Later today I’m putting up a poll that I would like my readers to consider seriously.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking lately about my writing career and this website’s place in it. While I certainly enjoy writing in this space and have done so for quite awhile, lately it’s become a case of diminishing returns. The site needs a growth spurt in the worst way!
Granted, I have an Alexa rating that is pretty good, and recently I came across a list compiled by a fellow blogger which would put this humble site in the top 150 or so conservative sites around the country based on Alexa rating. Yes, that’s pretty good for a public-school educated guy from the rural farmland of northwest Ohio, but I think there’s plenty of room for improvement. After all, I have goals like everyone else and I think the best way to achieve them is to grow this website’s prominence.
As regular readers have come to find, I don’t always discuss politics here. What I need to know, though, is whether that’s helping or hurting my cause. Obviously there are some features I’d keep around regardless but I’m curious to know what you, the loyal readers, like best about this site. Maybe it’s time to do some prudent pruning of branches which have become little more than dead wood.
But one thing which I have noticed is that my Alexa rating has remained within a pretty narrow range for several months despite the fact my actual readership has done its usual tapering off over the summer. I guess what could explain this is that everyone else is seeing a dip as well, and that makes sense because more people are outside. Heck, I sometimes find it’s hard to sit down and write when the weather is warm and inviting.
Yet I’d like to increase my readership enough to halve my Alexa rating and safely ensconce myself into the top echelon of conservative websites. Knowing my numbers, I think I see where improvements can be made but that could also be a variable I can’t control – hence my interest in what people prefer to see on my site.
Having toiled as a professional writer for a couple years now, it’s clear that I have at least a little talent for this avocation. But to be a success I think I need a larger platform, and what I’m looking for is direction on how to build it.
