Kabitzin on May 5, 2006 · in Blogging Tips

It’s so strange to me that Sea Slugs! is one of the older anime blogs out there, seeing as it seems like just yesterday we were amalgamating posts on Blogger and begging Jeff Lawson for a link on his original anime blog. While it’s not like I’ve been around the scene forever or anything, one thing I have noticed is the cyclical nature in the introduction/death of anime blogs. Which got me to thinking a lot about tj han’s excellent post (regarding Jason’s mini-rant) on Blogsuki and tips on getting your blog some attention.

On RSS Aggregators

I love Blogsuki, and I think Blogsuki and the AB Antennae are wonderful resources for readers. Blogrolls are great and all, but there is one reason I especially favor RSS aggregators: if someone doesn’t post, they won’t get a link. When I see a blogroll with 999999999 links, most of which are dead, it turns me off of visiting any of the links in the blogroll. The downside of aggregators is they can be flooded, especially when a lot of new sites start up and you get that initial burst of creative energy. Really, with the exception of Omni (who probably has alien superpowers), how many of us can really maintain the pace of 5 well-written, extensive episode reviews/summaries a day?

My point is, the reality is that the majority of new blogs die, and die quickly. Of those that survive, however, most really pick up in quality as the writer discovers his/her personal style and grinds posts to level up. So is there any point in limiting registration to an aggregator, aside from stemming the occasional spike in posts? Even the spikes can be a record of a show’s popularity, a zeitgeist if you will. On the other hand, I can definitely see the point in limiting registrations to (for example) one week every month, just to avoid bloating the aggregator with sites that flame out faster than Jay Williams.

On Getting Some Love from the Readers

tj han includes some questions for reflection, and many of them are excellent questions to think about when trying to increase traffic.

• Does my blog have an interesting name?
  • I think an interesting and/or informative name can help, but really any name that is easy to remember will probably do you just fine. The only things I’d shy away from are overly generic names (e.g. My Anime Blog) and really long titles that are difficult to remember. I don’t think the title of the page is that important, since if your site is awesome, you could name your site Cinnamon Ass and people would still visit regularly.
• Is the layout pleasing to read and instantly recognizable?
  • I thought about this a little during the last layout change. Back in the day, I really cared about making Sea Slugs! look unique. Unfortunately, the reason why people all use themes like K2 is because those themes are slick and easy to maintain. As much as I would like to have Sea Slugs! look like no other anime blog out there, I’d rather have the blog be practical and easy to maintain. I think there is a certain level of loveliness that a site should have, but beyond that the returns diminish rather quickly. Besides, I’d rather be making fun of GSD than futzing with code all day.
• Do I update often?
  • It’s better to update once a week with something good than force yourself to just churn out summaries. I’ve seen so many blogs go under as the author gets burned out from self-imposed quotas for posting. When you have fun posting, readers have fun reading. Of course, if you are trying to build readership, you probably have to post at least once or twice a week.
• Do I post stuff that nobody else is posting about?
  • This can actually be a double-edged sword. If no one else is posting about it, it could be because no one is interested in the series. The other thing to consider is, just because everyone starts out blogging a series doesn’t mean everyone will finish it. How many people posted about Mai Otome episode 1? Now how many people actually hung on to the bitter end and posted about the last episode? Also, if you don’t write episode-centric posts, there is no reason to avoid popular series. The one thing to be aware of with well-covered series, however, is that you will often get discouraged and you will always feel the pressure to be one of the first people to post about an episode.
• Use of Images
  • I’m too lazy to put look for pretty pictures to put at the top of my rants and essays, but I like when other people do it. There are lots of thoughts on how many caps to use, but as long as you don’t have them all load on the front page, it probably isn’t a big deal. Just, for everyone’s sake, hard-set the height and width attributes of your img tags!
• Timing of Posts
  • I don’t think the time of day really matters that much for posting, but what does matter is what day you post on. This is especially true for blogs that post more than a few times a week. If a whole bunch of episodes are released on the same day, I will usually post on the more popular series on the days that there are more visitors, and leave the less popular series for the other days. It’s also a good idea to avoid the episode’s “rush hour” by either getting the post out right after the episode is released, or else waiting a few days before posting about the episode. Keep in mind, not everyone will be on the cutting edge (so to speak) of anime releases, and hopefully many of your visitors will make use of your archives, which negates the importance of timing.
• Do my posts give readers a different viewpoint on a particular topic/episode?
  • This is one of the hardest things to do (especially when discussing popular series), but this is the one that gets you loyal readers. The author’s voice is, to me, the most important part of the blog. It’s like defense; your constant updates, super-fast posting speed, and willingness to drop in a million screencaps might not always be there, but a strongly recognizable style will keep your readers coming back, even if you kill your original blog before changing the blog name and URL.
  • As an aside, I often remember sites by their author, and not by their title. For instance, rather than wonder to myself if Hontou Ni Sou Omou or Sama Zama have updated recently, I wonder to myself if Zyl or Saria have mocked anyone recently.

And Some Other Tips

• Comment whore like crazy: Comments are the lifeblood of a blog, and it’s what keeps many authors going. Yeah yeah, good community and deep discussion is all well and good, but we all love to be flattered with lots of comments in our posts. I mean, do you really think that Ender isn’t secretly pleased as punch that his last Gundam Seed Destiny post generates more comments than Kungfucius and I get in a whole week? Do you think that the fact that 85% of those comments are incoherent rants in all caps bothers him? Believe it or not, I make a point of regularly going to every site in our blogroll in order to comment whore. I even make the mistake of clicking every URL left in a comment on our site. Flattery will get you everywhere, and when your site gets mentioned in a popular post, you’ll be reaping the sweet rewards.
• Do whatever you need to do to get on Blogsuki: That site generates mad traffic, and it’s so easy to use. Jason claims to have closed registration for the moment, but if you sent him a picture of your hot little sister dressed up like Shana and eating melon pan, do you think he’d deny you? You’d probably even get the highlight treatment.
• Facilitate discussion: Check out あいとゆうきのおとぎばなし for some more specific tips about this. In addition to making life a lot easier for comment whores, you’ll be pleasing the regular people in your audience who want to add to what you’ve written.
• Don’t be afraid of the episode-by-episode format: Especially if you can write kick-ass summaries/essays like Memento and Mentar, Omni, or KT Kore. It still works if you can consistently bring something to the table.
• Make lists or polls: It’s ok to sell out once in a while. Or even more if necessary. Everyone loves lists and polls.