I Saw Something Today I Think is Patently Stupid - Are You Making This Mistake?
First off, without naming names, I'll tell you that this website is in a dying industry.
It's an industry some want to see continue.
It's an industry some people think is vitally important.
It's an industry that some wanted a government bail-out for. (They didn't get it.)
It's an industry that sometimes likes to think it's caught up with the times, but they still don't get it.
Anyway, a couple months ago, I noticed that this website got rid of comments. First, they started by turning off comments on selected articles. Typically, these would be the articles that would generate the most comments.
Maybe they just didn't want the hassle of dealing with comments or whatnot, because sometimes such conversations can degrade into name-calling and "you're a Nazi!" and everything else that happens when a discussion turns ugly.
Okay, fine.
Next, they disabled commenting on all articles.
Bear in mind that this is an industry that relies on advertising for revenue. Fewer eyeballs on a site would seem to be counterproductive. And eliminating commenting would seem to be one way of reducing traffic.
But, whatever.
So, today, I visited the website. Lo, and behold!, they want you to comment on articles again. But they insist on shooting themselves in the foot.
You see, you have a captive audience right in front of you. You've drawn them to your site. You've engaged them with your content. And now they want to join your discussion.
But, instead of having comments on the site, they want you to go to their Facebook page to leave comments.
To clarify, they are not giving you the option to login with your Facebook account to leave a comment on their site (as some sites do).
No, they are asking you to leave their site and leave a comment elsewhere.
When people go to Facebook and click an ad, who is getting that ad revenue? Well, it's not the site that sent them there, is it?
It boggles the mind.
Why, oh why, once you have a user on your site, once you've lured them in, once you've got them itching to participate, why, why, why would you send them off of your site?
Use Facebook to draw people to your site--not the other way around!
No wonder this particular industry is dying. They don't get it!
Or am I the one that doesn't get it? Because I'm just not seeing why I would want to send people away after I've worked hard to get them to my site to begin with, unless I was sending them to an affiliate, CPA or other offer that might generate income for me.
Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
(4 days only!)
Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!
Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
I'm all about that bass.
I'm all about that bass.