A Thorn in My Side

Posted on Apr 3, 2008 in Writing |

By all accounts, I was certain that moving my blog over to WordPress and onto my own domain was the right thing to do. Many (if not all) online marketers lately are preaching the personal branding… so what better than to move it over, right?

I’ve noticed since the move that my RSS subscriber numbers have dramatically dropped. At first I thought that this was just FeedBurner asleep at the wheel again, but now I’m not so sure. Google Analytics shows a pretty significant drop in visitors as well, but I see today that it’s actually picking back up a bit. My Entrecard point price for an ad has gone from in the 50s range down to 18 today.

In the words of Grant Wilson, what the frig? I’m still writing the same content, if not better with the random addition of videos. Is this just a curve that will pick back up again once people get acclimated to the new site? I can’t imagine that the design is affecting subscribers since they never have to see the design, or visitors since they don’t see the design until they get here. The average time visitors spend on the site is slowing moving up, so I don’t think the design is a factor.

Am I missing the obvious? I’ve received good feedback from some people in the industry that I really respect. I respect their opinions based on my interactions with them via social media and also based on their reputations and the collection of work they’ve amassed in the blogosphere and online marketing. So what gives?