Comments on: How to start a food blog, part 2: Design and building an audience http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/ Great eating from the white trash of Asia Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:53:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jessie http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-1868 Jessie Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:06:06 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-1868 Very useful post. I've been trying to drive up my traffic for the past month by submitting to blog carnivals and so forth without much success. I never knew about Tastespotting until I read your post and overnight, my traffic shot up by a good 40% (literally!) Very useful post. I’ve been trying to drive up my traffic for the past month by submitting to blog carnivals and so forth without much success. I never knew about Tastespotting until I read your post and overnight, my traffic shot up by a good 40% (literally!)

]]> By: Measuring web statistics for your food blog - The Last Appetite http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-1666 Measuring web statistics for your food blog - The Last Appetite Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:47:47 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-1666 [...] you’ve read the how to start a food blog, design, and making money posts, the following goals will sound a little [...] [...] you’ve read the how to start a food blog, design, and making money posts, the following goals will sound a little [...]

]]> By: Phil Lees http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-945 Phil Lees Mon, 05 May 2008 12:58:34 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-945 Yep, I've practically removed ads from this site - I earn more from selling my content elsewhere. I don't really want to be another sharecropper in the service of Google. It isn't just the clicks on ads from the tech sites, it is also the more nebulous goals that they tend not to deliver like growth in average time spent on site or proportion of comments left. Phnomenon is still a bit over the top on the ad front, once you start clicking deep into the pages. Yep, I’ve practically removed ads from this site – I earn more from selling my content elsewhere. I don’t really want to be another sharecropper in the service of Google.

It isn’t just the clicks on ads from the tech sites, it is also the more nebulous goals that they tend not to deliver like growth in average time spent on site or proportion of comments left.

Phnomenon is still a bit over the top on the ad front, once you start clicking deep into the pages.

]]> By: Beesknees http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-944 Beesknees Mon, 05 May 2008 12:14:35 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-944 Hi. Just a idea on why you might see no advertising clicks when people come in from tech sites. Geeks tend to know their way round a browser and an ad blocker. I've just been looking at both this site and phnomenon and I haven't seen any ads at all. Or did you take them all off? :) Hi. Just a idea on why you might see no advertising clicks when people come in from tech sites. Geeks tend to know their way round a browser and an ad blocker. I’ve just been looking at both this site and phnomenon and I haven’t seen any ads at all. Or did you take them all off?

:)

]]> By: grocer http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-625 grocer Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:10:33 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-625 why would it be intrusive to preview what you have written before confirming to post a comment? And I agree on the "good post" thing - I believe I did add a little more than that. I was being just a teeny bit facetious. Ed! ya betta watchout! why would it be intrusive to preview what you have written before confirming to post a comment?

And I agree on the “good post” thing – I believe I did add a little more than that. I was being just a teeny bit facetious.

Ed! ya betta watchout!

]]> By: Phil Lees http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-622 Phil Lees Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:10:16 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-622 Robyn - Writing for search engines constitutes a large part of what I do for a living (when I'm not writing about food/travel), but I tend not to concentrate on it too much at either Phnomenon or here because as much as I enjoy it, it often feels like work rather than play, and in some areas it would take a huge amount of work to get to the top of Google. In some areas, it is really easy (e.g. search for "<a href="http://www.google.com.au/search?q=kimchi+jeon" rel="nofollow">kimchi jeon</a>". At the moment, my link sits above Wikipedia's). I don't know how to measure the optimum amount of time to spend on marketing your blog. At work I can have a very concrete measure (e.g. this change to content = this amount more cash) but here, I'm not directly trying to sell anything and I don't care too much if I have 100K hits one day and 1000 the next. I want people who are passionate about food to read my work and enjoy it. The ways that I can measure this are incredibly indirect (e.g. time spent per page; repeat visits; rss subscription - I'll talk about this in part 3). Grocer - Earlier on I learnt by trial and error (and the degree at university helped a little), but now there are a bewildering array of resources out there to help you get going. The SEO guide I link to is the best one that I know to get you started down that path. I think if you're going to make a "Good post!" comment, tell people why you think it's good. Then at least it shows real engagement. I've added a comment preview - I'll test whether people find this intrusive or not. Robyn – Writing for search engines constitutes a large part of what I do for a living (when I’m not writing about food/travel), but I tend not to concentrate on it too much at either Phnomenon or here because as much as I enjoy it, it often feels like work rather than play, and in some areas it would take a huge amount of work to get to the top of Google. In some areas, it is really easy (e.g. search for “kimchi jeon“. At the moment, my link sits above Wikipedia’s). I don’t know how to measure the optimum amount of time to spend on marketing your blog.

At work I can have a very concrete measure (e.g. this change to content = this amount more cash) but here, I’m not directly trying to sell anything and I don’t care too much if I have 100K hits one day and 1000 the next. I want people who are passionate about food to read my work and enjoy it. The ways that I can measure this are incredibly indirect (e.g. time spent per page; repeat visits; rss subscription – I’ll talk about this in part 3).

Grocer – Earlier on I learnt by trial and error (and the degree at university helped a little), but now there are a bewildering array of resources out there to help you get going. The SEO guide I link to is the best one that I know to get you started down that path. I think if you’re going to make a “Good post!” comment, tell people why you think it’s good. Then at least it shows real engagement. I’ve added a comment preview – I’ll test whether people find this intrusive or not.

]]> By: Robyn http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-619 Robyn Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:16:07 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-619 Very useful info, Phil, esp the 'writing for search engines' part. We've been woefully remiss in publicizing the blog - a combo of laziness and just plain not enough time. And after 2.5+ years we are sorely in need of a redesign. Any web designers doing pro bono work out there? :-) Very useful info, Phil, esp the ‘writing for search engines’ part. We’ve been woefully remiss in publicizing the blog – a combo of laziness and just plain not enough time. And after 2.5+ years we are sorely in need of a redesign. Any web designers doing pro bono work out there? :-)

]]> By: grocer http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-617 grocer Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:31:00 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-617 hmmmm. Being an offender of the <I>"“Great post!” and nothing else in the comments"</I> from last week, I now have to find something thoughtful to say, and include a <a href="http://getrealfood.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">hyperlink</a> in the process. Seriously though, this series is panning out to be some of the most practical dialogue I have seen, and I suspect that many of the "gurus" that people have looked to have not provided information like this as clearly or concisely. Having learnt much of it by trial and error (and continuing to do so) I have found a few gem links in here! But more importantly, thank you for taking the time to share your experience and knowledge to coach a broader group in something at a time when perhaps some journalists (and I don't want to start another debate) might be anxious at anyone becoming more adept at blogging! Another thing important in blog design and lay out is usability for the reader. Some blogs are an effort to find the information and they're the ones I don't go back to. I also like a preview button on the comments - it's hard to review my comments in this little panel. hmmmm.
Being an offender of the ““Great post!” and nothing else in the comments” from last week, I now have to find something thoughtful to say, and include a hyperlink in the process.

Seriously though, this series is panning out to be some of the most practical dialogue I have seen, and I suspect that many of the “gurus” that people have looked to have not provided information like this as clearly or concisely.

Having learnt much of it by trial and error (and continuing to do so) I have found a few gem links in here! But more importantly, thank you for taking the time to share your experience and knowledge to coach a broader group in something at a time when perhaps some journalists (and I don’t want to start another debate) might be anxious at anyone becoming more adept at blogging!

Another thing important in blog design and lay out is usability for the reader. Some blogs are an effort to find the information and they’re the ones I don’t go back to. I also like a preview button on the comments – it’s hard to review my comments in this little panel.

]]> By: How to start a food blog » The Last Appetite http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-616 How to start a food blog » The Last Appetite Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:16:50 +0000 http://www.lastappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog-part-2-design-and-building-an-audience/#comment-616 [...] tagged posts How to start a food blog, part 2: Design and building an audience, I can't believe it's not Chợ Bến Thành ™, Sausage Fancier, The possibility of a [...] [...] tagged posts How to start a food blog, part 2: Design and building an audience, I can’t believe it’s not Chợ Bến Thành ™, Sausage Fancier, The possibility of a [...]

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