BlogRush – A Second Chance?

September 26, 2007 | Opinion

A few days ago, I ripped into BlogRush. I wasn’t alone. Darren Rowse at ProBlogger reported a very low click-through rate. Mashable asked the question on whether it was a traffic generator or a pyramid scheme. The general consensus was that the click-through rate sucked. So after running the widget for a couple days on PCMech, I removed it.

Today, I put it back up for a second chance. Here’s why.

I got an email from John Reese (everybody did, not just me). The email was written in typical John Reese copy style. But, cutting to the chase, it signals that they are working on improving it. Among the changes he specified are:

Manual Blog Review. This means they will manually approve all blogs which apply and will go back and audit all blogs which signed up previously. This is good as it will keep the garbage out of the network. As I said in my prior post, the structure of BlogRush is just a magnet for people looking for quick traffic. So, something has to be done to keep out sites which do not contain real content and are nothing but sales or ad-heavy garbage.
More Categories. Again, this is good. I am testing BlogRush on PCMech, which is a computer and tech site. The only category it fit in was “Computers & Internet”. It’s an accurate category, but the problem is that I get lumped in with a BUNCH of internet marketing sites which are not related to PCMech at all.
Improve reporting. Always good.
Flavors. Now you can get the widget in different colors. I only wish I could adjust the width. John?
Post Filters. A way to control which of your posts should not show in the widget. Good because this allows for better targeting.

So, these are improvements. I admire how fast the BlogRush folks have been to reacting to and improving the system. And I must admit that the way they are handling it leads me to think perhaps I am too quick to the punch to write off BlogRush.

So, for now, BlogRush is back up on the PCMech site. I am curious to see if it brings any more traffic.

I know full well that BlogRush is not going to result in a HUGE traffic spike. Not in a million years. But, if it brings in some people (at hopefully a significantly better rate than it was), then why the hell not? At the least, it’s a way of participating in the blog community.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

Get your copy of the Six Figure Blogger Blueprint.

You'll Discover...

3 vital questions to pick the right niche.
The layout for funneling traffic into your blog.
How this blog generates thousands of dollars monthly - without a single banner ad.