A recent conversation with a fellow blogger brought up the topic of “starting over” and the amount of blogs that we’ve both started.
So here’s the official count: ChurchCrunch is the 23rd blog that I’ve ever had.
I’ve since created an additional 2 since then (which says something). This does not include all the start/stops that I’ve had with random ones, but are ones that I actually put time into and that had content. If the ones that were completely bogus were included, it would probably be closer to 50… or 60… or 70…
So, I’ve learned a few things, and here are a few things that I wish I had learned earlier and/or had never really took into consideration until it was a little too late.
Category Mess
It took me forever to figure out that my categories were a gosh-darn mess. I’d create a new category for every single post that I published.
Lame.
It finally dawned on me that starting with clear category trees in mind really help content development, navigation, and future heart ache when I didn’t have to re-categorize 1,000’s of posts.
So, if I had to do it all over again, I’d make sure that my category tree was mapped out before I started.
Design Updates and Changes
I’ve come to the conclusion that committing to a design is just as important as creating a kick butt one to begin with. I’m naturally tempted to change it up every single week.
Not healthy.
Design changes, updates, branding changes, etc… these all need to be taken into consideration and impact greatly one’s blog.
Create, sit, and appreciate.
Plugin Choices and Compatibility
There is no blog out there that comes in an all-in-wonder package; obviously you’ll be adding some plugins for added functionality, etc.
One of the things that I did not take to heart (until recently) is making sure that my plugins that I choose to install were absolutely necessary and to be extremely critical in my decisions.
Plugins add nice features, but most of them are just “bling” and do really nothing for your site except add weight, bloat the site, and decrease load time because of additonal mySQL queries and CSS styling.
Also, even for ChurchCrunch, a design change in the 2nd revision killed my WP-Stats plugin… and I didn’t figure this out til about 3 months later.
Uber lame.
So, I killed it entirely and now I don’t even use that plugin (it was heavy anyways). A compatibility check is crucial.
Content Coverage and Specificity
A lot of my blogs lost major interest and steam because I would have no clear content focus or intent for what I wanted to cover. It’s not that blogs that have no focus don’t work; they do. But, I figured out much later that talking about “web technology” on one post and then “how my hot dog didn’t have enough mustard” on the next really didn’t work out so well.
When I create new blogs (or if I do) content coverage and specificity will be at the top of my list. I even pare it down on this blog as well as I better understand the community, my passions and interests, and what “works.”
Going off-topic can work, but not if you’re intent is greater than sharing your daily meals.
The Domain Name Question
I think a lot of my blogs that sucked had a lot to do with a terrible name. If I had to do it all over, I would seriously spend more than 5 minutes on the naming choice.
Take this one seriously and marinate on it for a while.
[Image from Santiago, ThomasHawk]
mark says
I loved this post – Spot on. My blog has been going for about 5 yeras now and it has had some major design overhauls. The avearage duration a theme lasts is about 3-6 months and even thn i am constantly tweaking it.
I lioked th point about plugins too. I have a small folder of standard plugins i lik to use on anysite i create but i realise tha maybe i should be re-thinkin my perception on what the "must-haves" really are.
human3rror says
Seriously. there are tons of GREAT plugins out there.. but only a handful (honestly) are of any value.
Ancoti says
Good advice. I have a buddy working on a redesign so I am waiting to see my new look. Category mess, yikes that ios me in capital letters. But I dread going back and cleaning it up, and each post makes the problem worse.
Just for the record, no one cares if your hotdog has enough mustard. But whether mine does is a matter of vital national interest and should be blogged about.
human3rror says
… mine does though!
Brian Alexander says
I have learned those things as well. I think i've gotten to the point that I understand it all, but I still don't have the traffic or response that I would like.
human3rror says
not yet…
Kevin_Martineau says
Excellent post as usual John! I will let these thoughts marinate now …
Dawn Pedersen says
A lot of very good points there. I started my second blog three months ago (blulob.com), and I've alreaqdy gone through many design and plugin tweaks. I am finally zeroing in on the best stuff, and paring out the "bling" as you say. I have also told myself to keep the category list lean and easy to navigate.
human3rror says
Wow!
I'm digging your blog. Very cool stuff there. good luck with the changes..! and i love the name. perhaps when you “quote” your website, it'll be helpful to capitalize: “BluLob.com”
🙂
Lon says
great post, i'm no real techie, and i've used wordpress for over a dozen sites, and i wish i had the time to do them all over again. great tips… the specificity one is challenging when you're starting out and trying to gain traction i think… multiple blogs sometimes seems like you're spreading things thin… how counter intuitive
human3rror says
yeah. spreading thin isn't a great tactic… but people do it all the time. start focused…! then build!