sebastianx.blogspot.com
In August 2007 I’ve moved my old Blogger outlet to this domain. Here is why. Unfortunately, with the Blogger platform I wasn’t able to redirect both visitors and search engine spiders to the new URLs. So if you landed here because you’ve clicked a link pointing to my old blogspot.com blog, please scroll down and click on the new URL. I apologize for the hassles, and thank you for your visit!
Sebastian
- Blogspot posts ==> new URLs
- 170: Google’s 5 sure-fire steps to safer indexing ==> googles-5-sure-fire-steps-to-safer-indexing
- 169: Ego food from John’s barbecue ==> ego-food-from-johns-barbecue
- 168: Just another victim of the nofollow plague ==> just-another-victim-of-the-nofollow-plague
- 167: ɹǝɟɟıp oʇ bǝq ı ==> %c9%b9%c7%9d%c9%9f%c9%9fip-o%ca%87-b%c7%9dq-i
- 166: Lijit SERP ==> lijit-serp
- 165: How to bait link baiters and attention whores properly ==> how-to-bait-link-baiters-and-attention-whores-properly
- 164: Google manifested the axe on reciprocal link exchanges ==> google-manifested-the-axe-on-reciprocal-link-exchanges
- 163: NOPREVIEW - The missing X-Robots-Tag ==> nopreview-the-missing-x-robots-tag
- 162: SEOs home alone - Google’s nightmare ==> seos-home-alone-googles-nightmare
- 161: Handling Google’s neat X-Robots-Tag - Sending REP header tags with PHP ==> handling-googles-neat-x-robots-tag-sending-rep-header-tags-with-php
- 160: Unavailable_After is totally and utterly useless ==> unavailable_after-is-totally-and-utterly-useless
- 159: Analyzing search engine rankings by human traffic ==> analyzing-search-engine-rankings-by-human-traffic
- 158: Rediscover Google’s free ranking checker! ==> rediscover-googles-free-ranking-checker
- 157: Blogger to rule search engine visibility? ==> blogger-to-rule-search-engine-visibility
- 156: Hey, there is content in the widgets! ==> hey-there-is-content-in-the-widgets
- 155: Buying cheap viagra algorithmically ==> buying-cheap-viagra-algorithmically
- 154: Getting the most out of Google’s 404 stats ==> getting-the-most-out-of-googles-404-stats
- 153: Sphinn rocks ==> sphinn-rocks
- 152: Google helps those who help themselves ==> google-helps-those-who-help-themselves
- 151: Now Powncing ==> now-powncing
- 150: LZZR Linking™ ==> lzzr-linking%e2%84%a2
- 149: Why eBay and Wikipedia rule Google’s SERPs ==> why-ebay-and-wikipedia-rule-googles-serps
- 148: Who is responsible for the paid link mess? ==> who-is-responsible-for-the-paid-link-mess
- 147: Letting friends know you read their stuff ==> letting-friends-know-you-read-their-stuff
- 146: Google assists SERP Click-Through Optimization ==> google-assists-serp-click-through-optimization
- 145: Killing Trolls in Google Groups ==> killing-trolls-in-google-groups
- 144: Playing with Google Translate (still beta) ==> playing-with-google-translate-still-beta
- 143: Referrer spoofing with PrefBar 3.4.1 ==> referrer-spoofing-with-prefbar-341
- 142: Erol ships patch fixing deindexing of online stores by Google ==> erol-ships-patch-fixing-deindexing-of-online-stores-by-google
- 141: The Vanessa Fox Memorial ==> the-vanessa-fox-memorial
- 140: Which Sebastian Foss is a spammer? ==> which-sebastian-foss-is-a-spammer
- 139: Another way to implement a site search facility ==> another-way-to-implement-a-site-search-facility
- 138: Blogger abuses rel-nofollow due to ignorance ==> blogger-abuses-rel-nofollow-due-to-ignorance
- 137: Google to kill the power of links ==> google-to-kill-the-power-of-links
- 136: Danny Sullivan did not strip for Matt Cutts ==> danny-sullivan-did-not-strip-for-matt-cutts
- 135: Blasting mount email ==> blasting-mount-email
- 134: Google enhances the quality guidelines ==> google-enhances-the-quality-guidelines
- 133: Hassles of submitting a blogspot XML-sitemap ==> hassles-of-submitting-a-blogspot-xml-sitemap
- 132: Google nofollow’s itself ==> google-nofollows-itself
- 131: Fraud from the desk of Sebastian Foss ==> fraud-from-the-desk-of-sebastian-foss
- 130: Help Google revealing the secret sauce! ==> help-google-revealing-the-secret-sauce
- 129: No search, more fun: Netscape spamming Google ==> no-search-more-fun-netscape-spamming-google
- 128: Follow-up: Erol’s patch fixing Google troubles ==> follow-up-erols-patch-fixing-google-troubles
- 127: When your referrer stats turn into a porn TGP ==> when-your-referrer-stats-turn-into-a-porn-tgp
- 126: German spammers banning all domains out there ==> german-spammers-banning-all-domains-out-there
- 125: Brittany-Spear-Nude-mesothelioma-ringtones ==> brittany-spear-nude-mesothelioma-ringtones
- 124: Yahoo! search going to torture Webmasters ==> yahoo-search-going-to-torture-webmasters
- 123: Google hunts paid links and reciprocal linkage ==> google-hunts-paid-links-and-reciprocal-linkage
- 122: Categorizing posts with blogger (rant) ==> categorizing-posts-with-blogger-rant
- 121: How Google & Yahoo handle the link condom ==> how-google-yahoo-handle-the-link-condom
- 120: Erol to ship a Patch Fixing Google Troubles ==> erol-to-ship-a-patch-fixing-google-troubles
- 119: AdSense asks me "Are You Gay?", but why? ==> adsense-asks-me-are-you-gay-but-why
- 118: More anchor text analysis from Webmaster Central ==> more-anchor-text-analysis-from-webmaster-central
- 117: Please don’t run your counter on my servers ==> please-dont-run-your-counter-on-my-servers
- 116: Ultimately: Watch out for Google’s URL terminator ==> ultimately-watch-out-for-googles-url-terminator
- 115: Where is the precise definition of a paid link? ==> where-is-the-precise-definition-of-a-paid-link
- 114: Revise your linkage now ==> revise-your-linkage-now
- 113: Full Disclosure of Paid Links ==> full-disclosure-of-paid-links
- 112: Is XML Sitemap Autodiscovery for Everyone? ==> is-xml-sitemap-autodiscovery-for-everyone
- 111: In need of a "Web-Robot Directives Standard" ==> in-need-of-a-web-robot-directives-standard
- 110: XML sitemap auto-discovery ==> xml-sitemap-auto-discovery
- 109: Better don’t run a web server under Windows ==> better-dont-run-a-web-server-under-windows
- 108: Yahoo Pipes jeopardizes the integrity of the Internet ==> yahoo-pipes-jeopardizes-the-integrity-of-the-internet
- 107: 5 Reasons why I blog ==> 5-reasons-why-i-blog
- 106: Four reasons to get tanked on Google’s SERPs ==> four-reasons-to-get-tanked-on-googles-serps
- 105: Link monkey business is not worth a whoop ==> link-monkey-business-is-not-worth-a-whoop
- 104: Supplemental-Only ==> supplemental-only
- 103: Che Guevara of Search ==> che-guevara-of-search
- 102: Follow-up on "Google penalizes Erol stores" ==> follow-up-on-google-penalizes-erol-stores
- 101: Beware of the narrow-minded coders ==> beware-of-the-narrow-minded-coders
- 100: Good Bye Nofollow: How to DOfollow comments with blogger ==> good-bye-nofollow-how-to-dofollow-comments-with-blogger
- 99: Google deindexing Erol driven ecommerce sites ==> google-deindexing-erol-driven-ecommerce-sites
- 98: Google’s Anchor Text Reports Encourage Spamming and Scraping ==> googles-anchor-text-reports-encourage-spamming-and-scraping
- 97: Spamming wannabe SEOs: SEO Affiliates, Cleveland, Ohio ==> spamming-wannabe-seos-seo-affiliates-cleveland-ohio
- 96: Why eCommerce Systems Suck at SEO ==> why-ecommerce-systems-suck-at-seo
- 95: Q: Does Googlebot obey ftp://ftp.example.com/robots.txt? ==> q-does-googlebot-obey-ftpftpexamplecomrobotstxt
- 94: Google Webmasters Help FAQ launched ==> google-webmasters-help-faq-launched
- 93: Blogger.com Hates Digg ==> bloggercom-hates-digg
- 92: Does Adam Lasnik like Rel=Nofollow or not? ==> does-adam-lasnik-like-relnofollow-or-not
- 91: Google pulls CIA data ==> google-pulls-cia-data
- 90: How Google’s Web Spam Team finds your link scheme ==> how-googles-web-spam-team-finds-your-link-scheme
- 89: Why proper error handling is important ==> why-proper-error-handling-is-important
- 88: Getting Help and Answers from Google ==> getting-help-and-answers-from-google
- 87: Google Blog Search Banned Legit Webmaster Forum ==> google-blog-search-banned-legit-webmaster-forum
- 86: Code Monkey Very Simple Man/Woman ==> code-monkey-very-simple-manwoman
- 85: Finally dumping M$-Office… ==> finally-dumping-m-office
- 84: Hapless Structures and Weak Linkage ==> hapless-structures-and-weak-linkage
- 83: Interested in buying a text link ==> interested-in-buying-a-text-link
- 82: Priceless SEO Advice ==> priceless-seo-advice
- 81: Google going to revamp the rel=nofollow microformat? ==> google-going-to-revamp-the-relnofollow-microformat
- 80: Say No to NoFollow Follow-up ==> say-no-to-nofollow-follow-up
- 79: The Nofollow-Universe of Black Holes ==> the-nofollow-universe-of-black-holes
- 78: Dear search engines, please bury the rel=nofollow-fiasko ==> dear-search-engines-please-bury-the-relnofollow-fiasko
- 77: Just in case I’ve missed your email … ==> just-in-case-ive-missed-your-email
- 76: Good to see Blogger.com cares about spam ==> good-to-see-bloggercom-cares-about-spam
- 75: Is buying and selling text links risky? ==> is-buying-and-selling-text-links-risky
- 74: How to stop email spammers abusing contact forms ==> how-to-stop-email-spammers-abusing-contact-forms
- 73: The "Internet Advancement" - Scam ==> the-internet-advancement-scam
- 72: Ab in die SPAM CLINIC für einen Web site checkup! ==> ab-in-die-spam-clinic-fur-einen-web-site-checkup
- 71: Spam Clinic for German Web Sites ==> spam-clinic-for-german-web-sites
- 70: Google’s cool robots.txt validator ==> googles-cool-robotstxt-validator
- 69: Where do you host your stuff? ==> where-do-you-host-your-stuff
- 68: Google’s Sitemaps Team Interviewed ==> googles-sitemaps-team-interviewed
- 67: Link building tips for small business sites ==> link-building-tips-for-small-business-sites
- 66: Reporting spam to Google is a nightmare ==> reporting-spam-to-google-is-a-nightmare
- 65: v7ndotcom elursrebmem: Turn something completely silly into something good ==> v7ndotcom-elursrebmem-turn-something-completely-silly-into-something-good
- 64: Yahoo’s handling of the link condom ==> yahoos-handling-of-the-link-condom
- 63: Google Sitemaps ==> google-sitemaps
- 62: What is the best search blog out there? ==> what-is-the-best-search-blog-out-there
- 61: TGIF - Casting pearls before swines ==> tgif-casting-pearls-before-swines
- 60: Nailing Referrer-Spammers ==> nailing-referrer-spammers
- 59: Can you trust a SEO who steals? ==> can-you-trust-a-seo-who-steals
- 58: The "Sozialgericht Bremen" Farce ==> the-sozialgericht-bremen-farce
- 57: If your Web site was banned by Google ==> if-your-web-site-was-banned-by-google
- 56: Is the spam condom efficient and ethical? ==> is-the-spam-condom-efficient-and-ethical
- 55: Thanks folks ==> thanks-folks
- 54: Google to provide SEO services to AOL? ==> google-to-provide-seo-services-to-aol
- 53: SEO for Consulting Firms, Laywers, Tax Advisors … ==> seo-for-consulting-firms-laywers-tax-advisors
- 52: SQUIDOO Impressions ==> squidoo-impressions
- 51: WMW Gem - Don’t optimize for keywords ==> wmw-gem-dont-optimize-for-keywords
- 50: Ego Food @ Aaron Pratt’s SeoBuzzBox ==> ego-food-aaron-pratts-seobuzzbox
- 49: How to get trusted inbound links ==> how-to-get-trusted-inbound-links
- 48: New feed: my last updates ==> new-feed-my-last-updates
- 47: How to escape Google’s ‘Sandbox’ ==> how-to-escape-googles-sandbox
- 46: Google’s New Site Stats: more than a sitemaps byproduct ==> googles-new-site-stats-more-than-a-sitemaps-byproduct
- 45: An Inofficial FAQ on Google Sitemaps ==> an-inofficial-faq-on-google-sitemaps
- 44: Reciprocal links are not penalized by Google ==> reciprocal-links-are-not-penalized-by-google
- 43: Google Sitemap FAQ - Call for input ==> google-sitemap-faq-call-for-input
- 42: Google AdSense Login Problems ==> google-adsense-login-problems
- 41: I want more Jaggers! ==> i-want-more-jaggers
- 40: Smart Web Site Architects Provide Meaningful URLs ==> smart-web-site-architects-provide-meaningful-urls
- 39: MySQL’s ODBC Driver 3.51 drives me nuts ==> mysqls-odbc-driver-351-drives-me-nuts
- 38: Duplicate Content Filters are Sensitive Plants ==> duplicate-content-filters-are-sensitive-plants
- 37: New Google Dupe Filters? ==> new-google-dupe-filters
- 36: Yahoo! Site Explorer Finally Launched ==> yahoo-site-explorer-finally-launched
- 35: Google’s Master Plan ==> googles-master-plan
- 34: Search Engine Friendly Cloaking ==> search-engine-friendly-cloaking
- 33: Google’s Blog Search Released ==> googles-blog-search-released
- 32: About Repetition in Web Site Navigation ==> about-repetition-in-web-site-navigation
- 31: Link Tutorial for Web Developers ==> link-tutorial-for-web-developers
- 30: Blogging is not a crime! ==> blogging-is-not-a-crime
- 29: Awesome: Ms. Googlebot Provides Reports ==> awesome-ms-googlebot-provides-reports
- 28: Serious Disadvantages of Selling Links ==> serious-disadvantages-of-selling-links
- 27: Overlooked Duplicated Content Vanishing from Google’s Index ==> overlooked-duplicated-content-vanishing-from-googles-index
- 26: Information is Temporarily Unavailable ==> information-is-temporarily-unavailable
- 25: Matt Cutts Slashdotted? ==> matt-cutts-slashdotted
- 24: Yahoo’s Site Explorer ==> yahoos-site-explorer
- 23: Good News from Google ==> good-news-from-google
- 22: The Power of Search Related Blogs ==> the-power-of-search-related-blogs
- 21: Google Has Something Cooking ==> google-has-something-cooking
- 20: Fresh Content is King ==> fresh-content-is-king
- 19: Bait Googlebot With RSS Feeds ==> bait-googlebot-with-rss-feeds
- 18: Take Free SEO Advice With a Grain of Salt ==> take-free-seo-advice-with-a-grain-of-salt
- 17: AdSense Crawler Downloads XML Sitemaps ==> adsense-crawler-downloads-xml-sitemaps
- 16: Google’s Own XML Sitemap Explored ==> googles-own-xml-sitemap-explored
- 15: Just Another Free Sitemap Tool Launched ==> just-another-free-sitemap-tool-launched
- 14: Systematic Link Patterns Kill SE-Traffic ==> systematic-link-patterns-kill-se-traffic
- 13: Another Content Thief Caught ==> another-content-thief-caught
- 12: The Top-5 Methods to Attract Search Engine Spiders ==> the-top-5-methods-to-attract-search-engine-spiders
- 11: Revamping Framed Web Sites ==> revamping-framed-web-sites
- 10: Unbelievable Search Engine Market Shares ==> unbelievable-search-engine-market-shares
- 9: Do I need a Vioxx Attorney? ==> do-i-need-a-vioxx-attorney
- 8: Fight shy of the Google-Update-Hysteria ==> fight-shy-of-the-google-update-hysteria
- 7: Mozilla-Googlebot Helps with Debugging ==> mozilla-googlebot-helps-with-debugging
- 6: Googlebots go Fishing with Sitemaps ==> googlebots-go-fishing-with-sitemaps
- 5: Is Google Sitemaps an Index Wiper? ==> is-google-sitemaps-an-index-wiper
- 4: Optimizing the Number of Words per Page ==> optimizing-the-number-of-words-per-page
- 3: Spam Detection is Unethical ==> spam-detection-is-unethical
- 2: Green Tranquilizes ==> green-tranquilizes
- 1: Startup ==> startup
Why I moved this blog from blogspot to its own domain
Well, there were many reasons. The most important reason was that Google’s Blogger team was not willing to remove the nofollow crap in comments. I found a 3rd party hack to remove it in the comment author’s link, but there was no way to dofollow links within the comment itself. I appreciate comments and owe the author the link credits (if I approve the contribution and don’t edit the link out for obvious reasons).
Also, commenting on a Blogger blog is a PITA. The comment script is not part of the blog’s template, and it is plain weird with regard to usability. Blogger tortures commenters with awful long and complex captchas, probably they add one to the captcha’s length monthly. As visitors told me that they don’t comment because of the crappy Blogger scripts, I had to leave.
Finally there are a few technical reasons. The old blog was notoriously slow, and often I wasn’t able to post or approve comments because the admin interface was down. Changing the template was a PITA, and many things I liked to do weren’t possible because there’s no server sided scripting at Blogger.
I hope that this blog provides a better surfing experience. Please don’t hesitate to tell me what you think in the dofollow’ed comments, thank you!
Sebastian
PS: If you’d like to update your links to my blog, here is a tool to find the new URLs. TIA!
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[…] I’m in the process of moving my blog from blogspot to this domain. As long as you see a ToDo List here, I’m not yet ready. Ok, there’s no […]
This will be so much better, for you, for us, for the world wide web. Blogger is to blogging as FrontPage is to web design.
I look forward to reading about how you handle transferring the content in the most search engine friendly way possible. I did it on Blogger about a year ago with a meta refresh set to zero, it seemed to work but was a pain. Transferring those deep links is the hardest.
Do they have a way to do a 301 now? It’s been a while since I’ve logged into Blogger but I’ve been meaning to for some domain flipping operations. :)>
Hey John, you found the blog before the launch
Well, that’s exactly what the crawlers do. At least Googlebot so far, Ask and Yahoo’s Slurp fetched the main page only. Google crawls up to 50 pages daily, not bad for a domain I’ve registered just a few days ago. One of my first steps was to generate an XML sitemap. Then I wrote a redirect script and used that to link from all post at blogspot.com to their new location. These links are up a few days now. Today I’ve linked the old blog’s H1 here. When all engines are familar with the blog’s structure I’ll add a “NOINDEX,FOLLOW” robots meta tag to the blogspot site. That’ll help to avoid dupe issues. When the new blog is completely indexed I’ll do the zero meta refresh redirecting everything to this page to transfer the PageRank too. Shortly after the launch I’ll ask a few nice folks linking to me to change their URLs, at least in the blogrolls. I guess that’ll do the trick, although I’ll lose search engine traffic temporarily.
Blasted! You’ve disabled the individual comment links, I can’t see what number I am!
You’re #208
Good observation, thanks! I didn’t disable them, the theme author probably thought they’re useless. Fixed.
Kudos on the favicon as well, it’s the little details that distinguish the best from the rest.
Isn’t there a way to actually do 301’s if you transfer the blogspot domain to a blogspot domain that is self hosted for a while at least?
That’ll be too much compexity just to replace a zero meta refresh by a 301. When I move the Blogger blog to its own domain and redirect from there to this site, I get a chain of two 301s at least, perhaps even three. I can assure you that a zero meta refresh in combination with a noindex robots tag from any free hosted site counts as 301 and that it will do way better than chained 301 redirects.
Also, I consider the SEO aspect of the redirect a secondary problem. What I really want is to get my readers from blogspot to this site. Unfortunately that will come with an extra hop (the “moved” links on my blogspot posts) where I can lose visitors, at least until I redirect the old blog to this page. Well, although the script tries to figure out which post the visitor wants to read, in many cases s/he will land here and has to search for the link to the post. Not ideal, but better than bothering readers with my ugly blogspot thingy forever. Routing visitors through two or more pretty slowly performing redirects probably would piss of more visitors.
I think that caring for traffic first and search engines later on is a good strategy for such a move. However, in other cases where I’ve full control over both the old and the new site I’d do it much differently, that is more smoothly for both visitors and search engines.
[…] I’ve moved the blog from blogspot.com to this place, this post makes not much sense anymore. I’ve […]
[…] email addresses intact and working) and started my Blogger exodus. Meanwile I’ve imported the old stuff from sebastianx.blogspot.com, and hopefully I’ve solved all the various issues breaking my layout […]
[…] I had to manage an exodus of Blogger driven posts to this WordPress blog. During the move I learned a few new things, […]
[…] on a Blogger blog is a nightmare with regard to usability, so you miss out on shitloads of user contributed […]
just disable the captcha altogether, geez.
Sorry, I can’t handle the amount of comments I’d get without it.