My Tech Blog Shouts Noob Like The Early Days Techcrunch

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My Tech Blog Shouts Noob Like The Early Days Techcrunch

June 12th, 2009 YossiBH Leave a comment Go to comments

I’m a noob tech blogger and the purpose of this post is to show you the differences between a noob and a pro tech blog. Also, It’s Techcrunch’s 4th birthday, so it’s a good time to compare my blog to two instances of Techcrunch - the early days Techcrunch (2005-2006) and the current Techcrunch. I hope that one day I can compare the noob Solar OP to the pro Solar OP.

Thousands of wannabe tech bloggers start blogging because they want to be rich, hoping to make billions of $ serving ads on their blog. The holey grail of making money off technology blogs are sponsorships. You’ll notice that all major tech blogs have a sponsorship section, usually found in the top-right hand side of each page. Other than that, most bloggers - noob and pros alike - use Google’s AdSense program, as it is very simple and reliable.

Techcrunch early days - no ads whatsoever. I wonder how Michael (Arrington, TC founder) was making a leaving back then (from being a lawyer?)

Techcrunch current - tons of sponsors, most of them are startup companies looking for a bulletproof way to get relevant exposure. Techcrunch also uses AdSense (top bar banner and text or image unit under the first post, a prime ad position), as well other ad networks. TC also makes tons of money off their annual TC50 conference.

Solar OP - I only use Google Adsense, a true mark of noobiness. . Also, you’ll notice that currently, the ads running on my blog are for solar energy, while my blog focuses on Internet and technology. That means no one will click my ads. The solar energy ads are there because Google didn’t learn enough about my blog to decide what’s its focus (more backlinks to my blogs will help here). Until Google pulls their act together - no clicks for Solar OP, no $$$ for me.

RSS Subscribers Count

Technology blogs are on a constant race to publish new content, posting up to ten times a day. For most tech readers, using RSS is the only sane option to keep track on new posts (I know, Twitter is also an option).

Techcrunch early days - Michael’s so proud of his readership, he places the RSS subscribers count on top of each page. He had about 6000 subscribers after being in business for only 6 months. Cool!!

Techcrunch current - TC has an amazing 2.3M RSS subscribers base. From some reason, they hide that figure at the bottom of their homepage, maybe because they believe RSS is dead.

Solar OP - I currently have 8 RSS subscribers, nothing to brag about, yet. Register to our RSS here.

Blog Design

Wordpress is the most popular blogging platform out there. It’s free and highly extensible. One of the most important things in a blog (and any website) is the user experience. Wordpress offers a themes engine that allows you to easily change the look and feel of your blog. Both TC and Solar OP run on Wordpress.

Techcrunch early days - TC credits WeBreakStuff with the design of their early theme - not sure if it was a free download theme, or custom a design for Techcrunch. If the latter is true, I bet Michael agreed to exchange a link to WeBreakStuff for the theme design. Anyway, a link from every page on current Techcrunch to your website (like the WeBreakStuff credit) worth a lot more than what it costs to design a blog theme.

Techcrunch current - have their own trademark green-white design. No credits to the theme designer - they either designed it in-house, or paid a design company.

Solar OP - I love the theme I’m using (By NeoEase). Only problem is that it’s highly overused.

Writers

When you need to update your blog 10 times a day, you need a lot of typepower. Most major tech blogs began as one-man-gang. As the pressure to post more frequently became too heavy, the founders had to build a team of writers to keep those impatient,Ritalin-induced tech readers happy.

Techcrunch early days - only Michael Arrington.

Techcrunch current - about one in every 5 posts are Arrington’s. He has a team of writers doing all the dirty work for him (covering startup companies), while Michael does mostly brawl and about brawl posts.

Solar OP - Only myself. If you want to contribute, send me a note.

Controversy

Michael invented the tech-blogger-brawler archetype. He posted confidential emails people sent him, causing major headaches to startups top management. He uploaded threatening letters from lawyers. And he does all these things with a wink.

Techcrunch early days - Reading Michael’s early posts, you’d think he’d be the perfect match for your sister. The guy was a real charm. Believe it or not, he even used smileys back then:

Techcunrch current - The pussycat turned tiger. One of the main reasons for the 2M+ RSS subscribers is Michael unique instinct for creating controversy. There are many examples - Michael takes it at then Yahoo CEO Jerry Young, at Twitter’s first system architect and at the man who invented RSS, to name a few.

Solar OP - As a newcomer to the scene, you have to stand out to get some traction. I can’t afford the lawyers, so it must be within certain boundaries. Still a work in progress.

I must admit, I love to read Techcrunch and I comment there often. You should pay them a visit, and I hope that one day I’ll be able to get a traction close to the one TC gained over the past 4 years. Happy Birthday TC!!.