Article by Wendy McCance
Part 2 of the blogging prof. series
When I began building the new website for Searching for the Happiness back in March, there were a lot of things I wanted to add that I didn’t have on my original blog back when it was on WordPress.com.
What I was really looking to do was to create something special to answer all of the questions I got from readers. Sometimes the questions I got in the comment section required an answer that I would have liked to display because so many readers asked similar things. That’s how I decided to open up a forum page and the questions widget on the right side of this blog.
My hope was that discussions could take place where readers could all share information with each other and basically everyone could pull each other through to the next level of their blog. The questions widget was more for fun. It was put in place to get a quick answer or to throw out ideas that could possibly spark a thought for a topic to write about.
I was incredibly surprised to see that the forum and questions widget went nowhere. It seems that people really like to pick your brain if they have a spur of the moment thought, but it might be too much of a hassle to go to another part of the blog, sign in and ask the question there. I think it has to do with the fact that these days instant gratification is the name of the game and any extra step just feels like it takes too long and becomes burdensome.
For a while now I have thought about taking both the forum and questions widget down, but I have been stubborn. I like the way it looks and I keep holding out hope that things change down the road. I guess I feel that somehow these two additions complete the blog. My goal is that you will have every question answered and a vast collection of articles, advice and other supportive members happy to help and at your fingertips.
The fact that those ideas fell flat was a partial reason for me beginning again with the Facebook Page. I was beginning to be pushed in that direction as it was expected that if you had a successful business, people assume you must have a Facebook Page too. Product review sites were always asking how many likes you had on a Facebook Page and they also wanted products promoted on the page as well. What made a Facebook Page even more ideal for me was that I would have a new place to share all of the extra tidbits that weren’t long enough to write an article about. My Facebook Page was born.
I am glad that I get an idea in my head and am willing to revamp that idea until it sticks. Sure the forum and the questions widget fell flat, but I knew that if I could share some more information, it would be of benefit to some of the readers.
The Facebook Page has turned out to be the perfect platform to share the extras. It might be a quick thought, a great link to some terrific information, congratulating a fellow blogger or author, promoting another writer or sharing an opportunity that I have heard about. These are all things that don’t require an article to achieve, but something I want to put out there.
My favorite thing to place on the Facebook Page is the opportunities. I want other bloggers to have access to some of the great events and opportunities to make money that I get emailed about. Not too long ago, I posted some paying opportunities to write articles for specific niches that I had emailed to me. Another time I posted an event that was taking place in California that I would have loved to go to myself if I lived anywhere near California.
To sum it up, I have learned that if I am passionate about an idea and it falls flat, I will tweak the idea and find another way to implement it. Sometimes I have had to let go of an idea all together, but what tends to happen is if I just can’t let go of something I want to implement, I go with my gut. Usually there is a reason why I need to find a way to make the idea work.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. There will be another post in this series coming up soon. Thanks for stopping by.
If you have a moment, please check out the Facebook Page. If you like what you see, I would be thrilled if you would like the page.
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Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
Latest posts by Wendy McCance (see all)
- A Week in the Life of a Writer - August 3, 2014
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- How to Improve Your Presence on Twitter - July 29, 2014
I agree with you about Facebook. It is a place I will only do extra’s. I do prefer Google + and Twitter for the most part. I agree with Pat, Yoast really helps over all, especially if you go and check past the general and go through the whole process.
I am still getting to know Google+.
It does seem like everyone has to have a facebook page now
I’m glad that you were able to change and figure out what worked best for your page!
I agree. The pressure to have a Facebook page is huge. I’m glad I figured it out too.
I like your trial and error process Wendy. Been doing a little myself. So far I’ve used some of your widget ideas and like them so far. I’ve just started using Buffer (https://bufferapp.com) and it works good in sharing sites you like from one source. I uploaded the PhotoDropper widget too and will let you know how that works when I write my next post and add a photo. It looks pretty simple.
My main thing is SEO and trying to figure out the techy stuff in that. It’s over my head sometimes. But I wanted to ask you. With all your changes have you been successful so far in bringing in some income?
SEO has been something I am still learning too. I really like the Yoast plugin because it makes a template below your post. You just fill in the keyword and a short description. I feel like there is always something more to learn with SEO though.
As far as the income question, yes, my income has improved quite nicely. I have to be honest and mention that I couldn’t make money off of my old site because it was a WordPress.com Switching to a self-hosted domain is what made the big difference.
The best things I implemented were a template so I could have a lot of pictures, the estore and signing up to do product reviews.
The only way I made money before switching over was through freelance writing projects.
Hope this answers your question.
Yes, you did answer and I’m glad your changes have been successful for you, Wendy.
On the SEO part, I get more frustrated the more I get into it only to find out maybe some things need more techy tweaking for Google to recognize my site. And, decided not to install Yoast because it looked really complicated to uninstall the WP Super Cache I already have.
Onward and upward as we roam around in the internet world sorting it all out. What’s important in the end is what we’re writing and if it makes our readers happy.
I completely agree.