I've been doing some Spring Cleaning around Reyjr.com - removed some unnecessary links, cleaned up the template a bit, etc., then I got to writing this post, my first for 2014, and hopefully not my last.
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I've been deliberating for a while now about whether or not I should keep this blog running, and why it even mattered, and what would I do with it really, and I even got my wife in to brainstorm blog visions for the future.
So I thought I'd let you in too, my audience, maybe you have the answer to my blogger's dilemma.
Talking Blogs
Let's pretend we're sitting across from each other at a coffee shop and talking blogs. I ask you how yours is doing, and you politely ask how mine is. So I proceed to tell you my blog has been in a sort of limbo for the last 2 years. My posts have been sparse, very few and far in between to be able to generate any meaningful traffic, much less develop any sort of readership base.
Sitemeter metrics show my Page Views dropped from 8,000 per month and rising 2 years ago, to now around 200 per month and even decreasing further. My Alexa Page Rank dropped from a respectable 4/10 to a dismal 1/10. Simply put: nobody reads this blog anymore because there are no new posts to read.
So it begs the question, why then have I kept it running for over 2 years now without new posts?
Sentimentalism
I've renewed the url Reyjr.com for this blog in October last year, not without hesitation. I guess I clicked the purchase button more out of sentimental feelings rather than a determination to blog again.
But then here I am and writing again. I think that's an awesome (re)start!
Reyjr.com is in a peculiar position: since I'm basically starting again from dirt, I can take it to wherever I want to without fear of losing readership. That concept actually got me excited, given all the changes that have happened in my life in the past couple of years, a change in my writing seemed appropriate. But still, what do I write about? What would you, my audience, want to read about?
No, really, tell me please. Go ahead, jump in and tell me what you think.
Hi Rey, life goes on, and so would be your blogging topic., You could write about being a husband and all about that stuff. Eventually, you could also write about being a parent. What about sharing your experiences abroad from which your readers could learn from? But don't delete your blog. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jena! I do hope I get to become a parent in the near future! That would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteI do also want to maintain the Travel Blog section of Reyjr.com. Would you be interested to read that? My wife and I traveled to Europe for our 2nd Honeymoon in Sep-Oct last year! :D
Hey don't stop. The blogosphere is overflowing with female bloggers. The point of views from a male blogger is certainly welcome.
ReplyDeleteOur day-by-day life experiences are worth writing and sharing for, maybe you can start with that, and when the day goes by, your getaways and misadventures naman. Life is full of surprises!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a full time work that's keeping your time to blog? I hope you don't delete this totally.
ReplyDeleteWell, as for me, I blog because it's my hobby and now I want to give it a try if I can make some earnings from it. I'm still not knowledgeable with SEO and stuff but I want to work on it.
Haha! I guess.. we all have an attachment to do blogging - though we sometimes forget and lack the time and all that. I had days and time when I forget that I have a blog but after days and even months - I go back to it. Somehow, I am still passionate with blogging despite of the setbacks. I guess.. maybe somehow, you also are like that too. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! Do you think we have more female bloggers than males? I've never really considered it. Maybe you're right.
ReplyDeleteThen again I've never considered my opinion as strictly a male's opinion either (even though I am male). I guess for me, points of view are personal rather than gender based, if you get what I mean!
In any case, that you for dropping by Mitchelle! I hope to see you around!
While people say causing traffic matters, it will always depend on how you want to portray your blog to your audience. But then again, it'll constanly fall to that question of why you started blogging in the first place.
ReplyDeleteLike me, I blogged because I was talked into doing it. Not because I was passionate about writing or babbling about anything I wish. I wasn't really serious at it until such time I noticed my page was gaining readership, and that people started leaving comments.
It may be difficult to pin down the beast. But it quickly dawned on me how powerful blogging can become if you put (not bare) your soul and heart into it. Be humanly relatable.
Make sure that you also connect to your audience. Like-minded people will gravitate to you and strike conversations. Entertain them as much as possible. There is no predicting where life may take you, especially when you make connections and share values with other people.
Hi John Louie! Thank you for your comment, I agree with you completely.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the reason you began blogging does not necessarily have to be the reason to continue blogging. Blogging evolves with the person, as you have, with your realisation of how powerful it can be.
And really, there is a lot of power in making connections and building relationships. I don't only mean in the workplace, but in life, even more so!
I'm glad you dropped by John Louie, and hope to see you around here again in the future.
Hi tet, yes I do, but I don't see it as a specific reason why I've managed to come up with only a handful of posts over the past couple of years. I don't see the need to put the blame anywhere, really. I do appreciate your sentiments and will definitely try to keep this going!
ReplyDeleteI've tried the SEO thing and earning through this blog going back to 2009. It does pay off if you work hard for it. As of now I've not actively tried earning for this blog at all, but it has managed to reach $100 over the past year in Adsense earnings. That will pay for 10 years of domain renewals.
Good luck to you and hope you earn heaps more than me!
Thanks for the comment Aisha! I completely agree with you that if you are passionate about something, you will always go back to it and try to be better at it.
ReplyDeleteDon't lose that drive and you'll definitely go places!
Thanks Aylin, life is like a box of chocolates sabi nga ni Forrest. ;)
ReplyDelete