Part of what I did here was be an off-store source of critical reviews.those are important for marketing campaigns, and also help your search ranking when sites are cross-linked and the hits start coming in. We did that for writers, and it is odd that this site (on Google's system) is getting about ten to twenty times the hits of my old site (which was privately hosted).
It pays to be a part of the system, even with an adult content flag limiting your reach.
It is also a sobering fact, once you consider that content guidelines are more strict here. Your site is more visible, but yet your content is more restricted. To be fair, I haven't gotten any warnings or strikes from Google and from what I see on other blogs - this site is really tame and is almost mainstream. It is not what we post that is an issue, it is what we review.
Erotica mainly, but books that are on mainstream stores and have been through another store's submission guideline system. So yes, there is a warning up, but everything we touch has already been through several layers of content guidelines and review systems. Then again, this is all fiction and free speech, and there are freedoms there which should always be respected.
From time to time I think about these things.
But yes, there is this whole alchemy that goes on behind the scenes on how high your page ranks in "search" and I don't profess to know how it works - but I knew some people who were experts on the subject and did that for a living. From what they told me, cross-linking helps. Site age helps. Linking back helps. The more your site is a part of discussions (on blogs or elsewhere), the more traffic you see. It is really "hot or not" and some sort of modern way of a search engine serving as a curator towards your interests and needs - in relation to a subject you wish to see information on.
Mobile especially helps, as the desktop PC is becoming a small player in page views. You have to be mobile-friendly, and this drives a lot of your traffic. Then again, I think that fact came out a couple years ago, so it is probably most all mobile and tablet views at this point.
Which yes, highlights the need I need to get most all of the legacy reviews I have stored away up and back online - they drive hits, and they help authors and writers sell books. The problem is, the old reviews are in an XLS speadsheet format recovered from the old site database - thousands of them many megabytes large - and each one is a huge job to locate the final version of, reformat, check the links, mark as done, and get into something that doesn't look half awful when I post it. No review is lost, though the work it takes to polish one up is a significant task.
But each one I post cross links us, increases search terms found here, and also helps the author of the book be found and sell books. It is a task which lifts all boats, the book's and this site's, so it is something I want to put work into and get done. there is no "us versus them" when you sell books, it is all "can you get your name out there?"
That is what we did, and what I hope to do again.
There is also an issue that many of the books I reviewed are off the store's system, so there are choices to be made on if and how that book's review is preserved on the site. Some I wish to re-publish just because that book made such an impression on me I want those thoughts to be saved and read, even though the book is no longer in print. There are some deeply personal feelings here in some of these reviews.
This "site mistress" thing is sometimes a pain in the ass, as I am sure any BDSM mistress shall tell you. Wash the rubber, put the toys in the dishwasher, clean up, prep, mopping, sanitizing, laundry, oils, whips, storage, and care of all of the things which bring us pleasure is a huge job. Same here.
And I am changing as a writer as well. My interests are different. The world has changed again. My words are a bit more seasoned and skillful. I am still not where I wish to be, but getting closer the more I work at it. I am reading more, and burning down my stacks of self-improvement and grammar books. You can never stop learning, even if it is the things which you already know by heart. and my commitment to rehab, which the end goal is for me to become a regular publisher of books, is on track and I am happy with my progress.
As I said, disappearing for a while was tough, because I get this feeling my readers suffered a loss of trust in me. they should, but in reality I am but one of millions in this game, and I get this feeling I shouldn't really worry about that at all. They only care, "are you back?'
And I am back.
The work continues, and rehab is a lifelong journey.
But there shall be a time to stand, pick a spot on the horizon, and begin the long walk to where I want to be. But all along the way, even in these first uncertain steps, there are things which are worth seeing and writing about. Impatience feeds defeat, so learning to slow down and enjoy the moment becomes a survival skill.
Every fight is not your last, and every struggle is not the end of the world.
And because you are not there yet means you are just on your way.
The day shall come, and when you are there another path shall find its way to you.
And you shall walk again down that road towards the next dream.
It pays to be a part of the system, even with an adult content flag limiting your reach.
It is also a sobering fact, once you consider that content guidelines are more strict here. Your site is more visible, but yet your content is more restricted. To be fair, I haven't gotten any warnings or strikes from Google and from what I see on other blogs - this site is really tame and is almost mainstream. It is not what we post that is an issue, it is what we review.
Erotica mainly, but books that are on mainstream stores and have been through another store's submission guideline system. So yes, there is a warning up, but everything we touch has already been through several layers of content guidelines and review systems. Then again, this is all fiction and free speech, and there are freedoms there which should always be respected.
From time to time I think about these things.
But yes, there is this whole alchemy that goes on behind the scenes on how high your page ranks in "search" and I don't profess to know how it works - but I knew some people who were experts on the subject and did that for a living. From what they told me, cross-linking helps. Site age helps. Linking back helps. The more your site is a part of discussions (on blogs or elsewhere), the more traffic you see. It is really "hot or not" and some sort of modern way of a search engine serving as a curator towards your interests and needs - in relation to a subject you wish to see information on.
Mobile especially helps, as the desktop PC is becoming a small player in page views. You have to be mobile-friendly, and this drives a lot of your traffic. Then again, I think that fact came out a couple years ago, so it is probably most all mobile and tablet views at this point.
Which yes, highlights the need I need to get most all of the legacy reviews I have stored away up and back online - they drive hits, and they help authors and writers sell books. The problem is, the old reviews are in an XLS speadsheet format recovered from the old site database - thousands of them many megabytes large - and each one is a huge job to locate the final version of, reformat, check the links, mark as done, and get into something that doesn't look half awful when I post it. No review is lost, though the work it takes to polish one up is a significant task.
But each one I post cross links us, increases search terms found here, and also helps the author of the book be found and sell books. It is a task which lifts all boats, the book's and this site's, so it is something I want to put work into and get done. there is no "us versus them" when you sell books, it is all "can you get your name out there?"
That is what we did, and what I hope to do again.
There is also an issue that many of the books I reviewed are off the store's system, so there are choices to be made on if and how that book's review is preserved on the site. Some I wish to re-publish just because that book made such an impression on me I want those thoughts to be saved and read, even though the book is no longer in print. There are some deeply personal feelings here in some of these reviews.
This "site mistress" thing is sometimes a pain in the ass, as I am sure any BDSM mistress shall tell you. Wash the rubber, put the toys in the dishwasher, clean up, prep, mopping, sanitizing, laundry, oils, whips, storage, and care of all of the things which bring us pleasure is a huge job. Same here.
And I am changing as a writer as well. My interests are different. The world has changed again. My words are a bit more seasoned and skillful. I am still not where I wish to be, but getting closer the more I work at it. I am reading more, and burning down my stacks of self-improvement and grammar books. You can never stop learning, even if it is the things which you already know by heart. and my commitment to rehab, which the end goal is for me to become a regular publisher of books, is on track and I am happy with my progress.
As I said, disappearing for a while was tough, because I get this feeling my readers suffered a loss of trust in me. they should, but in reality I am but one of millions in this game, and I get this feeling I shouldn't really worry about that at all. They only care, "are you back?'
And I am back.
The work continues, and rehab is a lifelong journey.
But there shall be a time to stand, pick a spot on the horizon, and begin the long walk to where I want to be. But all along the way, even in these first uncertain steps, there are things which are worth seeing and writing about. Impatience feeds defeat, so learning to slow down and enjoy the moment becomes a survival skill.
Every fight is not your last, and every struggle is not the end of the world.
And because you are not there yet means you are just on your way.
The day shall come, and when you are there another path shall find its way to you.
And you shall walk again down that road towards the next dream.
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