A political blog!

[ScottK]

Hey everyone, I've been blogging now for about a month and a half, and I wanted to see if anyone here had any advice for me!

The Right of a Nation

As I said in another thread, I've been trying to get links to my site out there (in a legitimate fashion) and right now I usually get anywhere from 8-20 visits a day.

Earlier this month I posted comments on a few news websites and included my link (like I have been trying to do regularly) and I don't know exactly what happened, but for about 3 days I got between 100 and 300 direct traffic visits each day. That was pretty exciting, but then it all went back to normal.

Anyway, just wanted to see if there were any obvious things I needed to fix, etc. I'm really just doing this for a hobby, but I obviously want to be able to get as many people as possible to come to my site.

Thanks!

[ChickenFreak]

Scott, the first time that I tried to load your blog, it took a _long_ time. Do you maybe have some really large graphics?

Otherwise, the blog looks good. I disagree with almost every single word you say in it , but you say it clearly and well and with your own voice. It's good.

[Melody]

I dislike your widget which says things like "Seattle, WA just arrived". I've seen those kinds of widgets before and find that it is useless information and just clutters. On top of that, it will seem pretty meaningless when your blog is getting 300 visitors every single day.

You and I would have incredible arguments in real life.

Your blog is very well-written, and clean and easy to read. And I appreciate that you have no ads.

[workinghard]

I agree with Melody but we would not agree in life. Wish you well with your blog. Not with your politics

[ScottK]

Originally Posted by ChickenFreak

Scott, the first time that I tried to load your blog, it took a _long_ time. Do you maybe have some really large graphics?

Hmm, I'm not sure why that would happen. I did have a decent influx of a couple hundred visitors yesterday but certainly the site should be able to handle that. That's actually pretty worrisome to me, but I don't even really know what to check to see what could have caused that problem.

Otherwise, the blog looks good. I disagree with almost every single word you say in it , but you say it clearly and well and with your own voice. It's good.

Thanks.

[ScottK]

Originally Posted by Melody

I dislike your widget which says things like "Seattle, WA just arrived". I've seen those kinds of widgets before and find that it is useless information and just clutters. On top of that, it will seem pretty meaningless when your blog is getting 300 visitors every single day.

Thanks for the input. I happened to see that widget on another site and thought it seemed pretty cool, but that may be just because I am new at blogging. I just thought it would maybe catch the eye of the visitor and cause them to possibly click on it to read what it shows that someone else is reading.

I'm going to think about whether or not I should keep it there.

[ScottK]

Oh and to those who disagree with me (everyone so far? ), thanks for giving me neutral advice on my site.

[ChickenFreak]

Originally Posted by ScottK

That's actually pretty worrisome to me, but I don't even really know what to check to see what could have caused that problem.

You could - I think; it's been a while - wipe your cache so that you have to re-download your own images. I think that that will give you a user's experience of how long they take to download.

[ScottK]

Originally Posted by ChickenFreak

You could - I think; it's been a while - wipe your cache so that you have to re-download your own images. I think that that will give you a user's experience of how long they take to download.

Yea, I will try that. One thing I did do was go to another computer and visit it, but it seemed to load normally.

[ChickenFreak]

It could just have been a network issue on my side, or a momentary problem with your server, then. It just took a loooong time, and then you had those pretty images all over the page when I finally got there, so I thought there might be an issue with the site.