@BasilPuglisi

Content & Strategy, Powered by Factics & AI, Since 2009

SEO Search Engine Optimization

How Exact Match Domains Have Weathered the Penguin Storm

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Exact match domains have always had the added advantage of direct-type in traffic, giving them certain immunity to algorithm updates. Once an EMD is linked to a website, the webmaster’s behavior has more to do with rankings. Penguin sought out sites with too many exact match anchor text links, but the outcome had more to do with who can get away with it and to what extent. For EMDs, exact anchor text makes up part of the natural link profile.
Brand based anchor text is natural, i.e. www.brandname.com, brandname.com and brand name. When your brand is your exact match domain name, your website is not going to set off those same red flags for your exact match keywords. But, what you’ve done with your link profile beyond that is what does come in to play with Penguin. Is the rest of your link profile diversified with partial anchor text, long tail, and a nice mix of click here, visit this site and straight http: links? That’s most likely what sets apart the ones who were impacted by Penguin and those that were not.

Tier 2 pages

What have the exact match sites done with their tier 2 pages? Chances are, most have targeted different keywords for those pages and not focused on as many brand anchor text links. Natural links to tier 2 pages often contain the title tag. Take a look at your back link profile and look how others linked to those pages. That’s a good indicator of what natural linking to those pages looks like.

Meta Data

Another issue any site could run in to is over-optimized title tags. So, if you repeated your keywords in your title tag in a spammy way, i.e. red shoes, cheap red shoes, not only does that page come across as spammy because of the title tag existing on it, but if a user linked to your site with the title tag, that appears spammy, too.
Keep in mind, if you keep on playing with your title tags, you set off a spam alert. If your title tag is webmaster tools compliant, don’t tweak it. Spammers will often watch if their title tag adjustments results in higher or lower rankings and if they drop, they will go back and revert the changes. This is when you get in to trouble. Your server records the file date every time you make a change and Google uses that data to make an evaluation.
Many exact match domains do continue to rank well in Google post Penguin, but no site is immune to future updates. Moving forward, don’t assume that because your website was not affected that it won’t be. We’ll always be left guessing what the next problematic issue will be.
 
Source:

Theresa Happe works with Buy Domains, a leading source of domains for sale, including available and exact match domains.

Traditional vs Social Media Networking with Wa.ag

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The one thing that your business can likely never get enough of is networking. Why do we tend to let this vital aspect of business growth fall to the wayside? Traditional offline networking can be slightly awkward. Those who have never conversed are tossed together with nothing more than nametags to designate themselves from a mass, and possibly intimidating crowd. Usually participants come away with much confusion and many business cards, most of which are tossed aside.

Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn also offer fabulous possibilities for businesses that take advantage of the connections possible through them. However, even though someone has been in ‘contact’ with others in relevant networks and niches, they may still be hesitant to refer those businesses to a friend or relation looking for a similar service. After all, they really still only know their online presence, and not likely their actual business practices.

Wa.ag Opportunities

Wa.ag members need only sign up to their site. There is no need to fill in a detailed profile or waste your valuable time here immediately. Once an offline event is scheduled in your area, Wa.ag will send you an email with a link to the event. Visiting the link will display the event and its vital details. Users are also given swag, or a benefit, for using their system. The GUI will allow the user to then RSVP on that event.

Once you have accepted an event, you are given a list of the attendees, so you can be free to start the conversation before the meeting. This can help to eliminate those awkward moments of old school networking where individuals have to strike up conversations without knowing a person’s interest or industry.

The Networking Opportunity Engine

Wa.ag helps business owners connect offline with professionals in their local area. This method of business networking can provide users with the opportunity to experience new venues around town, while helping to promote businesses and further networking opportunities.

The Business Opportunity Engine

Create your own special experiences to help attract new and loyal consumers. Hosting your own networking opportunity events through your business will allow owners to take advantage of slow periods without out-of-pocket costs.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/29151962]

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How Much Money Should You Make? How to Sell Online…

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Have something to sell? No? You may not think so, but I’d bet good money that you already do, or have the skills to easily create things that could sell well online. Quite frankly, when it comes to selling online, you are 100% limited by your own ideas of what your limitations are. Too vague? Maybe this will explain further.

You do not have to own a jewelry store, pawn shop, or music store to have a product that is high demand and high profile that will sell well online. Regularly, regular people are creating their own businesses by doing exactly what they like to do, what they are good at, and what is easily done in their own homes.    

  • Art – Custom paintings, creative furniture covers, frames, the list is actually endless in the art department.
  • Handbags and Purses – There is actually a fairly large market for handcrafted bags and purses.
  • Bath and Beauty – There are hundreds of thousands of people making a nice living by creating eco-friendly, and homemade bath and beauty products.
  • Candles – Candles of all sizes and styles are always in demand. Most especially candles that are created for weddings or religious ceremonies.
  • Ceramics and Pottery – This can entail many things, but a good potter will know exactly what products people can use the most and create them accordingly.
  • Clothing – Handmade clothing and used clothing have a big market online with many different venues. E-bay does not have a monopoly on secure online open seller sites.
  • Crochet – You may not have thought all of those hours you spend crocheting that blanket for the co-worker with a new baby was worth much, but blankets crocheted larger for a bed size for instance, regularly sell for several hundred dollars online.
  • Edibles – No one says you will be able to make a living cooking dinner for people and selling it online, though some do. But if you have skills in the kitchen, be aware that a few dozen decorated sugar cookies can rack in over a hundred dollars.
  • Furniture – Have carpentry skills? You don’t have to build and ship custom couches to make money. Try building light weight veggie boxes or trinket boxes online. You would be shocked how much custom designed items like this can go for. And the shipping won’t kill your wallet either.
  • Glass – Do you have skills at blowing glass? What about etching it? There is a huge market for these items in holiday, wedding, and religious ceremonies for this.
  • Holidays – Any holiday, all year long. If you have a special skill with creating Halloween costumes, or a knack for making nice Christmas ornaments, you have what it takes to sell online.
  • Music – You don’t have to be rock band quality. If you have a guitar and a nice voice, sell your skills online to create jingles, videos or other audio products for the many businesses that are desperately hunting them daily.
  • Pets – Like making dog sweaters? Seriously, browse some pet clothing shops online. Outrageous prices. If you can do better, you have a lot of money waiting on you as you read this.
  • Plants – Seed sharing is not only an incredible idea for producing great new strains of fruits and vegetables, but it is also a lucrative business to do so. Got some incredible moss covering some of your property? You can sell small chunks of it online for ten bucks a piece all day long.
  • Vintage – Vintage items of any kind are always top sellers. If you inherited some clothing from a great- great anything, don’t turn it over to the second-hand donation box just yet. Even they may not know what to do with it. But a vintage shopper online will.
  • Weddings – Have skills with creating invitations? Knack for decorating? Sell your skills, or your wedding products online. You may have a bit of competition, but nothing a little targeted marketing may not cure.
  • Woodworking – If you have woodworking skills and are not selling those in the creating of custom frames, plaques and the thousands of other quick finish job options online, you are missing out.

So that’s a great place to start. Now that you’ve had a moment to think on it, maybe you just need to know how to begin.

  • Selling Online

Product sales online are divided into three categories.

  1. Selling physical products
  2. Selling downloadable products
  3. Selling services

Note: Even if you’re not taking money digitally your still selling so make sure your brand and pitch are in line with the consumer need.

  • Equipment

So the first thing you need of course is a computer and an internet connection. Be sure you have a reliable connection. Losing the internet for a couple of days mid-sale can cause you to end up with bad feedback or reviews that can be highly detrimental to your online business.

Tip: Setup a backup plan, who has wifi in your area and maybe a valuable tool like coffee?

  • Funding

You will need to have a credit or debit card to do many of the functions online. Although having a checking account is nice, not many businesses will accommodate automatic checking, instead, use your bank ATM card as your debit or credit source.

Tip: If you can’t afford a charge back or lack of funds availability get a corporate card because credit is far more forgiving then bank accounts when it comes to fraud. If your credit is in the recent tank like so many others ask your bank about secured cards that start at as little as $300. Credit cards are much more safer then bank accounts when it comes to internet transactions. (This tip thanks to Doug @ Suffolk County National Bank)

  • Email

You will need an email account. For business purposes, try to find an email server that will allow you to get your company name in the email address. Yet one more way to put your company name into cyberspace for recognition. Google, Hotmail and Yahoo all provide free email accounts that are commonly compatible with many other sites and services online.

If you grab a domain you like run a generic, sales@ info@ and use a POP setup, in the early portion of your business you don’t need to be spending money on exchange services and avoid any tech that tries to tell you otherwise.

  • Domain and Web Hosting

If you want to be easily found, and easily remembered, you will need to get your own domain name and find a web host with good solid service. Always try to get a .com if at all possible. Of course you or a hired web designer will still need to build the site, but never settle for a free option on another sites server alone.

SEOTrick: Avoid your name, you not famous or important (yet) take a look at your product or what your customer is searching for, run that through the AdWords keyword tool and buy a domain that fits that.

No one says you shouldn’t have an Ebay store, but you should also have your own. The Ebay store should actually be used to direct customers to your real store front, the one you own the domain and pay the host for.

  • Exercise the Options

Do not limit yourself to your website and an extra Ebay store on the side. Although you should be careful not to overextend yourself, there are so many other options available that it’s hard to imagine an online store owner that does not network themselves and their product. Check out these sites to build an extra store front. One more place on the net with your product, and one more place on the net with your name on it. Don’t let someone tell you that you should pay for this or that service because they have great online storefront options, use these free options.

  1. http://www.etsy.com/
  2. http://www.artfire.com/
  3. http://www.ebay.com/

This isn’t the stopping point. Check out the unique ideas these online product sellers are marketing themselves.

  1. Valentine’s Day Services
  2. Business Logo Embroidery Service
  3. Cancer Research
  4. Music Services

Take note of those sites. Register with them, offer a lower cost product you have, and with each product you send out, send a business card with your real website address on it. Offer them a discount for shopping directly through your store. Do what you have to do to network your business, but never, ever, just pop a store up and wait. There is no quicker way to fail and to let frustration cause you to give up.

  • Merchant Services

Get your account set up with a merchant service that will allow you to accept credit card payments. You can do this several ways, but Paypal does offer great merchant services at about the best price you are likely to find.

Authorize.net is arguably the largest and easiest plug and play merchant account offering integrated web systems and virtual terminals.

  • Promote Your Site

If you have utilized all the tips here you have definitively gotten a great start on advertising, networking and promoting your site. Go the extra mile, build a blog that provides helpful information on your products, find some affordable SEO services such as those who will help you release great PR’s for reduced cost. Remember those micro sell sites you exercised your options on? Check thoroughly through those for some quick and incredibly affordable marketing and advertising options as well.

They may not shoot your store to the top all by themselves, but with your own efforts and theirs combined you will have definitely begun to make your mark as an online seller.

Good Luck!

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How to be Proactive about Social Networking and protect your Brand

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Social networking is here to stay and if you want to stay in business you had better learn to proactively manage it.  It involves more than setting up a Facebook page or Twitter account, it involves searching, responding, and making sure there are positive things said about you on the web. It also involves employee training so rules are defined before a problem occurs.

  • Reserve Your Spot

The first step in getting involved in social networking should involve setting up accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and other pertinent groups. This will prevent someone else from setting up a page using the moniker that you would like to be known by. It also prevents fake pages that are set up as if they are your business or entity without proper permissions.

  • Monitor Your Social Networking Page

Once you have set up your page or account, you should post information that may be of interest to others and information that contributes to your brand image. Most importantly though, you should monitor your pages for links to porn sites and other unwanted attention. It reflects poorly on a brand if undesirable posting are posted on your Facebook account and it is left for everyone to see.

  • Search for Yourself or Brand

On a regular basis, you should perform a search for your name, business, etc. This will allow you to find out what is being said about you and yours on the web. If you discover untruths you should contact the source and ask for them to be removed. If the things that are written are undesirable but true, it is time to start damage control by responding or burying the unfavorable comments.

  • Plan a Response

If unfavorable information is recent and growing in number, you should carefully plan to respond to customer concerns. Customer trust is more important than privacy in today’s changing world. This can be a learning experience for all involved since you may see where you can improve your brand image by listening to what people are saying about it.

  • Read the Fine Print

Facebook is a great tool for social networking but all involved in posting to the social media page should be aware of a clause in Facebook’s TOS. “We take an…irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute….” This clause is in effect even after a Facebook membership has been terminated.

***This is important to the business user as well as the individual since many employers study social networking sites before making a hiring decision. A 2008 article on PC World stated that twenty percent of employers admitted checking an applicant’s social networking profile before making a decision to hire. In 2009, Careerbuilder.com reported that number had risen to forty-five percent. A March 2010 survey by Microsoft discovered that seventy percent of hiring managers had rejected an applicant due to information they found online***

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Picking the Right Social Network for your Brand

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As for internet visibility, or digital brand as it is being called now, 2010 proved, without a doubt, the power of the social network. Facebook just passed Google in the number of hits per day. People are using the internet to connect and be connected more than they use it to perform searches.

Aside from it being a sociological phenomenon that no doubt will be talked about and researched, it opened a world of advertising not used before. Facebook makes it extremely easy to connect with almost anything that is a digital brand, with one click of a button. Just type into your Facebook page that you liked a certain television show and immediately you will be connected to their site, to see more.

As a way to advertising your brand, it is a goose that can lay golden eggs. And why not? It is free, it is simple and everyone with a little understanding of how the system works can join in and be effective. Right?

Not so fast. The problem with social media is that it is multiplying. New sites, with new possibilities for connectivity between people are popping up like mushrooms after the rain. You can join all of them and spend most of your time updating and chatting while neglecting your core business. You can hire people to do it for you, believing that bigger is better and the more sites you join will yield better results, only to find out that the ROI (return on investment) is not worth the effort.

Before you embark on the social media voyage, you should know that not all sites were born equal and knowing which one to join is the most important aspect.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

–          What is the strength of the site?  You have to do a little research. What can Twitter do for you? What can Dailybooth? Evaluate the site to see if it fits you and the character of your business. Think of a strategy; what do you want to achieve, how can this or that site get you there?

–          How much time you are willing to invest? How much time you can afford to spend on social networking? An hour a day? A week? Social media is, after all, just that – social. Scott Stratten (1), a man with over 74,000 followers on Twitter says the amount of followers started to grow when he dedicated time and interacted with others. You have to maintain presence for social media to work.

–          Do your customers use social network at all? Most businesses have communities. Check them out. Are they talking about your kind of business? Maybe they do on a forum of another kind. It is a bit of a detective work, but you have to find out where your potential customers are.

–          If you had to pay for the service, would you still do it? How much are you willing to spend on this form of advertisement? Granted, joining is free, but maintaining it will cost you a lot of time.

–          Social media is a long term commitment. Having a page up then not updating it for months has a worse impact than not having one at all. It shows you don’t care, don’t follow through and maybe you are out of business. If it’s up there it should be maintained.

Thinking ahead about a strategy before embarking on this trip is important. Treating social media seriously, as part of an advertising campaign, is important as well. Those are the things that will yield results. Use the questions above to get organized and start thinking in the right direction.

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What is Advertising in comparison to Branding?

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Advertising tells the world how great, useful, or exciting that your product or service is. Branding is when people know how great, useful, and exciting your product is without the advertisement. Advertising is a very important part of branding since the human mind forgets things very quickly and advertising reminds them of the brand.

The Brand is an experience in “an emotional economy, success is judged by a profound and indelible connection with people through sensory experiences” (Gobé, 2007), if you build a brand around the product alone then you will have missed the opportunity to build a genuine brand. The intangibles are as important, and in some services more important than the tangibles in branding.

  • Consistency is Important

To fully benefit the creation of a brand name, advertising should be done in a consistent manner that exemplifies what the brand stands for. This is very important when a brand is being created or developed so that people will remember your product or service when they make a purchase or require services that you perform. It is essential that there is a consistent look and feel to everything that is associated with the brand.

Branding is the perception that people have of a brand name. It includes their perception of the logo, packaging, and the products or services represented by the brand. Branding makes people think of your brand when they need a product or service that you offer. Advertising keeps the brand fresh in their mind.

  • Branding is a Mind Game

Branding is not always a tangible thing; branding is a sum of what people feel, think, or know about a product or service. It is a very real thing but it occurs in the mind; it is how a brand is perceived to be. Brand awareness must be promoted and sustained through marketing communications such as advertising.

The importance of a product, the delivery of the brand as well as the uniqueness of a particular brand should be stressed within the advertisement of the product. Why you need it; what it does; and what it does better than similar products are important benefits to emphasize when marketing a product or service provider. This is especially important in a tough economy when people are trying to save money and sometimes straying from their favorite brands.

  • Advertising Keeps a Brand on Your Mind

Advertising is very important to the creation and sustenance of a brand name. It keeps your product fresh in their mind which may make your brand the brand they chose to buy. Advertising helps make a brand memorable which is very important to a marketing plan.

  • Advertising to the Young

Advertising can also bring awareness of the products to different groups of people who may need or want the products or services that you sell. Young people are very brand conscious and although they don’t usually have their own money, their desires influence purchases made by adults in their family. This is the reason why many advertisements are geared towards the young. If you plan to capture the attention of this group, I suggest you think mobile first, internet video second, then down the line.

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Visibility Marketing Trends for 2011

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As for Businesses and visibility, what can be predicted to be the trends for 2011?

Here are some thoughts:

Web Design – As the reliance on websites becomes widespread for small businesses, so does the competition. How to retain the visitors and make them go to other pages on your site has been a question may want an answer to. The trend for the upcoming year in websites, points to the fact that a basic page is not good enough anymore. Sites are expected to engage, entertain and interact with their visitors. The design process has become simpler and many sites are offering, for small amount of money, templates that and already set up, making them hipper, more fun to use and interactive.

Mobile Connectivity – Smart phones are gathering speed and offer possibilities that we never had before. Almost 50% of business owners already own smartphones. Mobile devices will change how we do business. They offer another platform for advertisement as well.

E Commerce – will continue to grow in popularity. A research done in the beginning of 2010 showed that only 30% of small business websites have e commerce capability.

Social Shopping – and interacting with customers is becoming increasingly important. More businesses will get into the social media plains. First hand recommendations in a saturated world are more important than ever.

Social Media – In the past year many business owners spread themselves thin over many social media platforms. The important thing is, and will remain to be, a consistent message and brand, with exposure to consumers.

Cloud Computing – In the beginning of 2010, a group of internet experts and mavens got together and announced that “we will all be leaving in the cloud by 2020”. It seems to be happening faster than they have predicated. Many business owners realized that cloud computing is very beneficial. It eliminates the need for an office and a desk. Everything can be accessed from mobile devices (laptops, tablets and smartphones). Having the ability to see everything that goes on, wherever you are anytime you choose to, is becoming a reality with cloud computing. It is the ultimate “virtual office”.

[slideshare id=7447762&doc=hubspotmarketingtransformationfinal-110330085430-phpapp02]

After Christmas Sales

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It looks like this year was a good year for Christmas business.

The estimated sales this Christmas season are projected to reach $451 billion. That number is much higher than what happened in 2008 and 2009 and is almost at par with 2007, one of the best years ever. In 2007 the sales were at $453 billion.

Because of that fact, experts expect after Christmas sales not to be as deep as they were in Christmas past, but retailers are still trying to keep the momentum going. If sales are going to be strong as they were before Christmas, this might turn out to be a very good Christmas indeed.

This year, internet sales reached $36 billion, driven by discounts and free shipping. Many of these offers will continue this week. Online sales in the United States rose 15.4% compared to last year.

Many chain stores are announcing big discounts that will continue up to the end of the year, and many stores are extending their operating hours to accommodate as many shoppers as they can.

Most of the after Christmas shopping has to do with returns, exchanges and especially gift cards. Combining a monetary gift card with deep sales is what causes customers to brave the bad weather and go to the store.

What is the best strategy for after Christmas shopping? Expert suggest to do an online search before you go to the mall to find out where the best sales are. Businesses are sending e mails to their customers to let them know where the good sales are. Some of them worked over the Christmas vacation to be able to reach their clients.

Where are the biggest sales? Jewelry, toys and TV’s before the Super bowl.

Spending on gift cards reached nearly $25 billion this season, an increase of 5% over last year, according to the National Retail Federation. Most of the gift card sales came in the last few days before Christmas.

The weather may play a role in after Christmas shopping this year, with 5-18 inches of new snow expected in Washington D.C, New York and New England. But bad weather plays a more important role before Christmas, than after. People can hold off on redeeming their gift cards for a while, since they are not bound by a firm date when they have to have their gifts ready. After Christmas sales are considered “the icing on the cake” for retailers. And indeed retailers feel the brunt of the storm with lower after Christmas sales. Now that the storm has passed retailers are waiting for increased sales with abated breath. They are hoping to turn a good year into a great one.

Some Knowledge For Creating A Small Business Website

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There are a few things that you will need to know in order to successfully build and maintain a website for your small business. These things are mostly common sense issues, but a few of them are things that only the top flight business people really focus on and have now mastered. You have seen just how successful some of the big companies have gotten with their online advertising, so if you want a piece of that action, here are a few things to take note of.

For one, you will need to have a clear idea of what the purpose of the website is going to ultimately be going forward. As you business expands, you will need to kind of make adjustments on the fly. Your customers need to feel safe and secure that you and your partners know what they are doing and are able to keep up with the ever-changing marketplace. Be precise in your marketing plan and things should fall into place quite nicely.

Another thing to take note of is to know right off the bat exactly what you are going to need in order to run a successful website. Whether you think that some video advertising or maybe some audio clips will do the trick to attract more and more people to your site, you will have to have a plan set up no matter what direction you decide to go in.

Also, you will need to have a good idea as to what to expect in terms of profits and website clicks from the very start of the site to even as far down the line as five years. We all know that it is pretty much impossible to predict a fluctuating marketplace too far down the road, but with the right people at the helm and a solid business plan, the sky really can be the limit in terms of your eventual success.

No matter what you decide to do with your website, it is going to end up being one of the most powerful tools for your company’s present and future success. The internet can work wonders for you and these days it is pretty much imperative to have a strong website and at least a decent sized following. We have come a long way with the internet providing us with more and more extra abilities every day. Just make sure to keep an eye on the market and for what is hot and in on a monthly basis, and things will start looking up.

Social Brand Visibility: Do You Digg It?

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“A place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web.” This is how Digg calls itself.

A user driven social network site, everything on Digg has been submitted by members. Other users can vote on the submission and the most popular stories go up to the top and are displayed on the front page. In its initial version, in 2004, you could also bury a story by digging it down. In later versions this feature has been deleted. Of course viewers can leave comments about what they saw.

If you want to know the hottest news and what people are talking about at the moment, Digg will provide that. “The power of breaking stories before anyone else”, is how one of the founders, Kevin Ross, calls it.

The front page of Digg contains the title of a story others have found interesting, a short description and a link. One click will get you to read the whole story. You can customize your home page by deciding which major news media you would like to follow and your areas of interest. The categories include business, entertainment, gaming, lifestyle, offbeat, politics, science, sports, technology and world news. A story that has wide interest and posted on Digg has been known to crash a site or two.

As of November 2010, Digg is ranked 125th in website traffic, with unique monthly visitors standing on 15.1 million. It is estimates that 34% of the site users are from the United States, where it ranks # 74 and it is even more popular in Pakistan where it ranks #18.

Visitors to Digg.com view on average 4.4 unique pages per visit.