blogger in need of opinions

[brewdude15]

Hey there everyone. I recently started a new blog, and message board for Wisconsin Sports fans, simply called Wisconsin Sports Central. Now, I don't know if I'm breaking any rules, here, or if this is considered spamming, but I'd just like to get opinions of fellow sports fans. If I'm breaking any rules, I apologize. Please don't kick me out, or anything. I have no intention of drawing anyone away from this site, as I personally love this site. Most of my stories that I have posted are just articles from various websites, but I do include my opinion in some. For others, there simply is no way to include an opinion. If anyone does check it out, please either PM me with your thoughts, or post here (if this topic doesn't get locked/deleted). Thanks!

 

P.S.: The links are in my signature, but if for some reason they aren't there, they are listed below:

 

Blog - www.wissportscentral.blogspot.com

 

Message Board - www.wissportscentral.topicboards.com

[ewizabeff]

If you're posting articles that you took from somewhere else, it might be a good idea to cite your source.

[brewdude15]

yeah, I have to find out from my journalism teacher how exactly to do that. Once I find out, I'll definately list my sources.

[Katuluu]

You simply write Source: (cite source)

 

Typically you should provide a link to the source material as well.

[brewdude15]

I suppose I could do that, but I was talking about making a special box off to the side (such as the links to other blogs, tags, etc.) for sources.

[danzig6767]

I might be a bad person to give advice given i don't have my own blog, nor do i read any blog on any sort of regular basis.

 

With that said, i checked your blog out. If you are looking for a bunch of traffic and/or any sort of loyal following, no offense, what you're doing very likely isn't going to cut it. The internet already has so many information based sites on sports along with opinion based sites/blogs that if you want people to also visit your blog, you have to provide a reason for them to spend their time to visit it.

 

Basically you need to come up with a niche that makes people want to bookmark your blog to see what you post next and that will be very hard to do given all the stuff already out there. Just posting mostly recaps of sports stories that anyone can already find on a bunch of other places they already visit isn't going to get people to visit your blog.

 

Regardless of the subject, whether it's sports, politics, or say movies, the blogs that generally have a good following seem to be opinion based ones. If you can get people to be interested in your views, then they might come back to see what your opinions are on the big stories as they come out, they aren't going to check in just to read a recap that they can get from the local paper or various other bigger sports sites.

 

Lastly, i'd say don't expect any sort of immediate following even if you can over time manage to create interesting opinions. There are so many sites and blogs out there already that you are that needle in the haystack.

[brewdude15]

I was just about to ask who has actually read/saw the blog/message board...but yeah, I understand that 100%. That's actually really good advice. I try to include my opinion in each article that I post. I really just decided to create a blog to enhance my journalism skills, and have it as something to "have on my journalism resume". I have noticed that I have a few "fans". One is from St. Louis. I've also had viewers from Mesa, AZ, Oakland, and then various places in WI. I'm not exactly sure how to "reel in" viewers, but I think the only thing I can do is try to update it frequently, and support the articles I post with my own opinions. I just got done updating it, and on at least half of the new articles, I gave my opinion. I also listed the sources on stories I got from other websites. I know that my journalism teacher could also give me some really good tips, because he has his own blog on the Packers, and it is very in-depth. He updates it constantly, I guess, and every post is his opinion. He says he gets tons of people.

[danzig6767]

One other thing i didn't mention is if you do want a blog that eventually has lots of traffic, you'll need to get it linked with other blogs. Even though i'm not much of a blog reader, at times i'll read some here and there. Nearly any popular blog i've read has links to other blogs on it, they do this to share traffic. You could end up having brilliant opinions on sports that you post on your blog, but if very few people even know the blog exists, you can't get traffic.

 

Since i don't have a blog, i don't exactly know how you would go about asking other sites if they would be willing to put up a link to yours, maybe it's as simple as emailing them and some will agree? Maybe email some blogs/sites that deal with various Wisconsin sports teams and ask if they want to share links or how you would go about doing so.

 

I also think you might struggle getting hits even if your opinions are good because you aren't talking about a specific team. My guess is that most fans who visit certain sites or blogs do so for a specific team they like whether it's the Brewers, Packers, or say Badgers hockey, moreso than a blog or site that is about every team in the state.

 

There are Brewers sites out there that are thriving. There are a couple Marquette sites that focus just on mens basketball that get tons of traffic. Badger boards/blogs that are very popular. As you probably know, there are quite a few Packer boards/sites with tons of traffic. From my surfing days, i've yet to come across a thrive blog/site that's about all the teams in the state. There might be one, but i haven't seen it.

 

Be confident in your opinions to, sorta bland milk toast views won't get repeat visits. Even if people don't agree with you a lot, your posts and how you present them have to be interesting or you'll get someone to look once and never return. Maybe before you post stuff or as you evaluate the blog, read it and think to yourself, would i bookmark this site and spend my time checking back in quite often if it wasn't my blog, instead it was just a link i clicked on?

 

Enough of my amateur ramblings given i don't have a blog or read them all that much. Good luck with it.

[Katuluu]

I suppose I could do that, but I was talking about making a special box off to the side (such as the links to other blogs, tags, etc.) for sources.

General etiquette is that you site in the post the specific blog post you are citing.

To boost traffic and startup a link exchange you should comment on other blogs, cite sources in your posts (which pingback to other sites) and any sites you like email them to see i they want to exchange links or possibly have them write a post about your site.

[brewdude15]

I have made both a box off to the side for sources, and I am now starting to include the source in my posts. My journalism teacher also mentioned about contacting other blogs and asking for link exchanges. I have been in contact with 2 other blogs (one being my teacher's), but before now, I haven't been able to think of a way to get in contact with blogs with nothing listed. But how would I leave a comment on someone's post regarding exchanging links, without the other person thinking it's spam? And regarding the issue of not talking about a specific team - I actually thought that my blog would be better because it included news and opinions on every Wisconsin team. My guess would be that if someone's a Packers fan, they are also a Brewers, Badgers, Bucks, etc. fan. That's not always the case, but I'm sure it's very common. Seeing as my blog includes information on all of the teams, people don't have to try and find news on all of them, they can just find everything at my blog. I offer the luxury of quick, updated news on major Wisconsin sports teams. I guess you could call that my tagline, or my slogan.

[Katuluu]

Don't ask for link exchanges in any comments you leave. Just find other blogs/sites that you like and make your presence known there. Most places now allow you to link to your blog when you comment, so you will see some traffic from those sites. As you get more well known people that share your opinion will start trickling in through your comments. It is a slow process, but it does work.

 

Any link exchanges you want to do simply email the contact for the site and ask if they would like to exchange links. If they don't know who you are they will probably look through your site and see if they like your content. If they do they will agree, and if they don't they won't. But most places are pretty friendly and happy to add you to their links.

 

I think danzig makes some very good points, neophyte blog reader or not. Your site is going to stand on your opinions so you should make them stand out in any way you can. A very simple way at first to do that would be to italicize any of the content you are citing, that way your opinions are quite easy to find for even a novice reader of your blog. Aggregating the news items is a useful service, but your main competition is going to be from the local newspapers, so you need to find a way to differentiate yourself from them.

 

Also, you don't really need to have a list of sources in your sidebar. You can just provide the link to the specific source in each post when you cite the sources there. That will help trim down your sidebar column, and should lessen your workload for updating.

[istanbultaye]

Also, linking blogs with friends of yours who blog is a good thing to do too. Easy to get permission from friends, even if your blogs don't necessarily match in genre.

[JimH5]

Hey brewdude15. . .I just looked at your blogsite. Good luck with it. . .keep it timely, with regular updates and you'll get readers. It's a good summary of all the top sports stories in the state.

 

I went to your message board, too, and became immediately disinterested when popups (actually popunders) were launched. Ads on the pages are fine, but I'm not a fan of new windows opening up for someone else's benefit.

 

Other than that, just keep writing.

[brewdude15]

I'm not aware that there are popups (or popunders) on the message board. I have never gotten them. I'm not sure about whether or not I'll even keep that going, because the blog itself is already quite the workload, along with school, sports, and other social activities. We'll see how things roll during the summer, when I have even more time to commit to the sites.

[dadofandrew]

Link to several other blogs every day. That's the best way to add readers, other than advertising.

[istanbultaye]

send in your blog to Jim Powell!