State of the Blog: All Belle Wants for Christmas

Dec 22, 2010

For awhile, I’ve been considering making some changes to the website.  Not just to the appearance of this site, but also to the content.  And since I like getting feedback from my constituents readers, I thought that I might share a few of them with you.  But before we do that…

Merry Christmas.  If you’ve been wondering what to give your favorite fashion blogger (me, duh) for Christmas, I have the perfect suggestion and best of all, it’s free!

Vote for me for Favorite Fashionista on the Washington Post’s D.C. Tweeps website. And if you’re not following me on Twitter already, what are you waiting for?  Twitter’s not just for teenagers and geeks anymore., so come follow me!

Post Frequency. Right now, I’m creating 15 posts per week.  And while this content has resulted in a spike in traffic (more on that later), I think that quantity may have stolen some of quality’s thunder.  

In an effort to create more editorial content and more of the outfit sets that should be the cornerstones of this site, I’m going to cut back slightly.  The idea being that I can create better content if I’m not always forcing out three posts per day.  The end result of this change is that there will be a minimum of two posts per day but sometimes, there will be more.  

Men’s Style.  I got out of the business of men’s style last year, but after a number of requests, I’m diving back in to the pool.  There will be one post per week, and I may also do some men’s style guest posts. So, men, and lovers of men, you are welcome.

Traffic.  Over the past few weeks, there’s been a lot of commentary and a few questions regarding the traffic on this website.  How many people visit, where they’re from, etc.  So I’ve decided to post the traffic stats in a new section on the blog so that potential advertisers can see the data and others can satisfy their curiosity. 

For those who are interested, the site itself runs about 1,000 to 1,200 hits per day.  There are also between 800 and 900 people reading the site via the feed on any given day. I see no reason to keep this a secret (even though a lot of bloggers do) since I’m proud of how the blgo has been growing, so I thought I’d just make it public and end the speculation.

Resale Salon.  As I’ve gotten busier at work, keeping up with the Resale Salon has become more difficult.  I still think it’s a great resource for readers to buy and sell clothing at good prices, so I’m going to keep doing it.  However, I am considering transferring it to some kind of open forum where readers could post their items directly and I could just monitor the content.

Basically, I’m trying to remove the middle man so that no one spends time waiting for me to post their pieces.  If anyone has an idea for how to do that, I’m open to suggestions.

That should pretty well cover it for now, but if any of you have suggestions for things you would like to see more of (or less of) in the New Year, leave them in the comments.  I love reader suggestions!

xoxo

Belle

Style

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  1. Belle says:

    It's not going to be a crazy decrease. I'm thinking about doing 3 Monday, 2 Tuesday, 3 Wednesday and so on…

    I think if I make it easier for people to post the number of sizes and items will increase.

  2. Belle says:

    It's not going to be a crazy decrease. I'm thinking about doing 3 Monday, 2 Tuesday, 3 Wednesday and so on…

    I think if I make it easier for people to post the number of sizes and items will increase.

  3. M.R. says:

    You aren't a complete idiot, right? So I'm sure you know that lying about stats won't attract advertisers and will only turn off readers.
    That's why I must ask, why are you lying about your hits? According to https://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.caphillstyle.com, you only get 500 daily pageviews.

  4. AL says:

    Belle, thanks for the update.

    If you're interested in a marketplace, I'd point you to Alternations Needed – a petite blog that I read. She has a forum at https://forum.alterationsneeded.com/. I've never used it but from what I hear, people move their stuff regularly.

  5. Allison says:

    M.R.–> A quick google will let you know that websiteoutlook.com is not accurate. At all. (Who is the complete idiot now.) Belle has 100% accurate results since it is her blog, that is tracked and reported by the website.

    Belle- I am glad that you are getting back into Men's recommendations!

  6. M.R. says:

    ^ What are you, Belle's sidekick? What losers!

  7. Meg says:

    Belle, have a wonderful holiday and I look forwarded to your blog keeping me well clothed in the new year!!!

  8. TrailBlaizer says:

    @M.R. websiteoutlook.com says that you're a COMMENT TROLL?

    Get a life. It's the holidays, your vitriol is not necessary or appreciated. Why not refocus your energy and go do something nice for someone, eh?

  9. I'm an LA too says:

    Merry Christmas, Belle! May you have an ugg-free holiday break.

    M.R., just curious what your agenda is and why you would so vehemently question something as boring as website traffic stats (who's the loser now?) I hope that over Christmas you find some some more worthwhile things to do and get a healthy dose of holiday spirit!

  10. Belle says:

    AL-

    Thanks for the tip. She's a member of the Style Coalition (I think) so I'll shoot her an email.

    Merry Christmas everyone!

  11. Allison says:

    Sure, I'm a Belle sidekick. 🙂 Love the blog.

  12. Leila says:

    Can't vote for you till the 27th of December–could you blog about it once its open? I want to make sure I–and maybe other readers–don't forget to log on. Thanks so much for the fashion wisdom, not only does it make me a much better dresser, but it also bring so much joy in the midst of the chaos of being a hill staffer. Can't wait to keep on reading (and refreshing CHS browser) in 2011!!

  13. Leila says:

    M.R.–you are a tool, and arguably the fashion blog equivalent of the grinch.

    Belle rocks and every chick I know on the Hill, from CoS to intern reads this blog religously.

  14. Belle says:

    Leila-

    Thanks for the tip. I didn't realize. Perhaps my brain is already on vacation.

  15. ~M says:

    Sorry to hear about the decrease in posts, but I understand. I'm looking forward to another year of style.
    Thanks so much. (I realize you don't control what's put up for sale, but I don't suppose there is any way to encourage people to sell things in sizes between 4 and 16 is there?)
    Happy Holidays!

  16. Belle says:

    It's not going to be a crazy decrease. I'm thinking about doing 3 Monday, 2 Tuesday, 3 Wednesday and so on…

    I think if I make it easier for people to post the number of sizes and items will increase.

  17. CB says:

    Currently you are nominated for DC Tweeps under three different names -Belle, Caphillstyle and Capitol Hill Style. Do you know if they will be listing the nominations as is or will they edit the list so that folks only appear once? If they don't edit the list, be sure to let us readers know which name to vote for on Dec.27th.

  18. Lisa says:

    I can't imagine being able to put up three posts a day, so it certainly makes more sense to cut back if it'll make you feel more sane!

  19. pqresident says:

    Belle – you are a writing machine to be able to post three times per day – truly dedicated to the craft. once or twice per day would satisfy me. if you're game, I may try my hand at a men's guest post.

  20. Traveler says:

    I love your blog and was wondering if you could do a post or two about sylish, durable and reasonably priced luggage?

    Thanks and Happy New Year!

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