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Updates:

1. Information about Ads-Click has been updated as the principals looked directly into the issues raised and took prompt action.

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So you have been blogging long enough to attract a decent daily traffic, even managing to notch up a few points on the venerable Google Page rank, and now you want to revamp your website’s advertising strategy to make some exotic money on the sides? You have come to the right place.

Here is my take on this and what I have learned over the past couple of months.

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Some ideas and updates to the website that I have been experimenting with. In the interest of being more transparent and “open-source” when it comes to information, I have included two new widgets for the benefit of our regular readers.

These widgets would not only facilitate more information about TechBanyan, but can also be used as a case study if you are looking for ways and means to improve the traffic of your own site.

Scroll down below and towards the right bottom you will see two new widgets that I have added not too long ago.

The smaller one is from Amung.us which gives information about how many readers are currently browsing the website. If you click on the small black-and-red icon, you can also view the pages the readers are currently on.

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Lately I have noticed an exponential rise in the spam comments I get on my website. Usually it was averaging about 10 to 20 a day. But now if I check after a day or so, I see about 150 spam messages caught by the Akismet plugin.

Fortunately, none of it has managed to slip through the Akismet but I am not sure if some genuine comment also got barred by Akismet. Earlier, I did notice that Ajay’s comment was always getting caught as spammed and I have always marked it as Not-Spam in the hope that the software would recognize it from now on and allow it through its filters.

But if you have, lets say 15-20 spam messages, then its easier to verify all of them before deleting it with one click. Same is not possible if you have 100s of comments caught in the spam queue.

I am not sure why there has been a sudden surge in spam comments and I have not seen much written about it in different blogs.

Have you noticed this spike as well on your blog?

Started a WordPress blog on a self hosted site? Then this post is just for you. What do you do after you are all set to run your blog. Obviously besides posting, you will want to expand the features set of your blog by installing some cool pluggins.

I already have an earlier post on stuff to do after your blog is ready but this one is slightly different as it mentions the mother of all plugins.

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In the recently updated Google Pagerank rankings, TechBanyan saw a jump of 2 points, from 2 to 4. For a blog that was started not too long ago, I think it is quite substantial and a positive sign of things.

What does it mean for TechBanyan? Possibly, the site would show up higher for the comparative search terms than those who have lower PR, leading to higher search hits. Only time will tell so lets wait and watch. (I’ll keep you posted if I notice an upward trend in Google traffic).

Interesting thing, all the experts decried that if you display TLA links on the site, Google is supposed to punish that behavior with lower rankings. On the contrary, even after continuing to display TLA on my site (I have a single link on the right corner of the main page) which pays for hosting, Google found it fit to raise the PR rankings of TechBanyan. Google surly works in mysterious ways.

Some of the peer blogs that I regularly visit, like Binaryday, Bishtblogs, Abhisays, Readerszone etc. saw a minor bump too, either up or down.

Sita and Abhi’s site saw the PR go down to 3 while Sanjay reported his went up to 3.

I am not sure how to explain this jump in TechBanyan’s PR from 2 to 4 (or why the other sites saw a slight ranking demotion). But I’ll take a shot at it, and analyze some things that I did w.r.t. TechBanyan. I am sure some of these tips might help your blog as well and push the rankings up.

1. Content is the king

Like the real estate rules of location, location, location, the kingdom of blogs is also driven by similar rules – Content, Content, Content. Write interesting stuff. Make the language easy to read. Insert some humor. Give a unique perspective. If you are writing about some news, don’t just dish out the news but your perspective on it as well. Those who would like your stuff, will keep coming back for more. Also they will turn to you for that stuff ‘cuz nobody else can give that POV.

2. Trackbacks and link backs

I have repeatedly gotten track backs from DesiPundit, a popular Indian aggregated blogs site. So write good stuff, but push it forward to such sites in the hope they’ll link back to you. Be sincere and don’t spam. When I wrote something, it was genuinely about what I wanted to write. But after the post was written, I tried thinking about whom else it could benefit. Be honest and sincere in your efforts.

If the content is good, you will get track backs which additionally help in telling the Google Pagerank software how important your website is. Besides Desipundit, I have occasionally gotten track backs from few other readers on topics as diverse as an India specific social networking site – BigAdda to Chinese American politics etc.

3. Blog roll links

From some of the peers, Sita and Ajay. Thank you guys. (If I missed out anybody’s name, please let me know and I will rectify).

5. Readers of your site. More the merrier.

What do yo guys think, why do rankings rise and fall. You have a better answer, let everybody know.

Another World Camp venue has been announced and it came as a complete surprise to me, albeit a pleasant one. If somebody is asked to venture a guess for a tech event venue/seminar, most of us would automatically wager on either the Bay area or New York. If nudged to go beyond that and think of some southern venue, most of us wouldn’t bet on anything beyond Atlanta, Georgia.

But guess what?! It’s Birmingham, Alabama. Having lived there on and off, ( place is kind of like home to me now), seems like I was totally clueless about the city’s tech leanings.

According to the official SXDS website, the inaugural event would be held on 26-28 September of this year. The events are still being finalized but would consist of –

* Social Media/PR/Marketing
* Web development
* A full-blown WordCamp

In fact this happens to be a first, definitely a good sign to see such unconfrences spreading beyond the regular cities on West coast and East coast.

Heard all this from here. Going by the comments on that site, the event sure seems to be kicking some dust.

If you still have the old version of WordPress deployed, remember your site can be easily hacked because of known exploits. The hackers may or may not have a lot to gain by injecting malware or spammy links on your website but if you own the website, it could be your worst nightmare.

A spammed website will most likely be ignored by search engine crawlers resulting in dropped rankings. In fact, Technorati is totally junking the older versions of WP from its system.

Sites like Security Focus are publishing a bunch of hacks possible on older versions of WordPress. So before you get mugged by a script kiddie, take the necessary action.

Lets say one fine day you wake up and realize your blog has been a victim of such an attack, what do you do?

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I started TechBanyan with WordPress 2.3.1 and it served me well. No major hiccups or security breaches. That is, I haven’t found myself on the receiving end yet.

Yesterday like I also posted, I came across about various posts where “experts” recommended upgrading asap because of known hacks in the version 2.3.2 and earlier. The fact that Technorati took the decision not to index those blogs as well added to the urgency of upgrading to the latest version.

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There’s a flurry of reports on the internet about potential WordPress threats and attacks if you haven’t yet upgraded to the latest release of WordPress 2.5.

If you are still running WordPress 2.3.2 and below then your website is at grave risk. From what I could make out after a couple of minutes of browsing various security websites, all the experts are saying this thing in unison – Upgrade ASAP.

What kind of vulnerabilities are we looking at here and how do you know you are a victim of this security breach.

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Do you consider yourself a WordPress configuration expert, can do some basic Php coding, have skills that enable you to work remotely? If yes, then why not help somebody with their WordPress driven website from the comforts of your favorite arm chair. Not to mention, earning some exotic money on the sides.

All you need is a proven track record, like your own website or past experience, and a Paypal account to literally hear money jingle in.

Read on to find out how.

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