What Makes Content Valuable or Interesting?
What Adds Value to Content?
I have been thinking about this a lot lately for numerous reasons. I hope some people out there have noticed that I am working very hard to turn Pseudorant into a resource that will provide value for my readers. I have also been working on revamping the website where I work and studying ways to employ SEO to help our business do better.
All this work has had me questioning what types of content do users consider valuable? You can read a million guides online about how to promote a business, or advertise a website but once you get people there what will you show them?
I am currently experimenting with a lot of different types of content to see what people react best to as a sign that these topics are of interest to them. I am happy to see the “The BEST Looking “FREE to Play” 3D MMORPG List” is doing good, of the topics I have posted on the site thus far. I worked very hard on putting that list together and I plan to continue to update it so it will remain a useful resource for players in years to come.
I have been thinking of putting together something that is similar to the MMORPG list because it seems like users are getting a lot out of it. People seem to like having many resources laid out before them in one place. I think this has to do with a “convenience” factor for people.
When thinking about the types of things that add value to content I try and put myself in the position of the reader and ask myself what I would like to see on a site.
This is a hard question to answer because my interests are so varied. I really enjoy computers and games but it is hard to find an aspect of these hobbies to share with people that has not been discussed already.
I plan on doing a guide this summer on how to build the ultimate arcade machine. I know this has also been done, but I am going to structure mine so that anyone can follow it and build their own arcade machine with very little technical know how.
I am considering writing some technical guides for the site to walk users through how to troubleshoot common computer problems. I have done this in the past for the place I work at but unfortunately I don’t have the time to maintain the resource.
I guess the point of this rant is that I feel everyone is trying to figure out what makes content interesting to people? There doesn’t seem to be any set rule or otherwise there would probably be books about “How to create interesting content”.
Looking back on the article I wrote yesterday “What is Web 2.0? Web 2.0 is coming!” it really got me thinking about the content people are producing and how it is really hit or miss. There are a couple things I have noticed that I will be trying to study further.
01. People tend to like “resources” whether they are compilations of games or services that they can see as a whole, without needing to search multiple sites for the information they are after.
02. People like knowing the inside scoop, if you have a story that no one else knows and it is appropriate to post it, do so. People will come to your site since you are the only one with the information. Just make sure that your news is accurate so people do not think you are liar. (A good example of an accurate news scoop is my article on “Google to Open Midwest Office in Madison, Wisconsin“)
03. Buzzwords do not necessarily make an article interesting. Just because people are searching for information on something does not ensure it will be a highly viewed topic. My experiment with this was writing the article about Web 2.0. Some people where interested in this but the overall response was lukewarm.
04. Inflammatory statements get more attention than buzzwords. This is a given, we have seen this occurring for years in forums. I attempted to test this theory by writing an article called “Grand Theft Auto IV is the Root of All Evil!” The driving force behind the traffic to this article was not the buzzword “Grand Theft Auto IV”, it was the fact that it was being portrayed in a negative light in some peoples eyes.
These are just general observations I have made from tracking stats on my blog, and playing around with different article formats.
Am I doing this just to mess with people? Of course not… Pseudorant is an experiment for me to learn many things about myself, other people, computers and technology.
I have always had a deep rooted interest in the way people’s minds work. Maybe this is because both of my parents are social workers, or maybe it’s just because everyone enjoys knowing what makes people tick.
From the standpoint of a site designer, author or anyone producing content these are very valuable things to know. While writing a point by point guide on how to do things is meaningful, there is a lacking sense of accomplishment if no one ever reads your work.
I think that is one of the hardest things to get past when a person is starting a blog. I have really had to kick myself in the butt some days to come up with something to write. Not because I don’t enjoy doing it, but because I have other things on my mind and some days when no one reads a post it is hard to maintain that level of motivation.
I originally started writing this intending it would be a short blurb since I am actually pretty busy tonight, building a computer for a friend. This seems to have turned out to be more a guide that I figured it would be.
As I keep working on my blog I will continue to document any observations I make about people, my articles, trends, content and topics, as this may be useful to other people out there that are new to this, or have been doing it for years or are just having a little writers block.
I would be VERY interested to hear other people’s ideas about what makes content valuable to readers, the different things they have written, and the response those posts have received. This is something that I tend to obsess about lately.
It might have something to do with the fact that I have OCD, or it may be because it is something that actually requires a good deal of thought.
Either way I hope those who are checking out my blog are finding something interesting here and there, that makes this blog useful to you. Creating a resource that is valuable to you, creates value for me when I sit down and write an hour long article. I hope others feel the same way and continue to share their thoughts and ideas on how we can continue to improve on what we do.
Thanks for visiting Pseudorant.
What is a Blog? What is Blogging?
Blog FAQ: The Basics of Blogging Explained
Welcome to Pseudorant and the start of another multipart guide. Today I am going to be explaining what a Blog is!
I’m guessing that anyone reading this is already familiar with what a blog is, but for those who are not I will outline the details to help you better understand this phenomenon that is taking place on the internet.
What is a Blog?
A blog is traditionally thought of as a web based journal or diary. An author of a blog will make frequent updates of different posts of information. These entries can consist of text based information, pictures, audio, video and various other web mediums. Different types of media may be used to help readers get the most out of a blog post.
The word Blog is short for “Web Log” which provides a good description of a blogs main purpose, which is logging data on a website. While this is commonly what blogs are used for there have been many adaptations of the way blogs are implemented on different websites through out the years.
Most blogs are maintained by individuals as a hobby or news platform, to quickly relay information to the masses. This can consist or journal entries about what a user did with their day, to news articles about current events that are happening around the world.
There are literally millions of blogs covering almost any topic you can think of. It is hard to give an exact number on the amount of blogs on the internet because they are so easy to setup, that there are new ones created every couple of minutes. Estimates from some sites in early 2008 put the number at anywhere between 125,000,000 and 200+ million blogs, trying to also account for blogs which are published in foreign languages like Chinese.
What is Blogging?
Blogging is the act of publishing articles and information onto a blog. Once a user has a blog setup they can post articles about anything that is on their mind for others to read. This would be known as blogging.
Most blogs will usually pick a topic or genre to focus their articles on. This will usually be a topic of interest to the author so they can present as much useful information on the subject as possible.
Bloggers may not be specialists in their field, but their writing skills allow them to convey their ideas in a way that others can understand. This allows the author to present topics to readers that may normally be confusing when they are found in technical articles or websites.
You may also hear people refer to blogging as, “needing to blog”. This is an instance of “blog” being used as a verb to describe the act of blogging, and not a web log itself.
The History of Blogging
This history of blogging is also hard to pin down because of the nature of the technology surrounding blogs. Some of the earliest forms of blogs were simply websites that contained content in the form of a journal that was updated manually on a frequent basis. Sites that could be considered some of the first blogs on the internet began to originate in the early to mid 90’s.
Around 1998 the idea was starting to catch on and some websites started offering journal and diary hosting services which would be considered some of the first easy to use online blogs. Through these sites users could post their daily entries with a content management system that allowed users to easily post frequently updated articles.
It was around this same time that websites started to implement different types of “comment” systems. These comment systems allowed readers of an author’s blog to post feedback and opinions about the author’s articles. The comment system is considered one of the most important features of all modern day blogs.
By the year 2000 blogs had grown in popularity and had become very accessible to users through the advent of blogging sites and blog publishing software. Publishing software would allow users to host blogs on their own domains with an easy to use content management system.
From 2000 - 2008 there have been many instances of blogs affecting political news and mainstream media. Because of the accessibility that blogs have put at peoples finger tips, there is now way for people to voice their opinions and ideas without having to worry about being censored by governments and corporations.
However, this idea has led to many political issues and trials for authors around the world based on government rulings that where made in countries like China, Egypt, Singapore and many others.
Different types of Blogs
There are many different types of blogs out there today. As mentioned before most are personal journals maintained by users. But because of the easy access that blogs provide, numerous websites have utilized the technology in many different ways.
It is not uncommon to see blogs that are maintained by political figures and celebrities. You can also find blogs that are based on different genres like travel, food, home and garden, health, computers, technology, etc.
There are even new types of blogs that specialize in different forms of media like video or audio to produce content for their readers.
One interesting type of blog that has sprung up in the past few years is the “monetized” blog which is used to generate income for the author. These blogs focus mainly on driving traffic to generate advertising revenue for the authors.
All these different types of blogs are available to users. The reader would just need to decide what subject they are looking for and it could be found through most any search engine out there, including numerous blog search engines that specialize in only searching content published by blogs.
Sites for Blogging
There are many sites out there that will let you sign up for a free blog if you are interested in getting started. These sites are best setup to accommodate authors that are interested in maintaining a journal or diary type blog.
Most authors feel that if you are going to pursue a commercialized blog with a more professional feel, that it is best to start by downloading blog publishing software and getting your own domain name to establish an online identity.
Three of the most popular blog sites out there are Blogger, Live Journal, and WordPress
Blog Publishing Software
As I mentioned before most authors that intend to create a commercial blog will usually look into purchasing a domain name which they can host their blog on.
To do this the author needs to setup blog publishing software. Blog publishing software is a type of content management system that allows the author to quickly and easily maintain content on their website.
It is similar to using a blogging service in the respect that the author can access this software from their domain, and make updates to their blog from anywhere they can access the internet.
Most of the 646-204 and 70-620 professionals mention in their bog that had they done 220-601 or even 70-649, they would have had an edge over their SY0-101 counterparts.
There are lots of popular blog publishing programs available with the most noted being “WordPress”. WordPress maintains it’s popularity because the open source platform it was built on allows users to constantly add to the program and improve it.
Two other popular publishing programs are “Movable Type” and “Grey Matter.
There are numerous other resources out there for blog hosting services and publishing software. Always feel free to try out new services to see which ones you like the best. The ones listed here are a brief example of popular programs and services that authors currently use.
Overview
At this point you should have a better understanding of what a blog is, the history surrounding the blogging phenomenon, and the different ways in which users can implement blogs on their websites.
As always please feel free to leave any questions or comments you may have about the article. I am always interested to hear peoples feedback, so I can continue to improve the site.
Thanks for visiting Pseudorant!
News - Pseudorant is now part of Technorati
Pseudorant Has Joined the Technorati Cult!
Hey all! I am just posting to say that Pseudorant is now part of Technorati. Technorati is a search engine for blogs which acts in many ways as a social networking site allowing authors to connect with one another and keep each other informed of updates.
This post is actually part of the signup process to confirm that Pseudorant is indeed owned by Paul. 
Even though this is a confirmation post for verification on the Technorati website I decided I would leave it up so users are aware of other places they can find me on the web!
Once again thanks for checking out Pseudorant!
Blog Theme Change & Other Errands
What have I been up to?
Hey all! To the 80 readers I had today thanks for stopping by! I’m guessing about 30 of them were me having not logged into WP, and I keep getting counted in the stats.
I’m sure all of you have noticed the new look. What? You have never been to the site before? As shocked as I am, I’d like to mention that my blog now has a new look. I have decided to go with a new theme that will allow me to layout my blog in a more effective way for my readers.
The theme I am using now is called WP-Multiflex-3 1.3 by Ainslie Johnson. I really liked the 3 column layout and feel this will give me more flexibility in how I can organize the site. You should see some small improvements and changes over the next week as I work on the rough edges.
I have been so busy today that I didn’t really have any time to post a guide so I decided to outline my day, and why I’m exhausted right about now.
A friend took me and my fiancée out to dinner last night at Granite City (a restaurant in Madison). It was really fun and we had a few drinks and lots of laughs.
I decided to update my WordPress theme when I got home. I have been doing so much research on blogging lately that I was pretty tired when I finally got around to doing the update and went to bed soon after.
You may have also noticed that I now have some plugins running on the site. The ones to note are the “Homepage Excerpts” which makes my site much more readable by condensing the previous posts listed on the page.
Another cool plugin I am trying out is the “Subscribe to Comments” plugin which sends anyone who comments on a post an email when there have been replies. I felt this is VERY important considering how many comments I receive per day. 
(I currently have zero comments on the blog but just think, you could be the first!)
When I got up this morning I realized I needed to mow the lawn. For those of you who know me you probably know that I have just recently moved into my first home. Because of this I had no idea what to expect the first time I mowed this lawn. The scariest thing about my yard is a giant hill I have in the back. I tried to tackle this hill with my non-propelled push mower and ended up falling down the hill in the process. I now have nice green stain on the butt of the only pair of pants I have to wear to work. Go figure.
After that my fiancée and I went out to get her a new cell phone. The reason we had to get her a new phone is because she was switching over to my phone plan. I had been against cell phones for the longest time until I saw the Apple iPhone and I went out and bought one the first week they were out.
Since I hate cell phones so much I tend to only use my iPhone to go online, send email and sometimes text message. Because of this I have over 2050+ rollover minutes saved up that my fiancée has been dying to use.
She ended up going with a Samsung phone that she is currently yakking away on. She also just informed me that her best friend is also on AT&T so it doesn’t use up minutes for the two of them to talk all night long. Like she needs more incentive to talk on the phone all night. >.<
After getting the phone we headed down to hardware store because my parents were going to buy us a grill and bird bath as a house warming present. I picked out a nice Weber charcoal grill, some tongs and charcoal. I can’t wait to use it for the first time.
We also ended up going to “Wild Birds” off Old Sauk road (in Madison) to buy a bird bath and some bird seed. It is amazing to me how much stuff specialty stores can carry. The staff at Wild Birds was very helpful and I ran into a sales guy that wanted to tell me everything about bird baths, feeders, and bird seed.
I was already pretty worn down after having almost killed myself mowing so I smiled and nodded along.
I like watching birds in my backyard but I would say I am far from how involved some of the bird enthusiasts out there are. To me throwing down seed in the grass and watching some birds root around for it, is as complex as my setup needs to be.
I am sure I will post some follow-ups in the future with how the bird colony that is forming in my backyard has grown to dangerous proportions.
Tonight my plan is to study up on some other things about my blog. I would really like to get to a point where I feel as though I can focus solely on content, but I think as with anything in computers it will be a constant learning process.
The actual exam may not be a big deal, but preparing for VCP-310 or even 350-001 and 640-802 is a big deal, particularly if the applicant has not done nether 70-290 nor 70-291.
I hope everyone else is having an interesting weekend. Feel free to leave some comments and make use of the new layout and plugins! I’d be interested to hear what other people in Madison and around the country are up to. Enjoy it while you can, the weekends always seem to shoot by and then it’s back to work!
Blog Mission Statement and News Accuracy
What is Pseudorant All About?
I have noticed an increase in traffic to my site since yesterday. Because the site is relatively new, pretty much any change in visitors is easy to spot. I have been tracking some of my Blog stats and realized a couple people are linking to my news article about the Google office that will be opening in Madison.
I have back tracked a couple of the links and have seen people discussing whether this is true or not. I just wanted to let people know that any rumor based news I post on my Blog will always be from sources I know and trust. The people who tell me these things say them more in passing, than to trump up some lie they are trying to spread.
I’m glad to see a couple of the responses to these links have also confirmed the rumor. I know there are numerous people involved in different aspects of this transition so other people have knowledge of various details on this also.
The bottom line is I am intending to use my Blog as a repository for guides on various aspects of technology. Along the way I will throw in some cool happenings that I hear about, but this is not going to be the main focus of my Blog. There are already a million news sources online so I will let them focus on being the full time reporters.
This post is more of a mission statement for my Blog, to say I do not intend to try and drive traffic by making up news that is not true. Anything posted here will be accurate to the best of my knowledge. I will also wait to post any news I have until it has been almost 100% confirmed by the people I talk to.
With that being said I am glad some people are finally checking out my Blog. It is currently taking a lot of my time and energy to get this thing off the ground so if you know anyone that is into games, technology, or just finds it funny to listen to someone rant please send them my way. I hope to make some interesting contacts in the Blogging community so I can learn how to make the most of my Blog.
Thanks again for stopping by and please check back for future guides, and rants!
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