Which direction to take blog?

7 replies
Hi everyone,

I'm enjoying working on my blog grademusictutors.blogspot.com and providing info I know (music , esp learning the piano) for people to read as that's the basis of a successful online business. The dilemma is: do I go on providing tips on learning piano and other instruments (the 'niche' if you like), or do I become a resource centre and cater to a broader variety of people by having information on concerts, buying instruments and other music matters? The reason I ask is because I get excited at providing info that could be of use to someone out there reading, even if it is not directly related to learning an instrument.
Also, would adding things like ebooks and videos distract from the main content?

Thanks

Ugo
#blog #direction
  • Profile picture of the author vortrail
    Further to the first post, I was looking for genera feedback as to where it could be improved. The main income is adsense with Amazon affiliates.
    From seeing the posts here, here's a lot of talk about niche markets and was thinking whether the topics (music for those who haven't visited it) are niche enough to be found on Google?
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  • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
    Personally, I would provide as much information as possible and still stay relevant to the topic.

    If you can provide information on which instruments to buy - then do it.

    As an example, take a look at yahoo news- they provide news on all different types of topics. Its not like they focus "just" on political news, they cover everything from health news, to world news.
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  • Profile picture of the author vortrail
    Thanks. I'm thinking of using videos to spice it up. How long did it take you or others before you were getting clicks on adsense? A year? I've had 67 visitors in 1 day, so I know something is working, but no clicks.
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  • Profile picture of the author raycowie
    I totally agree with Kev. You don't want people who are expecting to read about learning an instrument to have to plough through a load of stuff about concerts and such like. Also, if you are hoping to make money with AdSense then you'd have all kinds of ads on your site and end up with none being clicked. Stick to what you know best and be enthusuastic about it. Good luck...
    Ray
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    Before you can become unstoppable, you have to get started!


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  • Profile picture of the author ninjawarrior
    Sounds to me like you're curious to take your interest from its humble beginnings and explore what "next level" there may be for you.

    The part about providing tips on learning piano and other instruments (the 'niche' if you like) is your interest going deeper.

    The other part about becoming a resource centre and catering to a broader variety of people by having information on concerts, buying instruments and other music matters is your interest going broader.

    You seem to be interested going both deep and broad, so go both ways. Then simply stop if you feel getting too stretched in one direction more than the other. From there just refocus and decide which way you'd rather go.

    You'll figure it out.

    Ebooks and videos would help if you designed them specifically not to detract from the content you're trying to provide. You get to decide all that too.
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    • Profile picture of the author vortrail
      Thanks for the tips everyone. The main goal is now traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author vortrail
    Further to last week, I've been checking analytics and saw the following stats (from 12 June to 12 July). This might also be helpful for others starting out trying to make a successful blog:

    Visits

    100
    % of Site Total: 100.00%

    Pages/Visit The average number of pages viewed during a visit to your site. Repeated views of a single page are counted.

    Pages/Visit

    2.59
    Site Avg: 2.59 (0.00%)


    Avg. Time on Site

    00:08:39
    Site Avg: 00:08:39 (0.00%)


    % New Visits

    78.00%
    Site Avg: 78.00% (0.00%)

    • 78 Absolute Unique Visitors
    • 259 Pageviews
    • 55.00% Bounce Rate
    • Unique Pageviews: 141


    The blog's been online since Jan, but am not sure if these stats are normal/below ave etc. I took note of the ave time on site since the basis of a good site/blog is its content and I guess people must be reading, but not clicking.

    How much time do any of you spend backlinking vs content writing? It might give me an idea how best to divide my time and rev things up in one direction more than the other.
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