Reflections on ProBlogger Summer Series

All good things must come to an end and my two week holiday is almost over. We’re back at home after a great time away and I’ll gradually be resuming my blogging activities here at ProBlogger on Monday (there will be a couple more guest posts in the next two days).

Thanks to those who submitted posts for ProBlogger’s Summer/Holiday Series. I can say that without a doubt it’s been an incredible success on a number of levels.

Traffic

My last live post was Christmas Day and the guest posts kicked in midday on 26th. You can see for yourself the results (feels kind of strange to see your blog do so well when you ignore it!). A number of the posts (some of my own advance ones, but mainly guest posters) were picked up on del.icio.us, tech.memorandum and lifehacker (among others).

The secondary benefit of the increased traffic and large link ups is that the number of other sites linking to ProBlogger.net over the past two weeks has increased also. My ranking on Technorati has moved from 110 to 87 which is a result of two factors:

1. Increased incoming links
2. Less linking to other sites over the Holidays (ie when other blogs are less active there are benefits of having an active one yourself).

Blog Participation



The second thing I’ve enjoyed about the past two weeks (not that I was really here to see it) is the increased participation in ProBlogger by readers. This has been on two levels.

1. Guest Posters – Obviously the main area is that readers have been given a more prominent voice. I’ve had emails from a number of guest bloggers (I’m yet to wade through all 3000+ emails/comments from the last two weeks) saying they enjoyed the extra exposure, traffic to their own blogs and dialogue. This means that 15 or so people now have a slightly larger sense of belonging and ownership here at ProBlogger – something that I love.

2. Comments – A cursory look over the blog’s recent posts shows a fairly high level of commenting. This is probably for a number of reasons, ranging from their being less posts on the blog (this always increases comments per post averages), some people disagreeing with guest posters and some, increased traffic and people just enjoying the variety of voices on the blog.

Last time I left my blog in the hands of others I got a lot of feedback that people missed my voice and felt that there was too much inconsistency having others take over. This time I controlled the flow of my own posts and guest posts (via advance posting) and think I probably got a better mix as there has been no negative feedback yet (although I’m happy to hear it).

Good Break



I love ProBlogger – it’s a blog that gives me so much in terms of energy and inspiration. Having said that it also is a blog that takes a lot of time and energy to run. I put more time into this blog than any of my others.

As a result I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the break and greatly appreciate the work of those who submitted posts.

Tell me what you Think



I’d love to hear regular readers reflections on the past couple of weeks here at ProBlogger. I’m always trying to fine tune what I do and improve my blogging and part of this is to find better ways to manage things when I’m not hear. Give your honest feedback – I know that some will not have enjoyed the period as much as others and don’t have issues with hearing so.