Eljon, all I can say is good luck. I had a website for about four years and like you, I did all kinds of tweaks. I started on Wix then moved to a Wordpress based site. I did all kinds of re-structuring, changing themes, changing layouts and fonts, etc. In the end it made no difference to the traffic.—it just wasted my time keeping things up to date and trying to manage glitches. My new theme created a double H1 heading for the whole site and it was flagged by Google as spam. Then came to Google updates and AI content that caused most travel sites to tank. So I shut down the website and just use Substack to display my content. Could I start over—of course. Do I want to? Nope. Substack serves it purpose of sharing content, gaining a subscriber base and inter-acting with people who appreciate my work. I will add that I do have SEO set up for it as well so anyone outside of Substack can find my articles if they need to.
Hi Laura, I appreciate this comment. 🙂 Definitely serves as my reminder to double-check tags and important details when migrating a website/theme. And when it comes to Google updates demolishing travel blog traffic, I’m the one you can count on who will never forget. I’ve come from 30,000 monthly page views to 2,000 overnight. It’s unfortunate that a monopoly controls much of the internet right now, although these changes aren’t mainly for Google. I’d like to consider these as an expression of creativity and to establish some kind of identity. Designing websites is kinda my hobby too 🙂🙂 Visuals don’t really move the needle much when it comes to building a brand, but I believe it can help when built with great content. Honestly, sometimes I wish Substack was as flexible as WordPress. I love the community here. But I need the scalability and technical functions which WordPress only offers.
On the plus side, Substack has been moving in the right direction over the last few years. A lot more flexibility options than there were two years ago when I started. The template option is great.
Yes. I’m also using templates too! Things are indeed going in the right direction for Substack. A page builder next, and it’ll be nearly as useful as WordPress.
For now, I’m keeping both platforms. I think it’s a good idea to have a corner on the internet where I can be the sole owner of my content. Like, I was subscribed to Thomas Ledé just this year, and I noticed he stopped sending newsletters, and the reason was his account was taken down by Substack. It’s a shame because I really liked his posts about philosophy.
True. There's that. My problem is that I write in different genres, so I would need more than one website to publish on. I don't think I have the energy to manage more than one. I already need to consider an author site for my fiction work. so separate sites for travel and midlife just seem like too much work.
By keeping my content on substack, I know my growth will be slower but I will gain a more interactive audience across all topics..
Yes, that seems like a great, sustainable approach! By putting people first and building an audience gradually, we can create something truly special. Whatever path we choose, we’ll keep working on what makes us happy. Wishing us all the best! 🙂
Exactly. Just because I'm retired doesn't mean I want to spend all my time managing a website. Living and enjoying life takes priority. Being able to write about it gives me joy. And that's good enough for me.
Eljon, all I can say is good luck. I had a website for about four years and like you, I did all kinds of tweaks. I started on Wix then moved to a Wordpress based site. I did all kinds of re-structuring, changing themes, changing layouts and fonts, etc. In the end it made no difference to the traffic.—it just wasted my time keeping things up to date and trying to manage glitches. My new theme created a double H1 heading for the whole site and it was flagged by Google as spam. Then came to Google updates and AI content that caused most travel sites to tank. So I shut down the website and just use Substack to display my content. Could I start over—of course. Do I want to? Nope. Substack serves it purpose of sharing content, gaining a subscriber base and inter-acting with people who appreciate my work. I will add that I do have SEO set up for it as well so anyone outside of Substack can find my articles if they need to.
Hi Laura, I appreciate this comment. 🙂 Definitely serves as my reminder to double-check tags and important details when migrating a website/theme. And when it comes to Google updates demolishing travel blog traffic, I’m the one you can count on who will never forget. I’ve come from 30,000 monthly page views to 2,000 overnight. It’s unfortunate that a monopoly controls much of the internet right now, although these changes aren’t mainly for Google. I’d like to consider these as an expression of creativity and to establish some kind of identity. Designing websites is kinda my hobby too 🙂🙂 Visuals don’t really move the needle much when it comes to building a brand, but I believe it can help when built with great content. Honestly, sometimes I wish Substack was as flexible as WordPress. I love the community here. But I need the scalability and technical functions which WordPress only offers.
On the plus side, Substack has been moving in the right direction over the last few years. A lot more flexibility options than there were two years ago when I started. The template option is great.
Yes. I’m also using templates too! Things are indeed going in the right direction for Substack. A page builder next, and it’ll be nearly as useful as WordPress.
For now, I’m keeping both platforms. I think it’s a good idea to have a corner on the internet where I can be the sole owner of my content. Like, I was subscribed to Thomas Ledé just this year, and I noticed he stopped sending newsletters, and the reason was his account was taken down by Substack. It’s a shame because I really liked his posts about philosophy.
True. There's that. My problem is that I write in different genres, so I would need more than one website to publish on. I don't think I have the energy to manage more than one. I already need to consider an author site for my fiction work. so separate sites for travel and midlife just seem like too much work.
By keeping my content on substack, I know my growth will be slower but I will gain a more interactive audience across all topics..
Yes, that seems like a great, sustainable approach! By putting people first and building an audience gradually, we can create something truly special. Whatever path we choose, we’ll keep working on what makes us happy. Wishing us all the best! 🙂
Exactly. Just because I'm retired doesn't mean I want to spend all my time managing a website. Living and enjoying life takes priority. Being able to write about it gives me joy. And that's good enough for me.