I've been asked time and time again about these 'Ish' sites (
@lovelyish,
@healthkicker...etc...) and why they are around still ....especially since I deal with
@Autisable.
This is more of a historical perspective from my point of view on this subject - feel free to chime in if you think differently...ok, let's discuss Authority sites:
The concept is rather simple - take a look at this article, as it explains more about SEO (search engine optimization and how it relates to Authority sites -
http://viewseo.com/80/search-engine-optimization-and-authority-sites/To create an Authority site, it has to be about one specific topic - or genre.
With Xanga being so large of a blogging community, it allowed some level of segregation by creating these 'ish' sites...sites where people were interested in a topic or genre. Without the segregation, the authority of a given topic within the userbase became diluted - and subsequently 'lost' in regards to search engine rankings. This didn't help in terms of obtaining new users to the platform...and thus challenges the bottom line when traffic starts dropping. SEO is always, and has always been content driven. So, a change in promoting some topics/genre's had to be addressed...and this required some new thinking....
Many didn't like or understand why it was necessary to deal have these sites. However, those who understood SEO and how an Authority site relates to google adsense revenue understood clearly the potential - and it was a good move in the long run. After all, you will get a higher click through rate on ads that relate to the topic of the page - as people visiting that topical site are more inclined to click the ad. But when a site becomes diluted in content (too many topics) - the ads become...well...junk ads that people don't want to click.
Now, by having a network of Authority sites, you have increased your potential in search engine ranking - and thus increasing exposure. So with Authority sites (ish sites), we saw the birth of the Xanga Network of blogging community sites....not just Xanga.com. This increased the exposure of Xanga in more ways than we realized - expanding the viewship and users. It does take time to build sites and a userbase....so let's not get off topic in that area...mmm-k?
Of course you don't have to have an 'ish' site on Xanga to have an authority on a genre or topic. Many top bloggers have multiple blogs to address specific topics - and they all link to one site that is a more comprehensive of who they are. The issue with the 'ish' sites is that there are a group of dedicated people that discuss that genre.
Take a look
@thetheologianscafe and how well he does - even without being an 'ish' site. He has his format that many of us are familiar with, and he utilizes many of the tools that
@thexangateam provides. It's a good example of having a site on xanga that has become a bit of an authority on a topic/subject/format/genre.
If you really look at how the 'ish' sites are set up - they're really a regular Xanga site - but with the 2 major additions -
1) advantage of having it's own users have their own login and blog
and
2) a content management system to help out with the content on the site.
Did you know you can have your own URL using your Xanga blog, or connect your website to your Xanga blog? here's that link:
http://www.xanga.com/purl.aspx?ref=gs .
Just some thoughts....feel free to interject yours in the comments below...
(I also wanted to test out the new username feature... :) )
I've been asked time and time again about these 'Ish' sites (@lovelyish, @healthkicker...etc...) and why they are around still ....especially since I deal with @Autisable.
Comments (9)
I really don't have a problem with the Ish sites. I'm glad Xanga incorprated them and I'm glad you posted this. Good information everyone should know.
I remember Datingish when it was still a Xanga account. How the time flies.
I am not sure I ever believed the ish sites were a winning strategy for xanga. They had 18 plus full time workers when they started the ish sites and they have a handful now.
There were better ways for them to target the search engine than creating the ish sites and they didn't need to redefine what xanga was in order to use those methods. Plus the current strategy is still seeing a huge drop in traffic.
I got the impression that xanga was sort of clueless when it came to SEO just by looking at the ish sites. It is sort of funny that they are cast as experts by themselves and those who support them.
Go to an ish site for a moment. Notice that the sites do not get better ads than any other site that practices even the most basic SEO practices. Why? Because the sites themselves are not as nearly focused as they would have you believe. Of course they outperform xanga sites. That is because xanga sites have 10 years of nonfocused posting. But someone with fairly average SEO skills could outperform any of those same ish sites with a small fraction of their traffic.
I will admit once again that I think targeting google ads is a pretty poor strategy for anyone who wants to make money. I am not sure that the lack of support for the ish sites was related to a lack of "understanding." I think some people who clearly thought it was a bad strategy were just stating their opinion.
@TheTheologiansCafe - There is a lot you and I agree on, Dan. :)
@filthyminds - I remember those days as well.
@MyHomeIsWriting - thanks
I don't have a problem with the "Ish" sites, but I don't frequent them because their genres aren't really interesting to me.
I agree with Dan, I don't think creating Ish sites was the way to go. I'm very familiar with SEO stuff, and how it all works. The thing that really pisses me off is companies or people setting up unneeded and unnecessary sister sites in order to boost their ratings or revenue. It's essentially watering down the Internet.
I understand the reasons for doing so, but overall I think many sites, including Xanga, would benefit by focusing efforts on the existing site - instead of branching out into many aspects. Xanga charges premiums, I don't see why they would need extra revenue by making Ish sites. If I'm featured on an Ish site, does it show ads there, even though I'm a premium member? Oh, btw....they are featuring MY content and I don't get a penny. Brilliant idea on their part, they get the best content 'for free', and throw it up on an Ish site and make click throughs. (I'm also being charged for Premium on top of it all) It's all a scam, just like pretty much all of the money makers on the Internet. Nobody really thinks about this stuff....
@ramble_R - Thank you Roger, very good insight indeed.