Most of the incoming links from websites and searches fall into a few categories on my site. I can see what sticks and what doesn't. Here are only the popular categories that I've derived. If you've been to other popular blogs you'll know they only write specific types of articles over and over. I think these categories fit what people making music are really looking for.
- Reviews & Comparisons / Being told what to buy
- Tutorials / DIY
- Free Content
- Pictures, Lists, & Oddities
- News
New people to the site are looking for real answers that transforms their audio life. They want to be told what to buy. They need tutorials in order to learn. They want free things and sometimes they just want to be entertained or inspired. They are just dreaming about making music.
Obviously these categories don't cover all my content. I write opinion pieces. I make joke posts. I write about the music industry and make predictions. I write about art sometimes. Nobody is linking to those articles as much. When you total up the popular posts I've come to this conclusion: Nobody cares about your opinion. What do you mean nobody cares about my opinion? Reviews and comparisons are one of the popular categories! I think the most important thing to know is that when reviewing gear you are subconsciously making a comparison to other things you've used. You can also quantify the features and compare them. These real things not based on opinion, but experience or data.
I have forgotten that people are concerned with aesthetics. Thats why I've had to remind myself to include images in the posts for thumbnails. People want to click on them for some reason. Sites like Tumblr exist only because their users are concerned purely with aesthetics. There is little original content on these sites, and its all someone else's work. Thats how they make it look easy. I do create my own tutorials, articles, sound packs and music so I'm offering more than just a site. Sometimes I find things on the web and group them in a useful way. Actually reading and interpreting what is out there is a service and I end up with original posts. This article required brainwork. Sometimes pictures are helpful. It would be stupid not to include images in blog posts.
For the most part I'm going to concentrate on these types of posts. They are "link bait" but if thats what people are actively searching for, its those things that will help them out the most. I will continue to update and improve the site, and hopefully it will become more useful and more beautiful.
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