Under the Microscope: Contest Blogger
Back when I launched the Complete Blogging Package Contest one of the best moves I made was getting it listed on Contest Blogger. So, when Phil asked me to put his site under the microscope I figured it was the least I can do. We’ve both come a long way since then and not only does ContestBlogger.com have 388 subscribers, but Phil’s other blog RomanceTracker.com has another 278. However, since I’ve already had my fill of love related sites this week, I’m only going to be focusing on Contestblogger.com.
The first thing you’ll notice when you hit contestblogger.com is that it’s not just a blog, Phil has also added a forum. While I definitely think a forum is a good idea (and it appears several other people think so as well), I don’t much care for the look of the home page. Personally I liked the look much better when the blog made up the home page. It seemed to keep things fresh and changing rather than the static look the front page has now. I’m also not crazy about the prominent placement of the Google ads. I know first hand how much this site can help anyone wanting to publicize their contest, and to me having the ads be one of the first things you see on the page takes away a bit from the credibility.
The design aspects aside, the site is still about blog contests. And, as the about page says, holding a blog contest is
also a great way to:
- Grow your blog’s audience
- Build backlinks to your site
- Rank higher for keywords in search engines
- Increase your blog’s Google Page Rank and Technorati Ranking
- Increase your blog’s RSS readership
I’ve already told you what hosting a blog contest can do for you so I’m not going to cover it all again, but rest assured, a contest can do everything on that list. They can be a lot of work and Contest Blogger apparently realizes that as well. In fact, Phil has capitalized on it. If you don’t feel like going through all the trouble of setting up, announcing, promoting, and running a contest, you can actually team up with Contest Blogger and sponsor a contest that they will run for you! For those of you that do put together your own contests, I’d highly recommend getting featured on the site. While the price has gone up since I used their service, so has the site’s popularity and reach.
And last, but certainly not least, the contests! While I’ve so far focused mainly on the contest host’s side of things, the contest blog is a wonderful resource for any bloggers looking for a contest or 20 to enter. There’s always a wide range of prizes and all sorts of different ways to enter the different contests. So, if you wouldn’t mind winning anything from a free copy of SEO Book, to a $100 Amazon.com gift card, to a new iPod Touch, you’ll want to be sure to subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed. It’s basically all the blog contests from across the web, in one handy feed.
Bottom line, whether you’re hoping to win a blog contest, holding a contest on your blog, or just want the benefits without the hassle, ContestBlogger.com is most definitely the site for you. But Phil, really man, I miss the old look. 😉
Ben, thanks for a great review! Your blog rocks. As for not liking the new homepage, check this out: my daily pageviews have doubled since I put the forum on the front page . . . and my Adsense earnings have quadrupled.
I like the look of the old homepage more, too, but I can’t ignore those figures! Keep up the great work, bro, and rock on!
Phil, tough to argue with results like that! I guess it just goes to show you should always track your results and never rule anything out. Props on having the courage to try something new and keep up the good work (on both sites).
Ben, thanks for the review, I hadn’t even made it over there yet. It looks like a great site and I will certainly have to add it to my list of feeds to read. Scott
Not sure whether you’ve noticed Ben but the first few lines of text are coming across skewiff.
I am a regular at ContestBlogger, though have not won anything yet. Let’s hope the Laws of probability will turn my way soon.
The only thing I would suggest ContestBlogger to do is at least turn on comments for his blog. Sometimes I find it hard to pat him in the back.
Thanks for the compliments, bmunch! If you want to know why I don’t enable comments on my blogs, check out this link:
http://www.contestblogger.com/contest-blogger-is-now-an-officer-and-why-i-dont-allow-comments-on-this-blog/
And also, I know it’s sacrelige to say this in the Blogosphere, but my earnings and visits have risen dramaticlly since I removed commenting!
I’m his regular reader since the early days. I too liked the old look, perhaps the forum could be moved a sub domain. Also, please choose vB and not phpBB for the forums. I’ve also seen the number of posts going down on ContestBlogger. Earlier he used to post about almost every contest…Anyways, I still like it and use it a lot
Phil, forums drive a lot of page views (and a lot of forum home page views for navigational reasons) but that doesn’t necessarily translate into more visitors just more pages views per visit. And I hope you’re prepared for a lot of work. Forums are notorious for consuming your time abd require a lot of moderation.
Pops, that’s a good point but if his adsense earnings have quadrupled that might be worth it.
And Ruchir, I don’t see why it matters which forum software he uses. That pretty much boils down to personal preference and remember, VB isn’t free.
Actually, I have significantly less work on Contest Blogger since I put in the forum. I used to write a post about every contest submission I got, but now I just let people submit their own. The only contest reviews I do now are the ones I charge $100 for, and business is pretty good.
I really appreciate that you guys liked the “old look,” but the Contest Blogger Blog is still there exactly like it used to be. Just go to http://www.contestblogger.com/blog
Cool . . .
Thanks for that link Ben. I ran a contest a few weeks back and it was a total flop! My blog isn’t extremely popular, but It get 300-500 uniques a day with over 100 subscribers so I was a little disappointed.
I just bookmarked contestblogger.com I’ll be running another content soon and I’ll be sure to put it up there as well. I’ll also give you a little link love if my memory is turned on that day 😉
Thanks