Tools to Improve Page Views on Your Blog: LinkWithin vs. nRelate


Update: Since I wrote this post, I have seen mixed results with switching to NRelate. I have, as a result, gone back to LinkWithin.  See my addendum at the bottom for a full explanation.

While we all want to get more unique visitors to our blogs and websites, we also know that the more pages our visitors click on, the more advertising revenue we can ultimately earn.  There have been a few gadgets on the market designed to help readers discover relevant content to click on once they find your site, and one I had been using for awhile is LinkWithin.

The goal of LinkWithin is to show a picture preview and links to posts on your blog that are related to the one the reader is viewing.  It's a pretty neat tool, provided it works well.  Until recently, however, I hadn't really checked on its performance; I was disappointed in what I was seeing.

First, while the widget was easy to install, it wasn't pulling up very relevant posts.  I'm not sure what info it uses, but it wasn't even recommending posts with the same tags.  I went out in search of another tool, and I came across the nRelate widget via The Path to Riches.  I decided to give nRelate a try and compare my results.

I had to uninstall the LinkWithin widget and install the nRelate widget, but I saved a cached copy of my website to compare.  Here are the screenshots from each widget to compare.

Here are the results for an article I did on Mac-and-Cheese Stuffed Peppers:

LinkWithin


nRelate




As you can see, they both missed the mark a bit. At least the LinkWithin app chose another recipe post to include.  The mention of a Father's Day card offer and a toy recall, however, were way off.  I have no idea why nRelate chose 2 Kohl's Cares for Kids posts?

For my No Frills Supermarket weekly grocery match up post, the results were better.

LinkWithin

nRelate


nRelate did a good job of finding my last No Frills Match up post and connecting the dots.  I have no idea what LinkWithin was thinking with the DVD review and the announcement post for the launch of this blog.

The verdict for me, for now, is that I'm sticking with my switch to nRelate.  It's free and has a bit better results overall.  While they claim to allow you to place ads within recommended posts for revenue, the link to sign up was broken, and I'd likely not put ads here, anyway.

Do you have any experience with a related posts tool?

Update: I have since gone back to LinkWithin.  As you can see from the posts on this blog, it has been doing a better job than NRelate.  As with any tech tool, you'll want to continually re-evaluate to see that things work as well as when you start with a new solution.

*Photo by RambergMediaImages via Flickr.

6 comments:

  1. ive been using nRelate. I like it a lot so far. But can't really compare it to link within

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  2. Thanks, Miranda! I really liked how easy it was to install, personally :)

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  3. I have been using the new Recommendations feature from Shareaholic - a plugin I use anyway. I believe it pulls in content based on popularity. I have been happy with the results.

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  4. That's one I haven't used, Angie! I'll have to check that one out next. Thanks!

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  5. Hi Linsey,

    great Job! I read comparative analysis of this services before and they where focus on the increase on page views only not on the quality.

    Also try http://www.outbrain.com and http://simplereach.com/ people are also reporting that are working well.

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  6. Thanks for the additional 2 resources, Marc!

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