LET'S CHAT: Afrigator and Adgator issues - bloggers forum

I HAVE huge respect for the Gators who started Afrigator – Africa’s largest blog aggregator, and Adgator – a unique advertising service for bloggers. However, things appear to have gone a little pear-shaped in recent months to say the least.

Both services have been awarded and honoured in the press - and deservedly so. It would seem that the steady growth of Afrigator was something unprecedented. Unfortunately, it also appears that the Gators were unprepared for such (perhaps unexpected) growth. While Afrigator may be winning the popularity contest among the aggregators, it could be argued that it is fast losing popularity among its users.

Downtime, site crashes, delays with the fetching of new content, the slow death of Gatorpeeps, and the inability for bloggers to access their blog statistics, are all happening all too often. I found my own blog crashing and behaving painfully slow in recent months. This was until I removed the Afrigator badge and tracking code. I see that several bloggers have done the same.

Afrigator issues

I tried to reach the Afrigator blog for comment, but it failed to respond. I do have it on good authority though that the Afrigator blog hasn’t seen an update since June last year.

And then there’s Adgator – an advertising service that showed (and will hopefully re-show) much promise. Adgator has made a few bloggers some decent pocket money since its launch, yet lately there seem to be more disgruntled Adgator users than satisfied ones.

On the plus side, the Gators seem to be doing really well with finding new ad campaigns and offering these to bloggers on a regular basis. Every time I hear of a new campaign that’s applicable to my blog category and location, I think “this is it! This is the one that’s going to make it big!” Then I visit my Adgator dashboard a few weeks down the line, often to find an impressive click-through ratio yet a lump sum of about 50cents.

Adgator earnings

December dashboard

Ad impressions worth zilch

I fully understand that not all the ads offered by Adgator are “paying ads”, and that there is a difference between the Adgator earnings and the Ad: Dynamo earnings. However, I can’t shed the feeling that something still isn’t quite right.

I make a real effort to better understand any issues, and the Gator team are really courteous and speedy with their replies. But when bloggers are constantly told that there is a “discrepancy between figures and stats” this doesn’t really offer much by way of solution.

I’m sure the Gators are painstakingly working on such issues and that they mean well. I’m sure they’re also probably sick of being e-mailed complaints and held to accountability. Of course, it’s fair to give them some time and be patient about the whole thing. But, it’s also fair to talk about it and appeal for answers. Perhaps others don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them so to speak.

So let’s get some discussion going. Am I alone here? Do any of the Gators care to respond? Any good news for your users in 2011? I sincerely look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Well I’ll tell you what’s in mine ...

IT'S that time of year once again to do my bit to promote some of the other great blogs out there. These are essentially the ones in my blogroll, which you should be familiar with by now, but for any new-comers (welcome) these are what you may be missing out on:

• Gottaquirk operates in the realm if eMarketing and is an online child of Quirk – Africa’s largest eMarketing agency. Published upon their great wooden desk design are posts relating to everything from online reputation management and SEM to web development.

• Justin Hartman is one of SA’s great and fearless online leaders. He is the MD and co-founder of Afrigator - Africa's largest social media aggregator, which spawned several Gator offspring, such as Adgator and Gatorpeeps. Justin has a knack at explaining complex online strategies to entrepreneurial and eager young minds in easily-absorbable ways. He often shares his well-illustrated presentations on his blog.

I’m confident that 2oceansvibe needs no introduction. Winner of the 2009 SA Blog Awards, 20ceansvive has reached the top of the charts on SA’s blog aggregators, and deservedly so too. It’s updated several times a day with sexy photos, videos and really entertaining pieces. It’s creator is local celeb and all-round nice guy Seth Rotherham, who lives by his motto, “Work is a sideline, live the holiday”. You may want to increase your cap before visiting Seth’s site as you’re likely to spend a few hours perusing his content.

• SA Rocks. There’s no doubt about that. How great to create a blog about all the positively South African people, places and events that make South Africa rock. Nic Haralambos has done just that by punting positive action on his blog SA Rocks, which will always leave you feeling proud to be associated with SA.

• Shaun Oakes is quite a character. One can never be sure where he is or what he’s going to blog about next, but with his cheeky and sarcastic sense of humour, he can make anything sound entertaining. He is an inspiring novelist who has conjured up convincing characters such as The Girlfriend and Some Other Guy. A little grotesk at times, shaunoakes.com is not recommended for sensitive viewers or alien life-forms.

Cape Town is home to the most popular bloggers in SA and Cape Town happenings is often what’s hot in the blogosphere. Cape Town Alive brings you all the events going on in the mother city in a witty, entertaining way. It is also the domain of one of my favouritly-humoured blog writers Kyle Stroebel (a.k.a. stroob).

• The Art of Manliness offers something completely different on the blogosphere - a blog dedicated to uncovering the lost art of being a man. It may sound a little silly at first, but the husband and wife team behind this tasteful creation have done a fantastic job. They delve deep into the history of manliness and research the lives of great men to offer articles on helping men be better husbands, better fathers, and better men.

• The Art of non-conformity is my best find on the blogosphere to date. Its founder is Chris Guillebeau – role-model to the world. Chris has travelled the globe, done volunteer work, published books and is on a mission to help people live unconventional lives, make their own choices, and change the world. Chris’ selfless, bi-weekly blog chronicles his writing on how to change the world by achieving significant, personal goals in the field of work, life and travel all while helping others at the same time.

If you’re a whizz in the kitchen and are keen on learning some new recipes, you need look no further than Cookbook.co.za. It is by far the best cooking blog I’ve come across that is extensive, user-friendly and 100% free. It has recipes for baked goods, chicken treats, Chinese cuisine, yummy desserts, drinks hot & cold, fish, meat dishes, pasta, salads, sauces and soups.

• Web AddiCT(s) offers a daily dose of tech – more specifically posts on web and cellphone applications. Quite technical by nature, don’t feel bad if a lot of the content offered here goes over your head - you're bound to find something to pique your interest. The site recently underwent a re-design and is looking pretty sweet.

• The above are some of the top blogs (and bloggers) in the South African blogosphere according to our great aggregators. All are listed in my blogroll to your right.

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BLOGGING GUIDE: One for the newbies

THE terms “blog” and “blogging” are becoming commonplace in today’s cyber-culture. While such words excite some, they also alienate people who missed the rapid emergence of the blogging phenomenon of 2007.

To put it simply, blogging goes alone the lines of “everyone online can be a publisher”. A blog, therefore, is any individual’s own personal website or space on the web. Some people, such as journalists and techno-junkies, blog professionally, while others blog simply as a hobby or for personal interest.

A portion of the former crowd even make some decent money from blogging, while the majority simply gain personal satisfaction. If you have always wanted to try your hand at writing, or simply have original views or interest in a topic that you’re passionate about, blogging may be for you.

The best part about blogging for me is the feedback one receives. Last week I wrote about website statistics and how one is actually able to see how many people are reading which particular articles you write. You may even get commentary on your blog posts. This is what makes writing for an online audience unique.

Starting a blog...
If the idea of blogging excites you, there is nothing preventing you from starting one today. There are several ways to go about this, but in the spirit of keeping things simple, there are two blogging sites I would recommend:

www.blogspot.com and www.wordpress.com are two websites I have mentioned before and hold in high regard. They both allow anyone to sign up for free and offer a user-friendly, step-by-step guide to getting started.

However, if you are completely new to the blogging arena, then I would recommend starting your journey with blogger.com. In my experience, this website is easier to follow and will accommodate all your blogging needs.

If, on the other hand, you feel confident with basic website design and html, then wordpress is the way to go. It is far more aesthetically pleasing in my opinion and simply feels more professional.

How to blog

Now that your blog is set up with your chosen theme and blog name, you’re ready to start writing. The best advice that anyone can give in this regard is to write about your passion. What’s the one thing that excites you and has you talking for hours at a social gathering?

Remember that the Internet is already littered with blogs on all sorts of topics, so in order to make yours stand out, you need to write about what you know and offer something new in your own unique style.

Another thing to bear in mind is that blogging, and the whole social networking ethos of web 2.0, is all about sharing and interlinking content. If you have researched your article online, link back to the website that you got your information from.

The same applies to websites that either sparked an idea for a blog post or ones that offer further information and resources. Linking to other blogs is the central core of the blogosphere and is what makes it flourish.

Another tip is to make your blog a useful resource. If you have a passion for cooking, for example, post cooking tips and recipes on your blog. This will not only keep people coming back, but also will become a personal resource for yourself, your family, and your friends.

If you’re keen to test your talents at review writing, research the product thoroughly and provide as much information as possible, but keep it short. You never know who might read it and notice your potential.

Blogging for money

An online survey about blogging and the blogosphere conducted last year revealed that less than 10% of bloggers make money from their blogs and most do not wish to. The personal satisfaction gained seemed to outweigh any desire to blog for money.

However, if this is your incentive, online advertising is where the money is. You’ll come across several websites with Google ads plastered all over them. You earn a few U.S. cents for every click on a Google ad and a cheque is mailed to you when you earn $10 or more.

Yet believe me when I say that this is not suited for South African blogs, at least not yet. I defaced my blog with Google ads as an experiment and made about $3 in five months. There are a few blogs that make a small killing from Google ads but note that their blogs are very popular and took time to get there.

Idea!
If you run a business from home and don’t currently make use of any online promotion, you are missing an ideal opportunity. Start a blog and write about your product or service. Add photos, prices, product details and create business cards with your blog address on them. It doesn’t get more free than this.

The good news is that the South African blogosphere and the web-savvy minds behind it are creating advertising prospects for SA bloggers. This involved the birth of Adgator last year, which is a child of www.afrigator.co.za.

Once you have signed up with them and embedded some code into your blog, the Adgator team assesses what you blog about and sends this information to prospective advertisers. If your blog cracks the nod with them, you get advertising options and the chance to enjoy a 50/50 cut of the profits.

The service is still brand new, but several South African companies have been approached and things are looking promising. To put things into perspective, I earned R25 in a single day with Adgator, which I consider as easy money for doing what I love.

Early retirement awaits!

Related Article: Don't knock it 'til you try it

For more blogging tips check out:

• www.bloggingtips.com
• Nerdmag: They why & how of blogging

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