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Where am I going wrong
Posted by pauljriley • 9/14/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: beginner, blog, Help, promotion, suggestions
I have recently started my own blog and have tried promoting it in the normal ways, search engines, directories, forums, etc. but the interest seems only very slight, so where am I going wrong.
The blog is at blog.paulriley.me.uk
any constructive comments gratefully received.
Paul
User Comments
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Your blog looks fine (nice layout and presentation of blog entries) but I think you are expecting a bit much too soon. It takes a while for traffic and interest to build. Commenting on other blogs who have subjects that interest you helps build a network and building up your blogroll with reciprocal links.
I get a lot of visits from google search via keywords and that also takes a while.
I tend to not like long written blog entries and that might be something that puts other people off (that is subjective of course).
Also defining what your blog is about kick back and relax AND (this is where you add something).
just my humble opinion though
all the best with it-
Thank you very much for your comments, I guess that it's impatients on my part, I will investigate the items you have brought up, speed, length of articles and see if there is something I can do to resolve these. I suppose that at the end of the day we all need feedback to ensure that the effort being expelled will provide a blog that people will want to read.
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Your blog appears to be aimed at your personal life - which is good - but remember - EVERYONE has a personal life.
You need to find those things which connect YOU to THEM...
In other words - why should they look at your blog?
What makes them want to see your blog?
For example - Amybyrd - here on BC - just went to Disneyland also - so you might want to stop by her blog and see if she wrote ANYTHING about her experiences - and then maybe share your experiences with her...
And you might want to look up other people who may have gone to Disney and comment on their blogs.
A lot of readership is based on social networking... You sticking your nose into THEIR blogs first - and then finding a COMMONALITY - and then - sharing your blog with them - via your name as you post...
Don't leave your link everywhere - because people tend to ignore that - but DO go back and make several comments.
Your blog is a bit slower to load for me - but I do like the way the PICTURES are framed up - thats really clever looking.
Continue writing - and as your topics get listed in Google or other search engines - eventually folks will start coming by.
Also - GET a BLOGROLL - share your blog with others that you enjoy reading.
Its a give and take thing in the personal blogging realm.-
Thank you for your comments, one area that I have started to look into is cross pollination with other like minded blogs. Something I will also investigate is the performance issues, probably a result of the length of the articles.
Thanks again.
Paul -
Paul,
the speed of your site loading is unlikely to be due to text, it is usually related to images or some coding error !
Text in itself is not very resource hungry, where as pics,music & video certainly are.
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your blog seems to be pretty new and you seem to be doing pretty well. Just continue what you are doing. You will not be an overnight success.-
Thank you for your encouragement, I guess at the beginning we all need support of those that have gone before, atleast until we have our own group of followers who can let us know how we are doing.
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I agree with the above points. Stick with it; it takes time.
Looking at your blog, you have 40+ followers so that's not too shabby at all.
One suggestion is to add a place for comments. If it's there, my apologies as I could not find it.
Also, personal stories can be great but it helps to have some kind of theme, message or unique "voice" in your writing.
And humor always helps.
All the best to you!-
Thank you for taking the time to visit my site and comment on it, a number of the articles are in the form that they fell out of my head in, and I plan to polish them up a bit once it's all out, hopefully then I will develop my own distinctive writing style.
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Liked your blog very much. Even if it is a personal blog, you have put some interesting stuff. People can get curious what will come next. You can try putting your blog more out there. Tell your friends and send links. Put it in your signature in forums.
Also take advantage of Webmaster Tools at www.webtoolhub.com/. Keep track of your keyword density and quality backlinks. Good Luck!-
Thank you for you comments and encouraging words, at the moment the content is hitting the screen as it falls from my mind, and I know there are a lot more items of interest in there.
I have had a look at the webmaster tools you pointed at and will try them out. I am already using the tools at
www.iwebtool.com/
www.goingup.com/
www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
en.pageboss.com/
www.sitemapping.net/index.asp
not sure if any of these are of use to you.
Thanks again
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Thank you for your comment, I will work my way through the article and see how things change.
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Beautiful layout! All the good advices has been given above but good luck anyway.
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With the photos - you could lower the amount of posts to maybe 4 --- with links to OLDER posts at the bottom.
Just a thought. -
Paul hands down to your layout. Your blog is visually appealing. But like what wagerwitch said, everyone has person life so there are cases that you can hit a chord , there are times you will m,iss. But don't stop. Continue writing and I am sure you will gain followers. -
I think you have to step back and look at what type of blog you are promoting.
1) E.G. = Your Opinion Matters
For instance, you have adsense on your blog and talk about your vacation. Now, if you are thinking your friends and family are coming to read how you spent your summer vacation and clicking on your ads, you are deeply mistaken.
However, if I was planning a vacation to Disneyland in November and I was going to do research on the 'net .. I'd probably search google with keyword phrases like ...
"best hotels in disneyland"
"places to see in california"
"best rides at disneyland"
"cheapest airfare to disneyland"
and so on.
Then, I would expect to read your personal experiences and possible recommendation - or, anti-recommendation - of what to do, where to go, how much things costs, did you have fun, etc etc.
Blogging is also about linking out to others, besides the reviews and your opinion of a topic. It's hard to remember - but, you can perceive yourself as an expert even on personal blogs, such as an expert vacation traveler. Just keep that in mind as you write, (like wagerwitch implied above) try to connect the dots - from you - to the reader.
2) E.G. You The Expert
Another thing which is something you obviously thought about is your blog domain is your own name. you want to be able to project yourself as an expert in something that when people see or hear "Paul Riley" .. they say .. "Oh, yeah that guy in UK" ... and then find your site without you telling them the URL.
You have a disclaimer about your views not representing that of your employers, so I figure you still have a job and are not self-employed. Whatever your job is at work - I would stay away from all content or stories about it, and look for stuff that you like to do - say as a hobby - that you are good at.
Are you good at carpentry? > tips and wood projects
Are you good at cleaning your basement? > tips about organization and de-cluttering
Are you good at music? > tips on how to play
Are you a couch potato? > recommendation tv shows, movies, etc
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