Joe52
11-03-2007, 01:17 AM
I am new to blogging (1 week) just joined and do understand the importance of critiqueing. If there are positives and negatives about the blog (design, monetization, posts, etc) I would like to hear the negatives first (learn from the past so the same mistake is not repeated).
Blog: Consumer Guide (http://iconoclastblog.blogspot.com)
Worries/Main Concerns
Subscribers and visits - They are are nonexistent. I burnt a feed with feedburner and the stats on subscribers and visits are depressing.
Posts - They relate to subscriber and visit stats. What can I do to improve posts, regarding content, style, post size, layout, and anything else that you may think of. I'm from a tech writing background and need to relearn how to write.
Niche - Did I select a niche that is too narrow, reflected by subscriber and visit stats, if so any suggestions on how and what to broaden it without having to start over again.
Other Concerns
Popular Tags - I would like to tag for each of the popular services (such as technorati, del.icio.us, etc) if possible and want to avoid a list of tags longer than the posts. Live Writer shows the following html code for each popular tag service. How can I combine the code or have a single tag list for all popular services, instead of having technorati tags, del.icio.us tags, icerocket tags, etc.
technorati <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/{tag-encoded}/" rel="tag">{tag}</a>
del.icio.us <a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/{tag-encoded}" rel="tag">{tag}</a>
icerocket <a href="http://blogs.icerocket.com/search?q={tag-encoded}" rel="tag">{tag}</a>
Ads - Being new to blogging, I also worry if the number of ads and placement makes my blog look like another store or affiliate site. I want to minimize any negative effect in attracting and keeping readers returning; and at the same time I need to not reduce or lose income. Are there other monetization that I can combine and use?
Goals: I want to share my opinions, attract readership, make money, and get an authority ranking.
Design Goals: Being new, the first four goals are in progress and would like your imput on what I should prioritize also:
have a feed that attracts and keeps subscribers,
a design to attract and keep readers whether or not they have subscribed to the feed,
a design that invites readers to keep returning to the blog, only use the feed to know when a post has been published,
the blog has been monetized, ads selected, etc to make money, and
gradually implement changes to give a simple and professional impression
Audience: The audience is anyone that had or anticipates a consumer problem. The audience would want to know what to look out for, avoid, and what's needed to prevent these types of problems.
Other:
Being new, the past 2 months were overwhelming and gave me what is known as writer's blindness. If there's a mistake I wouldn't see it because of the time I spent, and this is why I am needing the blog critiqued by fresh eyes.
I spent about a month researching niches,
then two weeks reading 9 publications on blogs (general, marketing, monetizing),
a week to set up the blog and ancilliary accounts, and
then another 1-1/2 weeks on troubleshooting bugs and problems while posting.
Now, after getting the blog in operation and the first set of posts out, I know that I need help in going back over everything and prioritize changes into the following categories:
needs to be added or changed now,
things to add or change that can wait until priority 1 is completed, and
things to add or change that can wait until priority 2 is completed.
I know that the posts need to be critiqued over SEO and physical appearance. Keep in mind that this blog is about consumer issues, and the subject matter is caustic (you buy something, it breaks and you take it back to the store. 2 clerks, supervisor and manager say tough luck. you call the headquarters and get the same story. What do you do?)
Blog: Consumer Guide (http://iconoclastblog.blogspot.com)
Worries/Main Concerns
Subscribers and visits - They are are nonexistent. I burnt a feed with feedburner and the stats on subscribers and visits are depressing.
Posts - They relate to subscriber and visit stats. What can I do to improve posts, regarding content, style, post size, layout, and anything else that you may think of. I'm from a tech writing background and need to relearn how to write.
Niche - Did I select a niche that is too narrow, reflected by subscriber and visit stats, if so any suggestions on how and what to broaden it without having to start over again.
Other Concerns
Popular Tags - I would like to tag for each of the popular services (such as technorati, del.icio.us, etc) if possible and want to avoid a list of tags longer than the posts. Live Writer shows the following html code for each popular tag service. How can I combine the code or have a single tag list for all popular services, instead of having technorati tags, del.icio.us tags, icerocket tags, etc.
technorati <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/{tag-encoded}/" rel="tag">{tag}</a>
del.icio.us <a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/{tag-encoded}" rel="tag">{tag}</a>
icerocket <a href="http://blogs.icerocket.com/search?q={tag-encoded}" rel="tag">{tag}</a>
Ads - Being new to blogging, I also worry if the number of ads and placement makes my blog look like another store or affiliate site. I want to minimize any negative effect in attracting and keeping readers returning; and at the same time I need to not reduce or lose income. Are there other monetization that I can combine and use?
Goals: I want to share my opinions, attract readership, make money, and get an authority ranking.
Design Goals: Being new, the first four goals are in progress and would like your imput on what I should prioritize also:
have a feed that attracts and keeps subscribers,
a design to attract and keep readers whether or not they have subscribed to the feed,
a design that invites readers to keep returning to the blog, only use the feed to know when a post has been published,
the blog has been monetized, ads selected, etc to make money, and
gradually implement changes to give a simple and professional impression
Audience: The audience is anyone that had or anticipates a consumer problem. The audience would want to know what to look out for, avoid, and what's needed to prevent these types of problems.
Other:
Being new, the past 2 months were overwhelming and gave me what is known as writer's blindness. If there's a mistake I wouldn't see it because of the time I spent, and this is why I am needing the blog critiqued by fresh eyes.
I spent about a month researching niches,
then two weeks reading 9 publications on blogs (general, marketing, monetizing),
a week to set up the blog and ancilliary accounts, and
then another 1-1/2 weeks on troubleshooting bugs and problems while posting.
Now, after getting the blog in operation and the first set of posts out, I know that I need help in going back over everything and prioritize changes into the following categories:
needs to be added or changed now,
things to add or change that can wait until priority 1 is completed, and
things to add or change that can wait until priority 2 is completed.
I know that the posts need to be critiqued over SEO and physical appearance. Keep in mind that this blog is about consumer issues, and the subject matter is caustic (you buy something, it breaks and you take it back to the store. 2 clerks, supervisor and manager say tough luck. you call the headquarters and get the same story. What do you do?)