Content & Writing Tycoon

**jamestl2** · 09-25-2008, 02:39 PM

OK, I haven't updated my very first site (toptenlisted.com) in a loooooong time. And very few have wanted to write their own lists for the site.

I already coded in a "Submit a List" feature that allows people to easily submit Top 10 lists however they wish, and gave them detailed instructions on what they can do.

The trouble is I can't find anyone else who has come across my site that would want to write one, or what exactly they might want in return.

So what could I offer them? Anyone have any ideas? (besides paying them, can't afford to do that)

It isn't crucial or anything, but it'd still be nice to see

.

**vangogh** · 09-25-2008, 09:45 PM

You can try writing a post on the benefits of guest posting. Let people know that by writing for you they gain more exposure for themselves. You should offer a bio with a link or two and maybe allow a couple links in the post itself.

**jamestl2** · 09-25-2008, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

You can try writing a post on the benefits of guest posting. Let people know that by writing for you they gain more exposure for themselves.

You mean just something along the lines of "Top 10 reasons to Guest Post" for example? Because I do have the submit page, but at times I've felt it may not have been enough.

I wonder how I would go about something like this with WP's platform?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

You should offer a bio with a link or two and maybe allow a couple links in the post itself.

Do you think I should have some sort of "Members List" page, along with an "About" bio page for each guest author? Similar to how WT and other forums have those pages for their members?

I'm not sure if I would need to work with something like Wordpress MU or not, as in if it's required or not to add those features (as I know it was developed specifically for multiple writers for the single site). And if there's enough functionality to convert my current basic platform or not. Or even if I need it all to offer the extra pages.

Also I don't have any problems with links in posts, maybe offer them a "Homepage" link (like most blog comments have), along with a link or two within the actual post.

**vangogh** · 09-25-2008, 10:25 PM

A top 10 post on the subject is probably a good idea. Leave a permanent link to it on all your pages too. Something very visible to attract attention to it. Then make sure you link from that post to the signup form a couple of times in the post itself.

The way I've usually set up guest posters on WP is manually. I create a new account and give them the privileges to post. Usually I set things so I have to publish the post.

You could just let people register and then manage their roles through WP. There are some plugins to let you control user roles better than the basic WP set up allows. You'd likely want to let people publish their own posts without being able to have any control over any other post on the site.

Then you set the appropriate role to be granted on registration. When people register they'll have the ability to publish their own top 10 lists.

**jamestl2** · 09-26-2008, 04:06 PM

I had given people the option of registering or not. Some I don't think would even go through all the trouble to register to post just one single list (and I set that default user to anonymous, it makes sense there, because some may not *want* their names on the web).

Setting up accounts for them on WP was easy enough, but the Bio page still gives me some trouble, not quite sure how I want to deal with that idea, and how to create pages for them.

When they actually register, the role that I selected for them was "Subscriber", which gave them all the functionality they need to write the Top 10 lists, and doesn't give them access to more parts of the admin panel than they need, I think. (It's been awhile, but I'm pretty sure that's what the role was intended for).

**vangogh** · 09-29-2008, 07:39 PM

Sounds like you got things set, but there are some plugins that expand on the user roles. I think they give more fine control over what different user levels can and can't do.

Makes sense to give the anonymous registration too, but do check on it in case it gets spammed.

**mg1313** · 10-21-2008, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamestl2

So what could I offer them? Anyone have any ideas? (besides paying them, can't afford to do that)

In your case offering links back to their site (no nofollow) would be the best incentive (beside the money). The problem is that your pagerank page is quite low - PR 2).
So, first try to increase your website PR...

**jamestl2** · 10-22-2008, 03:45 AM

Yeah, I'm letting them link back to their own site in the post free of nofollow restrictions, but why does the PR of my site's homepage matter at all?

**thomsonbsa** · 10-23-2008, 02:23 PM

If you have a higher PR than new users are more likely to stumble upon your site. You might want to consider having some sort of point system that awards frequent posters with points and increases their rank. I know it doesn't translate into any tangible worth, but you'd be surprised, it could be effective. Also, with these points possibly allow priveldges like banner posting, advertising, etc.

**mg1313** · 10-24-2008, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Yeah, I'm letting them link back to their own site in the post free of nofollow restrictions, but why does the PR of my site's homepage matter at all?

It matters because their Pagerank can increase as well (especially if they get links back from a higher PR site than theirs).

**jamestl2** · 10-24-2008, 01:08 AM

Well, if they're writing a top 10 list just to get a link from a PR2 page or whatever, then they're writing for the wrong reasons IMO.

The whole incentive behind "getting a link" should be to market themselves and their site, and receive targeted traffic in the process.

I know PR obsessed people like seeing more PR, but is the percentage of people writing posts just for more PR really that high? And are the posts they'd be willing to write really going to be of high enough quality? (and not just look at it as a spam article dumping ground?)

**whguru** · 10-30-2008, 02:50 AM

Have you tried social networking? This might help your website. Join at least 5 popular social network sites and invite everyone you'll meet there. Please post the result here 'coz I'll be watching for it.