Blogging Up a Storm with BlogStorm Version 2

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The first time I looked at BlogStorm was back in July 2007 when its founder and chief blogger, Patrick Altoft, ordered a review for his then new blog. BlogStorm has grown a lot since then and recently underwent a complete redesign. With a new look comes a new drive to expand the readership so Patrick asked me to take a look at the site again.

Who Is BlogStorm?

BlogStorm exploded onto the blogsphere when it pull down 30,000 visitors in its first week with their BlogStorm Tracker. The BlogStorm Tracker allows you to track the number of websites linking to your blog posts or news articles. BlogStorm monitors your RSS feed daily and offer free statistics so you can see which of your posts are the most popular and how you can improve. Anyone is allow to add their site for free.

Since creating the tracker, BlogStorm has added more tools for bloggers to improve their sites. These tools include the Crawl Rate Tracker, the Competitor Link Analysis, the Hot Blog Topics and the Link Tracker. These tools, plus a bunch of really unique blog posts has helped BlogStorm reach over 100,000 visitors each month.

More Portal Than Blog

The new design of BlogStorm makes the site more of a portal than a blog. Instead of blog posts, the front page has links to the various elements like the tools and SEO consulting services. The latest and most popular posts are highlighted in a separate box on the right side. The layout is extremely clean and except for two 125×125 buttons, completely ad free.

You might think BlogStorm is leaving a lot of money on the table by not monetizing their traffic better. However, making money from advertisings is not the goal of the site. The site is used mainly to promote BlogStorm’s Branded3 Search SEO consulting service.

I wish Patrick would add a blog link to BlogStorm. Right now, there is no way to view the site as a normal blog – you can only click on a link to read a blog post. This does increase the page views but I found it frustrating to click link after link instead of turning the scroll wheel on the mouse.

If you want to read BlogStorm like a normal blog then the best way to do it is by subscribing to its RSS feed. BlogStorm offers a full feed with both a RSS reader or RSS by Email. This is how I and nearly 2,000 other people read BlogStorm.

Worth Adding To Your Feed Reader

BlogStorm has been in my Google reader since Patrick’s first post. Patrick continues to deliver unique and compelling content at least once per day. Some of his most popular posts include:

If you haven’t added BlogStorm to your RSS reader then you’re really missing out. Patrick isn’t just another make money online blog. He knows what he is talking about and he has a successful track record to prove it. it’s also refreshing to see Patrick using a different business model than the standard build a blog and add advertising method. BlogStorm is more than just an informative blog on marketing, blogging and Search Engine Optimization. BlogStorm is one hell of a business card for potential clients of Patrick’s Branded3 Search service.

Patrick is looking for feedback on the new BlogStorm. Please check the site out and tell him what you think of it. My only recommendation is a blog link so I can read the site like a real blog. However, that’s not overly important since I read BlogStorm by RSS. 🙂