What would define an elite blog? Three no’s:
- No PPC ads
- No affiliate links
- No social bookmarking links
Think about it: something that is really worth buying will spread by word of mouth. When somebody says “elite blog” I think either of Aaron Wall or A List Apart. These blogs have the following qualities:
- They are designed beautifully
- They are user-friendly and easy to read
- Their creators flood them with high-quality posts
The last one is the most important one: these blogs are written by inspired individuals, and are themselves inspiring. I always learn something new from them, get new ideas. And, they are continually updated - almost on a daily basis. Their content is free. If you are interested only a bit in SEO, after following Aaron’s seobook blog for some weeks, you will quickly understand that he’s a master expert in SEO. And be inclined to buy his ebook (Seobook - I did buy it).
A List Apart isn’t exactly a blog, but shares all the characteristics mentioned above. Pure academic content, written by experts. One of the founders of A List Apart, Jeffrey Zeldman, wrote a book too. A paper book, called Designing With Web Standards (now in its second edition). This is the best book on web design that I have ever read.
A product backed by an elite blog can’t fail. Because it must be elite too. Wall or Zeldman do not need any AdSense ads or affiliate programs on their websites: they are doing what they are preaching and earning money while doing it. Wall has sold a lot of copies of his ebook and is practising what he’s showing you how to do: making money through killer SEO. Zeldman’s book is one of the top selling web design books on Amazon for some years now, and he also owns a well-known and respected web design company.
The aforementioned blogs do not have any social bookmarking widgets whatsoever, because they spread by word of mouth. They don’t need any of that stuff - this is a big display of power. An elite blog is self-marketable. I bet that these fellows have been/are flooded with offers from many companies and individuals seeking to advertise something, anything, on their blogs/websites.
I will expound on the concepts laid out above in some of my next posts.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Mark // Dec 4, 2007 at 14:55
Aaron Wall doesn’t have affiliate links? He plug his own SEO Book :oP
2 evernerve // Dec 4, 2007 at 22:01
I guess that no one is innocent
3 Mark // Dec 4, 2007 at 23:39
I don’t think monetisation is a bad thing, only if it’s intrusive or done poorly. For instance, I think Adsense on SEO blogs is stupid - most of your audience will know about Adsense, your CTR will be low and it adds not quality to your users.
I add affiliate links to some of my posts, when I am referencing something and I always mark with with [aff] so my readers know it’s an affiliate link if they don’t want me to have commission.
4 evernerve // Dec 4, 2007 at 23:45
I think that monetisation is awesome. I just explained why, IMHO, there isn’t any whatsoever to be found on elite blogs (not only SEO ones).
And yours marking the affiliate links as such is nice, hats off. Being that clean is cool. But I guess you can afford it if you have a bunch of affiliate websites already, which is cool!
By the way, it is refreshing to hear a little bit of British English (monetisation and not monetization). I had me a bloke from England teach me English when I was a little boy. I don’t have anything against American English, but the media is so polluted with it (the film industry the most, which is the reason I steer clear of Hollywood… most of the time). Speaking of which, do you happen to know how search engine optimisation ranks as a search phrase? I guess it pays off if one is stationed in England (like you are) and are promoting your SEO services.
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