Um... Question And Queries About My Blog... Yeah... Ive said it. I hope this is in the right section...

[Nameless_ 1]

Hiya people... I'm in a bit of a dilemma right now. I am making a blog for my website, and inverse_bloom is very helpfully helping me to give me some design tips, so everything is going fine, in terms of website building.But the problem is the content, not the structure. The thing is, most of the blogs that I have seen on the internet are business blogs, and blogs about technology, how to make money online and their lives... But I want to make a philosophical blog, and all the blogs that I have seen about philosophy, science and psychology and all that isn't what I have in mind. Therefore, I won't be able to create good comments on their blogs, because it really won't be related.The good thing that it will be unique content.So I am not really sure if I am going to get any traffic at all or get some loyal readers... plus, there is also the problem of running out of ideas. Things like that never have ideas flowing in all the time. Unlike technology blogs, you cannot just post the latest content and the latest news... So... I am asking you people... what should I do? Also, there is also the problem of the scope of my blog... it is not exactly philosophical, it also intergrates science into it, and I might write a short story or two sometimes on life and death matters and I don't know whether I should put that in too, or not... Therefore, I am asking for your advice... thanks...

[The Simpleton 2]

If you're sure about the content you're going to write then it's advised to stop thinking about what others will feel and start writing! A blog if first and foremost your personal thing, and you should be writing it for yourself, with readers/monetary income being secondary. These will automatically come once your blog picks up the pace and your posts are excellent (even if they are less in number). Since you've already got the design part planned out, just concentrate on the content now and I'm sure you'll do fine. A small suggestion - wait until you make 2-3 posts on your blog, and then start to advertise it - eg., by placing link in your sig and profile page, giving an ad in free classified sites, etc. When your content's good I'm sure you'll find a lot of readers interested in your blog and thus you'll have a steady flow of visitors

[FouGilang 0]

haha, i thought you already had that in mind before you publish your blog

 

first thing you should remember to make sure you can move forward: it is YOUR blog. As far as i see, there's no limitation to that content of "blog", wether it is technology news, money making, mass spam, diary, philosophy, science, or whatever in your mind. I said it again, it is yours. you should not think about the others feeling, content, or whatever they said about your blog and start your blog --- except, if what they say is really a suggestion to make your site better which you can take and use like template design, related blogs, and other things.

 

let me tell you a story, hope it can burn that flame in your soul

you know, when i was starting my "Audition Online Soundtracks Provider" Site, i was thinking the same thing as you that time. there are hell lot of site, post, forum, blog with the same content as mine. will i even get some reader, or, at least, some visitor / traffic ? in my first quarter, i was using my friend's hosting and domain, i fail to make my site popular. it was reaaaaally far below the others, even the "looters-blog" and mp3 search ones still above mine, and my site visitor count still like 5 digit below the blog with the same content which i really hated because all he did was stealing other people link and convert them to usercash.

what did i do next? i move my site to 000webhost and blogspot to see what happened................ my site finally appeared in google, but it's still not good enough, i must hate 000webhost for this slow creature they called "host". and blogspot? no, though my site appeared faster, blogspot just not my type. on the next quarter, my site has about 50 registered member, yet complained about its slowness

 

my final move, i found this indonesia web hosting in a computer magazine, i found it cheap enough for a kid like me, so in august 2009 i bought it for 1 year (and get discounted price for the domain ). this time, since it is MY site, MY domain, which is totally MINE, i'd do all i can to make it forward. i searched everything i need about SEO (though i don't know what is SEO means anyway i did read them). i make it a page on facebook, which i use for my primer socialization engine. now my site is in its third month and the result is not so bad (achieved my first goal)

 

in short, what i want to say to you is: make your own point of view about how your site must be, ignore the others. although my site is an "audition online soundtrack" only site, which the game itself maybe only updated in about 1 times every month, i can get traffics about 200k hits in 3 months, why you can't? philosophy, hobbies, people way of think not too bad for a topic either. just feel that it is your very own blog, and make it real

Edited November 14, 2009 by FouGilang (see edit history)

[Nameless_ 1]

Haha, thanks for your replies, guys... Yeah well, I want to start this blog as soon as possible, but I still need to figure out how to make my blog on a page and not on the main domain... like so: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/... I don't even know if I should buy another domain just for my blog... but hmm... yeah, you're all right. I should start my blog as fast as I can. But FouGilang, just to tell you... Haha, my problem is the opposite of yours. The thing is that I couldn't find one single blog with the same content as what I had in mind (the same thing occured when I was thinking of starting a psychic phenomenan site) so I was scared that no one will read it. But then, I mean, if I am the first, then who knows? I'll be the starter and the creator of my type of philosophical blogs... YES!!!As long as I get visitors, that is, but I am sure that I will at least get Baniboy and Anwii there for some comments... :)It's just the domain name and the SEO of the blog now, I think. I mean, if my blog is on my main domain, then lots of people will go there, but not as much if my blog is on a page (example.com/blog) , and apparently less if it is on a subdomain (blog.example.com), though I don't know why about that. ARGH!!! But currently, I believe that the main plan is the put it on a page (example.com/blog)What do you all think about that?

[anwiii 17]

same domain, create a different directory or subdomain, and call it something other than "blog" please.

[FouGilang 0]

Yes, it may be the opposite, but yet we face the same problem: the traffic pesimistic :DThough you may say nobody cares about it (i mean your philosophic blog), you... Are in the 'nobody' list. See? Just because you don't see the other, doesn't mean that there is no other. There may be some, or many, that thinking like you but doesn't have the courage to publish it. But you have it, you're publishing it. Then when the blog of your kind become popular (since more and more people come to the phase where they need philosophy to grab forward their pathetic lifes), your site will be on the first list of their blogroll :(I don't know about the subdomain thing though. What i know is some site analyzer would more to the main domain. For example, when you put blog.site.com in alexa, alexa will take the site.com instead. So, no matter how popular your sub-domain, alexa will only count the main domain rank, left alone the subdomain.

[anwiii 17]

where do you get your information? please quote a source!

subdomains are treated seperate from their domains. alexa isn't a search engine. they are a domain ranker and shouldn't be given any consideration to any seo techniques. in fact, people shouldn't even worry about alexa rankings. it's just a site to allow bragging rights in my opinion.

nameless, if you are planning to have your blog related to any information that is included on your domain name, create a seperate directory to give more juice to your blog and your domain. if your blog is going to be unrelated to your domain content, then create a subdomain and make sure your blog points to your domain and your domain points to your subdomain for the added backlinks.

name your subdomain or your directory(however you choose to go) a name that has at least one keyword related to your blog. a keyword that should also be included in the title and description of your blog.

the only site analizers you have to worry about is the search engines. NOT alexa.

I don't know about the subdomain thing though. What i know is some site analyzer would more to the main domain. For example, when you put blog.site.com in alexa, alexa will take the site.com instead. So, no matter how popular your sub-domain, alexa will only count the main domain rank, left alone the subdomain.

[FouGilang 0]

where do you get your information? please quote a source!

haha, sorry but i don't have any source for that. almost all i've done in my site doesn't have any absolute source, it's basically from what i've been through and some of what i read. what i'm talking about in my previous post is just about sub-domain and main-domain, not about SEO
oh, and if you ask me, i'm the kind of kid who would separate rank's site-analyzer such as alexa with search's site-crawler such as google, sorry for misunderstanding
Edited November 15, 2009 by FouGilang (see edit history)

[Nameless_ 1]

nameless, if you are planning to have your blog related to any information that is included on your domain name, create a seperate directory to give more juice to your blog and your domain. if your blog is going to be unrelated to your domain content, then create a subdomain and make sure your blog points to your domain and your domain points to your subdomain for the added backlinks.
name your subdomain or your directory(however you choose to go) a name that has at least one keyword related to your blog. a keyword that should also be included in the title and description of your blog.

same domain, create a different directory or subdomain, and call it something other than "blog" please.

OK... well, I don't really know what to call it other than blog though... If I am meant to call it something else, then shouldn't I be buying another domain name? Huh???) The main site will have all my creative projects like photographs, web design and all that, and then my blog will be about philosophical science... so they are not really related...

And can you explain the difference between a directory and a sub domain? Aren't they the same? And I also don't understand about the more "juice" bit either. You point the sub domain to the directory... I think... And I really don't know what to call my site apart from "blog..."...

Yes, it may be the opposite, but yet we face the same problem: the traffic pesimistic I don't know about the subdomain thing though. What i know is some site analyzer would more to the main domain. For example, when you put blog.site.com in alexa, alexa will take the site.com instead. So, no matter how popular your sub-domain, alexa will only count the main domain rank, left alone the subdomain.

Hmm... well, I have decided to work on the blog already... the only thing is getting traffic to my site and whether I should:
1) Buy another domain for it... but then my main site will then lack a blog...
2) Use a page like example.com/blog
3) Use a sub domain like blog.example.com.

[FouGilang 0]

Hmm... well, I have decided to work on the blog already... the only thing is getting traffic to my site and whether I should:1) Buy another domain for it... but then my main site will then lack a blog...
2) Use a page like example.com/blog
3) Use a sub domain like blog.example.com.

that is up to you, but i would like to suggest that sub-domain like blog.example.com option (it's nothing about SEO, i just like the sound of it)
about getting traffic, well there are a lot of way for that, you can make advertisement, announcing it to friends, traffic exchanging, and so on. but before doing that, make sure you have some good content, so your visitor won't be disappointed when they come (and if they happy, they'll be coming again sooner or later)

hmm
this is getting more confusing by time to time, i guess... so all you want to do, in short description like you mentioned some days before, is... "make a blog that describe yourself"?

[mahesh2k 0]

Hmm... well, I have decided to work on the blog already... the only thing is getting traffic to my site and whether I should:1) Buy another domain for it... but then my main site will then lack a blog...
2) Use a page like example.com/blog
3) Use a sub domain like blog.example.com.

As i already suggested to you. You should use example.com for your blog instead of having folder. That is much better option in terms of SEO. In terms of SEO blog.example.com is treated differently so i asked you to use top level domain.Don't worry about traffic untile you get more than 10-20 pages of content on blog. Once you have it that much content then you can get traffic from entrecard and easyhits4u.com. But if you want long term traffic then add site in signature and promote it where ever possible.

Long term readers and traffic is not so easy. Concentrate on blog content and comment on other blogs, this will fetch some traffic for you.

[Nameless_ 1]

hmmthis is getting more confusing by time to time, i guess... so all you want to do, in short description like you mentioned some days before, is... "make a blog that describe yourself"?

well, it is rather easy to advertise, I guess... especially by the way you make it sound. But anyway, I guess I am just thinking things for the long term, because it is hard to move my content from one host to another, hard to move my content to another new domain name should I ever need to, and it is hard to get all my traffic to go there in the future and I will lose lots of my readers should that happen.

So I want things to be as perfect as possible when I start so that I can avoid as many problems in the future that I might face in the future because of these decisions... And no, I don't want a blog that describes myself... I just want a blog where I can share my philosophy ideas to everyone...

As i already suggested to you. You should use example.com for your blog instead of having folder. That is much better option in terms of SEO. In terms of SEO blog.example.com is treated differently so i asked you to use top level domain.Don't worry about traffic untile you get more than 10-20 pages of content on blog. Once you have it that much content then you can get traffic from entrecard and easyhits4u.com. But if you want long term traffic then add site in signature and promote it where ever possible.
Long term readers and traffic is not so easy. Concentrate on blog content and comment on other blogs, this will fetch some traffic for you.

From mahesh2k

Yeah, I suppose so... But I want the welcome thing on my site as well... how am I meant in intergrate that into my blog as well if I am to blog on it anyway?

Plus.... wouldn't it be rather wierd if the rest of the site is dark grey and only the home page is rather white? If it is the other way round with my blog as white, then I'd understand, but having the home page (my blog in this case) look different from everything else in my other sites looks wierd then... :D

Remember, this is not only a blog. I still need to put my creative projects in, and I need the dark grey background to put my photos in... unless I can find a way to make a custom dark grey background for every photo that I put on... do you understand what I mean?

I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing though... :( But anyway... quite a few points there. I would be very grateful if you gave me advice on all of the points that I have just made...

[mahesh2k 0]

Here is the decision making part for you. If you want to earn money then make sure that you've to post content on main page. If you want visitors to stay and look for content by checking one page after another then i guess your way of using another link for blog i.e subdomain and folder will work. But you know people have very less patience on web. So if you don't show them content on first page they'll hardly stay on that page. And this condition will only be in your favor if your content is appealing that means linked by many other bloggers and praised by readers. Else welcome page and separate blog will not help you get community+blog+money in same package. Think about it before investing time on blog and separate welcome page.

[Nameless_ 1]

Here is the decision making part for you. If you want to earn money then make sure that you've to post content on main page. If you want visitors to stay and look for content by checking one page after another then i guess your way of using another link for blog i.e subdomain and folder will work. But you know people have very less patience on web. So if you don't show them content on first page they'll hardly stay on that page. And this condition will only be in your favor if your content is appealing that means linked by many other bloggers and praised by readers. Else welcome page and separate blog will not help you get community+blog+money in same package. Think about it before investing time on blog and separate welcome page.

Haha, OK then... yes, I want lots of visitors... so I guess that is the best method... I can't believe how much I always limit myself with my thinking. I guess I can learn one lesson out of this: Think outside the box!!! There is more than one occasion when that happened, like me trying to install my drupal onto the site and all that...

But anyway, OK... I get the point now, and I understand your explainations. If I put the pro and cons together, yours is better than mine. Now, I just need to work out how to fit it all in together... But thanks for your advice.