Active Rain Launches "Outside Blogs"
ActiveRain (AR), a large network of real estate professionals just announced they have launched “Outside Blogs”.
Here is the initial announcement from Brad Andersohn, Active Rain Community Builder and GeekEstateBlog contributor.
What is an Active Rain Outside Blog (AROB)? That’s ARspeak for a blog that lies outside the confines of the ActiveRain domain.
Sort of.
It looks like the outside blogs are simply posted to a sub-domain of AR. For example, if I wanted my AROB to be named “Jay’s Blog” the domain would wind up being http://jaysblog.activerain.com.
There is a provision to use an existing domain name, but it’s unclear to me if such a URL is simply pointed to the AR sub-domain. If is is pointed, then there are of course no SEO benefits to having your own URL.
In less than an hour after Brad’s post, there is already a flurry of comments, with AR members basically salivating over the prospects of having an “outside blog” (for the record, and not that it matters, the term “outside blog” has always bugged me. It sounds silly).
I suspect there will be hundreds more comments in the coming days and this will be all the rage and talk on AR for some time.
The system seems well thought out from an “inside” perspective. It looks like Rainers write posts as usual on their AR account then simply check a box (or boxes) to select if the post is submitted to AR, OBs or Localism, AR’s other, consumer based (in theory) platform. Post can be submitted to 1, 2 or all 3 of these platforms (which raises the age-old duplicate content issue IMHO).
It should be very simple for experienced Rainers to set up an AROB with a few clicks. In fact, I just logged into my basically abandoned AR account and set up my AROB in literally 30 seconds. It can be found here: http://PhoenixREGuy.activerain.com Note I did not add my personal photos, but that would have been a simple upload, pushing the time to probably about three minutes.
There were only two basic themes to choose from, more are promised later.
Comments from existing posts on AR are automatically ported over to the AROB posts.
AR membership is pushing the 100,000 mark, and there is no doubt that many, many people will deploy AROBs in the coming days, weeks and months. Cost is free, which I believe is a change from when AROBs were first being discussed. If I recall correctly, they were originally planned to have a trial period followed by a nominal cost.
There are some nagging questions I have that would be interesting to get thoughts and opinions on.
Do AROB’s support trackbacks/pingbacks? These are, IMHO, a fundamental component of “outside blogs”. The interconnectivity that occurs when one blog links to another is an important function, and if lacking on AROBs, is a serious detriment.
How are unique URLs set up? Are they simply pointed to the AROB?
How are comments and comment spam moderated and controlled? There is a “captcha” on the AROB, but if that’s completed, a comment will post immediately.
Is there a duplicate content concern if a post is submitted to the main AR site, and an AROB, and to Localism? It’s hard to see why it wouldn’t at least be a concern.
Short of adding a header and changing colors, there appears to be almost no way to really customize an AROB. Are there any plans to add “widgets” and what developers will work on widgets and future themes?
And finally, what will the impact be of thousands of Active Rain members unleashing outside blogs almost simultaneously? Once the buzz dies down (and that buzz will be significant) will the masses be happy with the similar look, feel and functionality between AROBs. Will there be enough differentiation between AROBs so that they don’t get “stigmatized” (for lack of a better term) much like Blogger blogs have. Will people other than AR members consider them “real blogs”? (and does that really matter?)
The Active Rainers are sometimes rabid in their support for AR. I have no doubt they will jump all over this, and shout the virtues to the world. I just wonder if any “outsiders” will hear it.
Edited to add: 15 minutes after launching my AROB, this is what I saw when I went to it. Are the AR servers already slammed?
Drew Meyers
Posted at 18:37h, 25 JuneI’m guessing Brad will be here in the comments shortly to answer your questions 🙂
Jay Thompson
Posted at 18:48h, 25 JuneThis thing is going to be huge one way or another. The comment count on Brads post is already over 70. Some of it is just gushing praise, some are very legit questions.
I’m not terribly fond of the comments from AR being “cross-linked” to the AROB. AR is notorious for posts getting comment after comment that add little to nothing to the conversation (point grabbing, in a nutshell). If the only way to get those comments off an outside blog is to delete the comment on the original AR post, WWIII is likely to break out.
Look forward to hearing Brad’s opinion. I suspect he’s a wee bit busy right now.
Brad Andersohn
Posted at 20:48h, 25 JuneBrad pops his head up out of the flurry to check in. lol~
Yes, I am slammed with comments, emails and calls right now, but wanted to address as many concerns as possible if I can.
1. You can buy or use an existing domain to host your AROB (nice acronym BTW) 🙂 We recommend for members to do just that.
2. The duplicate entry and SEO issues are being addressed in another Blog post. That’s a little too long and complicated to cover here in these comments.
3. The AROB’s are FREE, the discussion early on was to charge, our team decided against it.
4. Once the dust settles, and it will, the feedback and comments we receive will allow us to review and take the appropriate and most needed actions to address any technical or unforeseen issues. Growth and improvement will come after the needs are met.
5. Not sure on the Trackbacks/Pingbacks, but I will certainly find out, and get back to you on that.
6. Comment Spam will still need to be moderated by the member just as it’s done now as far as I know.
There may be other releases ahead to address this and some of your other questions.
7. There will be other templates made available and probably a CSS option for customizing, but let us get out the door and on the road first. lol~
This is just the launch today, the beginning, the genesis of AROB’s, it will take some time to get through it, work out the kinks, but I’m confident in our team, the staff and the members, that the growth and success with AROB’s will be fruitful.
Thanks Jay, you were fast on getting this posted, I was impressed! :-))
Active Rain “Outside Blog’s” - More choices 4 U
Posted at 07:56h, 26 June[…] has already raised some good questions and has written a nice post (surprise surprise) about the Active Rain Launch. I also saw that Dustin Luther has given Active Rain’s outside blog’s look as […]
Steve Belt
Posted at 11:00h, 26 JuneJay, like you, my AR account is basically dormant. I have it, to provide occasional comments, and read the “insider” posts now and again.
From what’s described, I don’t see much benefit to the AROB over their standard blog. Pointing your personal dot com over to this new URI would add a tiny bit of added SEO.
Regardless, I’ll set my own up, if for no other reason, to protect my “name space”.
Riverside
Posted at 17:08h, 26 JuneHere’s there answer:
If you choose a subdomain
domain.ar.com
then
“We will be adding no-index tags to all sub-domain blogs”
That took the wind out of my sails over it…I was psyched…but now… not so much…
whats the point if it’s got a no index tag?
(Please let me know if I’m wrong on this 😉
Mike Price
Posted at 17:49h, 26 JuneGreat overview Jay, you obviously took a great deal of time checking it out.
MP
Diane Cohn
Posted at 19:43h, 26 JuneUm, what’s the difference between an AR Outside Blog and Localism?
Brad Andersohn
Posted at 21:18h, 26 JuneDiane – Localism is a collaborative effort from the AR community and one’s outside blog is uniquely their own content. On Localism, collaborative works really good for the consumer since we can collectively give them great info. 🙂
Candace Robinson
Posted at 15:51h, 27 JuneI am definitely interested in how this will effect the AR community, I am really leaning on the side of my good friend Steve & Jay, that owning ‘my own’ is really adding up and making more sense everyday! Great review Jay.
Gary Miljour
Posted at 01:41h, 28 JuneJay,
Thanks for explaining this to me. I am starting to see the benefit of moving forward with my word press blog in the works.
Carnival of Real Estate - Trulia 4th of July Stars and Stripes Edition
Posted at 10:02h, 30 June[…] doesn’t it? It can. But, that’s not what Jay Thompson was thinking about when he wrote Active Rain Launched “Outside Blogs” on the Geek Estate Blog. Rain or shine, you can now get yourself an “outside blog” […]
wangming
Posted at 06:12h, 23 Julyhttp://www.blognow.com.au/yunsi5156/
danaweber80
Posted at 02:03h, 18 JanuaryYour blog is pretty good and impressed me a lot. This article along with the images is quite in-depth and gives a good overview of the topic.
business logos design | website logo design
cura slabire
Posted at 18:58h, 03 JanuaryI was been scouring the Web for this info and i wanted to say thanks to you for the post. By the way, just off topic, how can i download a version of this theme? – 10x
Rupali340
Posted at 14:47h, 03 JuneOh! I found one good blog after a long time.
Nice one.
Gmat1984
Posted at 14:47h, 03 JuneYa.. its really nice..You made a beautiful presentation.. Thanks