to every widget imaginable on your site.. you freely link out to other websites and you're not getting enough links pointing at you to bring back all that pagerank you're giving away. Pagerank flows like water,, or electricity. If you have a bunch of leaks you'll lose a lot,, if you keep it tightly fit then you'll keep it secure and flowing in your direction.

Now, are you in a "bad neighborhood", I don't know. It of course depends on who links to you and who you link to. If you're linking to only authority type sites then you're ok. You can't be penalized for people linking to you.. or can you?

If you could be penalized for a certain person linking to you then you could essentially ruin anyones ranking simply by pointing tons of links to your site from some crappy link farm or other.

Pagerank in my opinion doesn't mean that much anymore. I wouldn't be worried too much about it unless your traffic drops way off. In that case it might be time to move the site. Your domain isn't that easy to remember. I had to search google to find your site... even after we have already talked.

I'm not a fan of Google anymore... They've pissed me off in more ways then one and I'm no longer supporting them... meaning I'm getting rid of using their services.. slowly but surely. Enough is enough and I see someone else taking over. It would be a breath of fresh air.

Anyway, keep your head high no matter what. Google can't stop you from doing what you want. Never forget that.

Regards,

Jeff

Google lowers PR for websites using green in their design... Didn't anyone mention that to you?... Joke aside.

I can tell you why it has really happened. It's because you link out too much. You have links to every widget imaginable on your site.. you freely link out to other websites and you're not getting enough links pointing at you to bring back all that pagerank you're giving away. Pagerank flows like water,, or electricity. If you have a bunch of leaks you'll lose a lot,, if you keep it tightly fit then you'll keep it secure and flowing in your direction.

Now, are you in a "bad neighborhood", I don't know. It of course depends on who links to you and who you link to. If you're linking to only authority type sites then you're ok. You can't be penalized for people linking to you.. or can you?

If you could be penalized for a certain person linking to you then you could essentially ruin anyones ranking simply by pointing tons of links to your site from some crappy link farm or other.

Pagerank in my opinion doesn't mean that much anymore. I wouldn't be worried too much about it unless your traffic drops way off. In that case it might be time to move the site. Your domain isn't that easy to remember. I had to search google to find your site... even after we have already talked.

I'm not a fan of Google anymore... They've pissed me off in more ways then one and I'm no longer supporting them... meaning I'm getting rid of using their services.. slowly but surely. Enough is enough and I see someone else taking over. It would be a breath of fresh air.

Anyway, keep your head high no matter what. Google can't stop you from doing what you want. Never forget that.

Regards,

Jeff

The tips about hiring a voiceover artist are great. It's great to learn where and when you should use voiceovers. Also, on the point of being entertaining... I've been reading a lot about how entertainment doesn't sell especially from Olgivy and it made me think that you should try to be Captivating instead of thinking you should entertain people. I think there's a big difference.

Great article... Once you learn this stuff you get a sense that 99% of people with websites don't know the importance of good copy. It's insane. Everywhere you look you see how websites copy can be improved, even with my own sites. Thanks again!

You should visit this link http://dontbeanidiot.org/ like your blog suggests. :)

My comment was only an opinion. Obviously you were offended by it. It's clear you can't handle criticism and I am sorry I left that first comment.

My purpose was not to create a war of blogs but you have turned it into just that. I do hope you change your theme soon and put as much consideration into the design as you do the functionality. That was my whole point.

Best regards,

Jeff

You should visit this link http://dontbeanidiot.org/ like your blog suggests. :)

My comment was only an opinion. Obviously you were offended by it. It's clear you can't handle criticism and I am sorry I left that first comment.

My purpose was not to create a war of blogs but you have turned it into just that. I do hope you change your theme soon and put as much consideration into the design as you do the functionality. That was my whole point.

Best regards,

Jeff

Your response is just another reason why I am NOT a subscriber to your blog.

You are absolutely right about not being a guru.

Jeff

Your response is just another reason why I am NOT a subscriber to your blog.

You are absolutely right about not being a guru.

Jeff

Hi Vlad,

I appologize. I didn't mean to do a drive-bye critique of your site. Especially without an explanation or hearing your side. I didn't opt into receiving emails on follow up comments because I receive enough spam a day as it is.

Thanks for emailing me about this post. I wouldn't of caught it otherwise.

I'd also like to point out that I didn't know you had a comment policy in place before I made that comment. I didn't know I was breaking rules or was held to uphold your policies before commenting.

I believe it is my right to leave comments as I see fit on any public blog or forum and it is up to the website owner to use their discretion when choosing to approve or deny such comments, opinions, etc.

You obviously had a problem with my comment and my lack of love for the color green so I did a little bit of work to further explain my view on your site's design.

Since you didn't link back to the original comment I left I am just responding to this post. So here it goes...

Green! Yes, It's one of my favorite colors too. But everything I own isn't green.

You have to look at why green is significant to your message. As a designer if blue makes more sense in the design and purveys a message clearer the design will include blue, no matter if the client's favorite color is pink. If they don't like it I explain why their choice doesn't work. If they don't understand and are stubborn enough to go with a decision that could hurt their business then I don't work with them. Simple as that.

Yellow shirts! - And even yellower ties! Yikes! This is just my personal opinion and in no way am I saying that's a bad choice of colors. Everyone has their own style. That's all fine until you mix your yellow shirt with a green nav bar and a largely white background along with a photo that is bad with a bad description.

Yes, I'm ripping on your photo and description. They are bad. Get a better photo! Have a professional shoot it or don't use one. Am I correct that english isn't your first language? Hire a copywriter to write out your about me line. Saying things like "Unfortunately I am not a "guru" and will not tell you how to get rich quickly" does not make me want to read your blog... period. Be clear on what you are offering, not what you aren't.

There are so many things wrong with your design it would take a lot longer to go through them all. Luckily you can choose to fix them and build your readership here or you can continue to drive visitors away with your poorly designed, ad-laden site.

Again, that's just my professional opinion.

I didn't want to leave you without any comparison so I spent a few minutes designing a mockup of how your site "Could" possibly look better. Again, just my opinion.

Vlad's Redesign Mock Up

Best of luck with your blog and I hope I cleared things up. Feel free to contact me.

You can reach me at: nuvrudesign{a}gmail.com

Hi Vlad,

I appologize. I didn't mean to do a drive-bye critique of your site. Especially without an explanation or hearing your side. I didn't opt into receiving emails on follow up comments because I receive enough spam a day as it is.

Thanks for emailing me about this post. I wouldn't of caught it otherwise.

I'd also like to point out that I didn't know you had a comment policy in place before I made that comment. I didn't know I was breaking rules or was held to uphold your policies before commenting.

I believe it is my right to leave comments as I see fit on any public blog or forum and it is up to the website owner to use their discretion when choosing to approve or deny such comments, opinions, etc.

You obviously had a problem with my comment and my lack of love for the color green so I did a little bit of work to further explain my view on your site's design.

Since you didn't link back to the original comment I left I am just responding to this post. So here it goes...

Green! Yes, It's one of my favorite colors too. But everything I own isn't green.

You have to look at why green is significant to your message. As a designer if blue makes more sense in the design and purveys a message clearer the design will include blue, no matter if the client's favorite color is pink. If they don't like it I explain why their choice doesn't work. If they don't understand and are stubborn enough to go with a decision that could hurt their business then I don't work with them. Simple as that.

Yellow shirts! - And even yellower ties! Yikes! This is just my personal opinion and in no way am I saying that's a bad choice of colors. Everyone has their own style. That's all fine until you mix your yellow shirt with a green nav bar and a largely white background along with a photo that is bad with a bad description.

Yes, I'm ripping on your photo and description. They are bad. Get a better photo! Have a professional shoot it or don't use one. Am I correct that english isn't your first language? Hire a copywriter to write out your about me line. Saying things like "Unfortunately I am not a "guru" and will not tell you how to get rich quickly" does not make me want to read your blog... period. Be clear on what you are offering, not what you aren't.

There are so many things wrong with your design it would take a lot longer to go through them all. Luckily you can choose to fix them and build your readership here or you can continue to drive visitors away with your poorly designed, ad-laden site.

Again, that's just my professional opinion.

I didn't want to leave you without any comparison so I spent a few minutes designing a mockup of how your site "Could" possibly look better. Again, just my opinion.

Vlad's Redesign Mock Up

Best of luck with your blog and I hope I cleared things up. Feel free to contact me.

You can reach me at: nuvrudesign{a}gmail.com

So how come you removed the plugin? I just installed mine. I also removed the nofollow from comments/trackbacks.

You have so much going on here it's hard to even find your contest. Looks like you are using every plugin and widget available and in my honest opinion it looks bad.

I personally love the color green, but on websites it doesn't work. Might be something to do with your yellow shirt as well but I'm immediately turned off by the look of your blog. I just thought I would share that with you. Yes I'm a designer.

Anyway, take care.

You have so much going on here it's hard to even find your contest. Looks like you are using every plugin and widget available and in my honest opinion it looks bad.

I personally love the color green, but on websites it doesn't work. Might be something to do with your yellow shirt as well but I'm immediately turned off by the look of your blog. I just thought I would share that with you. Yes I'm a designer.

Anyway, take care.

BTW, I got an error using firefox when submitting my last comment. Something about a cache error. I thought my entire comment was lost but entered the captcha code and it worked. Might want to look into that as it looks bad. Peace.

I think adding nofollow to the comments is the way to go, but if you have a smaller blog you really have to let people know you don't use nofollow on your comments. Most seo's searching google for "top commentators" or "top commentors" will be looking for sites that give some link love back to those who participate. Of course blog owners have full right to delete spammy comments so you should make it clear that you don't allow one word/sentence comments.

I just installed the top commentators plugin on my blog recently and saw an immediate increase in comments. Some are crap but most are good. I'm happy to link to other webmasters willing to freely add content to my blog. What I am thinking is that adding nofollow to the comments would be even better. I'll have to test it out.

Regards,

Jeff