If you sell travel-related products or services and are considering entering into the world of blog advertising, please consider adding Hole in the Donut to your mix, as it is one of the top rated travel blogs in the world, according to the following sources:

• Invesp Consluting ranks Hole in the Donut as 55th in their overall travel blog category, 30th by rss membership, 59th in Google Page Rank, 26th by Alexa site rank, and 17th by the number of links to pages ratio
• PostRank.com ranks Hole In The Donut as one of the top 20 travel blogs in the world (currently #15)
• Technorati ranks HoleInTheDonut.com as the 100th most popular travel blog in the world, as determined by Technorati authority.
• Hole in the Donut is ranked 157th on Tips from the T-List (“T” for travel)

When compared with the entire Blogosphere, Hole in the Donut has:

• Google Page Rank of 5
• Alexa ranking of approximately 70,000 worldwide
• Compete Ranking of approximately 80,000
• Per web host stats counter, Hole in the Donut received 46,843 visits in June 2010 (27,952 unique visitors). Per Google Analytics as of July 17, 2010, Hole In The Donut and its associated photo library receive 14,387 visitors per month (approximately 12,381 unique visitors).
• While numbers fluctuate on a day-to-day basis, about 600 viewers have subscribed to Hole In The Donut via either rss  feed or have opted to receive an email each time a new post is published.
• Currently, 2,203 Twitter followers, 662 friends in Facebook, a Hole In The Donut Facebook Page with 525 followers, 347 connections in LinkedIn, and 272 friends on Blog Catalog.

LP Blogsherpa

Travel Insights 100

Uptake.com

Hole in the Donut is actively promoted through the following activities:

• Solicitation for rss subscribers and subscribers who receive notice of new posts via email, both using Feedburner
• Accounts with Google Analytics, Google Webmaster, Bing Webmaster, and Yahoo
• Comment and blogroll exchanges with other highly ranked blogs in the same genre
• A featured writer in the LonelyPlanet.com Blogsherpa program, with full feed of destination posts imported onto the LonelyPlanet website and participation in the LP Squidoo World Travel Lens.
• A featured writer on the Attractions, Beaches, Hotels, and Lodgings blogs of the popular travel search engine, Uptake.com, and a member of their highly respected Travel Insights 100 Panel.
• Direct export of blog posts to StumbleUpon, Facebook, and Twitter
• Participation in social networking sites including StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, and a YouTube channel that features original content produced by the author.
• Full feed of posts imported into Tips from the T-List
• Internet marketing includes listings in all the major blog directories and blog aggregators, links from other travel sites, and paid positioning on Bloggapedia.com
• High quality writing that appears on a consistent basis, with at least three posts per week

Accolades and Awards:

Hole in the Donut is a favorite of more than just the search engines. In 2008 it won 10th place in the competition for best travel blog category at Divine Caroline and in 2009 placed 6th. In mid-2009 it was awarded second place in TripBase’s Best North/South America travel blog category. And on July 20, 2010, it was voted the #1 travel blog at Top Nine Travel Blogs. Barbara Weibel’s travel expertise has been featured in podcasts on BriefcaseToBackpack.com and on the highly respected IAGblogPodcasts site.

TripBase Award

Divine Caroline

Advertising on Hole In The Donut is available in three forms:

1. A single “sponsor” at the top of the posts is available. This spot is anticipated to be a 500px X 60px banner, priced at $150 per month, with no minimum term requirement (size can be modified to fit advertisers requirements).
2. Banner ads on the right-hand sidebar, in a size not to exceed 200px X 150px, are priced at $75 per month or $750 per year, with a minimum term of 6 months required (larger banner ads can be custom quoted).
3. Text links are now available on the right-hand sidebar, listed under the title “Favorite Sites.” Participation is currently limited to ten links on a first-come, first-serve basis. Price is $50 per month or $500 per year, with a minimum term of six months required.

All payments must be made through PayPal. All ads must be pre-approved, as well as the sites to which they point. Ads are not accepted for pharmaceutical products, tobacco, alcohol, pornography, or any other products and services deemed unsuitable for this family friendly site. Ads that pop-up, pop-under, fly out, or move across the face of the blog are not allowed.

For more information about the power of the Blogosphere, please refer to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2009 report or download this brief Word document titled: “Understanding the Power of the Blogosphere,” which provides facts from the exhaustive research conducted by Technorati, which has been tracking the Bloggoverse since its inception and is considered one of the preeminent sources on blogging.