Over the past several months I've noticed that the Internet is slowly and methodically being taken over by retail, wholesale, storefront, manufacturer and publisher websites-all of which are attempting to sell their products.
And that's good. It's good because a company-any company-can only survive if it sells its product or service.
More and more commentaries, research and review sites and the like are slowly getting pushed off websites and are shifting to blogs, Facebook and other forms of social media.
Computers are no longer the sole proprietors of the Internet. Cellphones, tablets and other devices ply the Web just as easily, and sometimes faster, than desktop or laptop computers.
My website was getting lost in the shuffle. And another curious thing--my blog traffic was slowly overtaking my website traffic.
I may not be the brightest bulb in the pack but it doesn't take a sledgehammer to my head to convince me that I need to change my review strategy.
So, after much deliberation, soul-searching and nail-biting I decided to bite the bullet and ditch my website.
It wasn't easy-it had been like a child of mine for a long time. Separation was difficult and anxiety set in.
Nonetheless my website is now history and I'm anxious to move on with my blog-for a lot of reasons.
One: I'm longer have to dedicate one computer to store my website files on in order to FTP my files to an outside server.
Two: My blog archives ALL of my past reviews-literally hundreds of them. Categories are easily accessible to anyone--by type and year and month posted.
Three: I still can post a boatload of photos, make text hyperlinks and label each review in a certain category.
Four: I can change the blog's look: design, color and text any time I choose.
Five: Demographic tracking is a breeze. I not only can track my traffic numbers but where the traffic is coming from and through what web search machines. This allows me to see what reviews are the most popular and where I need to more more effort into.
Six: I can join blog communities, write commentaries and generate more viewers through online ads, discussion groups and so forth.
I've also started a Facebook page that lets me hyperlink my blog review so I have even more traffic.
Conclusion: It's a sure fire winner! How can I loose? I get more traffic, flexibility, archiving, viewer interaction and feedback.
I am excited what the future holds in store for Boyce McClain's Collectors' Corner.