Why do blogs have a higher failure rate than restaurants?
June 9th, 2009 by John Dilbeck
I just read an interesting story in the New York Times…
Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest
This is another article that shows how easy it is to start a blog, but how hard it is to continue it over time. Things change. We lose interest. We become too busy with other things.
In many cases, we become disillusioned by the lack of success we had originally imagined.
Although the same can be true for a traditional website, the difference lies in the amount of traffic that continues when we are busy doing something else.
I have static websites that continue to bring in thousands of readers every month, even when I do nothing to them for extended periods.
The same just is not true for my blogs.
If I go any length of time without posting something new to a blog, regular readers notice and new readers may perceive it as just another abandoned blog.
I know I feel that way when I visit a blog that hasn’t been updated recently. Do you?
But, and I think this is important, I just don’t feel that way when I go to a traditional website. While on one of them, I’m looking for information, not necessarily the latest thing written.
As you know, I’ve been debating the issue of blogging or building traditional multi-tier websites for some time…
Site Build It! or WordPress? Which is Best? Why?
I think both have promise and I can argue both in favor and against both of them.
It is much more difficult to design and build a multi-tier website that presents information in a way that is easy to navigate and update. I know, because I’ve been spending much of my time every day for the last few weeks designing a new website.
On the other hand, I can throw up a blog in a couple of hours. All I need is an inspiration, a topic, and a little free time. I know this, because I’ve started several dozen blogs, but now I’m maintaining only three of them on a semi-regular basis, and updating a few others sporadically.
When looking at the traffic stats for all my sites, I see a definite correlation between frequency of posting on a blog that just does not exist on my traditional websites. Just as in academia, with blogs you have to think publish or perish.
Easy to start - easy to abandon
The longer I do all of this, the more I realize that blogs are easy to start. There’s very little barrier to entry. Start one free on Blogger in ten minutes. Host one on your own domain using WordPress in a couple of hours (plus whatever time it takes the domain to propagate, if it’s newly registered). Cost, little to nothing.
On the other hand, when I start a new website, it’s not so easy to start. There’s planning time that nobody but me sees. I may spend months working on the design, researching keywords, researching the competition, deciding on how much information is needed to make the site viable, and designing a three- or four-tier site structure. All of this is done before I do anything else.
I may register the domain in advance, just to make sure it will be available when I want it, or I may decide upon the domain name after I know what’s going to be on the site.
How much does it cost to host one of these websites?
If I go with traditional hosting on a Linux server, my cost is nothing. I’m already paying that cost for my other sites and have both the bandwidth and storage available to host several more domains.
If I go with Site Build It!, the up-front cost will be $300 and that pays for the first year of hosting. More and more, I’m finding that I’m not interested in building a site that isn’t powered by SBI, but I’m going to leave that for another discussion.
Getting back to the main point…
With the new site I’ll be introducing in a few more weeks, I’ve already put months into getting ready for it. I paid $10 to reserve the domain name, and I’ll be paying another $300 to host it. That’s a pretty large barrier to entry from my point of view.
It’s also one thing that will keep me motivated to continue developing the site. After all that time, work, and money, I’m not going to stop working on it until it is profitable and I’m getting income on a regular basis from it.
With a new blog, I find that I’m more of the opinion of easy come, easy go. When I abandon a blog, it’s no great loss.
But, there really is a loss. I’ll lose the time I put into building it, and in the long run that’s more valuable than any money I may have invested or not. I can recover money or earn more. I can never get back the time I lost.
When I first started debating this with myself, I was clearly in favor of blogging with WordPress over building a multi-tier website. I just seemed to make more sense.
Now, however, as I spend more time doing both and look back on the results of what I’ve gotten from each, I’m leaning much farther away from blogging and towards a content-rich, structured website.
I almost hate to admit it, because I disagreed with him when he originally wrote it, but I am more and more coming to agree with Ken Evoy and what he wrote about this subject: Blog or Build?
Finally, I’m going to disagree with some of my good friends, including Mitch Mitchell and Aussie Sire. I respect their opinions and truly enjoy interacting with them on our blogs.
What do I disagree with?
I’m finding that the number of comments or the length of the discussion on a blog post has almost no correlation with income.
Yet, it takes time to monitor the comments and respond to them, so there is a cost involved without a commensurate income to offset the effort.
That doesn’t mean that I’ll discontinue comments or discussions here. I won’t. But, I’m realizing that I’m doing it more for the enjoyment, debate, and socializing, rather than for generating income.
I earn far more from my traditional sites, and after their original design and building, I spend much less time maintaining them.
The choice is becoming more clear all the time.
I’m not trying to change your mind, I’m just passing along what I’m learning on this topic.
What do you think?
Act on your dream!
JD
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 9:04 am and is filed under Blogging, Marketing, Sitesell and Site Build It, Success and Failure, Websites, WordPress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 9th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Man, you beat me to a post I was getting ready to write, but I’m going to write it anyway because my take will sound different, even if we’re talking about the same thing.
As for disagreeing with me and Sire, well, let’s make sure we’re disagreeing on the same thing. I don’t believe more comments are what makes you money. I do believe that what makes money is more traffic, and getting lots and lots of comments is an indicator of the kind of traffic one can get. It’s a numbers game; always has been, unless you’re selling million dollar homes, in which case you only have to sell a couple to have a great year.
For instance, my blog gets enough traffic, but the topic isn’t the one to bring in any money. Yet my medical billing site brings in money, and I’ve noticed that on days when traffic is high, I make more money, and on days when it’s low, I make little money. No comments, since it’s not a blog, but the direct correlation between visitors and income is undeniable.
Course, I’m not sure how Sire would address this one, but I’m betting he’d agree to a degree (hey, I’m rhyming), and I’m betting with my clarification that you’d agree also.
Mitch´s last blog post..Don’t Forget Safe Mode
June 9th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Good morning, Mitch.
I had to stop and think for a bit before replying to your comment. In fact, I got up and went for a walk outside while thinking about it.
You have identified an assumption I’ve made for which I have no proof.
I have been assuming that the posts with the most comments and longest discussions were the ones that also had the most readers - the majority of whom did not participate in the discussion.
It seems, however, after reflection, that I don’t have facts to back up that opinion and I’ll have to research it. It very well may be that some of my other posts are getting more readers than the ones that attract more comments.
So, my original thought that more comments = more readers may not be valid.
But something else lies behind what I wrote.
We’ve assumed that the more we comment on each other’s blogs, the more traffic we bring back to our own blog. I’m not sure if that’s valid or not.
The more comments we get on our blog, the more each of us comments on our friends’ blogs, but how much does that translate into other people following those links and our CommentLuv links to our latest blog posts?
I’m not sure, and it surprises me that I haven’t looked into my own stats to see if I can determine any trends. I’m going to have to look into that when I get some free time.
So, my assumption was that longer discussions = more traffic may not be a valid conclusion and that leaves me wondering if I agree with you or not.
(It also leaves me thinking that posts which attract lots of comments may not be posts that are designed to sell something.)
You also bring up an excellent point about a site that makes money versus one that doesn’t.
I have some sites that are designed specifically to bring in affiliate commissions, and they continue to do that, month in and month out. Some months more than others, but they are steadily profitable.
I have other sites that don’t really attract people who are wanting to buy something or find a solution to a problem. Regardless of the numbers of visitors, they rarely make any money at all.
So, when we’re talking about the number of visitors, we also have to think about what their intent is when they visit our site.
Are we designing a page with the specific intention to deliver information that is relevant to someone who finds the page in the search engine when searching for a phrase that indicates an intent to purchase?
I have pages I wrote specifically for that reason. I find that when someone goes to that page, they are much more likely to purchase than from other similar pages that are found for different search phrases.
In other words, those pages that attract someone ready to purchase right now almost always earn more than similar pages that don’t attract ready-to-buy readers, even if the former is read by far fewer people than the latter.
In this specific case, higher traffic does not necessarily equal higher income.
To be precise - more visitors to a page that converts well does equate to higher income.
More visitors to a site, overall, does not necessarily equate to higher income.
I have some days when a site gets relatively few visitors, but produces more money than when it is visited by several times as many people.
So, I don’t think that the success of a site is purely a numbers game.
I think there is more art involved.
When we design a page that attracts just the right people, just at the right stage of their purchase decision, that page is going to be profitable. The more reliable it is in attracting that particular targeted group of people, the better. So, the more tightly targeted people it attracts, the more money it makes and I think we’d all agree on that.
But, if that same page attracts lots of other people for whatever reason, it may or may not make more money.
Perhaps it also attracts people who are at an earlier stage in their buying decision. Maybe they’re just looking for information about whatever we wrote about, or an opinion.
Maybe it also attracts people who are later in their buying decision. Maybe they already purchased and are looking for something to support their decision and/or lessen buyer’s remorse after spending their hard-earned money.
In both of these cases, their visits will not generate any income, no matter how popular the page is and how many people visit it.
Or, perhaps I have a page that isn’t really designed to be monetized at all. I have one site that has several pages with quotes from famous people and those pages are visited thousands of times every month, yet I see no evidence that they earn any income. I put Adsense ads on the pages, but they produce very few clicks for the number of visitors, because those people reading that page find it while looking for information and they do not have the specific intent to purchase a particular something.
I also link to books on Amazon written by, or about, the person who originally made the quotes and for topics related to the page. Almost no books are ever sold through those links and I’ll be removing them in my next update cycle.
I’ll also removed the Adsense ads and be content that the pages will be purely informational.
I could get hundreds of thousands of visitors per year to those quotation pages and would not earn a fraction of what I would from a few hundred who visit the pages that sell well. (Hey! I’m rhyming, too.)
So, that’s why I don’t agree that generating income from a website is a numbers game. We have to differentiate between tightly targeted traffic on a page that converts well when someone finds us for a phrase that indicates an intent to purchase, from a page that gets high numbers of visitors not looking to buy something.
Now, I don’t really know if I’m agreeing with you and Sire or not. (Or whether I’m even agreeing with myself at this point!)
Maybe I’m over-thinking it right now. I’m going to have to let these thoughts percolate a bit and fuel them with more coffee.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 9th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Actually John, it’s still a numbers game. You said you made money; but you’d make more money if you had more visitors, targeted visitors, who decided to buy your product, or whatever it is you’re marketing. I don’t just want one buyer; I want hundreds. And to get hundreds of buyers, you need probably tens of thousands of visitors. No, it doesn’t always equate that directly, but I bet it does 95% of the time. Otherwise, what would be the point in paying for advertising?
Yep, those assumptions will get you. I look at it like this. John Chow and Problogger get probably hundreds of comments on each post. Yet, the overwhelming majority of people stop in, read, then leave without commenting. Why? If you ask me it’s because the comment feels wasted when, one, no one comments back to you ever, and two, you know that the links you get from their blogs are nofollow.
I do believe, however, that you’ve missed the part about commenting on some blogs, that being those with the CommentLuv attribute added to it. For instance, many of the people I find I find because I see a topic on a blog I’m visiting that looks interesting. If that blog has many comments and there’s lots to see, I’m a happy guy. But I figure some of those people whose blogs I’m visiting are happy because they’ve gotten a visitor just by leaving a comment elsewhere. And every once in awhile, they’ll make some money, either through one of their products, a newsletter, or someone will click on their Adsense, or whatever else.
Still, it does come back to numbers in my mind. I know that, on my medical billing site, based on traffic, that if I were driving 100,000 visitors to that site monthly, I’d be making enough money to not have to do anything else.
Mitch´s last blog post..I’m In The Local Newspaper
June 9th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Good afternoon, Mitch.
OK. I think we have different perceptions about it being a numbers game.
The more targeted visitors, the more income.
I agree with that.
The more visitors, the more income.
I don’t agree with that.
So, at least in one respect, I agree that it is a numbers game, but not in the sense that I think most people use the term.
If a hundred million people came to my site looking for product A, which I’d mentioned somewhere, but I don’t make any money if someone buys it (I’m not an affiliate, it’s not my product, I don’t get paid for advertising it, etc.), then it doesn’t matter how many come and look around. 100,000,000 visitors x 0 commission/revenue = $0.
So, that was my perception when I wrote what I did.
If I have a page that converts 1% (or whatever) of the visitors and that is profitable, then it makes sense to promote it as heavily as possible as long as the merchant can handle the extra customers.
That, I agree with 100%.
No, I don’t think I missed what you’re saying about CommentLuv and dofollow blogs. I think they’re both valuable and they may be helpful. That’s why they’re both a part of this blog.
I just don’t know if it leads to more income.
More visitors, yes. Definitely.
More income? The jury’s still out.
I do enjoy the discussions that develop, but I’m primarily in this to earn a living.
The socializing is important and enjoyable, but secondary to generating revenue.
Thanks for joining in a discussion on a day when I think I’m being particularly nit-picky. I think I could split a frog hair three ways, today.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 10th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Ok, I’m not weighing in on the argument, but I would like to state a few things. Firstly I don’t believe that I ever said that more comments would bring in more income. If anyone can find a post of mine that states that fact then it was written under duress or a drunken stupor.
Having said that I do believe that comments bring life to a blog, and one with lots of comments seems to be seeming with life where one without it seems to be in it’s death throes.
I also believe that commenting on a lot of blogs, as long as it’s done properly, does bring a lot of visits from other bloggers or readers of those blogs. My last post proves it to me, even though others may like to read something else into it.
As for those infrequent clicks on Adsense and stuff, I reckon they come more from traffic thrown our way via search engines more than anything else.
Sire´s last blog ..FlexSqueeze And The Total Screen Recorder
June 10th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Good afternoon, Sire.
I owe you an apology. I didn’t mean to put words in your mouth (blog).
I think your position is that more comments brings more visitors which bring more comments, etc. That, I agree with 100%
I also agree that comments bring life to a blog and make it much more enjoyable to visit and participate there.
It seems that everything I’m looking at right now is through a filter of needing more income to make up for the downturn I’ve experienced since September and I wasn’t as careful as I should have been when bringing you and Mitch into this.
I think I just got a bee under my bonnet when I keep reading in many places that more visitors means more income, and I just don’t think that’s true.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 10th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
You’re in the same position as a lot of us are, John. I also need more income, which is why I’m turned to some things I’d have never thought of before. I had a friend of mine say he can’t figure out why I’m not making millions with everything I supposedly know about being online. I keep asking myself that one also.
But I’m obviously not there yet, but I’ll continue trying to find that goose!
Mitch´s last blog ..Li’l Specs Revisited
June 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
No worries John, it’s not like it upset or anything mate, I just wanted to set things straight is all.
But I do believe that more visitors do lead to an increase in earning capacity as there is a greater possibility that someone may click on a link or something. Having said this I must add that I’ve read it’s only true if those visitors are generated by the search engine and not regular commentators.
Sire´s last blog ..Top Screen Recorder Gold The Powerful Video Recording Software
June 12th, 2009 at 8:16 am
interesting interesting, you give some thoughts to pounder but for me, I certainly wouldn´t even think of getting sbi, nope.
So you relate the amount of money somebody invests in a website to the dedication to make it work … on some level i can follow that but really, how many people actually spend loads of money in all sorts of ebooks and mmo products without taking full advantage of them?
So in my opinion, even a 300 USD investment in SBI wouldn´t be the garantuee to actually dedicate oneself to pull the project off, the only thing different could be that people put more thought in before actually starting.
But isn´t that were the true key lies anyways… having a good sound plan for any website you build or whatever online venture you uptake and then follow through with it to make it work.
As for static vs blogs… there are so many ways a blog can look like a static website (turning off comments, creating a static landpage, removing posting date etc) but still keep all the advantages of the wp features that really I´d never go back to building another static website and I´ve build quite some “back in the days” …
anyways… never say never LOL
those were my two cents…
what I really think? Act on your dream
Dream Big and Make it Happen!
have a great weekend
Mirjam´s last blog ..Start Excelerating Business Growth in Times of Crisis
June 12th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Good afternoon, Mirjam.
Thanks for commenting.
No, I don’t relate how much someone spends on a website to their dedication to making it work.
That was strictly a comment on how I feel about it personally. If I can throw up a blog or site with no investment and little thought, I have no real incentive to get a return on my investment.
However, when I invest money and time in something, I want a real return on it.
It was also strictly related to building a new SBI website.
I’m sure others have different feelings and motivations than I do.
I absolutely agree with you when you say having a good sound plan and following through on it is one of the main keys to succeeding at anything.
Just because a blog can be made to look like a static site, there are still differences.
“Dream Big And Make It Happen!”
That’s excellent advice!
I hope you have a great weekend, too.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 12th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
WordPress is an excellent CMS (Content management system) and does not have to look like a blog. It can look like a static site, easily have a store added, or look like a blog and use categories to organize material the same way you might do it in any static site.
SiteBuildIt is more a system for researching prior to building. I used it once to assist someone else and was very impressed with the keyword research tools; however, it is vastly more time-consuming and confusing to learn than blogs are - at least I thought so at the time.
I made some additional comments related to this in the post I’ve featured in CommentLuv. Another recent post on How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business offers more insights into what a blog needs to include to develop a successful business. More on that subject soon.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find
June 13th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Good afternoon, I.S.
I agree that WordPress has evolved into a nice CMS and offers much more than it used to just a few months ago in previous versions.
Yes, Site Build It! offers great tools and advice for researching a new site before building, but it doesn’t stop there. It offers many tools for managing an existing site, adding new content, contacting your readers via its newsletter feature, and more.
I don’t agree that it’s just for beginners starting a new site.
I also don’t agree that it is time-consuming and confusing. But, that may be due to personal preferences, learning styles, and past experiences. I’m not saying it wasn’t that way for you, just not for me.
I appreciate your comments and always enjoy reading your point of view.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 18th, 2009 at 9:37 am
great great stuff here plenty of food for through
one thing for sure i have to stop and really look at my marketing technic blogging is easier and i guess i have leaned more in that direction and one is because it easier to put up like john says
but then again what mijam says, it boils down to which one you stick with and a good plan this is great stuff here i will read these post again all of them keep up the good work guys
gdiwebsite´s last blog ..GDI Income For Life updated Tue Jun 16 2009 12:51 pm CDT
June 19th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Good morning, Ervin.
No matter which tools one prefers (WordPress, Site Build It!, or something else), you’re right about having to stop and really look at our marketing techniques.
A good plan that we develop and stick with (along with making necessary modifications) is an essential part of marketing success.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
The number 1 reason blogs get ignored is lack of attention and excitment. It really takes someone commiting a 9-5 effort for the first 6-12 months to get things kicked off, perfected, and people coming to your little slice of the web. It’s all about numbers. Assuming you have good content and your site is easy to use then you have to put in time. This is EXACTLY why we started ttmyt.com. Its a plce for people to submit their posts and articles where they can have a voice and be read, but not have to maintain anything. We do it all… updates, improvemtns, bring in traffic, and the whole lot. It’s the blogging site for people who lose interest and just want to say their piece or write one post and not worry about anything else…
So … this problem is solved with ttmyt.com
check it out… we aren’t going anywhere and you will notice without fail since day one that posts have been on time and everytime every week!
Thoughts That Make You Think´s last blog ..Does Confidence Rule The World?
June 27th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Easy to start,easy to abandon. I think that is exactly it. People think if they start a blog, they will solve all their problems. Then, when they realize it actually takes work and dedication they just abandon them.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Good afternoon, T.T.M.Y.T.
I agree that one of the main reasons that blogs are abandoned is because of a lack of attention and excitement. Blogging takes more time and effort than most people expect.
What I disagree with is that your site is a solution for the problem.
On this blog, we’re talking about affiliate marketing and building an online business, not just about posting our opinion or an article somewhere.
I don’t see how your site offers anything of value to the regular readers of 21st Century Affiliate Marketing.
Marketing your blog as the “site for people who lose interest” is not my idea of a good slogan, but you’re free to do what you want with your site.
I almost didn’t approve this comment, because it’s basically off-topic and serves as an ad for your site, but I did want to respond to your comments.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 28th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Good afternoon, Mike.
Welcome to our discussions and thanks for your comment.
I agree with what you said.
Act on your dream!
JD
June 29th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Man John,
You really need to add the “reply” function to your blog, because I wanted to say something to that guy with the long name directly also.
Anyone who starts a new blog and works 9-5 on it for 6-12 months is wasting their time. Yes, one needs to decide if they’re going to work for themselves full time that they will put a full time commitment into it, but there are areas of, well, over excess that are just silly. Putting that kind of time into one blog is goofy; mixing it up into lots of blogs and websites,… more productive.
At least that’s how I see it.
Mitch´s last blog ..Social Media, SEO And Your Business in 90 Minutes
July 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Good afternoon, Mitch.
If by “reply” you mean the threaded-comments plugin, that’s not going to happen. I tried it and didn’t like it. If you mean something else, you’ll have to elucidate.
Other than that small point, I agree with you.
Act on your dream!
JD
July 5th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Yes, I meant something like the threaded comments plugin, although, with WP 2.8, it’s actually built in to the program, so you don’t need the plugin anymore.
Mitch´s last blog ..How Goes A Webinar
July 6th, 2009 at 5:48 am
Good morning, Mitch.
Can you turn off threaded comments in WP 2.8?
I know some people really like them for their blogs, but I really don’t.
You know, it’s one of those personal preference things. I can’t give any objective reasons for my dislike of it.
I think it’s essential for a forum, but not so much for comments on a blog.
Act on your dream!
JD
July 6th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Yes, you can turn it off, John.
I actually think it is essential, and I wish you’d think about it some more. For instance, this post now has 22 comments. If I wanted to respond to the third one, although it would be goofy since I wrote it, and I wrote something now, I wouldn’t know it was for me because it was over a month ago, and I’d have no idea what it was related to. With the actual threaded reply, I could come back, see which comment someone said something on, and at least sound coherent.
If your posts only got 3 or 4 comments each, I’d agree with your statement. However, you sometimes get even more than this. Remember, though it’s your blog, it’s not always about the owner.
Mitch´s last blog ..June Statistics; The More Things Stay The Same 
July 6th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Good afternoon, Mitch.
You make some good points and I am thinking about it. Thanks.
Actually, my objection is more than just personal preference. What I really hate about threaded replies on blog comments is when the column gets so narrow that only one or two words fits and you see this long skinny comment that is hard to read.
That’s the main thing I want to avoid.
I’ll consider it, but I’m not promising anything.
Act on your dream!
JD
July 6th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
That part I can understand, but you can also limit how many threads there are, so just pick 3 or 4 and that takes care of that. For me, well, I guess this case I’m a masochist. lol
Mitch´s last blog ..How Goes The Writing
July 6th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
John, if you don’t like those skinny comments just set the number of levels that will thread to a lower number. I have mine set to five, you may be happy with three.
Sire´s last blog ..Get Your Twittley Action Into Gear And Watch Your Post Rock
July 7th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Good morning, Mitch and Sire.
(I don’t know why my blog has started requiring me to approve your comments. Sorry for the delay.)
Now, that’s a horse of a different color.
I didn’t realize I could limit the number of reply levels. I might be happy with three.
If I ever get around to updating this blog to version 2.8, I’ll give it a try and see how it goes. It may not be a permanent change, but I will try it, since some of you like that feature.
(I’m still rebuilding websites and removing links to Amazon.com. It’s taking a lot of extra time that I already had scheduled for other, more important things. Updating this blog will just have to wait a bit - from the department of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”)
Act on your dream!
JD
July 8th, 2009 at 8:25 am
No worries John, you know Mitch and I, we always aim to please.
Sire´s last blog ..Get Your Twittley Action Into Gear And Watch Your Post Rock 
July 9th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Good morning, Sire.
And that’s one of the main things I like so much about both of you!
Thanks.
JD
October 14th, 2009 at 12:20 am
I am one of them who feels that the abandoned blogs may not just have the right content and up-to-date one. Since if your last post was made in 2007 or 2008, it’s possible that those posts may have been outdated by now with the world is going very fast. I also like the feature of having conversation going on with the blog admin on the blogs so it’s another aspect as well.
I do have a blog, and personal one, I know what I want to write but yes finding time is important for it however I would recommend those people who’ve already their blog established well and getting good traffic to add atleast 1 post each week? That’s not asking too much I think. It’ll keep people interested as well hehe.
I still have to build good backlinks for my blog so it can get cached and then wait for traffic to come. Sounds too much lol
Regards
Mel
P.S. I see that you do accept Anchor Text in your comments, so why don’t you install KeywordLuv? It’s good and it’ll force everyone to leave their name atleast while commenting hehe
October 14th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Good morning, Mel.
Welcome to our discussions.
I agree with your about abandoned blogs. With a website, if it wasn’t updated in a couple of years, it may not be so obvious.
However, with a blog, since it is shown in reverse chronological order, it’s immediately obvious if you haven’t written anything in awhile.
Even posting once or twice a month would keep a blog “alive.”
In the Internet Marketing world, some people feel like you’ve abandoned them if you don’t post every day, but that’s just not true in other businesses.
The best way to get people to visit your blog is to write great content that the search engines will index highly, at least in my opinion.
I’ve tried KeywordLuv and didn’t like it. I try not to use more than a few plug-ins.
I do accept some anchor text in comments, but it must be relevant to the discussion. Spam is always deleted.
Act on your dream!
JD
October 18th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Yeah but for starters, people have to build some backlinks to connect with the search engine and then search engine will keep looking at your site for fresh content. I agree with Internet Marketing, even I think that too sometimes because there’s always a need for new articles in there to keep readers interested and get the traffic on so they can sell their products which isn’t bad imo.