However, I recently came to the conclusion that blogging is NOT the best method to disseminate ideas and information.
Very much related to my last series, I believe that Facebook "Like" pages are a better online medium to discuss and share ideas with others.
While I won't be taking this down entirely, I'd like to share a little insight into this blog's "exposure" level and compare that to the benefits of my recently created Facebook page.
Below is the traffic data for the entire duration of this blog's existence.
Sometime fairly recently I hit the 1000 views marker.
While not that great of an exposure level, an advantage of Facebook "Like" pages is that you have greater control over who views your content and how they come across it.
But first, I don't mean that in the privacy sense.
Here's what I mean...
Below are the top search keywords used to get to my blog since its inception:
As you can see, a considerable amount of my all-time blog traffic has come from individuals interested in getting a particular image.
(i.e. facebook logo, classic google logo, antisec car decals, etc)
Below you'll see the top search keywords for this past month:
Below you'll see the top search keywords for this past month:
Same story.
Unfortunately, you can't break it down by specific months.
Unfortunately, you can't break it down by specific months.
Nonetheless, a good deal of my blog traffic has been from the standard image search query.
If I were to break it down month-by-month, one would see bar charts that essentially look like the above chart except with different image queries.
While I don't mind this at all, some bloggers might be disappointed that a decent amount of their traffic comes from people simply looking for related images and not related, written content.
With that, it's evident that blogging does not allow bloggers total control over who comes across their content AND how they come across it.
This is not the case for Facebook "Like" pages, however.
Recently, I created a Facebook page called "Wind Frontiers" to share information, innovations, and intelligence on wind energy.
Recently, I created a Facebook page called "Wind Frontiers" to share information, innovations, and intelligence on wind energy.
Below is the cover image I thought of (but did not entirely create).
Did you know: The above cover image is actually made of 3 separate photos.
The third photo is the dust bowl farmer below, except size reduced and integrated into the dust bowl farm's landscape.
^Big thanks to Marcy for making the cover image happen^
(She has better graphic design skills than me)
(She has better graphic design skills than me)
In any case, with Wind Frontiers I'll be able to directly reach participants within the energy industry to share ideas, innovations, and general wind energy intelligence.
Had I created another blog or simply blogged on the subject here, it would be entirely up to the very audience I'm interested in reaching to find my page (unlikely).
Without a doubt, Facebook pages are much more "in your face" in the marketing and communication sense.
With your own Facebook page, you can directly post your content to established, related Facebook pages that already have a considerable user-base of individuals interested in the particular topic your page covers.
For example: Since wind energy is my topic of choice, I can directly post and share my content with the American Wind Energy Association
With almost 40,000 Facebook users that "like" the AWEA Facebook page, I know that by posting my content on the AWEA wall I am reaching the exact audience I want to reach.
Here's how that works:
If you can't see it too well in the above image, the larger image below shows how I can directly advertise my Facebook page on the Facebook wall of a much larger, related institution.
Even better, I can also share videos
Wind Frontiers Introduction Video:
Wind Frontiers Video Series 1/1: Sustainable natural gas
So that's that.
I'll be dedicating most of my free time to developing the Wind Frontiers page but I'll be sure not to let this old thing wither away.
