2007 has been a great year for Newest on the Net. Despite only being launched in September, I have achieved some great success so far.  Now I need to leverage this early success to achieve some specific goals for 2008.

Content Goals: I need to write content that entertains and helps my readers.  These will be my content goals for 2008.

1.   Blogging – I want to focus my blogging advice to help new bloggers.  I want to become a go to source for people looking for help with blogging and starting a WordPress blog.  I think that I have done a pretty good job on this, but I need to write with more focus on beginning bloggers.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am still going to write lots of articles for intermediate and advanced bloggers.  However, I think that new bloggers need the most help.

2.    Social Media – I want to continue to focus on how to use social media to grow your blog.  I have had so much success with social media that I want to make sure that all bloggers are using it to help attract readers.  In addition to writing about how to use social media, Newest on the Net will also discuss the latest in social media news.

3.     Internet – I am fascinated by the Internet.  I hope that you enjoy my articles about the newest on the net.  I believe that this is what makes Newest on the Net different from other blogging blogs.  In addition to providing blogging advice and social media advice, I enjoy sharing cool stuff around the net.  Do you like these articles?

4.    Newsletter – I want to create a monthly newsletter for Newest on the Net.  This newsletter will look back at the biggest events that happened that month in the blogosphere and the Internet.  Does this interest you?  What would be of value to you?

Stats:  While content is king, statistics are a way to measure the success of your content.

1.    RSS subscribers – Since September, I have had around 250 people subscribe to my RSS feed.   By this time next year, I hope to be at around 2,000 RSS subscribers.  Increasing my RSS subscribers is my primary goal.  I want to develop a large reader basis who doesn’t want to miss any of my articles.  You please subscribe to Newest on the Net.

2.   Daily page views – I want to average 4,000 daily page views by December 31, 2008.

3.    Technorati rank – Newest on the Net currently has a Technorati rank of 17,000.  By this time next year I hope to have broken through the 5,000 barrier.

4.     Google page rank – I am currently at page rank 3.  Hopefully, I will have a page rank 5 in a year.

5.    Alexa rank – I am currently at 55,000.  I hope that I can achieve an Alexa rank of 25,000.

Monetary Goals:  Okay so far I have only made $14.00 from Newest on the Net.  I really hope that I can be making around $1,000 per month by the end of next year.  This is the goal that I feel least sure about.  I really have no plan to get there.  I have never promoted this blog as a monetary success.  Maybe you readers can give me some advice for achieving this goal.

Yesterday, I wrote an article titled Make Money Blogging With Google Knol.  While I believe that Google Knol could be a great way for bloggers to make money blogging, I am also disturbed by Google getting into the business of content publishing.

Google has always stated that its mission is to make it easier to find information published on the Internet.  However, Google Knol now has them creating the Internet’s content.  This disturbs me because of Google’s dominance in the search business.

I think that Google is a great search engine.  I truly believe that until now, it has always tried to make sure that people find the most relevant content that they are searching for.  However, with Google getting into the content creation business, Google is now motivated to promote its own sites.  This is might not be good for bloggers who are trying to write great content for google search users.

While many might say that Google’s purchase of Blogger already put them in the business of content publishing, I believe that Google Knol is completely different.  Google’s Blogger platform allows bloggers to create their own blogs.  Google’s knol will be Google content.  Sure the author will be credited for the article, but it will still be Google’s Knol.

Joe from Joe Tech has written a very nice review of Newest on the Net.  Joe also wrote about several of my recent articles:

• StumbleUpon – A Blogger’s Secret Weapon;
• From Zero to 190,000 Page Views in 3 Months; and
• 35 Guaranteed Ways to Increase Your RSS Subscribers

Joe writes about technology, computers and the Internet.  I highly recommend that you check him out.

I am very please with the growth of Newest on the Net. And November was a huge growth month. My goal for Newest on the Net is to become an important voice in social media niche and blogging market.

Here is a recap of November:

Most Popular Articles

1. 65 Must Read StumbleUpon Articles
2. 10 Firefox Tips To Rock Your World
3. 10 Internet Marketing Forums To Make Money Online
4. 35 Guaranteed Ways To Increase RSS Subscribers
5. 10 Forums To Make You A Better Blogger

Blog Stats

There are several important stats that I use to measure the growth of Newest on the Net, including RSS subscribers, unique visitors, page views, Technorati rank, and Alexa rank.

RSS Subscribers

I am very please with how many new people have subscribed to NOTN in November.

November 1 – 90 RSS subscribers

November 30 – 210 RSS subscribers

That is a 122% increase!! My goal for December is to be at 300 subscribers. Increasing my RSS subscribers is my most important goal.

In my recent article on how to increase RSS subscribers, point number one was produce good content.  As a case in point, I wrote 3 pillar articles in November.  After each of these articles, my RSS subscribers jumped up significantly.  Therefore, while I will continue to try to write at least one article a day, I need to make time to write more pillar articles this month.

Unique Visitors

Like my RSS subscribers, unique visitors also went up.

October’s Unique Visitors – 8,137

November’s Unique Visitors – 31,253

That is a 284% increase in unique visitors.

Page Views

October Page Views – 37,654

November Page Views – 119,603

That is a 217% increase in page views.

Technorati Rank

I am currently sitting at number 20,986. I am not quite sure where I was at the beginning of November, but I think that I have gone up about 100,000.

Alexa Rank

Not too shabby at 75,597

So Where Did this Traffic Come From?

While most of my traffic comes from social media sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, Sphinn, Bloggingzoom, and Mixx, I have also received a lot of traffic from some great bloggers.  I would like to thank each of them for linking to me.

1. 45n5 Top 100
   
2. Chris Garrett
3. Litemind
4. Create RSS
5. Skelliewag.org Tumblelog
6. Marco Richter
7. SEO 2.0
8. Pat B Doyle
9. The Internet Infopreneur
10. Vandelay Website Design
11. Etienne

To all of you who read Newest on the Net, I again thank you. Last week I asked my readers to leave a comment if they were readers of this blog. It is very hard for my to know who is reading my articles. Thank you very much for leaving a comment.

So, here is a great list of articles for your fellow readers of Newest on the Net. I hope that each of you check out each other’s work.

• Fab from FabNetRevenue – A blog about making money online.  Here is a great article about Chitika Linx.

• Chtanxw from Cougar Jump – A blog about US Stocks Investing.

• Elliot Cross from ejcross.com – A blog about SEO and bloggoing. Here is a great article about niche marketing.

• Adam McKerlie from The Computer Zone – A blog about computers, blogging and technology. Here is a great article titled desktop buyers guide.

• Jason Falls from Social Media Explorer – A blog about social media and networking. Here is an great article titled Why You Shouldn’t Trust Social Media to Search Marketers.

• Mark McCullagh from New Success Online – A blog about Internet marketing strategies. I liked his article titled The One Obstacle to Making Money Online.

• Jenny Lens from Jenny Lens Punk Pioneers Photo Archive – A blog about the punk rock scene in the late seventies and early eighties. Check out Jenny’s cool punk rock photos.

• Sue is a friend of my wife and I. I had no clue that you read Newest on the Net. Thanks for sharing. I will have to start writing more about how these social media users are and what makes them tick.

• Rich Gilchrest from Aiming for Independence – Rich writes a very good blog about his personal experiences to make money online. Here is a good article for using BANS to make money online.

• Bruce from Get the Skinney – Get the skinney is about living a healthier life physically and mentally. I liked this article on What to Eat To Become A Better You.

• Colin King from CK Marketing – Colin writes about topics to help his readers make money online free. I liked this article about using PLR to increase traffic.

• Steven Snell from Vandelay Website Design – Steven writes about blogging and web design. Every article that Steven writes is excellent. Here is a recent favorite – 40 Resources for WordPress Theme Design.

• Kate from Cheesy Marketing Ramblings – Kate has a great site about marketing. Read her recent article all about her.

• Solactech from Blogbuilder – Leave a comment Sol. I couldn’t really tell what your site was about.

• Mariam from Money Relations – Mariam’s blog is about finance and investments. I really liked this article titled News Flash: Buying What Buffet Buys Makes You Money.

• Jug from The WWW Observer – Jub writes about the topics make money online and SEO. His latest article on selling WordPress themes is excellent.

• Goal Setting College is from, you guessed it, Goal Setting College – This blog is about goal setting. I really liked this article titled 11 Goal Setting Software & Tools You Can Use For Free.

• Vagnar from Los Angeles Wed Design – Check out their new portfolio of websites.

• Shayna from Philosophical Musing Shayna the Neuroscientis – Shayna writes about an eclectic range of topics.  Her is an interesting article about running.

• Karl Ribas from KarlRibas.com – Karl writes about search engine marketing.  Here is an great interview that Karl did with Matt McGee.

• Mohsin from Bloggingbits – Mohsin is a great blogger about blogging.  Here is a great article about StumbleUpon.

• Tad from SEO 2.0 – Tad writes about using social media as the new way to do search engine optimization.  Here is a great article that Tad recently wrote about Mixx.

So thank you all for reading Newest on the Net.