Gmail is brilliant for finding out little statistics. Using the filter “is:sent from:(befuddle@gmail.com) 88×31″ I can see that I’ve sent a staggering 136 emails asking for new creatives.
“88×31″ refers to the industry standard size 88x31pixels. This is known as a “micro bar”.
I generally only promote merchants now that have this creative. It’s an industry standard but only the Webgains affiliate network insist that merchants should include them.
It’s compact and reduces page sizes considerably as compared to its nearest size 120×60.
So what happens when I receive this creative? Well firstly it is added to the sitemap as a graphical aid to complement the text links. It is then added above-the-fold on related category pages. Finally it is added to competitor pages, so the pages are interlinked by a common theme, with rival promotions highlighted.
It is not used as a tool for visitors to link directly to the merchants site to make a purchase though I have recorded sales in this size. It is primarily used as a neat looking navigational system.
My “Dixons discount code” page ranks on page 37 of Google for the search term “dixons discount code”. My link is surrounded by familiar affiliate sites. The site is at number 366. Now I’ve visited some of those 365 sites above. I own the domain ShopCodes.co.uk, so I just had to visit www.shopcodes.org who are listed on page 33. Now come on, that site is a joke.
I’m fed up with the deal the Google hand is playing me at the moment. May 2007 was a record month for Shop Codes and I was making hundreds of pounds of commission each and every day. Conversions were at 20% and it felt like Christmas.
Then at 11:30pm 31st May, I saw that my traffic had dipped. I’ve been here before and I knew June was going to be a tough month.
So this is where we’re at now. I’m receiving little Google traffic as my pages are stuck on page 37 of the results.
hold the Dixons page up as an example. I used a ‘SEO TESTER’ tool at InstantPosition to see what was wrong with the page. It scored an excellent 37 out of 40.
“Your server settings are excellent.”
“Your page title reflects high relevance to your keyword.”
“Your keyword density is good.”
There’s obviously something up – but whatever it is, Google didn’t mind last month!
DrunkCelebs.co.uk reached a new audience last week after being featured within the “Showbiz & Fun” section of the Romanian website HotNews.ro
The full page article includes a picture of Paris Hilton drunk and lists a Top 10 of drunk celebrities. If I knew the site was going to get this exposure I’d have updated the list, which is based on Befuddle celebrity traffic. So here, in Romanian is the Top five …
Locul 1: Jodie Marsh
Modelul britanic Jodie Marsh este faimoasa pentru nenumaratele sale certuri in pubic cu supermodelul Jordan.
Locul 2: Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton si-a degradat imaginea din cauza inregistrarilor video compromizatoare facute publice prin intermediul internetului.
Locul 3: Cheryl Tweedy
Cheryl Tweedy, componenta trupei Girls Aloud nu este tocmai linistita in momentul in care isi petrece o seara prin club.
Locul 4: Charlotte Church
Cantareata pop Charlotte Church si-a sarbatorit implinirea varstei de 18 ani prin o petrecere care a tinut in jur de 14 ore si la care a consumat in bauturi in cantitati mari.
Locul 5: Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne se imbata cu prietenii, iar apoi devine prietenoasa cu alte persoane pe ringul de dans, dupa care este ajutata de prieteni sa mearga acasa.
“Download the new version!” it shouted. And then one hour later my website was gone…
I lost one of my WordPress websites this morning when I upgraded it. My site www.1234codes.co.uk [now redirecting elsewhere] was beginning to appear on page one of some Google queries and as a result was receiving a share of new unique visitors each day. So I thought I’d update it for the first time since its February launch as most of the content was dated.
So after spending Saturday pruning the content and uploading a few new offers, my plan for Sunday was to find a new theme for it.
On my travels though, I saw that WordPress 2.2 (“The latest stable release”) was available to download. The upgrade pages couldn’t stress any more that you needed to backup the database. So I did. More than once.
Then I uploaded the software via my hosting company Servage. Clicking two little links “Autoinstaller” and “install” ruined everything. All the content had gone. No problem I thought, I’ve got backups.
However, when I tried to import them it was reporting MySQL errors at me. And that’s where the WordPress site left me. “Support is closed for the weekend.”
So I’ve 301 redirected the site to my main site and for the foreseeable future 1234codes is closed for business.
That website only ever was an experiment to see how the search engines would treat it. So I have learned something at least. Don’t ever upgrade, be happy with what you’ve got!
