Blogging

[cb_96]

Looking to start out having a go at blogging (have written my first few articles), does anyone have any pointers/tips?

[RandoEFC+]

10 minutes ago, cb_96 said:

Looking to start out having a go at blogging (have written my first few articles), does anyone have any pointers/tips?

Do something unique. Satirical humour usually goes down well. Get yourself on Twitter to tweet a link to your blog posts, use good hash tags, ask people to retweet and follow but not too often.

[cb_96]

14 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Do something unique. Satirical humour usually goes down well. Get yourself on Twitter to tweet a link to your blog posts, use good hash tags, ask people to retweet and follow but not too often.

Aye definitely need to get it set up on twitter and use that as a main way to get it out.

Agreed on the unique thing, have so far looked at doing brief tactical overviews of a few games outside the Prem this weekend

[Mel81x+]

43 minutes ago, cb_96 said:

Looking to start out having a go at blogging (have written my first few articles), does anyone have any pointers/tips?

Agree with @RandoEFC in an age where content consumption seems to be more on the rise from a visual perspective writing a blog requires a lot more care and attention not only to get more reads but also to garner feedback as well. Starting out in a space where you're writing about games and tactical analysis can and will most probably be met with some criticism.

The other hard thing to compete with, if you want a larger reader-base, is attention span and carefully crafting content so that it keeps the reader continually engaged. Which is where I think most lengthy descriptions of things just lose their value very quick. Once again a by-product of the way content is consumed these days.

[RandoEFC+]

Include something to click on in your blog, some sort of poll or vote or player rater, give people shout outs for comments and views and stuff.

[cb_96]

7 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Agree with @RandoEFC in an age where content consumption seems to be more on the rise from a visual perspective writing a blog requires a lot more care and attention not only to get more reads but also to garner feedback as well. Starting out in a space where you're writing about games and tactical analysis can and will most probably be met with some criticism.

The other hard thing to compete with, if you want a larger reader-bases attention span and carefully crafting content so that it keeps the reader continually engaged. Which is where I think most lengthy descriptions of things just lose their value very quick. Once again a by-product of the way content is consumed these days.

Cheers for the advice! That is thr worry is how a lot of content is now spoken/video etc. Its an element of building up confidence in what I wanna say as well.

Particularly like the point about engaging readers in polls etc, making sure it’s not one way.

I have written a couple of pieces on a few gamed this weekend, any feed back would really help:

https://cblandfootball.blogspot.com/2019/08/huddersfield-v-fulham-preview.html

https://cblandfootball.blogspot.com/2019/08/sunderland-v-portsmouth-how-should.html

[RandoEFC+]

9 hours ago, cb_96 said:

Cheers for the advice! That is thr worry is how a lot of content is now spoken/video etc. Its an element of building up confidence in what I wanna say as well.

Particularly like the point about engaging readers in polls etc, making sure it’s not one way.

I have written a couple of pieces on a few gamed this weekend, any feed back would really help:

https://cblandfootball.blogspot.com/2019/08/huddersfield-v-fulham-preview.html

https://cblandfootball.blogspot.com/2019/08/sunderland-v-portsmouth-how-should.html

I like your layout and you write well.

I think with these games, the people who are likely to click on your links early on are going to be fans of these clubs. You won't find many Leeds fans looking for previews of Huddersfield Fulham on Twitter. This might change if you get a more significant following in future. For this reason I'd scrap the preamble about last season and summer transfers, unless you introduce some humour to it, or some stronger opinions of your own.

Sadly, facts dont sell well these days, because people can find them on Google or the scroll bar on Sky Sports News. If you want people coming back and checking to see for your next post, I would choose one of a few routes.

- Like I said, be humourous, if you want to tell them the story they already know, put your own spin on it in a way that catches them out.

- Use a lot more statistics and even diagrams in your tactical section if you have access to them. Choose a specific player to look at and get niche stats on that player. He may only have 2 assists in the last 10 games but he has created 0.5 more big chances per game than any other central midfielder this season. Let this lead you to an opinion.

- In general, be more opinionated, give people something to reply to. Instead of choosing the game which you think will get the most attention on a weekend, choose a game you have a strong opinion about. For example, if I was writing a blog on the Premier League, I would focus on Wolves vs Man Utd on Monday because I fancy Wolves to win despite United's 4-0 win over Chelsea, and I know I could write a genuine piece on why I truly believe that will happen, by analysing United's performance against Chelsea, and Wolves performances from last season.

 

Just my opinion, keep up the good work. 

[cb_96]

22 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I like your layout and you write well.

I think with these games, the people who are likely to click on your links early on are going to be fans of these clubs. You won't find many Leeds fans looking for previews of Huddersfield Fulham on Twitter. This might change if you get a more significant following in future. For this reason I'd scrap the preamble about last season and summer transfers, unless you introduce some humour to it, or some stronger opinions of your own.

Sadly, facts dont sell well these days, because people can find them on Google or the scroll bar on Sky Sports News. If you want people coming back and checking to see for your next post, I would choose one of a few routes.

- Like I said, be humourous, if you want to tell them the story they already know, put your own spin on it in a way that catches them out.

- Use a lot more statistics and even diagrams in your tactical section if you have access to them. Choose a specific player to look at and get niche stats on that player. He may only have 2 assists in the last 10 games but he has created 0.5 more big chances per game than any other central midfielder this season. Let this lead you to an opinion.

- In general, be more opinionated, give people something to reply to. Instead of choosing the game which you think will get the most attention on a weekend, choose a game you have a strong opinion about. For example, if I was writing a blog on the Premier League, I would focus on Wolves vs Man Utd on Monday because I fancy Wolves to win despite United's 4-0 win over Chelsea, and I know I could write a genuine piece on why I truly believe that will happen, by analysing United's performance against Chelsea, and Wolves performances from last season.

 

Just my opinion, keep up the good work. 

Brilliant thank you very much for the feedback! Very helpful about the preamble, fair point when thinking about target audience

Really want to use more stats if possible but unfortunately lower in the leagues can be hard to find! 

I’ll keep playing around and see what works/doesn’t, but the feedback is very helpful

[cb_96]

https://footyfiles.net/2019/08/17/reading-v-cardiff-tactical-preview/

Taken into account your feedback and had another go! If you don’t mind checking it out let me know what you think

[RandoEFC+]

7 hours ago, cb_96 said:

https://footyfiles.net/2019/08/17/reading-v-cardiff-tactical-preview/

Taken into account your feedback and had another go! If you don’t mind checking it out let me know what you think

I like it. If tactics are your focus I think it's a lot better to dedicate the majority of your post to that sort of thing.

[Mel81x+]

10 hours ago, cb_96 said:

https://footyfiles.net/2019/08/17/reading-v-cardiff-tactical-preview/

Taken into account your feedback and had another go! If you don’t mind checking it out let me know what you think

I liked it too. I'd say one thing. When providing statistics and tactical analysis its always better to also put formations and player names and positions as well or do a heads-to-head section and talk about the matchups for the day. Then use that to run it into how the historical tactics vs whats going to happen now works. I only bring that point up to allow people to skim first then read and it allows for organization of content as well. Keep up the good work I'll be reading your stuff. Also, you might want to get some feedback from other members of the forum who watch the Championship too, they'd be able to help build tactical viewpoints that could be added to later games that you analyze.

[cb_96]

Thank you again for the feedback! Agree on the formations, would help give more context for each game so will look to implement them going forward.

 

[Pyfish+]

Looking to start my own blog soon too to go along with the podcast I'm doing.

@cb_96, might call on you to write something about Sunderland and the Stadium of Light.

[RandoEFC+]

2 hours ago, Pyfish said:

Looking to start my own blog soon too to go along with the podcast I'm doing.

@cb_96, might call on you to write something about Sunderland and the Stadium of Light.

Is your podcast on Spotify mate? I'd definitely follow a 92 blog if you started one.

[cb_96]

Have taken a fair bit of all your advice on board with the last post, if you’re interested in giving it a read let me know, was another tactical preview  (don’t wanna spam!)

[Pyfish+]

12 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

Is your podcast on Spotify mate? I'd definitely follow a 92 blog if you started one.

It will be eventually mate. Going around each of the 92 grounds and going to try and get fans to chat to us about their clubs as well as have some blog posts about each club too.

[Mel81x+]

10 hours ago, cb_96 said:

Have taken a fair bit of all your advice on board with the last post, if you’re interested in giving it a read let me know, was another tactical preview  (don’t wanna spam!)

You should post it don't think anyone will consider it as spam.

[Pyfish+]

I agree with Mel, post it in here and nobody can complain really!

[cb_96]

This was the most recent one I did:

https://footyfiles.net/2019/08/20/preston-v-stoke-a-tactical-preview-of-stoke/

If this kind of thing is of interest to anyone I’m happy to preview your teams game!

[Mel81x+]

2 hours ago, cb_96 said:

This was the most recent one I did:

https://footyfiles.net/2019/08/20/preston-v-stoke-a-tactical-preview-of-stoke/

If this kind of thing is of interest to anyone I’m happy to preview your teams game!

I liked the tactical analysis. There was some discussion on The Athletic thread about how some of their users wished that there was more pre-game analysis as well. I don't know if its much to go on but it may help boost your blog.

[cb_96]

10 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I liked the tactical analysis. There was some discussion on The Athletic thread about how some of their users wished that there was more pre-game analysis as well. I don't know if its much to go on but it may help boost your blog.

I’ve just had a look, seems to be the idea that its more interviews etc than match day content bar the odd bit from Michael Cox

[cb_96]

Bit of shameless promotion if you don't mind (if not appropriate feel free to delete it), wrote about Inter on Monday and the impact of Nicolas Pepe potentially on Sunday:

https://footyfiles.net/2019/08/29/match-preview-arsenal-v-tottenham-nicolas-pepe-to-shine/

https://footyfiles.net/2019/08/27/match-analysis-inter-milan-4-0-lecce-conte-off-to-a-flyer/

Would love some feedback if possible, no worries if not!