

An update on MicroGiving using Tipjoy on Twitter - ivankirigin
http://tipjoys2cents.blogspot.com/2009/01/update-on-microgiving-using-tipjoy-on.html

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dshah
TipJoy folks: Congrats on the success.

One quick "tip". From an SEO perspective, you should be using a domain you
control for your blog.

Example: <http://blog.tipjoy.com> (this way, all the link authority you build
up accrues to you -- and it gives you the flexibility you need in the future).

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ivankirigin
SEschmO. Heh, just kidding.

I'm working on a new blogging platform.

IMHO, the quality of my product matters a lot more than SEO, so I spend my
time on functionality. But the blogspot blog is slightly embarrassing, so it's
definitely on the way out.

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anotherjesse
While it is important for SEO, I think it is more important to not be locked
in.

If there was a policy change on a 3rd party platform, you are forced to accept
it or lose all existing links. This is important for usability! As a user, all
existing links ceasing to function would be bad. So the ability to move
becomes VERY costly.

If it was on a subdomain, you could move to another platform, add redirects if
needed and not have a substantial part of your online presence controlled by a
3rd party.

~~~
ivankirigin
I could easily edit posts to redirect to a whole new blog. The blog isn't old
enough to be that big of a hassle.

This is really about the openness of platforms. If you operate on even a
moderately open platform (e.g. allowing 3rd party javascript), then the risk
of platform collapse is a minimal risk to your data.

That is the biggest risk with Facebook. They aren't inclined to be open with
my data, so i don't bother using it. Blogging platforms don't work unless they
are open.

You're definitely right about the subdomain though.

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utnick
Does that "92% paid" mean that 92% of the people that pledged ended up
actually paying?

If so, thats a pretty spectacular conversion rate.

~~~
ivankirigin
That is right. It has been good - better than anything else in Tipjoy at that
level of pledges.

I think the UX is part of it. It's clearer how to use the twitter widget and
how to pay than our other widgets. Also, the advocates behind it like
@Pistachio are really active. That helped a lot, but is difficult to measure,
aside from retweets.

