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My Blogsite

Discussion in 'Websites' started by Jameyson MacDonald, May 17, 2014.

  1. #1
    I normally don't solicit opinions in forums about my sites, but I'm curious what others think. I have this Blog site I've been working on and trying to get some engagement going, but while I do tend to get quite a bit of traffic, there is very little actual engagement. So I'd like a brutally honest evaluation of my site at http://www.lcws.net. What am I not doing right here? Is it the appearance, the content or both? Or is it the fact that the domain name is only about 10 months old and my blog was just set up about a month or so ago? Thanks for the input.
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, May 17, 2014 IP
  2. sweetpea69

    sweetpea69 Active Member

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    #2
    Brutally honest.... it's a blog. There's nothing bad about it appearance or content wise. The post topics are however, a bit broad and scattered. I think you could find more engagement if you narrow down the niche a bit, and develop a community that only wants to read about one thing. We can get our "random" news elsewhere. And it'll help to push you up in rankings a bit, let google know you're an expert on one thing, not everything lol. At the end of the day, if it's just a blog, than write about whatever you want. But you may find more of a success if you narrow it down a bit. And the domain LCWS.net for a personal blog? Is that an acronym for something?
     
    sweetpea69, May 17, 2014 IP
  3. Jameyson MacDonald

    Jameyson MacDonald Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Originally I bought the domain name to use for a freelance web development site, Low Cost Website Solutions, but with my current work schedule, I no longer have time to do a lot of freelance work. I still do freelance work from time to time, but figured the site would be better used as a blogsite, since blogging is also something I enjoy doing. As for the topic range, I was sort of inspired by Seth's Blog. It is all over the place, but it has awesome visibility and interaction. In fact, simply typing the word "blog" in Google will pull his site up immediately.
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, May 17, 2014 IP
  4. Snoopy240

    Snoopy240 Well-Known Member

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    #4
    I just checked out your blog, and it looks good, loads fast, is well organized, and the content is interesting.

    Now, I do agree that you should narrow down on what Niche you want to be perceived as an expert in. But you don't have to do that if you just want to build a successful blog online.

    You can build a successful blog either way. A niche blog or a broad blog with many different topics.

    I also checked out your blog's ranking and I can tell right now that you are not getting a lot of daily traffic.

    And that is your number one problem!

    Traffic.

    If you want more engagement and more activity on your blog - simply INCREASE the Daily Traffic Flow.

    You can do it by implementing different internet marketing strategies like:
    1. SEO
    2. Guest Posting
    3. Blog Commenting
    4. Forum Marketing
    5. Content Marketing
    6. Article Marketing
    7. Social Media Marketing
    8. Attraction Marketing
    9. Video Marketing
    The best one for your case would be SEO - because your blog has many different topics, you can get A LOT of traffic from many different long-tail keywords.

    I've experienced this a lot while building many blogs on different topics.

    Those blogs that are about a specific Niche and that;s what their content is always about - the success will depend all on the Niche's Competition.

    Those blogs that are publishing content on many different topics - will build up daily traffic much much easier than a niche blog. BUT you HAVE to do it right.

    You need to learn about Search Engine Optimization and Lon-Tail Keywords if you want to get a lot of organic traffic from the search engines.

    Another factor to getting good traffic from the search engines, in any topic, is the Quality of your content. Work on blogging about things that are interesting and might help someone else in any way possible.

    If you do all of the above the right way - you can get tons of traffic by ranking up for long-tail keywords on Google.com

    It will be much easier to rank up for keywords that NO ONE is trying to rank for. Those keywords might not bring in A LOT of traffic but they do bring some traffic. If you do it a lot, your traffic will build up. Simple mathematics man!

    The more you do, the more you get. That simple.

    People could find your blog if you knew how to rank for the long tail keyword "students suspended at duncanville high school" for example.

    I'm sure when these news came out about Duncaville High School - there were people typing into Google "students suspended at duncanville high school" - to read more about that incident.

    With a well-written and very interesting article on that local news - and with a little bit of search engine optimization (on page and off page) - people can find your post very fast. And if they like it, and you encourage them to leave a comment and share your post, they will.

    Of course since that was local news - you are probably going to rank and get traffic for a short period of time. But that will be free traffic to your blog! and people who likes your blog - will follow you. All thanks to finding your post on a search engine.

    How cool is that!

    Now I also see your post page - it does not look very appealing to they eye right off the bat.

    You need to work a lot more on how your blog posts look.

    Work on your content hierarchy!

    The way you are structuring your content is boring right now.

    And someone would take a glance at it and probably move onto the next blog site.

    You only have a couple of seconds to grab someone's attention.

    You should write only one to two sentences per line.

    It's easier for the eye and that alone makes it easier to read an entire page.

    Right now you have big chunks of words in one space. Work on that.

    Also, try putting the sentences which are questions - in one line.

    Just work on making your blog posts look very clean and very easy to the reader's eye.

    One last tip I'll give you...

    Always have Call-to-Actions!

    People tend to like to be told what to do. It really is not our fault, as human beings, it is in our nature.

    If you want people to leave a comment, then tell them at the end of your post to leave a comment.

    Encourage people and tell people straight up - what you want them to do next.

    Don't be afraid to just ask and brutally tell someone to leave a comment if they enjoyed the article!

    Ask the readers questions and write something that will make them leave a comment.

    These tips should be enough for you to build a successful blog online man!

    I went a bit overboard with my tips but that is what I live for, to help others accomplish their goals in life!

    I wish you the best success online!

    Cheers! :cool:
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2014
    Snoopy240, May 17, 2014 IP
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  5. Jameyson MacDonald

    Jameyson MacDonald Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Thanks for the input, Snoopy240. It was very productive. I've decided to focus primarily on self help topics, though from time to time, I'll still add something interesting outside of that niche. I also switched my theme to one that is wider. You're right that everything seemed bunched up, so I'll start sectioning my content in paragraphs that are only 2-4 lines long. I'll also start adding more calls to action, see if I can get more interaction. Thanks again.
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, May 18, 2014 IP
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  6. Snoopy240

    Snoopy240 Well-Known Member

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    #6
    no problem Jameyson!

    I just checked out your blog again... looking better now! .. good job!

    One more tip I'll give ya ...

    If you are looking to build an email list with that blog - and I highly recommend you do - there are a couple of things to understand about conversions on the blog.

    You don't even need to spend some money in an auto-responder service like aweber.com. You can build up a FeedBurner readership for free. And that is a free service from Google.com

    Feedburner provides your with simple capture forms you can put all around your blog. And every time you publish a blog post - feedburner will send an email notification to the people who have subscribe. It's a very powerful way to keep your readership coming back for more.

    You need to build a following and readership if you want to get a lot more engagement on your posts. You will notice the same people coming back and leaving comments.

    Build what they call - an online "Tribe"

    Also I recommend you to join Blogging Communities where you can share your blog posts. This will help you gain more exposure.

    I'm actually going to publish a blog post on Blogging Communities and my list of them - tomorrow. I recommend you to pass by my blog tomorrow afternoon.

    Anyways...

    Keep up the good work Jameyson!!

    I wish you much much success!

    Cheers! ..:cool:
     
    Snoopy240, May 18, 2014 IP
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  7. dhimuazt

    dhimuazt Member

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    #7
    I liked the design, simple and easy for read. But at the post pages, the social share buttons take lots of space. You may make it seem a little bit smaller. Good luck for your blog!
     
    dhimuazt, May 20, 2014 IP
  8. w3bs

    w3bs Well-Known Member

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    #8
    Your capitalisation, however, is all over the place and makes it really hard to read your content. Some titles are correctly capitalised, others are all lower case, some are all caps and you have random capital letters appearing throughout your articles. Not only is it hard to read, but it makes it look like you're using spun content.

    You have double share buttons, too - some above the content, some below. That's just annoying.

    You have FAR too many categories! Categories are supposed to make it easier to find content, but yours make it more difficult (you're mixing categories with keywords, by the look of it). For example, should I look in "dress health" or "dress care" for information about looking after? And in "dressstyles", "dress styling tips" or "dress fashion" for information about styling?
     
    w3bs, May 20, 2014 IP
  9. Jameyson MacDonald

    Jameyson MacDonald Well-Known Member

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    #9
    What are you talking about? The first letter of every word in titles is capitalized, all others are lowercase and it is consistent throughout the site. There is one instance where a sub heading is all caps in the middle of the article Positive Activism, but this is more for emphasis; for the record, it's a pretty common practice in English to use all caps on a word you want to emphasize. "Random capital letters appearing throughout" my articles? Please provide some examples because I have no idea what you are talking about. Has anyone else even noticed what he's talking about??

    The share buttons are above the content and the share stats are below; this is from the plugin I used and I have no control over this other than finding a different plugin, but I'd bet your annoyance is far from typical, so I think I'll leave it as is..
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, May 20, 2014 IP
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  10. Snoopy240

    Snoopy240 Well-Known Member

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    #10
    the only good advice you have here was the Category Tip.

    I agree with you that the Categories are meant to make it easier for the visitor to find content.

    But everything else you said ... is just NOT GOOD man!

    How much experience do YOU have in building successful blogs online?...

    If you can't answer that question then you just don't have the right to give any blogging advice!

    Hey Jameyson, hope you are reading this... the only good tip here is about your Categories - I dont know how you are structuring your Categories but right now they look good. You want to keep everything organized and not "too" broad. In other words make it very easy for the visitor to find content without offering too many options.

    And as far as Sharing buttons, don't stress too much about it. Having 3 buttons at the top and more at the end of the post is completely FINE.

    I don't know what this guy is really talking about to be honest.

    anyways.. I just had to say something....
     
    Snoopy240, May 20, 2014 IP
  11. xtremes1993

    xtremes1993 Active Member

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    #11
    Well, you have got a nice blog there. It is well organized and nicely designed. I just read "Positive Activism" and I must say I enjoy reading. The content is pretty good. There is a nice tale to narrate and it's inspiring. You got a daily visitor here. Keep up the good work. :)
     
    xtremes1993, May 21, 2014 IP
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  12. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #12
    Click. Read title. Leave.

    Nobody - and I mean nobody - reads a blog about everything, unless they're your mother or you're a celebrity. There really isn't anything more to say.

    Choose a subject and blog about it. Nobody cares what you think unless they came to your blog because of the subject.

    That's about as brutal as I can get, really. :)
     
    TIEro, May 21, 2014 IP
  13. Jameyson MacDonald

    Jameyson MacDonald Well-Known Member

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    #13
    You're wrong. Check out http://sethgodin.typepad.com/. This is the number one blog online right now; Seth gets more visitors than any other blog currently online and if you look at his posts, he is pretty much everywhere; much more so than I am.

    As for your assertion that "nobody cares what I think", that's funny because that is exactly what blogging is: someone's perspective and thoughts about a particular topic... :D
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, May 21, 2014 IP
  14. Jameyson MacDonald

    Jameyson MacDonald Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Thanks for the comment. I don't mind being critiqued, if the criticism is justified, but come on, don't be an ass just to be one. And make sure you know what you're talking about before giving advice... Lol anyway, your feedback is much appreciated. I did look at your blog; it's nicely put together. Best of luck with that!
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, May 21, 2014 IP
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  15. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #15
    And he's famous, which was my point.

    Figure of speech.

    If you want to be literal, there will always be "the lucky one" who gets millions of visitors because people want to know what that particular otherwise-totally-unknown figure is thinking (which then makes them famous and they go into the same category as Godin). But they're one in a million.

    The web is absolutely stuffed to overflowing with personal blogs that nobody gives two hoots about (or one, for that matter). The days of the untargeted personal blog really are all but over, unless you count generating a small community as sufficient for your goals.
     
    TIEro, May 21, 2014 IP
  16. Snoopy240

    Snoopy240 Well-Known Member

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    #16
    HOW do you know that?

    Show the FACTS and STUDIES!

    I've been building blogs and blogging since late 2010.

    Today I teach Blogging, SEO, and Internet marketing full time.

    I'm a Blogging and SEO geek lol ..

    I know my stuff and I back it all up with my knowledge and my work. Go see what Im about on my blogs if you want to see for yourself.

    I have never heard a blogging tip like that man.

    Yeah you should build a niche blog if you want to sell specific products online. But a BLOG is a BLOG.

    And Niche Blogs came A LOT LATER to the Internet. At the beginning a Blog was just a website that published content on ANY topic very frequently.

    LEARN all about Blogging and the HISTORY of it man!.. then come and give advice.

    And your advice is BASED on WHAT?...

    Come on! .. I dare you to answer to these question.

    If you don't then your silence tells us more than anything.

    I just hate seeing people giving BAD advice. I've been looking around this Forum a lot more lately and I see bad tips a lot. Not everywhere of course because there are some GREAT people giving very VALUABLE advice here. But bad advice just needs to stop. If you don't know FOR SURE - FOR SURE 100% that you could give good advice then just don't.

    Like I would not give any advice on Paid Advertising to anyone - simply because Im still learning that skill and even though Im learning it and I know a bit already - Im just not ready to give good advice. The advice people need and advice that will not waste anyone's time online.

    .. I just had to vent on this a bit. Seen too much bad advice in one day.
     
    Snoopy240, May 21, 2014 IP
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  17. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #17
    And mechanised industry came a lot later than people cutting down trees with flint axes. Progress.

    Blogging since the '90s.

    OK, put it this way: I know literally hundreds of bloggers and have probably known thousands over the past 15 years or so. Of those who have personal blogs on any subject, there are precisely none who have huge readership. Not a single one.

    All those who have a single main topic (and I'm not saying niche blogging, I mean a single main topic, with occasional side-journeys into other things) have much wider, more regular readership.

    Therefore, based on my own experience and the fact that it's really easy to name fifty blogs on certain subjects and maybe two or three personal, "anything" blogs, I gave my opinion.

    Two things: (1) Don't assume advice is bad just because you don't agree and (2) this wasn't advice at all: it was opinion, as requested by the OP.

    If he wants to blog on anything at all, that's fine and dandy... and I will honestly be astounded (and extremely pleased for him) if more than a small community knows his name in the next ten years purely based on a random personal blog.
     
    TIEro, May 21, 2014 IP
  18. Jameyson MacDonald

    Jameyson MacDonald Well-Known Member

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    #18
    Okay, let me put things into perspective for you. I blog because I like blogging and I happen to be a decent writer. I don't blog because I'm trying to be another Seth Godin, though he is an inspiration of mine, or want to be famous, or even want millions of readers. While some engagement would be nice, that isn't all that important to me either because my real reason for blogging is personal; I enjoy it. What?? Someone who actually runs a website because he likes adding content to it? Go figure, right? lol

    I don't need approval from others or affirmations that I am a great blogger; I don't need to design my blog posts to satisfy the opinions of others, and I sure as hell don't care that you feel I have way too many categories. I write about a lot of different things and if I want a category that adequately defines the content of my posts, that is, after all, my business.

    I appreciate you taking the time to look over my site and offer what you feel was constructive criticism, but I really think it's time for you to move on to other things. I am not receptive to what you are saying...
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, May 21, 2014 IP
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  19. Snoopy240

    Snoopy240 Well-Known Member

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    #19

    So much writing - so little REAL meaning.

    Share your Blogs Links.

    Walk to walk - don't just talk to talk.

    Show proof that you have built blogs and since you have been since the "90s" - you must have built many blogs online.

    No proof -> got no right talk. Period.
     
    Snoopy240, May 21, 2014 IP
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  20. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #20
    I'm all for blogging for the heck of it (or doing *anything* for the heck of it) and if it makes you happy, then that's really all that matters. But you asked for reasons why there was little engagement, I gave an opinion, nothing more. Throw it aside, ignore it, use it to paper the bottom of a bird cage, whatever suits you. :)

    Not even going to bother responding to such obvious trolling and ranting. Normally, I respect your opinion and enjoy your posts, especially when you talk about content writing and the like, but you're obviously in a bad mood today.
     
    TIEro, May 21, 2014 IP
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