As some of you have noticed already, there have been some big changes with Pbushx2′s Weblog. In mid-August, apparently some changes to Google’s ranking algorithm resulted in my wordpress blog losing a lot of visitors on a daily basis. This probably didn’t affect the people that have subscribed to my RSS feed or email update list, as you continued to receive new posts in your inbox. However, for those that used Google to find my phone reviews and TracFone promo code updates, it became much more difficult.

Then around the beginning of September, I was notified that wordpress.com had suspended my old blog. This was done because the blog was too “commercial” in nature as it focused on three brands of cell phone companies. Though I have no way of knowing this, I suspect that the change in Google rankings and subsequent drop in visitors to the blog may have played a part in wordpress.com’s decision to suspend my blog.

Either way, I don’t fault them for it as I should have been more careful about selecting my blogging platform. And the result of all this change is that I am at a crossroads with my blog. I can choose to fold up and quit doing what I’ve done for the past 4 years, or start from scratch in a sense, and continue publishing on a new site of my own.

The good news is that WordPress has allowed me to download a complete backup of my old blog, including all the posts (over 300) and pages (over 50) I wrote, as well as all the comments (in the thousands). I have been able to import that entire set of data to pbush14.com, where I will maintain indefinitely for reference.

Going forward, though, my new posts will be published on PrepaidPhoneGuy.com. I started that site over a year ago with the intention of moving all of my content there, but things were going along so well at wordpress.com that I just kept going with that. Now, however, I’m excited for the fresh start I’ll get at PrepaidPhoneGuy.com (and rest assured, I’ll be spending some time to improve the design and formatting of the site!).

I’m far from an expert in trying to understand what Google is looking for when it comes to designing a website and publishing content, but my hope is that by establishing a brand new site and basically starting over, I’ll get a do-over with Google and therefore be able to reach a large audience and continue to help a lot of people with their Tracfone, Net10, and Straight Talk questions.

Further, I want to make it easier to subscribe to my posts, so that people can have the posts delivered automatically rather than needing to go out and find them. I plan to do this by encouraging people to sign up for my email list and YouTube channel. I will also be adding a Facebook page where you can “like” my blog to be notified of new content, as well as a Twitter account for people that prefer to follow me that way.

And if you’re already subscribed to my email updates, you shouldn’t need to do anything. I will change the email list software so that the delivery of posts from PrepaidPhoneGuy.com will resume where the wordpress.com updates left off. However, if you subscribe in this way, you may want to update your email filters and watch your junk mail folder, just in case the change affects the way your email program filters my updates.

Finally, if you’re reading this now it probably means you’ve been following me for a long time, and I want to sincerely thank you for that. While I definitely enjoy working with all these new phones as a sort of hobby, I frankly wouldn’t do it if there weren’t so many of you supporting me and appreciating what I do.

If you have any tips, suggestions, or questions about the future of my prepaid phone blog, please let me know about it by contacting me directly using this form.

Thank you, and I look forward to continuing to share prepaid phone news with you, and also participate in the helpful discussion that has developed around my reviews.

Sincerely,

pbushx2, aka PrepaidPhoneGuy