Before coming to this point, let us answer a few questions:
Why do you roam in places like BlogCatalog or MyBlogLog?
- To build a community of like minded people
- To get yourself noticed or to promote your blog or website
- To get links – that will eventually help you getting better page rank
- Etc.
The rest of the post will concentrate on point no.3:
In BlogCatalog you are given a page – something like http://www.blogcatalog.com/user/Doubts for yourself and separate pages like http://www.blogcatalog.com/blogs/1234i-have-some-seo-doubts.html for your blog.
In http://www.blogcatalog.com/blogs/1234i-have-some-seo-doubts.html page you can find a link to your blog just under the Title.
You may find many pages out there with a page rank of 4 or 5 which means that those blogs are getting a link back from 4 or 5 page rank – nice haaa!
But the world is not so beautiful always.
All those links are actually redirected to your blog – not a straight one.
For example, the link http://moredoubts.wordpress.com/ from that page is actually http://www.blogcatalog.com/out/1234i-have-some-seo-doubts.html which is getting redirected to this blog.
That means you are not gaining any value for that link!
If you put your pointer on the link, you can see a simple link to your blog at the bottom of the browser. A lot of simple human being like me will be happy to get such a link – and they will work harder to earn better page rank at BlogCatalog. However, is it worth it!
The whole thing is here:
<a href=”http://moredoubts.wordpress.com/” onclick=”return o(‘1234i-have-some-seo-doubts’);”>http://moredoubts.wordpress.com/</a></h3>
<ul class=”metadata”>
You cannot track this link even at http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ search, which is famous for getting anything in the net.
Is it some kind of cheating! I have my own answer – have you got one!
Filed under: Social Networking | Tagged: Blogging Tips, Forum, Link Building
Great Article, just wanted to point out a few things…
Spiders dont parse javascript. Yes, when you click on a blogcatalog link it does not go directly to that site but instead to a redirect script intended to track clicks going out. However, as far as google or yahoo are concerned, its a direct link. if you use Google Webmaster Tools Link Tool you will see the link back. The reason the link doesnt show up in Yahoo’s link tool is merely because yahoo does not have a large index of blogcatalog pages in thier database (A mere 15,000 at yahoo to Google’s 400,000).
So the final outcome is that you are gaining PR from listing your blog at BlogCatalog not to mention the fact you’re getting free traffic from people actually interested in your content.
-Daniel
Thanks Daniel for your comment.
Just answer a few very simple questions if you feel like:
1)If you used a “redirect script intended to track clicks going out” why didn’t you make it as it is! Why doesn’t the link at the end of the browser look like http://www.blogcatalog.com/out/1234i-have-some-seo-doubts.html as it should be!
2)There are so many other ways to “check the outgoing clicks” – why did you choose this one!
3)Do you assure the reader of this post that the link value would be the same as that you would get from a normal HTML page!
As far as getting traffic is concerned – they are never “Free” – you need to work hard to earn them. People are busy – really, they are busy.
1. the reason we use the javascript is so that we can pass PageRank to our Bloggers. We require our bloggers to link back to us so why shouldn’t we link back to them. We made the switch to direct links in March, previously we did link directly to the tracking script.
2. We’re always open to suggestions as to alternate ways to track clicks out while still passing PR to our blogs. let us know what you had in mind.
3. The link value is the same as far as google is concerned.
Google istelf uses javascript to track what results you click on. you can BlogCatalog passing link value by doing a link: search on google such as:
http://www.google.com/search?q=link%3Ablog.wrathofdaniel.com
or i can show you screenshots of the Link Tool in Google Webmaster Tools if you would like.
We’re not trying to deceive anyone, we want to do whats best for the bloggers and if the javascript is getting in the way, we would gladly remove it.
I think it will not make any problem to the rank because Search Engines will take the href link and crawl it. However, users will surely have some doubts as the onClick function is working. I will strongly recommend that you should remove this.
Users are giving direct links, why not you give ? There is no need to track that much ehh.. you already have a user accounts section .
>>the reason we use the javascript is so that we can pass PageRank to our Bloggers.
Javascript links pass PR?! well… its news to me. Perhaps Mr. Daniel would like to elaborate on this?
Javascript does not pass PR. but search engines do not parse javascript nor do they know that the javascript action attached to the Anchor is a redirect. all they sees is the HREF and follow it. When they follow the link the javascript is not executed.
The reason these links pass PR is because the HREF is a direct link to the blog.
however, if we had made the link such as href=”javascript:o(’1234i-have-some-seo-doubts’)” , then we wouldnt pass PR since there would be no reference to the blog URL in question. a spider would not be able to crawl. Try turning off your browser’s javascript and clicking the link, it will still goto the blog. It’s called Unobtrusive Javascript. Please do a little more research before pointing fingers.
The opening paragraph questioned involvement in both Blogcatalog and Mybloglog.
MyBlogLog doesn’t increase SEO from what I can see for my site. It MAY increase PR for the of my member page over time, and THAT page may influence my PR of my site it links to…but I’ve found it a good tool for networking with people. It’s actually been the root cause for me to meet directly with three high profile peer blogs. That wouldn’t have happened as quickly, in all honesty.
What really confuses me is MyBlogLog being seen on many sites I read, immediately followed by a similiar panel underneath for BlogCatalog. Almost IDENTICAL boxes, and sometimes identical avatars in both!
I’m really surprised nobody’s asking “Who came first…the chicken or the egg?”. Somebody’s imitating someone here. I know personally when MyBlogLog came out. I’m also hold a professional account there.
BlogCatalog’s bottom footer doesn’t even have a copyright date.
Who’s the original and who’s the poser? BlogCatalog or MyBlogLog? Back up what you say with links please.
Hi Daniel,
I am not pointing fingers to you – for sure. After all that is your site and you can do whatever you want. There were only some doubts I wanted to clear out! I am not pushing any comment regarding your site.
Hi John,
Thats a really nice question. I really feel thrilled when I find people like you when can ask questions. As far as your question “Who’s the original and who’s the poser? BlogCatalog or MyBlogLog?” is concerned, I am also interested in it and doing by research.
I think Daniel can offer you a better answer at this moment.
Will you Daniel!
He’s not answering…is he?
Perhaps he is too busy to answer!
But, Don’t worry john, we will get our answers!
Hey guys…
Cool and interesting conversation. MBL started off offering blog analytics. They then added the social network feature. BlogCatalog started off at around the same time as MBL however as a Blog Directory. MBL created the social network before BlogCatalog. Our social network is only 3 months old. We obtained some inspiration from them and other sites however we have many features that they do not offer and visa versa.
For networking and getting instant feedback from other bloggers check out the BlogCatalog discussions. MBL has nothing like them. They also dont have a directory of blogs. The directory feature on BlogCatalog drives a large portion of BlogCatalogs traffic. This means we more than likely have a higher % of non bloggers searching our site than they do. One challenge faced by bloggers is getting non blogger traffic. By having your blogs listed on BlogCatalog you overcome part of this challenge.
There are many more differences between the 2 sites….so posing the question who is the poser … doesnt really have much meaning.
As there is real value to bloggers in both places.
Hope this answers your questions.
Tony
Hi Tony,
Thanks for your comment.
I think John knows very well where BC is different from MBL.
Perhaps his question is a bit different.
What say you John!
Tony,
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what you and your crew has probably put into BlogCatalog.
The problem I have is the appearance of you and MyBlogLog’s widgets looking identical. When seen stacked one above the other in sidebars, THEY LOOK IDENTICAL in most cases.
Granted, I know directly of MyBlogLog’s capabilities from holding a Professional account. I don’t know anything of BlogCatalog’s, due to lack of use on my part. When seeing BOTH panels on sites…and seeing the SAME people populating a 50% match on both panels…that’s where my “who’s posin” mindset was coming from.
I tell ya what. Provide me a full Pro account for review purposes, and I’ll take a deep, honest and unbiased look and compare the two. I’m involved in a blogger’s meetup locally in Jacksonville this Weds, and would be happy to solicit input from people face to face of what THEY think first hand of the two ‘identical twins’ that are simply books with a simliar cover.
Best…and yeah, I’ve got much respect for guys and gals putting together online communities and networks. Have to admit, your widget DOES look like a copycat visually.
John
John, go ahead and do a review of blogcatalog. There is nothing hidden. Id be happy to answer any questions though the best reviews are unbiased. I sense some bias of yours starting out the review, so Im not quite sure how you can be objective. Why not visit the discussions and see the level of community? Isnt that the measure of an online community. When did widgets become the defacto standard of comparison? Community is about people coming together out of similar interests or cause. BlogCatalog recently had 200+ bloggers blog for a raising money for kids education? I havent seen any other community doing anything like that. In order to be objective it is necessary to take into account a lot more than similar looking widgets.
…they still look identical. You’re changing the subject.
I can’t compare a free Blogcatalog account to a MyBlogLog professional account.
My bias is really in that I…use a widget…that looks like your widget…identical in most cases…which translates to users globally…”Why go further when it’s so similiar, already?”.
Thanks for visiting my site though, and using MyBlogLog and America Online!
I did much thinking about this thread since posting. ‘Moredoubts’ knows me from experience and interaction. Honestly, I don’t know the other posters claiming to be from Blogcatalog’s site.
I think it’s only fair that anything further be done through email from professional accounts. Otherwise, this could be just a handful of posers claiming to actually be from Blogcatalog…and that’s not cool.
It’s worse than having a twin lookin’ widget of another company.
Feel the love, Blogcatalog.
John,
There is much more to blogcatalog than the widget. Why are you so hung up on it?
Im sure you can think broader than that.
Tony
Interesting find here and JohnC I think I answered that question best on my blog.
They stated my most recent review was bias too.
I just noticed something with BlogCatalog- When you submit your RSS feed to them, it is set up not to follow your post. Every link has nofollow in it.
Ha ha ha – they are fully into business Rose. I hate it when people pretend to present something that is actually not there.
An honest site should represent what they are and let people decide on that. This dubious system will never run for long. Actually they are damaging their own reputation in the whole process.
As I see internet, 2 years down the line, it will be all about your reputation. You loose it and you loose the potentials to stay.
Stop worrying about them. They are digging for their own.
“John, go ahead and do a review of blogcatalog. There is nothing hidden.”
There is a lot hidden there Tony.
Doubts, BlogCatalog does have it’s place in the blogosphere and many bloggers do find the site beneficial.
Regarding BC not passing on pagerank. I think it is important for them to take in the negative reviews as well as the positive and work from there.
As you said, they are digging their own.
I will make some research and come with updates (if I find something relevant). There are pros and cons, we all need to be objective and in good faith.
Quoting Danny ” Thank you for bringing it to our attention, don’t be surprised if you see it implemented soon.”
He was replying to Sebastian here.
http://sphinn.com/story/5310
BlogCatalog should have listened then, but no they were to stubborn to.
It took a post of 58 Comments on Sphinn to wake them up.
The good thing is I hope they now change things around to be fair.
Credit goes to you though. Thank you for pointing this out.
[...] I wrote the post BlogCatalog is not what it shows, there had been a lot of debate regarding this in my blog, other good blogs, different forums and [...]
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Blog Catalog and BlogCave are great! However I dislike Mybloglog.:(
[...] Do you need another Orkut or Mybloglog! Posted on June 18, 2007 by MrDoubts John asked a simple but timely question while talking about similar functionalities of Blogcatalog and Mybloglog (almost)! “I’m really surprised nobody’s asking “Who came first…the chicken or the egg?”. Somebody’…” [...]
Hi, this is an “old” post but I wanted to know if there’s a way to stop blogcatalog from “steeling” my google search position. What I mean is that any of my post listed by blogcatalog will end up higher than my own post, but clicking on the blogcatalog link you see a list of related posts. so they are using my post to get on top and then they are not sending traffic to my blog. Do you know how to solve this problem? thanks,
tcalo
Hi Talco,
Welcome to Moredoubts.
I would ask you to do the opposite – use that page of blogcatalog to refer visitors to your blog. I have done the same for some of my blogs where some forum topics and blogcatalog was ranking over me in SERP. Within a month, I found my blog ranking higher.
You can mail me, I would like to see the exact situation.