Help Me Improve Connected Internet

June 21st, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

I had an interesting discussion with Listikal last night via email about improving Adsense CTR, that made me realise it’s time for another post asking the readers for ways in which they think I could improve Connected Internet.

All ideas are welcome and I also have a very thick skin so please don’t be shy. Areas I’d be particularly interested in getting feedback/help on are:

  • What time of the day (GMT please) do you tend to read the blog (will help me decide when’s the best time to post hopefully)
  • Ways to encourage more readers to subscribe
  • One for the lurkers - Why you don’t leave more comments
  • What topics you’d like to see more/less of
  • Do you like reading the posts from the new members of the Connected Internet Team
  • Is the balance between content and ads ok
  • Ideas on how to drive readers deeper into the site e.g. random posts, related posts, top posts in cats etc
  • Would you like to see threaded comments?
  • AOB?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

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About the Author

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Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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  1. #30

    Pingback by Defensio Anti-Spam Plugin - Anyone On The Beta? | Connected Internet on 29 June 2007:

    [...] I stopped using Akismet a long time ago, as I didn’t like the way I couldn’t correct false negatives, which is why I use Spam Karma 2 which is doing an almost perfect job on my blog. Lately though I’ve had to approve more comments as I removed the captcha that was challenging borderline comments based on reader feedback. [...]

  2. #29

    Comment by Everton on 24 June 2007:

    I’d like to see more posts from time to time about what YOU have learned via blogging. What works, waht doesn’t etc.

    Will try and do one just for you Angie

  3. #28

    Comment by Angie on 23 June 2007:

    I personally do not think your ads to are too heavy handed. Your sidebar is cleaner than most. I have a bare sidebar at this point, but I’m not saying I won’t change that :)

    I enjoy commenting on blogs, but then I am a talker and love the interaction. That is WHY I reads more blogs than static sites — the interaction. That leads right into threaded comments. I love them. I actually tried last night to install the plugin on my own blog. If you get it to work on yours, would you mind giving me a hand? I had no luck.

    I’d like to see more posts from time to time about what YOU have learned via blogging. What works, waht doesn’t etc.

  4. #27

    Comment by 3gp on 22 June 2007:

    Everton thanks for replying back.
    Would you please email me back on my email id that is attached here. so i can keep track of you. And plan with you any competition that i will sponsor.

  5. #26

    Comment by Jack on 22 June 2007:

    I was just subscribed to your feed.
    so i can’t answer those question yet.
    but i think, removing the moderation, and comment pages will make readers leave comments more often. imw :)

    nice

  6. #25

    Comment by Everton on 22 June 2007:

    Was wondering if there was the minute possibility of having a link that displays all the comments in the subscription email?

    I changed the way the plugin works to try and get people to come back to the site, but it doesn’t sound like it’s popular so I’ll change it back over the weekend

  7. #24

    Comment by Mosey on 22 June 2007:

    @Everton: Thanks for the explanation :) I definitely vote for non-threaded comments. Threaded is too messy.

    Was wondering if there was the minute possibility of having a link that displays all the comments in the subscription email? I subscribe to threads that I comment on, and when I receive an email for a thread with lots of comments, it means I need to take an extra step to view *all* the comments since it’s easier than clicking on a page-by-page view.

  8. #23

    Comment by Everton on 21 June 2007:

    @Listikal

    give it a couple of days and your CTR/CPM should keep going up as Smart Pricing starts to kick in
    @Mosey

    I think Connected Internet actually appears to have fewer ads since the time I started reading

    Yep, I’ve removed everything that wasn’t working and any pointless technorati links etc.

    Threaded comments - what does this mean?

    You can choose to reply to a particular comment, rather than just tacking on at the end. It’s supposed to help conversations…I’m not convinced

  9. #22

    Comment by Mosey on 21 June 2007:

    Time of the Day: I tend to read Connected Internet in the evening - 7-12pm GMT?

    Subscription: I wouldn’t worry too much about subscribers myself, as not everyone uses Feed Readers. I rarely use it, and prefer to just receive an email or something that collates the day’s posts.

    Lurker comment: I guess I don’t really count as a lurker but I’ll only comment on posts that interest me, else it’s a bit pointless adding nothing just for the sake of it.

    Content wise: Love Tech-related news, debates - all great :)

    New member posts: I’m afraid I don’t usually check out the author name since I always assume it’s Everton that makes the posts. Sorry!

    Ad vs Content: I occasionally click on the ads (e.g. Google Adsense) to show my support, but am still not a fan of ads. I think Connected Internet actually appears to have fewer ads since the time I started reading (not long ago to be fair) so it looks better now than before. I now tend to blank them out.

    Deeper: Related posts does the job on my site, so I imagine it must do the same for Connected Internet as well?

    Threaded comments - what does this mean? :)

  10. #21

    Comment by listikal on 21 June 2007:

    - have you seen any improvement in CTR/CPM yet based on last night’s chat?

    Actually I have EB. I saw my most clicks of all time yesterday, and today could come very close to that total. Granted, yesterday was also my biggest traffic day of all time, but I really think you are advice is going to payoff in the longrun. Now I just need to get some sustained high traffic.

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