The mechanics of visibility
It’s a funny old game, this blogging lark.
When I first had the idea for this blog back in January, I was very unsure of myself, and, indeed about what I would be able to write about. My first postings, back in the early spring were tentative, and I was relieved that no-one was watching whilst I was finding my feet.
As time passed, my confidence grew in my ability to express myself and occasionally produce some nice and/or interesting bits of writing. Satisfaction started to set in, and I grew somewhat addicted to assembling the jumble of thoughts in my head into coherent articles.
People were starting to take notice. Some have come and gone, others have hung around for the longer haul. New faces are always welcome, and it’s great to see.
In time I’ve turned from a shy and unsure blogger into a confident one, who wants his words to be read by others.
But frustration has started to hit on the visibility of the blog. I made a concious decision to host on my own server because I wanted control, and to have the ability to muck about with my own settings, and feel pride in having created my own hosting solution. At the time, this seemed like a great idea, but I can now see the drawbacks.
My blog is not part of a community.
If I’d decided to write on Livejournal, or even on the core WordPress.com platform, then observation suggests that I would have more readers and more comments. Searching across these platforms is easy, and if you wish to belong to a community, it is easy to do so. Indeed these platforms provide a natural melting pot for communities.
Way back in April, I applied to get the blog added to the Autism Hub. It looked like a great site, and as it was platform neutral, it surely wouldn’t be difficult to get added, and thus drum up a little more interest. I was wrong. My application went unacknowledged until the start of August, at which point it was answered with an apologetic email, saying my site was now being vetted and that I should be contacted again within a few weeks. It’s now nearly the end of September, and I’ve heard nothing. I fully appreciate that sites like Autism Hub are run by the good will of people in their spare time, but please, if you are going to offer a service like this, you need to actually maintain it. Perhaps this indicates that Autism Hub is in its death throes?
I’ve joined Wrong Planet, and indicated that I use an external blogging service. Wrong planet say that if you do this, they will link your external blog to their blog page. Do they heck! It doesn’t work, and my emails to them asking for an explanation and if I was doing something wrong went unanswered. Thanks for nothing, Wrong Planet!
Across the months I’ve tinkered with the Google Webmaster site, and of course added Analytics, so I can accurately track site usage. I’ve tweaked my keywords, and I’ve registered with Technorati. My blog has always pinged search engines when I post new articles. All of this has helped a bit. but to be honest, not very much.
I note that Livejournal have an active Asperger’s community. I’m seriously toying with the idea of using a Livejournal account to point at my blog posts, and then cross posting this to the Asperger’s community there. Why? Well, I’d bet that 90% of those who have posted recently to that community have never seen my blog. Certainly none of them have ever posted a comment here. Why would they? They have a ready made community there on Livejournal. Why look elsewhere?
I’ve gone from two or three page impressions a day back in March, mostly from Google search hits, to an average of about sixty page impressions from about twenty distinct users a day today. More than half the people who read articles have been here before, and many are veterans. My RSS feed hit the magical (to me at least) twenty subscribers last week for the first time, and usually generates about a further forty page impressions a day, giving a total daily average of around a hundred page impressions for the site. A couple of times a week – often mid-week – I’ll add another hundred or so impressions a day, excluding spiders and spammers. These spikes are usually when someone new is going through the back catalogue.
All of this is really quite humbling, and if you are reading this now, then I thank you whole-heartedly for doing so.
But it’s also frustrating, because I can see plenty of other Asperger’s blogs that (and I’m judging by the quantity of comments here) get far more visitors – simply, it would seem, because they chose a route that instantly gave them a community. Now I’d like that too, but it seems to be continually elusive.
And of course, community is a two way thing. I have been rather neglectful of posting comments on other people’s sites over the last couple of months. I need to do far more of that, as well as looking at what possibilities there are to get my site more traffic.
All of which leaves less time for writing here. Hmmm. A tricky balance, but one I feel I need to tackle.
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8 Comments to “The mechanics of visibility”
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Hi James,
Let me ask you, why are you writing this blog? Is it for educational purposes? Is it to connect with and help others who are in a similar situation? I think your blog does both of these. But do you feel like it fills a need in you to connect with people that you don’t get as much in real life because talking in person is harder than writing things down? Why do you feel like you should have more people reading it?
I am just curious, because I just started a blog myself. I wonder about the motivation to write my thought on line for everyone to read. It is an interesting phenomena.
So what are your thoughts – why did you start this blog?
Hi cynsurf,
All of those things, I think, at least some of the time.
I’m going to try and write something – not sure yet if it will end up as an article or a page – that reflects why I blog.
Oh, and I started, because I felt like I had something to say, and no-one to say it to.
James
Hi James,
I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while and I find it really interesting.
I do understand the need for community – it’s one of the reasons I chose to use blogger (I evaluated wordpress but it didn’t offer quite the same degree of innovation). Google is ALWAYS on the move.
The WrongPlanet blog link works. It took a few weeks to work when I first linked it but now it works well.
There could be a few reasons why you don’t get many comments. If you cover a topic too well, you leave nothing for your readers to say.
Then there’s your titles… A lot of people use RSS Readers. Every morning, I wake up to nearly 300 RSSed topics and 30+ direct emails. Obviously I can’t read everything – so the titles and opening lines are critical. If you capture my interest there, then you generally get read.
A longer title which describes what your article is about is better than a short snappy but obscure one.
You should also open digg, facebook and twitter accounts. Digg your own posts (and other people’s) under HEALTH and use twitter to automatically update your facebook status with new posts to your blog.
I’ll second cynsurf’s comment too… A post explaining your goals on the blog would help you structure things better in your mind.
Keep up the good work.. It’s a great blog.
Hi Gavin,
Lots of useful tips there, thank you.
I had a go at twitter six months or so ago, and have decided to have another go. I’ve been tweeting outside of this alter-ego for some time now, and having got accustomed to it, thought now might be the time to give it another go. See the section on the right to view tweets and follow me, etc.
I’m going to go back through and add cuts to all my blog posts so that I can post the big before the cut to Livejournal, with a link back to here to read the rest. With that in place I’ll try joining a few communities and see how it goes.
Titles of articles have always been a very curious part of my self expression. They often come to me before the article itself, and I like them the way they are. To be completely honest, it had never occurred to me that people may choose not to read based simply on what the title was. Perhaps that says a lot… I’ll think a little more about subjects from now on.
As regards your blog showing on Wrong Planet… Well, as far as I can see it doesn’t. Go to here, and you’ll note the text that reads:
“WrongPlanet.net encourages the idea of weblogging. Listed here are the weblogs of our members, including those who use the blog feature here, and those who have chosen to host their blog elsewhere. Reading blogs can provide a great insight into the minds of their authors and about Asperger’s, in the blogs of those who have it.” (My emphasis)
I can’t see any external blogs showing on that page – and I certainly can’t see your “Defining Ourselves..” article from the 19th.
Perhaps it’s just me?
Updated article/page about why I blog is in the works.
Thanks again for all the useful tips!
James
Hi James,
I don’t worry much about the visibility thing. I don’t even know how to keep track of my blog stats, or how many people read my blog and don’t post. I figure that the writing helps me, that people find their way to my blog via other blogs I post to, and that the things I write seem to help people. So I’m happy.
I feel so old-fashioned, letting people find me by word of mouth! But I will not tweet. Not now. Not ever. And no one can make me.
Nothing wrong with this, Rachel.
Sometimes I wish I’d taken this approach too – I’d probably worry less!
Hi James,
I see what you mean about that page on WrongPlanet, it’s certainly only displaying internal blogs. Funnily enough, I’ve never visited that page before.
I’ve visited many people’s blogs from WP and I used to do it via the Blog button (which no longer works). Regardless, I’ve always had my blog as part of my signature – and that always works. You should try it.
Also… If you answer something relevant on WP, don’t be afraid to link back to your blog. Sometimes you can get a lot more info that way.
Regarding Statistics… Use Google Analytics. You only need to include a string at the top of each page – there’s probably a plug-in for wordpress – there certainly is for blogger.
I’ve never got into the forums on Wrong Planet, Gavin.
There is something about the more free-flowing discussion forums about ASDs such as Wrong Planet that scare the bejesus out of me.
I have control of this bog, and I’m comfortable with the others I comment on.
I’ve used Google Analytics on the blog since it went live. It is amazing seeing where people come from – from Australia to Venezuela, and everywhere in between.