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Vox - what happened to the Vox blogging engine

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Free blogging and social network with FOLLOWED links - gone dead

I recently found Vox through a web search. It turned up for a search term it had not business turning up for. This is always a good sign in SEO (search engine optimization). It means they are doing a few things right - otherwise they wouldn't have turned up in the first place.

So I signed up and found that this is Very easy to use and a great place to:

  • Blog about your lenses and websites

  • Just collect and share links you're interested in

  • Connect with people about subjects you care about

  • Share pictures

However, they're anti-spam policy isn't very good. I would not at this time advise signing up with Vox (August 2010)

A month after that - early sept. 2010 - Vox announces they're shutting down their blogging service and helping people move over to typepad...

I guess that's what you get from using a free platform, your work can go down the drain pretty quickly. I did move over to typepad, but I don't recommend it. Move over to WordPress instead. There are ways to import your old content and start over.

However, the advantage of moving to Typepad is that you get a redirect from the old to the new blog. Which is good for your search engine traffic. Here's my typepad blog.

I'm not deleting this page, because I never do. I'm instead keeping it up as a tribute to broken down internet ventures.

My Self Hosted English Language Blogs

The advantage of having a self hosted blog is obvious: you don't risk happening what happened to my Vox blog: the service ending and your work being gone. I pay a monthly fee, but it doesn't break the bank.
Online marketing with spiritual integrity
Online marketing with spiritual integrity
Reviews of calendars, planners, date books, organizers and agenda books
Planners, Organizers, Calendars and Date Books reviewed
Great Spiritual Books - Reviewing the best and most fascinating spiritual books
Reviewing the best and most fascinating spiritual books
Horoscope Astrology Jewelry < Astrological jewelry for all starsigns in the zodiac
Astrological jewelry for all starsigns in the zodiac
Spiritual India Trip - Preparing for India & research
Preparing for India & research
My favorite spiritual quotations and sayings
Short uplifting quotes and inspirational sayings
All Considering - spiritual blog
Considering life, spiritual growth and more ponderings about spirituality and science
Modern Theosophy Blog - discussion of the Theosophical Movement
No-nonsense discussion of the present and future of the Theosophical Movement

Just a screenshot of my blog on Vox, now that I'm saying good bye

Just a screenshot of my blog on Vox, now that I'm saying good bye

Vox and SixApart - search engine friendly and webdesign standards

Vox is a Sixapart venture. That means they are at the head of the curve on some technical issues like:

  • Making sure blogs are search engine friendly

  • Making sure links are followed (not no-followed)

  • Making sure the design works according to the latest design guidelines

  • Which is almost the same as saying that what they make will be friendly to people with disabilities
All of which is great. But the most important thing for promoting your squidoo lenses (or your website) is that - I'm repeating here -

  • Vox-blogs are search engine friendly

  • Vox-links are followed
Social networks often have link-following blocked. For example the following places which you can use in similar ways have no-followed links:

  • stumbleupon

  • myspace

Understanding google & how to get your lens found in search engines...

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Blog about your lenses and websites

Because VOX doesn't use rel-no-follow tags on links, blogging about your website will give you backlinks - which in turn will help your site get found.

Vox does have its own (so far not very big) audience, so blogging there will get your site a few visitors as well.

Just collect and share links your interested in

Vox is a social network - a bit like myspace. They've made it real easy to share links you like. And easy to add links other people have liked to your own profile and links collection.

Again - because the links are followed, this can add some nice links to your site. Especially of course if other people like your links as well: then they just might 'save that link' on their profile. Which counts as another link for your page.

Ready Made Community

I have found vox to be a place where there is a ready made community. It does not take much to get your blog posts (which can easily be made out of submitted squidoo posts for instance) noticed and commented upon.

Connect with people about subjects you care about

Again like myspace, you can add people as friends. This will mean you get to see what they add to their vox page, and they get to see what you add to yours.

When you start on vox, the main thing to do is to find groups that fit your niche(s). Any blog-post you make can be added to a group you are a member of. That way people interested in that subject can see your blogpost - and let's not forget the refrain: that's another followed link.

Having fun on VOX - sharing pictures, question of the day and more

Vox makes it easy to have fun online.

  • They make it easy to share and tag pictures

  • They have a question of the day, so you will never run out of blog-ideas

  • and they have a picture context of the day. Today they wanted us to Show us something cold.

Join Vox groups

To get your blog commented upon join relevant groups, make sure each blogpost is posted to the groups it fits in - and that's it.

Joining groups also means ready made links to your blogpost & indirectly to your lens.

Getting comments is good for google: makes your blog seem REAL and HUMAN.

Did you know about Vox?

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More questions?

Unfortunately changes in my personal life, and in the way squidu is managed, have made me decide to stop answering questions on that forum. I'm also too busy to answer questions elsewhere.

I am available for consulting though, but that doesn't come cheap. For $99 you get a month of asking whatever questions you want and advice on your SEO strategy, link building, optimizing your blog etc. SEO consult online publishing.

If you aren't willing to pay up, you'll have to be content to stay updated on my Marketing Spiritual Blog where I am also willing to answer any questions related to the posts. It also contains a free ebook.

I'm active on twitter and facebook.

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