Oluniyi David Ajao is an Internet entrepreneur with strong interests in web design & hosting. He writes about mobile communications technologies and blogs about African issues. He is also a photography enthusiast and enjoys tech-related websites, magazines & TV/Radio shows. His personal website at www.davidajao.com serves as the central point of his personal web activities.

So, enough preamble, let’s get to know a little more about this week’s featured blogger!

Name: Oluniyi David Ajao

Blog: http://www.davidajao.com/blog/

1. Are you more of a writer or a geek?

I am balanced between both. I enjoy reading and writing about tech-related stuff, especially broadcasting and telecoms.

2. What are you really passionate about?

A few things: Africa, Technology.

3. Why do you think people should read your blog?

I blog about Politics, Showbiz, Technology and Business in relation to Africa and people who share these interests would find my blog a useful resource to keep in touch with developments in Africa.

4. What did you want to be when you were 12 years old?

A TV broadcast engineer

5. What really annoys you?

Mediocrity

6. Have you ever gotten any free stuff or gifts as a result of your blog?

I have met wonderful people with whom I connected through my blog. I have received several commendations from people who enjoyed the content I shared. These are more valuable than any free gifts.

7. Where would you go on Holiday?

Mauritius, South Africa or Egypt.

8. Are you a Mac or a PC fan? Would you ever switch?

I am used to PCs due to their market domination and doubt that I would ever switch.

9. If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Nelson Mandela.

10. What is your favourite gadget?

My Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

11. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?

Denzel Washington.

12. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

I want to be able to read human minds.

13. If you could work anywhere in the world where would you earn your bread and butter?

Going by what I do for a living, the United States would be my best choice.

If you haven’t already, then click on over to http://www.davidajao.com/blog/ now and see why Oluniyi was tipped to be this week’s featured blogger.

It was great to get to know another African blogger a little better and every week we’re keeping our eyes open for more greats. If you would like to nominate a blogger to be profiled, please drop us an email with their blog address to support@afrigator.com and we’ll do our best to get in touch with them! Be sure to check back every Monday for 5 minutes with our featured Afrigator blogger. Maybe it’ll be you next week

Till next time, keep on blogging!

Lester

In the wake of their performance at the confederations cup and the upcoming 2010 World Cup, Egypt and particularly their footballers have been in the media quite a bit recently which renewed my interest in Egypt.  So, without any further ado, here’s Egypt!

Afrigator Country Close Up on Egypt

Map Location

Vital Stats:

• Name: Arab Republic of Eypt
• Full Native Name: Jumhurivat Misr al-Arabiyah
• Internet code: .eg
• Population: 75.5 Million people
• Number of blog on Afrigator: 321
• Capital City: Cairo

Demographic Information

source: http://wolframalpha.com

Cultural Information

source: http://wolframalpha.com

Interesting facts about the Egypt

• Silver was considered more valuable than gold in ancient Egypt.
• Beer was invented in Egypt .
• More damage has been done to Cleopatra’s Needle, a hieroglyphic-covered granite obelisk, in the 125 years it has stood in pollution-filled, weather-beaten New York City than in thousands of years in dry Egypt.
• The capital of Egypt is Cairo and the city holds the distinction of being the largest city in Africa and the Middle East.
• The Sphinx lost it’s nose in 1798 when Napoleon’ soldiers used it for target practice.

Egypt in images

Justin’s entry was posted some time back, so I thought that a quick update might be nice. And with that, I present to you the Top 20 Female Bloggers in Africa as ranked by Afrigator

There are a few things to consider when looking at this list

• It was drawn up by hand, so there’s no money back guarantee on the data.
• This list is based only on bloggers who have signed up to Afrigator.com

The ranking is taken directly from the top blogs section as ranked by Afrigator’s unique ranking system which takes into consideration page views, unique visits, links from blog posts and finally links from blogs to formulate an overall rank on Afrigator.

The list is accurate as of about 9pm on Tuesday 8 July and is subject to change pretty much immediately due to the way that the ranking system works.

It was very encouraging to see that many of the bloggers here have moved up in the ranking and that there are also a few new entries on the list

So, now you can see where it is that we find all these great blogs to present and you can go and have a read for yourself.

Till tomorrow, keep on blogging.

Lester

While I was trying to figure out what today’s Tuesday Tip should be about, I went scouting in all my usual online hangouts hoping that I would read something that might spark an idea for today’s post (with writing in mind). And I did find the spark I was after, only it didn’t look the way I expected it to. You see, I spend a lot of time browsing the net. A LOT. And along the way I find lots of cool things. Again, there’s nothing revolutionary here. But most bloggers don’t have the time or the freedom to browse as much as I do. And with that in mind I though that it might be of more use to you to point you in the direction of bloggers who I think add value to my blogging life. So, here’s an intentionally brief list of blogs that I think you should give a shot at reading:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

http://jessenewhart.com/

http://gaspedal.com/blog/

http://www.problogger.net/

http://www.gottaquirk.com

Originally I had added a description for each blog, but I think that this might inadvertently put some folks off if I represent the blog in the wrong way, so I decided to go with out. Now, here’s today’s real tip – check out all of these blogs, but subscribe to two or three. They’re all great blogs in their own right but each is aimed at a slightly different reader. They may not all be for you, but when you find one you like try and stick with it. My favourite way to stay up to date is with RSS to email. I receive the blog posts in my inbox which means that I can read them in my own time, even when I’m not online. Sometimes I even wind up reading them on my phone ( it’s a matter of preference).

The point is that there are lots of smart people out there with loads of cool, smart and quirky ideas. The only way that you’ll find out about them is by reading more blogs. Unlike the ‘for dummies’ books of old, blogs don’t cost a cent and you won’t feel bad when you don’t make it to page 300!

I hope you guys don’t mind that the post is a little late, but both last night and today have been a little hectic, so I didn’t get to schedule the post. If you have any blogs you think are worth reading, please drop a comment below so that we can all get a little better at our blogging!

Till next time, keep on blogging,

Lester

This week we pay another visit to Kenya for our Eye on Africa featured African blogger – Africa Expat Wives Club.

I am a British expat wife living in Nairobi Kenya with my husband and three daughters. A housewife who does no housework, who hopes to somehow launch herself into a successful freelance writing career. We’ve lived in East Africa for the past ten years and the thought of ever moving on is suddenly terrifying.

Blog: http://africaexpatwivesclub.blogspot.com

Do you consider yourself more of a writer or a geek?

I would love to say I am more of a writer – but probably I am much more of a geek who sadly doesn’t know that much about computers but loves my ‘virtual’ online blogging life.

What are you really passionate about?

I am passionate about describing the experience of living in East Africa in an accessible, honest and 21st century fashion. Most of the stories that you read about Africa from overseas are overblown; either glamorized or making things look pitiful or hopeless, both of which are rubbish.

Why would you say people should read your blog?

I think people should read my blog to hopefully raise the odd smile between my rants. I quite like opening up debate on certain subjects concerned with living in Africa. My Africa expat/social stereotypes are intended to be a bit of fun – based on Victoria Mather’s social stereotypes that appear in the UK Telegraph newspaper.

What did you want to be when you were 12 years old?

When I was 12 I simply said I wanted to be famous, but could never put my finger on how exactly to achieve that. I guess that is why I am now a blogger…still haven’t quite given up hope.

What really gets under your skin?

Generalisations. Though I must admit I find myself making generalisations a lot.

Have you ever gotten any free stuff as a result of your blogging?

Never got any free stuff as a result of my blog. What am I doing wrong? I was interviewed by the UK Times newspaper and appeared on BBC World news in Jan 2008 thanks to my blog though.

Where would you choose to go on holiday?

I would go on holiday to Barcelona or Bruges, Venice or Vienna – a city break filled with museums and surrounded by beautiful architecture. I have been utterly spoiled by safaris and idyllic, deserted sandy beaches over the last ten years so fancy a change.

Are you a Mac or a PC fan? Would you ever switch?

PC fan. Would be too terrified to switch.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Jane Austin for a week, visiting smart neighbours for tea in beautiful houses by horse drawn carriage, partying and observing society with a wry smile then writing it all down when I got home.

What is your favourite gadget?

My new Safaricom dongle – which gives me pretty good internet access at home in Nairobi (Broadband still a distant dream).

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?

Catherine Tate

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

Flying. All superheroes should be able to fly.

If you could work anywhere in the world where would you earn your bread and butter?

New York. I only visited for one day aged 13, but remember that the place had a real buzz to it. At the time I wanted to leap out of the car, get lost in the crowd and make like Madonna in ‘Desperately seeking Susan’. Plus I heard that you never have to use your oven when you live there.

If you enjoy witty and funny writing and are up for finding out a bit more about the beautiful Kenya, click on over to the Africa Expat Wives Club for a good read

So, I’m going to have to figure out an easy way to sift and sort through all the cool content we’re receiving. Another challenge is THE LINE. I have bad eyesight when it comes to the line as I have a very hard time seeing it. We don’t want to offend anyone, but sometimes the funniest acts are the taboo. So, if we upset you with any of our GatorFriday stuff, please drop us a line or a comment and let us know.

From Stii – Russia’s got Talent (more like Russia had talent!)

We’re not sure if this video is real (there are mixed reports) but either way – you have to wonder what was going through somebody’s mind (other than an arrow).

From Adele – Sidewalk Chalk Art

“Hey I stumbled upon another chalk drawing and its even better than last week, thought I’d share ” ~ Adele

From Lester – LandRovers are cool.

My friend Kate is always telling me how cool Landies are and when I saw this clip, I had to admit that  it is pretty wicked! I bet a Hummer can’t do that (in addition to using a regular sized parking bay)

Justin and Mamello have been too busy with “real work” for me to bug them today, but I promise I’ll hassle them a bit more next week!

From us here at the #GatorPen, we wish you a great, safe and fun weekend And remember – don’t just talk about it, blog about it!

Lester

http://gatorpeeps.com/lesterhein

P.S – Are you on GatorPeeps yet?

Afrigator Country Close Up on Ghana

Wikipedia Excerpt:

Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient kingdoms, including the Ga-Da?mes on the eastern coast, the inland Empire of Ashanti and various Fante states along the coast and inland. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established a crown colony, Gold Coast, in 1874.

Gold Coast achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first Sub-Saharan African nation to do so. The name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana, which once extended throughout much of western Africa. In the Ashanti language it is spelled Gaana. About 30 % of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana

Map Location

The Republic of Ghana is located in West Africa. It borders Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south.

source: http://maps.google.com

Vital Stats:

• Name: Republic of Ghana
• Internet code: .gh
• Population: 23.5 million people
• Number of blogs on Afrigator: 134
• Capital City: Accra

Demographic Information

“.

source: http://wolframalpha.com

Cultural Information

source: http://wolframalpha.com

Interesting facts about Ghana:

• Ghana is the size of the UK and consists of rainforest, savannah, scrub and the biggest man-made lake in the world – Lake Volta.
• Ghana supplies most of the world’s cocoa.
• There are over 60 different languages and tribes, with the main tribes being the Ashanti, Fante, and Ga and the most widely spoken language other than English is Twi.

Ghana in Images

Got an interesting story or fact about Ghana? Drop us a comment below and let us know! (hey – that rhymed. cool

Lester

On a positive note, Afrigator had it’s 10,000th blog added today This is proof that the universe is listening. I love house music, so does Justin, so it’s only fitting that the 10,000th blog is all about house music.

Have a look and see for yourself

http://www.hotshotsound.blogspot.com

Be sure to check back tomorrow for our country close up on Ghana!

Lester

Today’s tip isn’t about technical wizardry or the latest and greatest plugin to get for your blog. These are simply a few thoughts on ways to make your blog a little more reader friendly. When you think about it, it’s readers that count at the end of the day. If you create great work that’s well thought and laid out, this can often trump awesome SEO (search engine optimization) skills. I’m not saying throw the SEO tips out of the window, but you know what I mean.

Now, when you read the tips below for the first, some of them might sound all smart and others might sound like they could even be real advice. But the actual value in these tips is the fact that this is what worked for us, so it’s not just theory or speculation.

As regular as blogwork

I know from habit that Monday nights are good TV nights, so I generally try and get home early on Mondays. The same principle applies to blogging. If people know when to expect new or specific content on your blog, chances are that they’ll come around to have a look. Sort of like what we do with this Tuesday Tips section. Outline a schedule and stick to it. Just as important is to let your audience know what the schedule is. Put it up on your blog somewhere if you can. Even better yet – include the schedule in the name – like Women Wednesday. People are creatures of habit, so make it easy for us by letting us know when to come around to get the goods.

Play Niche

Trying to be all things to all men (and women) is difficult. It means that you’ll need to write about a whole bunch of topics that you’re not really an expert on. Sticking to what you know allows you to be genuine when you write (which is important) and also to create knowledgeable content. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like people going around calling me a fool. If someone does, I pity the fool…anyway. Stick to what you know and if you’re playing around with something unfamiliar make it known that this isn’t your home ground. The internet being what it is, your comments section can easily turn in to a mud slinging section before you know what hit you.

For example
Blogging about stuff we know – Tuesday Tips.
Blogging about stuff we don’t know (but are keen to learn about) – Country Close Up.

The difference is the way in which it is presented.

Keep on keeping on

Consistency is a key part of being a successful blogger. One of the most common blog posts I see on Afrigator is “sorry that I haven’t written anything in so long.” Consistency is important if you’re chasing a certain type of audience and rely on Google or other search engines for traffic. If you stop writing about your subject, someone else will soon fill your spot on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Being consistent is important if you’re going to stick to the schedule we talked about earlier. We’ve seen first hand that if you miss a post or a day, chances are that your audience members won’t return because they figure if you’re too bored to post, they may as well not bother visiting.

In my opinion writing is like any other skill – it needs practice. So, the more often you write, the easier it becomes and the more fun you can have with your blog. Pretty soon all you’ll need to do is boot up and before you know it a bog post has spilled across your text editor. Oh, that reminds me…

Type your blog posts in a text editor first

When writing your blog post, do so in your favourite text editor first. There are 2 reasons for this. 1.TIA. Many times internet connections are not stable or very fast and if you’re typing your post directly in to your blog editor there’s a chance things could go wrong. I’ve lost countless posts due to my browser crashing, a save/publish going wonky or the internet stalling. For this reason I advocate typing your post out in your favourite text editor first. That way you can save a copy on your flash drive or hard drive so if something does go wrong, you’re covered.

Text Editor beats Word Processor

If you write in a word processor (like MS Word or Apple Pages) it might add extra mark-up (bits of code) to your content. Things like styling or formatting so that it looks cool in the processor. Once you copy this to your blog editor, all the alien code goes along with your posts and can lead to some pretty strange results. Your blog client might not understand the way the word processor does things. So, stick to a plain text editor like NotePad. If you’re using windows, try Edit Pad Lite . If you’re using Mac, give Smultron a go.

I hope that I didn’t waffle on for too long (I know how I get) and that some of the tips above make sense and will be of use to you. If you can think of any other tips that you think should be in this post, please drop a comment below so that we can all get a little better at our blogging.

Till next time, keep on blogging,

Lester

Jonathan Gosier is an American software developer, writer, investor and the founder of Appfrica Labs. Appfrica Labs is a venture capital firm that invests in East African software start-ups, the goal being to create jobs and prevent brain-drain. He also currently serves as the Chief Technical Officer at QuestionBox.org. He currently lives in Kampala, Uganda. He is a huge advocate for promoting the ways in which technology benefits emerging economies throughout the world. Jon Gosier is a TEDGlobal 2009 Fellow (which is way cool).

So, enough preamble, let’s get to know a little more about Jon.

Name: Jon Gosier

Blog: http://Appfrica.net

1. Are you more of a writer or a geek?

Geek.

2. What are you really passionate about?

Technology. Literature. Film.

3. Why do you think people should read your blog?

They really shouldn’t, but I’ll read all of theirs. =)

4. What did you want to be when you were 12 years old?

An Astronaut and/or Michael Jackson.

5. What really annoys you?

Gross assumptions about diverse groups of people.

6. Have you ever gotten any free stuff or gifts as a result of your blog?

No. I take blogging more seriously than most. My opinion cannot be bought.

7. Where would you go on Holiday?

I have a hankering to go to India.

8. Are you a Mac or a PC fan? Would you ever switch?

Mac all the way. I’d never switch unless Steve Jobs somehow ended up the CEO of Microsoft.

9. If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

I think these days I’d like to know what it’s like to be President Barrack Obama.

10. What is your favourite gadget?

My iPhone.

11. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?

Idris Elba because the only way I’d ever be that sexy is if someone else was playing me, lol.

12. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

I’d like to be able to see the future.

13. If you could work anywhere in the world where would you earn your bread and butter?

Right here in Uganda.

If you haven’t already, then click on over to Appfrica now

It was great to get to know another African blogger a little better! Be sure to check back every Monday for 5 minutes with our featured Afrigator blogger. Maybe it’ll be you next week

A fellow blogger made a point in his blog that I felt I could relate to:

I guess with an iconic figure like Michael, you never think that someone like that really can die. I know it’s a silly thought, but that’s what goes through your mind the first time.

My best friend Damien, who is just as much of a Jacko fan as I am has posted an update on his facebook wall for each of Michael Jackson’s major achievements.

I don’t think that there’s too much that we can or should say about the king of pop. His work and life speaks volumes with any words needing to be said. He inspired millions to pick up an instrument or grab the mic. Countless wannabe moonwalkers can look back and laugh at that time they tried to do a Micheal. Guys and girls everywhere wore too-short pants with white socks and even whiter T-shirts. And let’s not even get started on the amount of crotch grabbing and leg flailing he inspired …

For an indication of just how successful Michael Jackson was, have a look at this list of the best selling albums of all time:

source: http://wikipedia.com

In short, Micheal Jackson impacted the music business and the world in a way not seen since Elvis. Thinking about it now, I can kind of understand how a previous generation felt when their king went to rest.

Rest in peace.

Lester

Update – if you would like to follow this story, you can see what African bloggers have to say here

After speaking with him for a while about his home, I realised how much there is that I still do no know about this beautiful but ravaged continent of ours. Also, that there is much to be said for knowing one’s history. I started digging around on the internet for some information and found a country profile on the BBC news site which provides a concise history of the country’s turbulent past. Have a read here.

Afrigator Country Close Up on the Democratic Republic of Congo

Map Location

Source: http://maps.google.com

Vital Stats:

* Name: Democratic Republic of Congo
* Full Native Name: Repblique Democratique du Congo
* Internet code: .cd
* Population: 62.6 million people
* Number of blogs on Afrigator: 35
* Capital City: Kinshasa

Demographic Information

source: http://wolframalpha.com

Cultural Information

source: http://wolframalpha.com

Interesting facts about the DRC

* It is the third largest country (by area) in Africa Nigeria
* Almost one-half of the population is 15 years of age or under.
* A Hollywood movie was made about former Prime Minister Patrice Lamumba

I know that one little blog post about a country won’t change much but hopefully it will get you curious (like it did me) and spur you on to learn a little more about this wonderful continent of ours.

Scarlett Lion: Liberia

The first thing that grabs you when you land on this blog is colour. The subtle colours used in the header image and the vibrant array that streams from the photographs showcased in her posts.Now before I move on to the content, I’d like to take a second to admire the layout of this blog. Hosted using the very popular Blogger platform, it shows that with a little tweaking amazing results really are possible.

Photographer, writer, reporter. Going through life with an eye towards creating records and histories. Previously in Uganda, now in Liberia. This blog provides curiosities, cynicism, and commentary. And some photos.

It certainly does do what it says on the tin. With topics ranging from African Barbie dolls to the Liberian Surfing scene, literary and visual stimulation are both provided in plentiful supply.I spent quite a few hours reading through the posts, going back a few months and found the writing to be witty, compassionate and eloquent. But more than all of this, it was easy to read and entertaining for me as a reader.

One section I particularly enjoyed was the photo of the day, a showcase of good photographs selected with a keen photographer’s eye.

Blog description:

Scarlett Lion: Lieria.Photography and dispatches from Liberia.

Blog Rank:

Scarlett Lion: Liberia. Ranks 1 in Liberia and ranks 63 in Africa. According to site visitors it ranks 235, and 358 according to page views:

According to blogroll links it ranks 115 and 169 according to the amount of links within Afrigator blog posts

If you haven’t done so already, make your way over to Scarlett Lion’s blog right now and have a read.

GatorPeeps

When we launched GatorPeeps (a micro blogging service for Africa) we caught a lot of flack for being Twitter clones. But the fact of the matter is that GatorPeeps is not out to replace Twitter. We launched #peeps because there is a vibrant African community out there NOT on Twitter. And we wanted to help Afrigator users connect and interact with each other.

Value and Engagement

If, after reading this post, you can remember nothing else, try and remember these two words. They are the foundation of everything else outlined below. Offer value and engage with the community. Key to this is understanding that different peeps use the service in different ways. Some come looking for something cool or fun, others come with questions looking for answers, and other still come to spread knowledge they have found online. You’ll need to respect these motivations and interact with each kind of user in a way that makes sense to them.

It’s probably a bit trite by now, but in order for this to work, you’re going to have to participate in the conversation and be a part of the community. Once you’re trusted within a community and other members can see that you’re a real person, chances are that your submissions will get clicked on and you’ll see some traffic coming through to your website. It’s the equivalent of walking in to a room, making a few friends and then voicing an opinion. Chances are that if you participate in the other conversations in the room first, the crowd will take a listen to what you have to say. But if you simply walk in and start screaming links, you’re bound to get left out in the cold with no one wanting to listen.

Okay, now that the warm and fuzzy stuff has been dispensed with, let’s get down to a few practical tips to help you gets some traffic.

Sign up to GatorPeeps

If you have an Afrigator account then signing up is a piece of cake. You can also sign up with your Google or Facebook accounts (and more). Once you’ve signed up, add your blog URL to your GatorPeeps profile. GatorPeeps uses Afrigator to automatically index your blog and pulls in your latest blog post so that followers can see what the last thing was that you posted.  GatorPeeps is indexed really fast by Google. We’ve seen cases where a peep is indexed and returned in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) within an hour.

Promote your posts (sounds easy right?)

Promoting your own posts sounds like a pretty straightforward task, but here are a few tips to help your links do even better:

• Create a short,  interesting headline that grabs attention. Add your URL right after
• Use keywords in your description. Like we said, peeps are indexed by search engine and since we don’t use a no-follow tag on peeps, it’s important that you use your keywords in your description for when search engines pick up the peeps.
• Keep it short so that others can quote you. This is probably the best way to get traffic. If someone likes your update, then they’ll quote it to their followers. If your description is too long it won’t work though. GatorPeeps adds “via @user” at the end of a quoted peep. If your update is too long, users simply won’t bother.
• An easy way to create really short URLs is http://gatorurl.com, it really helps.

Promote others posts

If you find a post that has value, spread the word. Whenever someone spreads the word of one of my posts, I’m grateful and usually return the favour by promoting their links too. It’s a delicious circle I tell you.

Follow the leader

Follow more people than you think you need to. Chances are that if you follow more people, more peeps will follow you. This means more peeps to interact with and more peeps to read your content once you put it out there.

Don’t be a spammer.

This is the easiest way to get dumped and left with a bad name. Posting nothing but links looks spammy. Remember the rules – you need to be part of a conversation, not a one way screaming match.

Answer questions

If a question comes up that you think you know the answer to, then do a post on the answer and let the peep who asked the question know. You’ll be surprised at how often people all have the same question but never ask.

Ask questions

This is a great way to engage within your community. Ask and ye shall receive.

Upload a profile picture

I am of the opinion that folks will trust someone who has taken the time time to add a picture more readily than they will a system generated image. Go to http://www.gravatar.com and get a cool avatar for your profile. It makes you look friendlier and more approachable.

As you can see from the waffle above, participation is the key to success. GatorPeeps (and social media in general) is a great way to get legitimate organic traffic as well as meeting new people and generally having a good time

I hope that this info has been helpful. If you can think of anything that I’ve forgotten, please drop us a comment below, we’d really appreciate it.

Till next time, keep on blogging.

Lester and the Afrigator Team.

(If you don’t know who the Gators are, have a look here and you can find out a bit more about us).

First up is Justin’s IQ test for business people:

Each of the Gators also sent me an image that they thought was funny or cool (except Mumz – he’s so high tech his picture moves).

)

Needless to say, Stii likes coffee

Lester is clearly a cat person

This video got Mamello’s motor revving (I can see why)!

I hope that something on this page made you smile and possibly even giggle a little. If you find something that you think will brighten up someone’s Friday, find us on GatorPeeps and tag your funny with #GatorFriday

Till next time, keep on blogging

Lester and the Afrigator Team

source: www.wikipedia.com

After last week’s post on Kenya, we’re changing coasts to get to Nigeria. As you can see from the map position, it is nestled between Benin and Cameroon and has a coastal region.

Vital Stats:

• Name: Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Internet code: .ng
• Population: 148 million people
• Number of blogs on Afrigator: 1000
  
• Capital City: Abudja

source: www.wolframalpha.com

source: www.wolframalpha.com

Interesting facts about Nigeria

• The country was named “Nigeria” after the River Niger (Africa’s third largest river).
• Apart from being a regional power, Nigeria is also listed amongst the “Next Eleven” economies.
• Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with petroleum accounting for 95 percent of its export income.
• Football is Nigeria’s national sport.
• Nigeria has the highest rate of twin births in the world, compared to any other country (so think twice before getting pregnant there).

source htp://flickr.com/photos/mokacoffee

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/airpanther

A self professed mommy blogger, Angel’s blog is an interesting read that gives you a peak in to her day to day life. As with most good story tellers, it’s not all about the plot, but rather the great way in which the reader gets to experience the events. After reading about Angel’s incredible baking skills and seeing the pictures that go along with the posts, I was starving after the first few entries.

I’m a coffee-addicted; junk-food-junkie; social-smoking; single-mom to a teenager. My darling Damien (AKA Knucklehead) has ADHD and it makes our rollercoaster slash bumpercar ride very interesting! [...] when I grow up I want to be one of those strange ladies that people are a little afraid of ‘coz she walks around in public in huge, purple, flower bedecked hats and feather-boas.

Since she started blogging four years ago, Angel (or Angela) has come up in the Afrigator ranks. Have a look at the stats below and see for yourself.

Angel’s Mind – Afrigator Stats

Blog Rank:

Angel’s mind ranks 112 in Africa and 70 in South Africa. According to site visitors it ranks 501, and 599 according to page views:

According to blogroll links it ranks 96 and 105 according to the amount of links within Afrigator blog posts.

I highly recommend clicking over to Angel’s mind and having a read, it’s great fun!

http://angelathome.blogspot.com/

Till next time, keep on blogging.

So , tip #1 – Have your birthday on a public holiday. Trust me on this one, it’s a good tip

Today I’m going to be talking about linking for a bit. Now, as always, these tips are here to help but we can’t promise overnight success, it’s just some things you need to do in order to get the big internet ball rolling. If you have any tips or tricks or advice of your own to offer, please drop us a comment on this post.

If you’d like to check out your own page rank, hop over to the page rank checker and have a look. Don’t worry if you’re site is still ranked very low, you’ve got time to build your site up.
Search engines use a closely guarded set of rules to rank and judge websites. Google’s scoring system is called Page Rank, so the higher your popularity, the higher your Page Rank will be. One of the deciding factors for Page Rank is linking. A link is created when one blogger directs readers off to another blogger’s website. Those blogs are now linked. It’s the blogosphere’s equivalent of saying hi, and like a wave it doesn’t cost anything so don’t be selfish with your link love.

Blogs are about conversations, it’s not a one way street. Linking helps keep the conversation alive by pointing people in interesting and fun new directions.

Now, when you link to another blog or site, the first thing that you need to do is decide which text to link. The text that eventually becomes the blue underlined link is called Anchor Text. It’s your way of giving search engines a clue about where you’re linking to, so try and be descriptive and close to the subject matter. There’s a pretty good post on anchor text here. Granted, this is more for the page that receives the link, but you can also use this when linking internally. So if you’re going to link to one of your old posts, be sure to use descriptive anchor text to let search engines know what its about.

One of the best ways to advance your link popularity is to offer quality and informative content to your visitors and hope for natural links. If they find the information interesting enough, they will naturally link their blogs to your own. Search engines are not just looking for the number of links that point to a website. The most important aspect of the process is obtaining quality links.

Link building is the practice of encouraging other websites to link to your own website. If other websites are linking to your website, your link popularity will increase, search engines will deem your website important, and in turn, you should receive more traffic from them.

So, to very briefly sum up today’s tip

• Use descriptive anchor text in your links, especially when linking to posts on your own blog.
• Share the love  – don’t be shy to link. Th more you give, the more you get.
• Create linkable content. If it’s good, others will want to show off the fact that they know where the good content is at.

As always, apply liberally, spread evenly and your mileage may vary so play around with the tips and see what works for you.

Till next time, keep on blogging.

Here at the GatorPen, we’ve been a very busy bunch lately. And it’s our three babies that have been keeping us awake at night, up early in the morning and scratching our heads trying to figure out what’s wrong with them. We figured that now would be a great opportunity to introduce the Afrigator team to all the gators out in Africa (and the rest of the world). But first, let me introduce you to our babies..

Afrigator

The oldest of three, Afrigator has grown from a tiny gator to the biggest social media aggregator in Africa. What that fancy title means is that we collect (or aggregate) blogs, videos, images, tweets and peeps from all over Africa and put it all in one easy to use location. With close to 10,000 members, we must be doing something right!

Adgator

Adgator is the awkward middle child but often needs to act like big sister and give Afrigator pocket money. Adgator is a blog advertising network helping bloggers to make money from their blogs. Right now Adgator is grounded and can only play in South Africa, but she’ll be let out to the rest of Africa soon.

GatorPeeps

The pip squeak in the family, GatorPeeps is Africa’s first micro blogging platform. A real chatterbox, GatorPeeps allows all Afrigator users to communicate, share ideas and thoughts and just generally just get along. A very personable Gator, Peeps is easy to use, especially if you already have an Afrigator account.

Right, now that you know the family, let’s meet the team

Who lives in the Gator Pen?

Justin (@justinhartman)

Justin (along with Mike Stopforth and Mark Forrester) started Afrigator back in 2007. He’s a real man’s geek who plays cricket, loves football and is crazy about his two little boys Ben and Luke. As the MD, Justin is also the bean counter in the bunch and he makes sure that we have enough cash for coffee and cool new toys (or that we know who to hustle when the java runs low).

Stii (@stii)

It’s said that Stii is part human, part percolator and part mobile phone. Whatever the case, Stii is the main gator when it comes to making gator tick technologically. He joined just after Afrigator was formed and hasn’t left since. If something’s not working on Afrigator, Stii’s the guy who’s going to get it working again. He also comes up with cool new things to add every day. Well almost every day.

Lester (@lesterhein)

The CommuniGator of the office, Lester is responsible for blog posts, PR, mushy journalist stuff and anything else that sounds vaguely official coming from Afrigator. He’s also the product and support manager (or babysitter) for the three Gator kids and does cool help videos like this. So, if you need any help, drop him a mail to support@afrigator.com and he’ll get it sorted quick as a flash ( warning – we sometimes experience very long flashes here at the GatorPen).

Mamello (@mamello)

At the office we call him Mum’z The Money Man. Okay, not really, but as Sales manager for Afrigator and Adgator, he’s responsible for making sure we can afford the coffee mentioned earlier. He’s also the funniest dude in the office, which makes sense since he’s a passionate comedian in his (very limited) spare time.

Adele (@adelezev)

The newest addition to the team, Adele works with Stii on the techie side of things. Her desk is like a mad scientist’s lab brimming with new ideas for Afrigator that we can’t wait to tell you about once they’re built. She’s bubbly, friendly and probably likes long walks on the beach, though we haven’t asked.

Well, now that you know the family and the team a little better, I hope that we’ll be hearing from YOU a bit more.

Till next, keep on blogging!
The Afrigator Team

P.S – don’t forget to check out the daily features on the Afrigator blog.

Kenya

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24842486@N07/3442412997/

Vital stats:

Interesting facts about Kenya:

• In 2004, Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Prize for Peace for her dedication to women’s rights, ecology, and democracy. Wangari became the second woman from Africa to win the Nobel Prize.
• Kenya is an independent republic, with Christianity the dominant religion, but also with a large muslim community, particularly at the coast.
• Kenya maintains an almost constant 12 hours of daylight. Sun up and sundown is at around 6.15 to 6.45 and varies by only 30 minutes throughout the year

Afrigator Stats

Number of blogs in Kenya (indexed by Afrigator): 540

Top 5 blogs in Kenya:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eirasi