Here it is: http://ittakesallkinds.blogspot.com/ I write about movie people (mostly) for a living and the blog contains blurbs about the pieces (needs updating; scroll down the blog to see more narratives), with links to the stories themselves. I've kind of slapped it together and it shows. The stories are hosted elsewhere and some of the pages are in terrible shape, with bad text breaks and weird typos and nonsensical link titles, etc. I'd like to put things on a more professional footing and see if I can figure out a way to draw more readers. As to the blog itself, though: what might I do to improve it generally? I'm talking about the template and how I have it set up. I know I need to do more blogging and I'm trying to think of how to do it within the context of what's more or less been a static page. One thing that might help me get more eyes is to up the number of audio files of celebs talking. I only have one on now, of me blabbing with Jack Nicholson. I kind of like it and would like to do more that are similar. What do you all think? And then ... what can I do to promote the sucker once I've either scrapped it, fixed it, or started over? Any ideas spring to mind immediately? At some point, I think I might link to a page of stuff that i think all writers ought to buy. But first things first, I gotta whip this puppy into shape. Thanks!
I'd start off fresh with a self-hosted WordPress blog. From a content perspective, it looks like you have access to celebrities, which could lead to some very interesting articles...
Ya, you have a great niche and a good ability to pull users, the layout is bad. Definitely go with a self hosted Wordpress install and a domain of your own. Pay $50 and get a custom coded site.
I'm going to agree with the above 2 comments. Wordpress will, in the long run, give you a lot more options to reach your target readers. In the short run it is far more customizable (and pretty easy to pickup.)
Yeow, okay, start over. It was a huge pain even to get my Blogger mess together, so as you might imagine the idea of switching to WP fills me with dread. (And it doesn't help that ittakesallkinds.com is taken, albiet for sale.) I certainly wouldn't mind paying $50 or whatever for a custom-coded site (what that is I'm not sure, though); but would that make transitioning over any easier than going with a freebie? And, if so, where might I go to look into that kind of site? Basically, I'm hoping for something clear and uncluttered, maybe along the lines of Malcolm Gladwell's blog (gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/). More thoughts? And thanks much for your ideas so far!
You high, while his books are great (IMO) his blog is bland. Learn about Wordpress a little before you toss $50 in the wind for a custom site, everyone will take your $50 but your end results will vary from ugly to perfect. Google for free word press themes as a start and work off of something that you like. Maybe join a blogging forum and see what layouts work for other bloggers. Once you find a layout (where the post goes, where the ads go) you can start looking at colors and headers. If you pay for a design you might want to think about pricing it without all sorts of links in the footer (most of the free designs are full of them). BTW, welcome to DP.