Response: “Thoughts on writing timeless blog posts and post bylines”

This post is in response to “Thoughts on writing timeless blog posts and post bylines” by Marko Saric from howtomakemyblog.com. In this post he discusses the merits of having the blog byline and date just underneath the blog post. I agree with him about having the date and byline at the end of the post, this is a good idea. His reasons can be boiled down to the following:

Having a highly visible date on blog posts will encourage future visitors to navigate away, thinking that the information they found is outdated. Whereas, if the blog post is in fact timeless, the visitor will miss out on the value you have provided.

I do however disagree with the following Marko said:

“My other blogging concept is not to chase page views. I do not sell banner ads on cost per thousand (CPM) impressions while it is the preferred method of blog monetization for many of the biggest blogs.

This is why they must write daily and report on all the happenings around so they can keep you visiting and keep the page view count high, so they can sell as many banner ads as possible.

These two things, writing timeless articles and not having to focus on producing new content constantly as I do not depend on page views, give me freedom to focus on some older articles and have them as sticky posts on my front page, for example.”

Continue To Build Upon The Success You Have Earned

Granted, if you are not selling banner ads on the cost per thousand (cpm) impressions, then you do not need to unnecessarily drive up the number of page views to make more money. However, you should be consistently creating new unique content for a blog that already has a dedicated audience. Today in blogging it is hard enough to get your foot in the door, once you have one foot in the door you need to rip the door open and walk in.

I am a big fan of Marko’s site on how to make a blog. I often return to his site looking for more advice and wisdom on how to go about getting my blog kickstarted. However, after reading almost every post in his blog I get the following feelings:

Some of the advice he provides is outdated. Especially some advice about different plugins for Wordpress, since I can tell that he is using some different plugins now. If this is outdated, then what about other advice?
Since seeing some success, he is not as devoted to the topic of how to make a blog. If he is not as devoted, then why should I continue to visit his site

The Way In Which You Should Chase Page Views

I think there is a good way to chase page views once you have experienced some success. You simply chase the page views by continuing to make blog posts about your niche specific subject matter. If you are in a bind on what kind of blog posts to write, then maybe the following list of ideas can help:

Interviews of important or semi-important people in your niche. A good place to start would be other bloggers or podcasters that you pay attention to.
Product reviews… Yes I know these may end up looking like you are selling out, but if there is a product that you use and love, tell others. We are out here looking for recommendations, make some. Also, if they have an affiliate program sign up for it and maybe you make a couple of bucks.
Look at your blog comments for post ideas.
Look to make response blog posts like this one. If you like a blog and happen to disagree with part of their post, let them know. This is how we all get better.

Creating More Valuable Content Is Always Good

Do this, and you will eventually bring in sufficient readers to you blog. With sufficient readers, you will be able to make money (if you want). You just need to figure out how and get started!