Blog Not Needed

So as I keep thinking about all the changes to make this site a better place, something occurred to me, and that’s the name. Its difficult to pronounce, it has absolutely no poetry or interest to me.

As a result, I’m thinking of a new name. DIYSearch has served the site well for the over 11 years it has been around, but now, i think its time.

A prospective name: we.rnot.us (we are not us)

I’m going to be considering this over the next few weeks.

Last night after fixing a weird database connectivity problem to the blog systems, and looking at the Google Analytics for Diysearch, it has dawned on me that we need to re-examine a few things around here. Not that anyone is reading, or cares… this is just here as a way to document the process of re-examination.

What struck me, aside from the flat-line traffic growth, is the huge “bounce rate” as it is called in GA. Basically, that’s the rate at which visitors  “bounce” off the site. Its a staggering 62 percent.

I asked our editor about this, and she had a pretty firm grasp of the problem. Here’s how it breaks down:

1. The home page needs a serious re-design. New visitors have NO IDEA what the site is about, what’s purpose is. This is my bad. I thought the re-design from last year, to make it lighter and simpler, ala Google, was the key, because prior versions were just too cluttered. This doesn’t mean we’ll clutter up the home page, but we’ll come up with a way to make it more inviting, more welcoming, more instructive.
2. We need more content. Plain and simple. After the great purge of last year, we’ve skimmed down the database about 93 percent from its original size. We simply need more links, but that’s not all. It can’t just be about links. I’ve known this all along. There just has to be more utility to the site.
3. More time. If this is ever going to amount to anything, it requires more of my time. That’s probably the toughest thing. What with my hectic day job, going to the gym, this fall we are taking a Japanese language course, spending time with friends, and just relaxing, and all in there i need to figure out a way to budget more time for this.

So, that is it. I sure hope this comes to something.

Anyone want to help?

I know its been forever and a day since I’ve posted. I feel bad about that. But life, work, more life has gotten in the way of this project, yet again. Heh, if some kind soul who loved diysearch, and had a massive amount of money and resources would be kind enough to pay the bill, I’d happily do this as my day job. But alas, that is as likely to happen as I am to become a world renowned theoretical physicist.

I know I was supposed to have finished work on a lot of projects, but those efforts took a seriously back seat to my ridiculously busy job (I run the development/engineering team for a highly visible public website that shall remain namelss).

So, that’s the score. I, like every apologist post, want to get back into making things work around here. Thanks if you are still around.