Select the BlogRush category that best describes your blog
You want your blog posts to show up in the BlogRush widget on other blogs that cover similar topics as yours. This will reach an audience that is more likely to be interested in your blog. Be sure to revisit the My Blogs page on the BlogRush site since many more categories were added in the Phase 2 launch.
Write compelling headlines
The headline is the only advertisement for your blog that is shown in the BlogRush widget. There is no other context or related information that will help a potential visitor decide if she should click on your headline or not. So you better make the headline a good one. The web is full of advice on how to write powerful headlines, here are a few good ones from Copyblogger, Instigator and Lorelle.
If you’re like me - copywriting challenged - then I highly recommend the statistical copywriting software Glyphius.
Keep the 40 character limit in mind
Only the first 40 characters of your blog headline is shown in the BlogRush widget. Make sure that your headline makes sense and is still compelling when you chop it off after character 40. If you use Glyphius it will automatically count the number of characters as you type.
Use the dashboard to improve your headlines
The BlogRush dashboard helpfully displays the number of clicks each of your blog posts has received from the BlogRush network. Take the top scoring headlines and use those as templates for your future headlines. Use this feedback loop continuously.
Feed BlogRush special headlines
You may not want to limit yourself to 40 character Haiku headlines on your blog. With the BlogRush Click Maximizer WordPress plug-in you can create a special headline just for BlogRush and have your longer headline be displayed on your blog.
Be a good BlogRush citizen
John Reese, the creator of BlogRush, keeps talking about making the BlogRush network fair for everyone. If all participants in the network act fairly then the network will work better for all involved.
The first wave of weeding out “bad citizens” was to manually remove all splogs from the network. I’m sure that more “improvements” will follow.
One obvious action to contribute to the overall click through rates on the network is to display the BlogRush widget in a prominent place on your blog. Hiding the widget at the bottom of your page is just not fair. John Reese has hinted that there will be performance bonuses to those that follow this advice.
Don’t assume that BlogRush is good for your blog
Track the number of new readers and sales generated from your BlogRush traffic. Just counting the number of clicks generated from the BlogRush widget is too crude of a metric unless you’re selling advertisements per impression on your blog.
Make the BlogRush widget earn its real estate on your blog.
Use BlogRush on all your new blogs
BlogRush has a “Robbin Hood sentiment” in that it gives bonus credits to smaller blogs. Here’s an example from one of my newer blogs.
When your blog is new you don’t have as many opportunities for monetizing your real estate. In the beginning it is all about getting more readers and the BlogRush widget can be a good tool in your arsenal.
How is BlogRush working out for your blog?
Post a Comment