poll #1: separate or combine?
Welcome, everyone, to my first-ever poll! I seem to be in a state of evolution, and am seeking the advice of you, my readers.
When I began blogging in early 2009, I posted about whatever I wanted and blended it all into one site. That was fine, as I didn’t have much content back then.
the evolution of a blogger
As time went on and I had enough travel content, I migrated the travel posts over to my travel site and kept my original Blogger blog as a writer’s lifestyle blog.
In 2013, the Chocolatour site was launched to be a hub for my new chocolate travel book, chocolate information, and chocolate tours and events. In some ways, the posts from Chocolatour could go on the travel site; in some ways, they could go on the lifestyle blog, but really, they belong on a separate site which is exclusively devoted to the world of chocolate.
blogging is an evolutionary process
Should I continue to keep the three sites separate, or should all 3 now be combined into one mega site? My gut feeling is to keep them separate.
The reason this is coming to a head is that, until now, I’ve stuck to a publication schedule — posting on the writer’s blog on the 1st and 3rd weeks of the month, and to the travel blog on the 2nd & 4th weeks of the month. But this week, I want to also post a chocolate education post on chocolatour.net as I’ve discovered some new information/insights that I’d like to share with chocolate lovers.
Am I shooting myself in the foot by having 3 separate sites?
If I want to have travel sponsors, it’s good to have an exclusively travel blog. And I’ve noticed that travel bloggers only want to read travel posts, so by keeping the content segregated, I am better serving my readers and making it easier for my supporters.
If I want people in the chocolate industry and chocolate lovers to read my posts, and perhaps find chocolate company/industry sponsors, is it preferable to maintain the separate chocolate-focused site at chocolatour.net and just post there as required (i.e. when new information or events arise?)
And for the writing community, is it preferable to keep the writing/lifestyle related posts separate here at https://chocolatour.net ?
But is having 3 separate sites hurting my SEO and my stats? Am I keeping my stats lower than they may otherwise be because I’ve segmented my content between 3 separate sites?
I’m not hung on stats by any means, but if I do want my sites to help me earn income and increase my opportunities, I need to consider this. But above all, the satisfaction and engagement of my readers is of utmost importance. So please answer the following question in the comments below:
Do you like the fact that my content is segregated into three distinct streams of
Writing/lifestyle
Travel/chocolate travel
Chocolate book and events
OR
Would you prefer/recommend that I establish one mega-site that combines the three threads?
I look forward to your responses, suggestions, and advice. And who knows what the future publication schedule will entail. My future is in YOUR hands …
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create
this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz reply as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know where u
got this from. cheers
Thanks for the positive feedback.
The site banner was professionally designed by a designer. The site’s theme was modified by my web manager. The contact info for both is on the bottom of my homepage.
I say keep the 3 sites as they are to avoid a big jumbled mess. But it’s still up to you. Love your blogs, by the way!
Thanks so much for your positive comment, David. Glad you’re enjoying the content on my blogs. Do subscribe to ensure you don’t miss any new posts!
Hi Doreen – I’m coming down on the side of consolidating all three into one website with three major areas of interest. I think Jon Jefferson’s site where he has short stories and writing issues, beer making; and cooking videos on one site as a good example of this. He doesn’t seem to have any problems with it.. Inevitably you may want to start fiddling with your themes, and the look and feel of the site to keep it fresh; or you will have some kind of technical issue that needs attention or fixing; or you may just find yourself wanting to tweak your sites to make them better in your mind. it seems I do this endlessly on only one site. To have to attend to three separate sites seems overwhelming with little payoff for specialization.
Thx for your input, Larry. Am really not sure what we’re going to do, but I’ve really appreciated hearing everyone’s thoughts. Cheers and Happy Easter/Passover.
No, you are NOT shooting yourself in the foot by having 3 separate sites, for exactly the reasons you write for doing so. Think of it as having 3 different little boutique businesses. You don’t have enough products to be a big department store, and specializing is much more easy to market. My 30+ years of marketing experience have taught me that customers love specialization and it heightens your credibility in that area. But I think that from your own experience you already know this 🙂
Thanks so much for your comment and words of support, Carolyn. I appreciate the affirmation. 🙂
I can certainly see the advantages and disadvantages of combining the three blogs, but I think the most important factor in your decision making should be you. Your instincts are encouraging you not to combine them. I don’t think instincts are random thoughts, they are based on years of experience and knowledge. There may be a point in the future when having one blog works, but if you don’t feel its the right move for now, it seems to me you would know best. 🙂
Thanks, Debra. You always represent the voice of reason so well. I love it when you drop by the blog (this one, and the other blogs, too!) Cheers, and Happy Sunday!
Doreen, I like how you said:
“But above all, the satisfaction and engagement of my readers is of utmost importance.”
I understand your dilemma. It gets so overwhelmingly confusing! Good idea to do a poll and get some feedback.
My 2 cents is to keep them separate. “If you build it they will come”. : )
I sincerely believe if you always keep your readers first and foremost, the rest will follow.
-Kathy
Thanks, Kathy. I do hope you are right. Thx for visiting the blog. Would love to have you subscribe and join us more often. Cheers!
Hi Doreen; I think its important that you are concerned about your readers. I think you are right, you should keep them separate. anna hoffman recently wrote a guest post for harleena sing where she talked about having dedicated readers. she talked about how publishing posts more often lead to higher traffic but also lead to higher bounce rates. I think the same would apply to combining your sites. And if the goal is generating ad revenue then you’ definitely want to keep them separated. thanks for asking our opinion. Take care, Max
Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts, Max. I really appreciate that. I also enjoyed reading about your writing process and challenges in your post about the blog hop!
I came to know about your three sites.
I am new to blogging and do not know much about this. But each site have its own style and reason.
But I do not you feel hard to manage three sites?
If you have one site and have different options or tabs on that ????
But I am also thinking that each site is complete may be it is hard to adjust every detail of each thing on one site.
I have no idea of SEO as I just started in January. I am learning.
I wish you good luck.
Keep them separate but stop killing yourself with your posting schedule. I’ve had as many as 50 sites at one time- I’ve got 4 that are “active” ie they make me money. Sometimes it takes 6 months for me to post to one.
Long ago I realised that a blogger who was posting just for the sake of posting bored me with their content and I’d drop them quite quickly. So long time ago i promised my readers and myself I’d only blog when I had something worth reading.
Hi Lis and thanks for your comment. Believe me, I never run out of things to blog about! So having enough engaging copy isn’t an issue for me. But time management is a concern, an the even bigger concern is what is the best move to better build my brand? All this dialogue has been very helpful, and I’m hoping that my web consultant will come up with the right solution for me. Cheers!
From both a branding and a SEO point of view separate is best. But you don’t need to blog 3 x a week on each – really – this is a bit of an urban myth of blogging.
Thanks for continuing the conversation, Lis.
I can’t imagine blogging 3x/week! I have trouble writing one post every 2 weeks week for each of my 2 major blogs, and only the occasional post for the newest 3rd site.
Well, if having the 3 sites is good for the readers, good for my branding, and doesn’t negatively affect my SEO, I may leave things as they are, and just try and find someone who can update my old hub site for a really reasonable sum. Maybe I can find someone on Fiverr who can do just that!
I’ve really enjoyed all the comments that have come forth. Such a knowledgeable and caring community we have here. 🙂
Like you, I have multiple blogs. I have four and the topics are different enough that I have kept them separate since the beginning. I have no idea about SEO, but I think it makes much more sense. What do YOU think about MY decision?
BLOGS:
Weekend Adventures Update http://www.weekendadventuresupdate.blogspot.com
Travels with Carole http://www.travelswithcarole.blogspot.com
Webcam Traveler http://www.webcamtraveler.blogspot.com
Caught on the Web http://www.caughtontheweb.blogspot.com
Hi Carole: My feelings toward your 4 sites is that they all look alike, and as each has a travel element, I would combine them. You may see them differently, as they are your babies. But for new eyes who had only been to one of your sites previously, I didn’t see any major difference between the four links you have posted. I am certain your SEO would improve if you did that.
Doreen, I’ve read all the advice and know that I have nothing to add so I simply want to wish you well in whatever you decide.
All the best,
Lenie
Thanks, Lenie! Appreciate the good wishes and support.
About SEO. Each page has its own search criteria coded right into it, so SEO will still work effectively on your umbrella site.
Hi Doreen, It is my humble suggestion to keep them separate. Then have an umbrella site called whoisdoreenpendgracs.com and note all your hats and link all your sites to this. It doesn’t have to be a big site, but it needs to link all of “you” together. I’ve started a site like that only recently at estherharrison.net. It’s hosted by my website host. It’s bare bones still, but it’s growing. It’s going to have my professional profile (because I still work secularly), my health journey, blogs and website, my books, my other creative endeavors such as art and YouTube videos. Definitely still a work in progress because I’m a work in progress! 😉 It’s what’s right for me, so you might ask your inner being what is right for you. That will be your final answer! <3
Hi Esther: Yes, my “umbrella site” is at http://www.wizardofwords.net, my original site that was launched 20 years ago. But I’ve been told that the coding behind the scenes is a real mishmash because it was worked on by so many different tech firms over the years. There’s so much content here that I hate to abandon it, yet I’ve been told it would be very $$ to “remodel” it and that I’m best to start from scratch. So maybe your idea will work for me. I’ll definitely keep it in mind as I consult with my tech advisor.
Doreen, I’m of little help to you as my purpose in blogging is different than yours and I’m not at all savvy about SEO and marketing strategies. (For example, I find bloggers who post more than 2 or 3 times per month annoying) I cannot keep up with all the content that spews forth, so I look for quality. I read out of loyalty or because a topic interests me.
I also wonder how the effort required of maintaining 3 sites with scheduled posts is going to affect your overall goals and quality of life. It seems you’re asking a lot of yourself.
All that said, from reading the comments you’ve already received, I suspect that for marketing strategies 3 sites would be best, with links back and forth when crossover of topics happens.
Thx for weighing in, Linda. I really appreciate the loyal readers like you, and that’s why I’ve asked the question on various platforms. So that I’m taking the feelings/needs of my loyal readers into account, and trying to balance that with what’s best for my business/income earning capacity.
I wish blogging was just pure fun for me. For the most part, I really DO enjoy blogging and trying to continually come up with interesting and thought-provoking content. It makes it al worth while when folks comment and share their thoughts back. Cheers!
I like the curren segregated set up as it is directed to the niche market. However experts may have a way of making a mega combined set up also work so you need to consult. All the best
I’m always amazed when people have more than one blog as I have a difficult time keeping up with one. One of the reasons I stopped blogging was because I felt as though my blog had two personalities – for lack of a better way of putting it. My blog was titled Michelle’s Menagerie so I could blog about anything – or so I thought. It turned out animal rescue and travel just didn’t mix well. Your topics are all related so I think whatever seems to be working best for your readers and especially you will work just fine. Good luck!
This is a situation where I think it may pay to outlay some money for a one time consultation with an SEO expert. My inclination would be to suggest that you keep all three blogs. I may be wrong on this, and it might be a question to pose on the Boomer Travel Blogger page, but I think if you content scrape your own writing and you have registered “Google authorship”, you won’t be penalized. I think chocolate is a real niche that could have a very targeted audience to help you rank as high as possible with Google. You can always cross promote posts that are relevant to more than one blog –i.e. a chocolate travel story, with embedded links — again, not a problem if you’re linking to yourself (I think). I see no problem with promoting your book prominently on all three sites because I think it’s relevant to all three. (When you have readers potentially jump to another of your blogs, my inclination would be to not have that page open in a new window so they can back tab to get to what they were originally reading.
Finally, is there a reason you started with “net” as the extension on your blogs (or some of your blogs). I would purchase <> if the domain name is available and then point the nets to the com or vice versa. People are just used to looking for .coms Again, I don’t know how this affects Google ranking—or is it a problem because the site would load slower, etc. As brilliant as we all are 😉 I think this is a big decision and unless it would mean you’d have to buy less chocolate, I would consult an expert. You could probably get recommendations from the Boomer Travel Blog group. Leora Wenger also does blog development and maintenance, but I don’t know how much she deals with SEO issues. Lastly (didn’t I already say that?) the Google god is very fickle, so what works today might be a horrible crime tomorrow.
Lastly, (no, really this time), I just had another monetizing idea for you — sell T-shirts with clever chocolate memes on them. People could buy a book and get a T-shirt or a reduced price on a Tshirt. I think that combo would make a great present for a chocolate lover. And, you can also sell the Tshirts separately.
And that—-is all she wrote. Peace. Out.
A separate question is
Hi Suzanne and thanks for all the ideas! Yes, I think there is definitely a brand ing opportunity for a Chocolatour line of goods. That will be in the works once my book takes off!
Sherryl Perry manages my sites and has a good grasp on SEO and site management. She is looking further into the metrics of my situation.
Re .net extensions: when I was launching my original website in 1994, Wizardofwords.com was taken, so I went with the net. And when I launched the Chocolatour site two years ago, the .com version was also taken so I went with .net. People always seem to find me as I have a pretty comprehensive presence on the net.
When I started my freelance writing biz 20+ years ago, I had no idea where my writing/career would go/take me, so it’s definitely been an evolutionary process!
I think you would be better served by combining the Chocolatour blog and your travel blog into one. It would make since as you travel niche posts almost always revolve around some aspect of chocolate, so it’s more than just a travel blog per se. If you were only writing about locations and things to do it would be a different story. As for keeping Wizard of Words separate, that is indeed a hard call. I’m all about simplifying because I know I tend to make things too complicated. If you brought everything together under one site where the domain is your name it would probably work to strengthen your brand and authority rather than dilute it across three separate sites. In any case, it will be interesting to see where the next leg of your blogging journey takes you.
Thanks for your input, Jeri. I do indeed want and need to strengthen my “brand.” But I also have monetary constraints (that I am hoping to overcome as my ‘brand’ takes off!) so melding the old WOW site (which hosts an assortment of my freelance stories, etc.) is a costly consideration. Will keep you posted!
Doreen,
I think it is a very personal decision. You have to do what feels right for you. I know that the more blogs you have the more split you are in energy and focus.
I can barely handle two; three would put me under!
Combine the lifestyle and chocolate and keep the travel separate
Hi Susanna: If you take a closer look at this blog, you will see it revolves around the WRITER’s lifestyle. It is not a general (consumer’s) lifestyle blog per se. So I don’t believe the chocolate posts fit well here. Unless as others have suggested, all three becomes departments of a mega site. I will definitely be consulting further with my tech advisor to see how and if that will work. Thanks for dropping by!
I’ve just celebrated my 1st blog-adversary and now I’ve also have been advised to have two blogs, rather than combine all my interests on one site. I don’t want my “passion” for writing become a “job.” I don’t do the advertising, since my blog is my baby and I won’t sell something that I gave life too!
You definitely have 3 great subjects that are important to you. So I agree that you should have a splash page and see if this solves your concern about maintaining 3 blogs. In looking at this page, I don’t quickly see your other blogs “shouted out” to me.
Your passion for blogging and the time spent, is something only you can determine. Good luck and I congratulate you for your wonderful writing ability on all 3 blogs.
Thanks so much for your very kind words, Neva. Another vote for the splash page and combining all into one. And with Grace’s suggestion re having a unique URL for each specific post, it hopefully would enable subscribers to zoom in on posts that are of highest interest to them, and only skim (or possibly trash — heaven forbid!) those that aren’t of interest. Cheers!
As all 3 sites have a common thread (chocolate), I would combine them into one site with 3 pages (and even more as you branch out!). You can direct people to the specific url of the relevant page. I certainly am no SEO expert but I believe that by combining them, you will be adding copy on a more regular basis to the whole site and that always helps SEO.
Hi Grace and thanks for your comment. Well, this particular sit doesn’t really have a chocolate focus. It’s primarily about writing and lifestyle, but I guess chocolate is important to many of our lifestyles and most writers do love chocolate, so I think there’s a fit! I think you are definitely right in that by combining the blogs and adding content to the URL more regularly, it will boost my site rankings and improve the SEO. Definitely a worthy consideration. Thanks!
Wow, what a loaded question. I do not envy you. Being new to your site- I was only aware of the chocolate one and didn’t realize you had additional ones. It would seem like consolidating would take a lot of time and effort. It really comes down to – How do you want to spend your time? Reorganizing and consolidating into one website or other things (writing posts, contacting sponsors, etc.)?
If you do keep them separate, a few things I’d suggest is to have a “check out my other two blogs” on the sidebar. Or I don’t know if you can have a “splash page” that introduces yourself and the three blogs. Then it links to each blog, therefore keeping them all separate. That gives two options for finding you: one central location with links and also finding the blogs separately.
I don’t know if any of that made sense or helped. Good luck!
Hi Christina and thanks for your feedback. I actually DO have a hub site (yes, this is a 4th, but my original site( that links to all my social media and blogs. It’s built under the old HTML system and evidently is tedious (and costly) to update as I don’t work with HTML myself. You’ll find that at http://www.wizardofwords.net and will see that it hasn’t been updated for quite sometime. I’ll look into the idea of a “Splash Page” as I hadn’t thought of that and am not sure how it would work. Cheers!
I cant speak for sponsors or seo but you asked what we thought. I would prefer to see separate sites with double exposure of posts that are relevant to more than one
Thanks, Paul. But I do know that Google penalizes you if you have duplicate content on more than one site. So that wouldn’t be an option, but perhaps posting a varied snippet from a longer post onto a sister site (when relevant) might work. Thx!
I don’t know what is the best choice here. Although I enjoy reading all the posts, there may be some value in leaving the topics separate. If your main reason for considering combining is an issue with your posting schedule, maybe it is the schedule you need to re-evaluate (or deviate it from it on occasion).
THX to Donna and Marilyn for suggesting I may wish to ease up on the publication schedule if it becomes too much for me. I think another option may be to post shorter posts on the 2 main blogs at times when I’m posting something on the Chocolatour site.
Why not keep all three sites but not be as strict on your posting schedule?
I don’t envy you on this decision. Certainly there are sites that have different areas of focus within the site- Susans site and Leora’s spring to mind. But In your case I think that I would just keep the two for the moment – I think that the people who read your chocolate /travel blog are used to the two things going hand in glove. Unless you are thinking of writing more posts – heaven forbid! – then it seems logical to split the travel & chocolate dates , not necessarily equally, between the two. I know that doesn’t sounds like much of a change, but I think that if the posts are specifically chocolate targeted, but not travel related , then that does the trick. Try that for a couple of months and if you feel that readers are wandering , then you have your answer. If that’s the case I’d be more inclined to have one big site, because people like me are going to wander between blogs. People are not necessarily interested in one thing. Again, thinking of Leora’s posts, I enjoy both her Web posts & her painting/ photography. I find it handy they are all in the same place. You can make the pages look very different depending on the theme you have, have a different heading title and of course the posts themselves should also look very different too. Unless you have a huge email list for both (subjective numerical value that!) then to split into three I think will potentially weaken your following. As you know I’m no expert, but that’s my view. Happy to chat more privately if you want. (FYI I’m away tomorrow until Monday). wishing you success in whatever you choose.
You raise some good points, A.K. I’ve definitely got more thinking ahead of me! Enjoy your time away. 🙂
Great questions Doreen! I am wondering the same thing about my website. As I am new to this, keep in mind what I’m about to say is strictly my opinion. I’m not an expert at all. My initial answer to your question would be to consolidate to one site and have a tab/page dedicated to each topic on the one site. However, you’ve made some great points about certain people only wanting certain content. If you were to combine the three into one, it seems it would be difficult for people to get only the content they want unless they come directly to the site and click on a tab, because if they subscribe, they’ll get notifications of every single thing you post, not just the specific content they want. With this in mind, it seems that having three separate sites makes sense, especially if you feel it’s not too much of a hassle for you to maintain, which it seems you already have an organized system for doing so.
Hi Latrisha and thanks for your feedback. Yes, that is a concern to me. I know for a fact that the travel bloggers and many readers who travel, aren’t really interested in the metrics and challenges of the writing life. And I don’t want people to think that I’m trying to sell them something, which is why I’ve shied away from Google Ads and blatant marketing. But my chocolate book is creating a new world for me and opening doors to being a keynote speaker at chocolate events and the like. So people that are interested in that may not be equally interested in other things I am writing. Cheers!
This is an excellent question, but unfortunately I’m not sure myself. even though I’ve had a blog for quite a while I’m really just trying to sort it out. I have no set timing for my blogs. For me the blog has turned into an outlet for my personal feelings. But I intend to have a blog pm my website that would be very focused, related to writing/writing business topics that readers would find valuable; a go-to blog for specific information. That sounds like what you’re saying you do, but three times.
I will be interested to hear what others say about this, but whatever you decide I would suggest that you make sure it’s not more than you can handle and that you always enjoy doing what you’re doing. When it becomes hard work and the pleasure isn’t there it may be time to reassess.
Hi Suzanne: Yes, I’m enjoying reading everyone’s feedback. I think this exercise will be most enlightening.
I agree. It’s important to keep the fun in blogging, but I’m also looking at it as an extension of my books and writing business, and therefore should be doing what’s best for biz, as long as it’s not diabolically opposed to what my readers want!
Hello! I enjoy reading your three sites. Each has its own personality and purpose. I’d vote for keeping the three sites, and relaxing the schedule. Post whenever you have something to say!
Hi Shelley, and thanks for your vote of confidence. I, too, prefer the sites to be separate. Regarding a publication schedule, I’ve lost out on a prestigious blogging award because one of the criteria was having a more frequent publication schedule. Even though I blog every 2 weeks on each site, the judges felt that wasn’t often enough to keep my readers sufficiently engaged.
I am certainly not an expert on this, ( just new to blogging)
I would keep the blogs separate:
1. Sounds like you are organized enough to handle 3 blogs – organization is definitely the key.
2. It will allow you to attract your target market by keywords more efficiently.
3. If a topic flows into your other you can always reference it with a link 🙂
4. My opinion, all of your sites are specific and unique enough to stand alone – whether this is favoured by search engines I do not have the expertise to say.
Good luck, sounds like quite the undertaking 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Sandy. I don’t recognize your URL, so am guessing this is your first visit to this site?
Yes, I think the keyword issue is important. I’m already finding that with commun.it. They don’t understand the melding of my streams, and are recommending that I dump the chocolate makers, as many of them have low numbers of followers & aren’t that active on SM. Yet, they are important to me and where I’m going. So many factors to consider …
I found your post in Linkedin, I just joined the discussion group Sharing blogposts 🙂
That’s a hard one Doreen. I can see why you have three sites but that means you have to maintain three sites. It’s just my opinion but why not have one site with three dedicated pages for each subject. It seems to me that would be simpler. 🙂
Hi Susan: That may be the way we decide to go. I’m consulting with Sherryl right now to get her expertise, as she helps manage my sites. So many factors to consider. Thx for weighing in.
I’m not an expert in SEO so i can not answer that part. I don’t like going to sites and seeing a bunch of information jumbled together. I like knowing that I’m going to a travel site and seeing travel related things. So I’m a fan of keeping them separate. But what do i know, i have only been blogging since October.
Thx for sharing your opinion, Jay. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t been blogging for long. You’ve said what you feel and that’s important. Cheers!