Salocin

"ooh I came from blog explosion too. Aren't we all just traffic whores."

ahh, only kidding ;) I've noticed similar traffic problems since joining blogex, and when I was on blogsnob too. People load the front page, and that's it. Off they go, never to return.
I'd rather that than more stupid comment spam, but meh..

On behalf of all Blog Explosion traffic whores, I'd just like to say...eat my shorts! Hee hee. Enjoyed your post, and I'll bookmark and come back. One serious suggestion, though: your blog is pretty intimidating at first glance, just because so much stuff pops up at once. It may seem like too much to take in for some people. I studied journalism in high school (I admit, this makes me a barely-educated amateur, not an expert by any stretch), and I learned the importance of making something appealing to the eye if you want people to read it. As a fellow blogger, I understand the desire to share my every thought and opinion. But maybe if you give a thought to simplicity in layout, it will help you get more quality readers. Aaah, what do I know? Thanks for the chuckles. I'll be back.

When you come up with a way of making BlogExplosion users actually stick around, but sure to let the rest of us know!

Tim
BlogExplosion surfer

Tim...

Hey, I'm trying Ok.

I just wrote this zen boards service in the hopes that people find the service useful and therefore, out of pathetic gratitude, read the drivel I post.

But no-one wants to even look at the damned thing, so I guess that failed. So the million-dollar question is... What would it take to make you stick around?

ooh I came from blog explosion too. Aren't we all just traffic whores

Seriously, I try to actually read the blogs I ... drift through for 30 seconds. Most of them are uninteresting to me, but I would have stuck around your page for a while anyway :)

http://amatern.weblogs.us
http://www.deathstarinc.com

I came from BlogExplosion....woohoo....oh, I suppose you want a real comment now too. JK, I don't know about the rest of the traffic whores, but I'm actually skimming for good sites too. That's just it though, I skim...So something about the site has to catch my eye. Mainly good design or page layout, then I'll look at content. Sad part is, most blogspot pages will go unnoticed because they all look pretty much the same.

I do read the pages I find, and occasionally comment or go deeper. There is a high proportion of stuff that does nothing for me, but half a dozen or so links I've found on Blogexplosion sites have made their way onto mine (with attribution) since Saturday. So BE driving me to those sites means I will be driving traffic to them as well. Everybody wins.
Plus I've found that I've started seeing sites for a secod time, so I do get to come back.

I admit, I often glance at a site and realize right off that I am simply not interested.

I really don't think this is a problem -- I fully expect the majority of the people who read my site to move on. It's the nature of reading blogs at random. I mean, if you walked down the street and randomly struck up conversation with every person you saw, how long until you'd meet someone you actually clicked with (even if most people didn't run screaming)?

Occasionally something catches my eye. The words "blog explosion" usually do, since that's what I'm doing. Conservative political commentary gets me to take a closer look, as does mention of homeschooling. Blogs that don't catch my eye aren't bad -- they're just not what I'm looking for.

I may be in the minority, but I actually read most of the sites that BE directs me to. I may not click beyond the first page for two reasons: I've visited the site previously and viewed some of the prior content the first time, or nothing (at that time) caught my interest. I know people do the same with mine, and that's okay. The bottom line is that new people are being sent our way, and we're all looking for something different than the person that surfed by just before and just after us. Hopefully we all pick up a few more regular readers, and in return we find a few more sites to add to our Blogroll. I know I've added a few since joining BE.

Best to you :)

Hi.. here via BE. You can just stamp traffic slut on my forehead.

I too read the blogs. I am almost ALWAYS at a blog more then the 30 seconds if it is a blog I think I might be interested in.

Good luck with your Zen forum...

Sorry, can't stay, my thirty seconds is up! :)

On a more serious note though, good post. I don't think there is anything you can do to make people stay (short of tying them up, but that is.. you know, illegal; Or so I've been warned). In the end, if someone finds something interesting they will stay and chat, if not... well they won't.

If you want my attention for a while, write a really good post for us all on why exactly people are so desperate for traffic! I am being serious, not making fun of you or anyone else, I am guilty of it too. I find it perplexing though the desperation that some people exhibit for readers (again, let me clarify I'm not talking about you in particular).

Cheers

"ooh I came from blog explosion too. Aren't we all just traffic whores?"

Since I joined BE, I upgraded my webhosting plan twice. Very few read the blog they visited and too seldom they post a comment.

However, eye-catching blogs were blogmarked. What's your story?

Regards from the Philippines!

Laila*

I am not a traffic whore..i'm a ..um..looking for daily readers who possibly comment whore.

I'll read blogs if they load within the tirty seconds. Otherwise i don't stick around, usually.

If you think Blogexplosion is bad, you will be tearing your hair out wit yoursite.nu. It's a bunch of teenies who only judge the site on the layout. I must say, your site's roots go FAR beyound the layout. And I'm not one of those 30-second whores, either! ;D

"Good site found via BlogExplosion shock"

There are 150 grillion sites on Blogexplosion, and the mathematics only works for them if they keep recruiting new bloggers onto it. Like pyramid selling. So I doubt anybody will ever get many long-term readers from it. Just the occasional 30-second surfer who sees something that catches his eye and leaves a comment.

Er... like...

"ooh I came from blog explosion too. Aren't we all just traffic whores."

LOL just kidding. Great site. I normally browse through the first entry in the first 30 seconds and judge on that whether or not I want to stay.

Totally agree with puglet though,

"I'll read blogs if they load within the thirty seconds. Otherwise i don't stick around, usually."

Good point.

I don't fit either category of visitors...

As Butch said to Sundance:

"Boy, you know every time I see [Salocin.com] again, it's like seeing it fresh for the first time. And every time that happens, I keep asking myself the same question: how could I be so damn stupid to keep coming back here?

I didn't come from Blog Explosion, I came from Andreas @ http://amatern.weblogs.us. I didn't get to him from Blog Explosion, either. I think he got to me from Blog Explosion, however. There must be a Blog Explosion connection somewhere, right?

Now I'm off to read another article as you requested and post a comment there. Anything to keep me from having to do any real writing...

Hmmm, I think i'm in the minority, being visually impaired and all. Still, I don't care about layout. I like long and well written posts on any topic, or short posts with links that strike my personal interest. A well written post will keep me coming back, but posts for the purpose of linking to something will only bring me back if I'm interested in the links. I'm more likely to comment when I know the website will email me any replies (hint, hint). I have absolutely nothing to do with blog explosion, and I'm getting out of blogsnob as I think both sites are shams for the only purpose of making you feel good about your logs and bring you no real traffic. I'd rather have three regular readers than have my bandwidth spent by hundreds of people who will just come once and not be at all interested in the website. I hate comment spammers and wish I could rip them apart with my own two hands.

ooh I came from blog explosion too. Aren't we all just traffic whores.

what can you really expect? that's the way the system works. the thing is, people who just click and click and click without looking are getting those same kinds of people looking at their blogs. is that what they really want? who knows what motivates anybody, really. people want something for nothing, but time is the most precious thing we have and people are spending their 30 seconds at a time, for what? so other people can race by without looking? I guess that's the ultimate metaphor for life. people just rushing by and not noticing but wanting something for nothing in return for just being.

I think I've rambled enough. as for your challenge, I'll blogmark you and take you up on it later. I'm having trouble with my browser and I'm afraid I'll lose this comment if I don't hurry up and post it.

dd

p.s. I did figure out what it takes to make somebody stick around. If you want to know the secret to the zillion dollar question, e-mail me.

dd

I don't want something for nothing. I want to find a way to get the viewers who are interested in what I have to write to visit my website. Unfortunately, judging from what I see when I browse BlogExplosion, most of the people there are either very young (probably not the kind of people who like what I write) or unbelievably politically opinionated, which means that unless I'm as radical as they are, I'll get no traction there either.

Anyway - good content is the secret, and the best I can do is write what I do and hope it's appreciated. A little feedback from time to time would make that easier!