Wow, below 60K is fantastic. Thanks for your input on "consistency" and "transparency" -- I'm trying to incorporate more of these 2 things myself. Getting into the 50's should be my new goal! I'm at 93K right now, and trying to bump lower ....

I'm sure you can get to the 50s too! You've got some great stuff on your site. I was actually searching for information on Chris Rock's personal finance habits and saw your fabulous article! Keep it up!

LifeAndMyFinances said:

I never thought about switching back. I think the excerpt set up gives my readers more options. One title may not spark their interest, but the other 2 or 3 that they see above the fold might. If I had one huge article, I think there's more of a chance that they just leave (that's what I do with GRS anyway).

Good point.  I find i'm not clicking through to your site as often - but that's me an excerpts.  And i've already seen the other article titles so those aren't getting action either.

No worries - I was just curious :)

I find that full feeds and partial on the site seems to work well. That way, those who land on my home page have a few different articles to peak their interest.

I never thought about switching back. I think the excerpt set up gives my readers more options. One title may not spark their interest, but the other 2 or 3 that they see above the fold might. If I had one huge article, I think there's more of a chance that they just leave (that's what I do with GRS anyway).

Good point.  I find i'm not clicking through to your site as often - but that's me an excerpts.  And i've already seen the other article titles so those aren't getting action either.

No worries - I was just curious :)

It takes a bit to hook me as a reader and 200 characters/words doesn't do it for me. 

Any chance you'll switch back?

(for the record, your site is one of only two that do excerpts I still subscribe too - i'm a fan!)

All while moving and renovating.

Some of you were asking what I thought was the driving force to achieving a sub-60k rank:

1) Transparency - I constantly write about what's going on in my life (like how we recently lost an income) and am quite open about my online income (I have monthly earnings reports). I think people love to read real stories and get advice from someone that actually lived out their struggles.

2) Consistency - Since August 2010, I have consistently written 3-4 new posts every week. They were always well-thought out and proof-read thoroughly. My readers know when a new post is coming, and it keeps them coming back.

*as a side-note, I did recently hold a huge promotion which attracted quite a few new eye-balls to my site, but it's the above points that have kept them around, even though they didn't win a prize.

That's a great accomplishment.