Starting a Firearms Blog

[GlockenSpiel]

A friend of mine wants advice on starting up a firearms blog. He isn't very computer-savvy but has enough knowledge that it might be able to find a following, or at least use this to meet like-minded individuals and have good conversations with them. I'm helping him out with editing and some research on the technical side of it.

The generic answer for any intro to blogging seems to be to use wordpress or another easy blog hosting service. However, I know a lot of these don't allow certain firearms content, especially if it "facilitates the sale" of firearms or parts. Articles about where to find certain guns, parts, or deals aren't out of the question, so we would prefer to avoid that. I note that most firearms blogs of any size tend to have their own domain names, so I'm guessing that's the route to go down? If so, any general advice about selecting hosting, and ecommerce or ads down the road? Profit is not the main goal but trying to be at least cost-neutral in the future would be nice.

[Borderland]

This should be interesting. ;)

[Stephanie B]

Google’s Blogger has hosted Tamara for something like seventeen years.

Https://www.blogger.com

It’s easy to set one up there. One only need to be slightly more computer-literate than a baboon.

[Sig_Fiend]

I do this for a living so feel free to pick my brain (I'm NOT shilling services and don't freelance, just giving advice free of charge; my way of giving back to PF.). The more gun sites the better as far as I'm concerned.

For any long term site that he might want to monetize in the future, Wordpress is the safest bet for multiple reasons. Specifically, starting with a wordpress.com (https://wordpress.com/) hosted site since you can create a free one to start and grow it from there. There are several important considerations.

Content Strategy
As a site grows over time, site structure, navigation, and internal linking are critical. This is where most sites that are several years old, and without a clear strategy, usually fail or lose out on a lot. With Wordpress, you have categories, tags, pages vs. posts... there are many options to more neatly organize the structure of your site. You also have header and footer navigation that can be fully customized. This is crucial. Some of the free blogging platforms out there, such as Blogger, Weebly, Wix, etc. are terrible at this.

Also, many of those platforms are specifically terrible for search engine optimization (SEO), which is critical for generating organic (unpaid) traffic from search engines.

Traffic Generation
This is the worst part and why most give up within 1 year. The typical traffic channels are:


Organic - search engines
Paid - SEM, paid search engine traffic/ads (expensive)
Social - traffic from the popular social platforms
Referral - traffic from other websites linking to yours
Direct - people have your site bookmarked or a number of other situations
Email - email marketing from you or others linking to your site


Starting out, a new site will likely see zero real traffic for at least the first month, maybe two depending on posting activity. Search robots have to crawl the site, see the content, and start to rank it. It takes posting frequency and volume of content to start generating anything on the organic side. With a new site, this can take weeks or even a couple of months to start taking effect. Of course, being active on social, on other sites, occasionally linking back to yours where it's allowed, you can also end up generating social and referral traffic.

I think it's important to set a realistic expectation on what results will look like. Many people start out and maybe they create one article per month. Often without any coherent structure or taking into account certain common sense principles for SEO. As an aside, SEO can get complex but, at the end of the day it's merely a matter of how you organize and optimize content around specific terms such that the content is interesting, readable in a natural way, and creates a good user experience that fulfills the user's needs for that search term or subject. After 12 months and after that person only created 12 articles, maybe they end up only having 100 visits a month or some other underwhelming number. It can be downright demoralizing if approached without a plan. It takes more than infrequent and sporadic efforts to be sure.

If I was making a serious go of it with starting a new site, I'd be planning a content strategy and structure and working towards seeding my new site with at least say ~30-40K words of content. Generally speaking, most articles really need to be over 500 words to be taken seriously by search engines. Ideally I'd say 750-1K words minimum. So call that ~30-40 articles (maybe spread across 3-4 categories e.g. "Holsters", "Red Dots", "Rifle Slings", etc.) to get the ball rolling, some keyword rankings starting to pop up, content you can link to on social without saturating the same articles too frequently, etc. 30-40K sounds like a lot, and it is, and maybe that takes 2-4 months of serious effort to produce. That's fine! Main thing is working towards a specific goal like that, that is non-trivial (that's a sizable content volume to start with) but still achievable.

And don't get caught up in volume for the sake of volume. Readability is important, and it still has to be interesting or entertaining enough for people to want to read it! ;)

Site Infrastructure
If building a site for the long term, you want something built with a robust architecture. Millions of sites use Wordpress. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Wordpress developers out there for when things get serious. There are tons of independent WP hosts out there. This creates limitless options for scalability in the future. If starting with the wordpress.com free option, say he ends up wanting to customize the site more significantly, turn it into an ecommerce store, etc. You can run an export tool on wordpress.com to export all of the site's content, images, etc. and import that to a Wordpress instance on another web host. This is great for avoiding vendor lock-in and getting forced into a corner by any one vendor or proprietary architecture.

Domain Name
If going the wordpress.com-hosted route, feel free to just start out with the WP domain name you can choose (it'll end up being mysite.wordpress.com or whatever he names it). If at some point he wants to get a custom domain (e.g. superblasters2000.com or whatever lol), buy the domain from a separate registrar! Trust me on this. It's an added hassle, but it's added security in the long run.

Use a separate registrar like Namecheap (https://www.namecheap.com/) (There are many others. I recommend strongly against Godaddy, they've pulled many alleged unethical shenanigans over the years). That way in a worst case scenario if a web host bans the site or does anything unethical like that, you can take an export and database dump of the site, upload it to a new Wordpress host, change a few DNS records at your registrar, and be back up and running in a few hours. Always keep your domain registration separate from your web hosting.

If buying a custom domain name, my recommendations would be:


Stick to .com if possible (In some cases, .net, .io, .org, etc. can be fine. Avoid stuff like .xyz.)
Don't use names with dashes
Try to keep the name under ~20 characters
Maybe avoid arbitrary numbers in the name


There are some branding and SEO considerations behind those recommendations. Especially if trying to build more of a long term brand that's memorable. For example, say I wanted to create a die-hard enthusiast site dedicated to the illustrious creations of John Browning. I might decide to create a brand of "Gospel of JMB" (gospelofjmb.com). BTW, that domain is actually available and it's ~$9, so I totally just created a brand for someone to run with if they so choose. ;) Hint hint, some PF'er should totally do it!


I'll stop there since this is getting long. Happy to add more if there are other questions about specific things.

[Sig_Fiend]

As an example of some of the things I mentioned with content, structure, SEO, just take a look at my post above in context of itself (how it's structured with headings separating distinctly-themed sections so it's not a wall of text and easier to scan through) as well as in context of the topic of this thread. My post alone was 1,100 words. If there were no other posts in this thread, from a search engine standpoint, robots will get the gist that the page/thread is about:

Starting a Firearms Blog

Content strategy
Traffic generation
Site infrastructure
Domain name


That's not exhaustive, and other important and relevant subjects also apply. Regardless, though, anyone researching starting a firearms blog is inevitably going to be interested in some of those subjects. So, a search engine will see this thread as quality (over 1K words, not terribly written, organized, etc.) and relevant in ranking for keywords like ("start a gun blog", "how to start a firearm website", etc.). A user will also be relatively satisfied that they're finding answers to at least some of their questions.

Successfully blogging, for the most part, is often as simple as rinsing and repeating the above recipe provided it's on subjects people are actually searching for and interested in. No "rocket surgery" necessary. ;)

[Tamara]

Only losers blog.™

[jetfire]

A friend of mine wants advice on starting up a firearms blog.

Don't. That's it. That's the advice.

[Stephanie B]

Only losers blog.™

Blogging's not only not cutting edge, but that cut's healed over years ago. There have been lots^100 of people doing it. It's going to be very hard to break though the background noise of the Internet with a new blog. Especially since there are about a pasta-gazillion newer social media platforms than blogs.

I'm not saying that someone can't do a new blog, but they should be doing it for their own enjoyment, not with a view towards raking in moola.

[Tamara]

I'm not saying that someone can't do a new blog, but they should be doing it for their own enjoyment, not with a view towards raking in moola.

The absolute best maxim I've read on the topic came from the blogger at Say Uncle (https://www.saysuncle.com), who was a customer at Coal Creek Armory when I was working there and was kinda my Blogfather:

"Remember: I do this to entertain me, not you."

[Sig_Fiend]

The competition aspect often seems impossible. It's not nearly as hard as people think. I gave some of the recipe above. The difference is when people publish content no one is searching for, post infrequently and too little in volume. In cases like that, yes, it will never work. People just need to be realistic about the fact that it takes significant work (this is true of most niches/industries), consistently, and over time. Blogging and building websites in general will always be a thing, regardless of what social platforms exist.

That said, what I will say is, the firearms industry is extremely volatile and a significant risk factor from a monetization standpoint. Lots of typical ad networks and traditional monetization methods people might easily use in other industries are often closed off to the firearms world. I do agree that, if someone is starting a gun blog, I would set expectations very low as far as what you can earn.

Also, with what few monetization methods are open to the gun world, if trying to earn a sizable income or maximize profit blogging in the gun industry, you will almost immediately sell your soul. Some manage to do it while maintaining a good degree of integrity but, they're the exception to the rule.

Just go search about any random product-based keyword right now (try "best glock owb holster") and what you will find is a majority of what comes up first are trashy affiliate marketing blogs (in this case what we call MFA - made for Amazon sites) linking to trash holsters on Amazon. Absolute trash quality sites shilling trash products. Best = literally not even once. Souls = sold. Some of this is due to the fact that there are more industry-agnostic marketers actively pursuing this than their are legitimate gun bloggers who are producing quality and respectable content actually pushing legitimate products. We need more good gun bloggers.

What Tamara said is important and something I'd strongly consider. Do it because you love it and have a passion for it. In this particular industry, other reasons might lead you down a path of despair that compromises integrity.

[Tamara]

Also, with what few monetization methods are open to the gun world, if trying to earn a sizable income or maximize profit blogging in the gun industry, you will almost immediately sell your soul.

Oh, man, don't get me started.

CrapCo: "Here's this useless piece of complete garbage that you'd throw away if it fell right at your feet out of a vending machine you hadn't put any money in. We'll let you keep it for free if you say nice things about it!"

Social Media Influencer: "Okay!"

I have lots of thoughts (https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2016/09/musings-of-formerly-cigarette-smoking.html) on these leeches and the marketing (https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2018/06/holster-review-part-one.html) types (https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2018/06/how-not-to-internet-market-part-two.html) that they are in symbiosis with, obviously.

It's why I blog for fun. I can write elsewhere for cash. My integrity is all I have.

[SCCY Marshal]

Forget the surface web. Start a site on the Gemini protocol and have a text-only gun blog. Photos downloaded and then viewed outside the browser.

You can still route a leased (no one owns their domain, not even the registrars) domain name to it. Bonus points if he spins up his own server to self-host.

Hard Mode: Start with a SDF or Tilde shell account and start off with their half-broken command-line system.

[TCinVA]

Content creation is like trying to fill up a bottomless pit with a small shovel.

No matter how much you shovel, the limitless gaping maw remains.

Greg Ellifritz worked his ass off building his blog and it's one of the best resources for anyone who has any remotely serious interest in any defense related topic. He's struggled with readership because people don't actually like to read things. This whole textual interaction thing we're doing on PF is not desirable for large percentages of the population.

I am by no means a great writer, but compared to what I see among the typical population I'm practically Hemingway. It's not much good in a world where Tik-Tok and Instagram is how people get their information.

If you're going to do it, you do it because you enjoy the process. Writing forces you to be disciplined and coherent in your thinking. It helps make your arguments and insights sharper. It's a useful discipline in and of itself. But if you don't enjoy the process it feels like you perpetually have a paper due. Occasionally something hits my craw and I can't stop myself from writing about it...usually here...but that's a different sensation than having a regular contribution that is required of you. With a regular writing deadline I always feel like I'm back in English class writing up notecards for a paper on Percy Bysshe Shelly and his contributions to the Romantic movement. I fucking hate poetry.

If the goal is getting free stuff, that is conditional upon eyeballs. Getting eyeballs on a blog is work. Like constant, unending work. The stuff that is received is rarely truly free. The gun business is no different than the automotive business in that your ability to receive nice things from the manufacturers is dependent upon being in their good graces which is why every new introduction of a crossover that looks exactly like every other crossover will have articles written by tame autojournos who can't drive their way out of a parking lot without crashing discussing "handling" like they actually have any appreciable idea WTF that means.

If you get somebody who tells the truth ("The Lamborghini Anus is incredibly fast because it has an enormous technologically advanced engine controlled by sophisticated computer systems that are necessary at all times to keep the ponderous monstrosity under control, for it is certain that the kind of person who wants to drive around in the automotive equivalent of hardcore scat porn is far too busy licking the skidmarks in their own underwear to bother learning how to capably pilot the thing. This is automotive Sodom and Gamorrah, marketed to people who have incredible amounts of money and not the slightest bit of taste, self-awareness, or a functional cerebral cortex to go along with it. It is made to fit into a Jake Paul video where he markets the latest crypto/NFT scam. You would think it is impossible for something to be thoroughly banal and yet so vulgar the mere sight of it makes you despair for the future, and yet the Anus has achieved the unthinkable. Merely having been in it makes me feel a combination of numbness, shame, and hopelessness that makes you look forward to death. Because all good and beautiful things are dead. And this thing killed them.") the manufacturer gets mad and that outlet doesn't get any more press cars or lavish junkets.

[jetfire]

The absolute best maxim I've read on the topic came from the blogger at Say Uncle (https://www.saysuncle.com), who was a customer at Coal Creek Armory when I was working there and was kinda my Blogfather:

That was a big part of my inspiration in saying "the day this stops being fun is the day I stop doing it"

I took a stab at getting back into it in 2020, but other than a paid for play Aero Precision post I wrote in March 2021, I haven't updated since Nov 2020. It wasn't fun and I was getting paid a lot more money to make words other places.

Although, I kind of use my FB fan page as a substitute blog, but there's direct ROI off that page that I could never get on the blog.

[Sig_Fiend]

Oh, man, don't get me started.


I have lots of thoughts (https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2016/09/musings-of-formerly-cigarette-smoking.html) on these leeches and the marketing (https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2018/06/holster-review-part-one.html) types (https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2018/06/how-not-to-internet-market-part-two.html) that they are in symbiosis with, obviously.

It's why I blog for fun. I can write elsewhere for cash. My integrity is all I have.

I think the best way to fight those types, in this specific industry, is to do it for free, focused on maximum integrity. There's almost nothing else they can do to compete against you at that point. Just my opinion though since I want to bleed the leeches dry. ;)

There's little that's more annoying than influencer shills lying to your face about "how they weren't paid for this review", only to turn around and state in the very next sentence that they were given a $3,000 rifle for free for that review. Yeah okay. :rolleyes:

If anyone has been blogging in this industry for a long time, but is having trouble seeing success with it, feel free to ping me. Happy to give advice, free of charge because PF. Much of the time what I see is someone that's been doing it for years and has considerable content may just have some technical SEO issues (usually to do with keyword optimization, internal linking, link structure, navigation, etc.) that are artificially suppressing the performance they should be able to achieve.

[TCinVA]

I hate "influencer" marketing. It's right after "lifestyle marketing" in my list of loathsome contrivances.

But the general buying public seems to disagree with me vehemently on those things.

[jh9]

Reminds me of the Sam Kinison bit.

"Who are you going to please with that?"
"ME! HA!"

[Tamara]

…the manufacturer gets mad and that outlet doesn't get any more press cars or lavish junkets.

If you haven’t lost an advertiser, you’re shilling.

S.W.A.T. Magazine lost Beretta and Benelli for years after Louis Awerbuck wrote a decidedly “meh” review of the Benelli M4.

Car and Driver reviewed a Silver Shadow by saying something along the lines of “an example of what top-flight materials and a spare-no-expenses manufacturing philosophy can do for a 1959 Checker cab.” Rolls Royce’s snit fit lasted nearly a decade.

My review of the Sccy CXP-3 was published very shortly after one of RECOIL’s ad guys had left for a marketing gig with Sccy. Supposedly the phrase “Gosh, I hope we didn’t get ____ fired from his new job” was uttered at the weekly editorial meeting.

[jetfire]

I think the best way to fight those types, in this specific industry, is to do it for free, focused on maximum integrity. There's almost nothing else they can do to compete against you at that point. Just my opinion though since I want to bleed the leeches dry. ;)

There's little that's more annoying than influencer shills lying to your face about "how they weren't paid for this review", only to turn around and state in the very next sentence that they were given a $3,000 rifle for free for that review. Yeah okay. :rolleyes:

If anyone has been blogging in this industry for a long time, but is having trouble seeing success with it, feel free to ping me. Happy to give advice, free of charge because PF. Much of the time what I see is someone that's been doing it for years and has considerable content may just have some technical SEO issues (usually to do with keyword optimization, internal linking, link structure, navigation, etc.) that are artificially suppressing the performance they should be able to achieve.

Out of idle curiosity, what is your blog?

[GlockenSpiel]

Thanks everybody for the tips, especially Sig_Fiend for writing a complete guide on how to set this up! I'll be back with more detailed questions after we discuss this weekend. I know the main goal is to get a dialogue/network going with like-minded people; secondary goals would be to keep the costs low or even make some money, and avoid negative outcomes like the site and its content getting nuked. Content will be somewhat niche and historical so I don't think a massive sponsor/gun review influx is really anticipated.

[GearFondler]

As TCinVA so eloquently put it, people no longer want to read. It's the major reason in my opinion that forums in general are dying out, with PF being a rare exception. I base our aberrant success on my assumption that many of the posters here are at least Gen X or older and we actually enjoy reading, writing, and long-form communication. The younger generations have been socially engineered to want sound-bites, memes, Likes, and emojis. And while I'm the first old fart to admit I also enjoy these modern additions I wish they were used sparingly to enhance our long-form communication instead of replacing it entirely.

[Sig_Fiend]

Out of idle curiosity, what is your blog?

I don't have one at the moment. One was sold, another years ago was destroyed by hackers. I'm also co-founder of texasguntalk.com and remain an admin, though I no longer have any ownership or financial relationship with the site (I rarely participate there anymore due to the prevalence of fudd-ery). My wife's site, which I'm the developer for and have helped with content strategy on, has become quite successful. I can share that one privately if you'd like?

The last ~7 years, I've been involved with a number of other sites through work and freelancing in other industries. Several of those I have NDAs with and can't mention. There are a few I can share privately. All of those business relationships are finally over and now I'm focusing on building new sites for myself.

[MattyD380]

I started my blog / YouTube channel in February of this year. The link is in my signature, if you wanna check it out.

I went with Squarespace. Mainly because I'd used it for another site, so I was familiar with the platform. Net, I'm very happy with the results and I enjoy the setup/workflow/interface.

I'm not a designer, coder, programmer (or any kind of technically inclined "-er") and I was able to create a cohesive look and feel that, I think, suits the content I create. Squarespace offers some nice-looking, modern-ish templates and it's fairly easy to finagle those into your own vision in terms of aesthetics / navigational structure. I'm not sure if they have any restrictions with gun content... but... I did live-chat with one of the helpdesk folks, and he dug through my content--he was very cordial and never mentioned firearms.

So... cool.

I have read that Squarespace sites can be less "SEO friendly" than Wordpress and others. I will say, that--in some cases--it took multiple requests to get certain pages indexed with Google. But once the pages were indexed, my content seems to place fairly well in search results. At this point I'm getting 50+ unique visitors / day. I don't know if that's a lot, honestly... but it's a hell of a lot more than it was 6 months ago. Also, some of my reviews literally come up in the first page of Google search results. I mean... that kinda blows my mind. No joke--if you type "Smith 4506 review" my shit is the first listing Google turns out. So, if Squarespace did have any issues with this, it seems like it's totally fine now.

Also... special thanks to Sig_Fiend for offering some awesome tips on how to prioritize keywords and content. Instead of beating keywords to death in my content, he helped me get a better handle on what Google is actually looking for in terms of quality, depth, etc. So, 'preciate it, bro.

I'm a writer by trade (marketing) and I have a degree in creative writing... so, writing is in my bones. And these bones fucking love writing about guns. My articles are all around 3000 - 4000 words, and I'm averaging 1 / month. I tend to favor quality over quantity.

At this point, the level of engagement I'm getting (whether it's good, bad, ugly, or whatever) is enough to keep me motivated. And, like I said, I also have a YouTube channel; each review I write has a companion video. I've got about 370 subs at this point... and I'm sure some of that traffic translates over to the blog site. The theory is that they kinda perpetuate one another. Seems like it's working? Maybe...

Eventually, I'm hoping I can parlay this endeavor into some kind of a livelihood--be that as a marketer/writer for a firearms brand (Beretta? Smith?), a reviewer/feature writer for a publication... because, quite frankly, I'm tired of writing about crackers, diapers, tissues and tampons for a living.

[Tamara]

Eventually, I'm hoping I can parlay this endeavor into some kind of a livelihood--be that as a marketer/writer for a firearms brand (Beretta? Smith?), a reviewer/feature writer for a publication... because, quite frankly, I'm tired of writing about crackers, diapers, tissues and tampons for a living.

There are other folks here who can speak to writing marketing copy directly for an agency that works with manufacturers, but in my experience unless you get an editorial job with one of the dwindling number of pubs, it takes an immense amount of hustle, a very low-overhead lifestyle, or both to make a living freelancing in this industry. (I have very little hustle, but fortunately I'm good at being a Poor.)

Nice blog, BTW! Keep up the good work there! :cool:

[MattyD380]

There are other folks here who can speak to writing marketing copy directly for an agency that works with manufacturers, but in my experience unless you get an editorial job with one of the dwindling number of pubs, it takes an immense amount of hustle, a very low-overhead lifestyle, or both to make a living freelancing in this industry. (I have very little hustle, but fortunately I'm good at being a Poor.)

Nice blog, BTW! Keep up the good work there! :cool:

Thanks, Tamara. I appreciate the insight--and the kind words. Reading your posts and articles, I've always admired your prose and your wit. Your writing has an endearingly savvy edge. I especially dig the "9mm Mullet" expression. Definitely captures the essence of the Ruger P89... though I will say mine shoots groups worthy of a (slightly disheveled) man bun.

And yeah, I guess freelance is tough in any industry. And there's probably even fewer opportunities in something as niche as guns. I figure I'm just gonna continue down this path and see where it leads. At the end of the day, I guess my content can kinda function as a de-facto portfolio if and when any opportunities do arise.

In any case... thanks again.

[Tamara]

I figure I'm just gonna continue down this path and see where it leads. At the end of the day, I guess my content can kinda function as a de-facto portfolio if and when any opportunities do arise.

That’s basically what my blogs serve as these days; a sort of business card for my writing.

Wishing you the best of luck; gun writing can use all the non-cliche-riddled non-Boomers it can get. The retirement plan is non-existent, but fortunately it’s an industry with a proven tolerance for senile ramblings, so you can stay in the saddle until you drop dead out of it.:D

(And thank you very much for the kind words!)

[MattyD380]

That’s basically what my blogs serve as these days; a sort of business card for my writing.

Wishing you the best of luck; gun writing can use all the non-cliche-riddled non-Boomers it can get. The retirement plan is non-existent, but fortunately it’s an industry with a proven tolerance for senile ramblings, so you can stay in the saddle until you drop dead out of it.:D

(And thank you very much for the kind words!)

Haha. I feel like the line between senility and inspiration is fine, at best. Now In my 40s, I'm beginning to feel the subtle onset of curmudgeonry; though I still love kombucha (in a completely un-ironic way) so... I figure I'm safe for a while.

Also...

Thank you so much for the shoutout on your blog! I checked my analytics... immediate bump in traffic. I will return the favor in my next article/video (not that you really need the attention of my humble following). And on that note... I've got one more old-school Smith in the stable--6904. I'll get to it one of these days.

Thanks again!

[WobblyPossum]

MattyD380, I just wanted to say I started reading your blog recently and am enjoying it. Thanks for putting your stuff out there.

[Tamara]

People talk about social media being what killed blogs, but that wasn’t the main culprit.

Early blogging was very organic and tended to riff off of other blogs. Back in the early Aughties, search engines rewarded you for having lots of incoming links and didn’t penalize you for outgoing ones. There was a benefit to looking around to what other blogs were writing about, linking to it,and offering your own take on the topic.

About the time big commercial group blogs became more and more of a thing (in the firearms industry, TTAG and TFB would be examples) search engines began rewarding internal links and punishing external ones. It was about that time that savvier folks, even in technical fields, began mining controversy for eyeballs.


“Here’s why 9mm sucks and .40 rules! See my enclosed link to my post from last week about why 9mm rules and .40 sucks!”


It was about that time I ceased giving a shit about SEO and pageviews and whatnot on my own blog, but this was easier for me because it was about that time that I started getting paying gigs outside my blog. For the last ten years or so, I couldn’t tell you to the nearest 500 how many pageviews I’m getting per day, but that’s because it really doesn’t matter if you’re writing recreationally.

[MattyD380]

MattyD380, I just wanted to say I started reading your blog recently and am enjoying it. Thanks for putting your stuff out there.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I try to make it entertaining... I try to make it authentic to what I know (which isn't everything) and my experience. Good to know at least some people are enjoying it. And that's enough to keep me going.

Probably going to cover the Walther P99, next... I think it's kind of invites a comparison to the PX4 Compact, which I just did.

In any case...

Thank you again!

[MattyD380]

People talk about social media being what killed blogs, but that wasn’t the main culprit.

Early blogging was very organic and tended to riff off of other blogs. Back in the early Aughties, search engines rewarded you for having lots of incoming links and didn’t penalize you for outgoing ones. There was a benefit to looking around to what other blogs were writing about, linking to it,and offering your own take on the topic.

About the time big commercial group blogs became more and more of a thing (in the firearms industry, TTAG and TFB would be examples) search engines began rewarding internal links and punishing external ones. It was about that time that savvier folks, even in technical fields, began mining controversy for eyeballs.


“Here’s why 9mm sucks and .40 rules! See my enclosed link to my post from last week about why 9mm rules and .40 sucks!”


It was about that time I ceased giving a shit about SEO and pageviews and whatnot on my own blog, but this was easier for me because it was about that time that I started getting paying gigs outside my blog. For the last ten years or so, I couldn’t tell you to the nearest 500 how many pageviews I’m getting per day, but that’s because it really doesn’t matter if you’re writing recreationally.

Interesting context.

I guess it calls into question what really constitutes "blogging" in this day and age. Or maybe the definition of blogging has evolved. As you mentioned in your post, I suppose my intent wasn't a "blog" in the sense that you've described it above. I just wanted to write the kind of gun reviews I'd want to read. So... we'll see if it "takes."

But I'm enjoying the journey either way.

[JCN]

I started my blog / YouTube channel in February of this year. The link is in my signature, if you wanna check it out.

I just looked and it’s well done and I enjoyed it!

[MattyD380]

I just looked and it’s well done and I enjoyed it!

Thanks, man! I appreciate it. I'll keep 'em comin... so... check back in a few weeks.

You guys are awesome.

[Sig_Fiend]

People talk about social media being what killed blogs, but that wasn’t the main culprit.

Early blogging was very organic and tended to riff off of other blogs. Back in the early Aughties, search engines rewarded you for having lots of incoming links and didn’t penalize you for outgoing ones. There was a benefit to looking around to what other blogs were writing about, linking to it,and offering your own take on the topic.

About the time big commercial group blogs became more and more of a thing (in the firearms industry, TTAG and TFB would be examples) search engines began rewarding internal links and punishing external ones. It was about that time that savvier folks, even in technical fields, began mining controversy for eyeballs.


“Here’s why 9mm sucks and .40 rules! See my enclosed link to my post from last week about why 9mm rules and .40 sucks!”


It was about that time I ceased giving a shit about SEO and pageviews and whatnot on my own blog, but this was easier for me because it was about that time that I started getting paying gigs outside my blog. For the last ten years or so, I couldn’t tell you to the nearest 500 how many pageviews I’m getting per day, but that’s because it really doesn’t matter if you’re writing recreationally.

Just to clarify, external links don't get penalized or count against you. They do "leak" link value off of the page, so there's sort of a threshold it's good to stay within so performance doesn't get affected too much. In fact, external links to quality, authoritative sources can actually add value to a page/article. Webpages that are research papers with citations (that are actual links) are a good example.

Internal links are critical because it eventually comes back to the issue of findability. As a site grows, having more internal links ensures both search bots and users are able to find more of your own content more easily. Without good internal linking, it's easy to end up with "orphan pages" or pages that take a ton of clicks from other pages to finally reach, in which case they'll probably never get rankings or traffic. There's always a balance to strike between the two, which gets tricky, but I generally try to aim for more like 80/20 internal/external links. That means the bulk of them are more likely to keep people within your site, while still sharing useful other sites and external content they might like.

As far as things like page title manipulation, that always irks me. Not so much that people do it, but because it works. It works because consumers have increasingly become superficial and have short attention spans. I think the best defense against it is to occasionally take advantage of some of those tricks while also inserting snark and disdain for the tactics within the actual content. "Taking the piss" as the Brit's would say. (e.g. "17 Reasons You're Not Man Enough to Rock a 22LR Snub Nose") :cool:

[LJP]

As the co-owner/founder of a gun blog, take everything that has already been written to heart. I won’t get into what drove me start blogging, but suffice it to say that it was blend of frustration and avocation. My blogging partner and I have used Wordpress successfully since 2015. While they offer domain hosting, ours is hosted externally with a redirect to the Wordpress site. We historically made barely enough to cover “operating expenses” with an Amazon Affiliate link, but it was never a money making endeavor. The blog was good for networking, and I think we managed to put out some quality information, but neither of us has much interest in posting much these days. Site traffic is down commensurately. I’m paying the hosting fees out of pocket and will probably allow the blog to sunset sooner rather than later. I don’t just have that much to say anymore. If your friend goes through with it, put a lot of thought into the name. If we had to to it all over again, we probably would have chosen differently, but that’s another discussion for another day. Wish them luck!

[okie john]

Others have done an excellent job describing the the structural and mechanical aspects of monetizing a blog, but those things won't make people want to read it. Your buddy needs to have a unique take on things and then bring that to life in his writing.

Back when PF started, it was a blog where the late Todd would shoot service pistols without cleaning them then tell us everything that went wrong with them before they fell apart. Then he'd move on and chronicle the destruction of something else.

The late Jeff Quinn tested all of the new stuff, but he did it in a realistic way and answered the questions that smart shooters tend to ask.

Hickock45 shoots things well and talks about them with a dry sense of humor.

What's your buddy's unique take?


Okie John

[Tamara]

I guess it calls into question what really constitutes "blogging" in this day and age. Or maybe the definition of blogging has evolved. As you mentioned in your post, I suppose my intent wasn't a "blog" in the sense that you've described it above.

Oh, I didn't mean to come across sounding like I was yelling at clouds or anything, please don't take it that way. The word "blog" has, as you note, sort of evolved to encompass all types of personal websites.

(Here's me yelling at clouds: Before I had a blog, I just had one of those free sites AOL provided for members. This is what it looked like in May of 2000 (https://web.archive.org/web/20010518154652/http://members.aol.com/tamslick/). Please don't laugh.)

[Sig_Fiend]

Oh, I didn't mean to come across sounding like I was yelling at clouds or anything, please don't take it that way. The word "blog" has, as you note, sort of evolved to encompass all types of personal websites.

(Here's me yelling at clouds: Before I had a blog, I just had one of those free sites AOL provided for members. This is what it looked like in May of 2000 (https://web.archive.org/web/20010518154652/http://members.aol.com/tamslick/). Please don't laugh.)

Yes! Man, those were the days! Tripod. Geocities. The internet was so much more exciting then, IMO, when people didn't treat the internet like it was 5 or 6 websites boiled down to apps on their phone.


Your buddy needs to have a unique take on things and then bring that to life in his writing.

THIS. My recommendation is for him to have fun with it and have a genuine personality that shines through in the content. Not everyone has to or will like it, and that's fine! Those that do will be a repeat audience.

Monetization
As far as monetization goes, if that's a goal he (or anyone else reading this) has, there are countless methods. Just my recommendation but, don't sell your soul for a quick buck. Providing value to your audience can have plenty of quality ways to monetize if you don't get impatient. If it was me, I'd build an audience and build trust first, and I'd avoid ad networks at all costs as you usually have little to no control over what ads show up. Imagine anti-gun ads showing up on your GUN website. I've seen that before on at least one of the well-known and highly successful gun blogs out there. Talk about risking reputation destruction. ;)

Here are some of the typical monetization methods:


Ad networks - Google AdSense, there are also a ton of private ad networks out there, most are NOT gun-friendly.
Affiliate advertising - Amazon Affiliate, ShareaSale, ClickBank, Commission Junction... there are like a million options. Some are networks, some are manufacturer/brand-direct programs.
Digital products - eBooks, guides, targets, range cards, tons of ideas.
Online training courses - There are platforms for this, such as Teachable.


There are plenty of other methods but, those are some of the typical ones. If it was me, I'd be working hard towards the digital product and training course angle (if I cared about monetization and if that fit my goals for a given site) as the ROI is going to be much better. I mean, really, once the initial investment in time and whatever expenses, that stuff is basically 100% profit afterwards. Things like ad networks pay pennies or fractions of a penny per click, which is a race to the bottom.

Digital Products
One question someone is probably going to ask themselves when getting into this is, "Why would someone buy my product when the info is out there for free already?" Remember, ultimately it goes back to providing value for your audience. I'll give one example. A full detail stripping, maintenance, and reassembly guide for HK hammer-fired guns (or even just one model). All of this is already out there for free. There are even fairly detailed videos on it. Here's the thing, though, not everyone is a gun nerd that will spend hours trying to find sources for all of this info. Paying say $20 for your ebook that gives them all of that immediately? That adds value, simplifies people's lives, saves their time, etc.

That $20 (arbitrary) ebook could also turn into a $100-150 (or whatever the market supports) video training course of the same. The difference from the free YouTube videos out there being extra attention to detail paid to things like showing assembly of various parts while NOT obscuring the camera with your hands (personal pet peeve lol). That and things like being clear and concise as opposed to unpolished YouTube stuff that wastes a lot of time.

Affiliates & Sponsorships
A lot of the influencers in the industry are effectively working the affiliate angle and getting direct sponsorships from manufacturers. In this industry, you aren't going to find many quality options from affiliate marketplaces (like some I listed above) for products relevant to this industry. Because of how gun control proponents have attempted to banish this industry from the internet, many networks won't even deal with companies in this industry. This is some of the reason the firearms industry feels like it's 20yrs behind the curve, because in many ways it's been forced to be. These sponsorships often only come once you've already built an audience, though there are a few companies that are a bit more forward-looking than that.

You kind of have to blaze your own path on the affiliate/sponsorship side of this industry. In other industries, this would be a simple matter of finding companies' webpages that outline the requirements of their affiliate programs or sponsorships, then applying. In this industry, I've almost never seen those things publicly disclosed. You usually have to ask, and even then, they may not actually have an organized program per-se. Some of this is also due to the high percentage of small businesses in this industry.

A lot of SMB's don't really fully understand affiliate marketing or sponsorships, legalities, what people in other industries do, etc. Approaching a small time holster maker, for example, you're very much BOTH learning about this stuff at the same time. In cases like that, whatever you do, get agreements on paper. Use services like Docusign to sign legally-binding contracts so everyone is protected. A lot of fly-by-night stuff happens in these cases in this industry and others where there's a percentage of SMB's. It's not necessarily malicious either, often just due to lack of experience.

[MattyD380]

Oh, I didn't mean to come across sounding like I was yelling at clouds or anything, please don't take it that way. The word "blog" has, as you note, sort of evolved to encompass all types of personal websites.

(Here's me yelling at clouds: Before I had a blog, I just had one of those free sites AOL provided for members. This is what it looked like in May of 2000 (https://web.archive.org/web/20010518154652/http://members.aol.com/tamslick/). Please don't laugh.)

Damn, that takes me back. I bet you had some dope AIM away messages back in the day. 😁

You still have that P7M8? More importantly… do you still play the original Diablo?! I remember my ancient 486 PC could barely run that shit—but it was worth every pixelated, stuttering second.

And, to that point, it’s crazy how quickly “internet stuff” evolves and reinvents itself. But I guess the thing that always rings true… is that you’ve gotta give your content a soul—as Sig_fiend and okie john pointed out. That goes for any artistic, creative endeavor, honestly.

And in the days where so much of everything is governed by big algorithms, big data and big BS… a truly authentic voice is truly differentiating.

This thread kicks ass.

[MattyD380]

Yes! Man, those were the days! Tripod. Geocities. The internet was so much more exciting then, IMO, when people didn't treat the internet like it was 5 or 6 websites boiled down to apps on their phone.



THIS. My recommendation is for him to have fun with it and have a genuine personality that shines through in the content. Not everyone has to or will like it, and that's fine! Those that do will be a repeat audience.

Monetization
As far as monetization goes, if that's a goal he (or anyone else reading this) has, there are countless methods. Just my recommendation but, don't sell your soul for a quick buck. Providing value to your audience can have plenty of quality ways to monetize if you don't get impatient. If it was me, I'd build an audience and build trust first, and I'd avoid ad networks at all costs as you usually have little to no control over what ads show up. Imagine anti-gun ads showing up on your GUN website. I've seen that before on at least one of the well-known and highly successful gun blogs out there. Talk about risking reputation destruction. ;)

Here are some of the typical monetization methods:


Ad networks - Google AdSense, there are also a ton of private ad networks out there, most are NOT gun-friendly.
Affiliate advertising - Amazon Affiliate, ShareaSale, ClickBank, Commission Junction... there are like a million options. Some are networks, some are manufacturer/brand-direct programs.
Digital products - eBooks, guides, targets, range cards, tons of ideas.
Online training courses - There are platforms for this, such as Teachable.


There are plenty of other methods but, those are some of the typical ones. If it was me, I'd be working hard towards the digital product and training course angle (if I cared about monetization and if that fit my goals for a given site) as the ROI is going to be much better. I mean, really, once the initial investment in time and whatever expenses, that stuff is basically 100% profit afterwards. Things like ad networks pay pennies or fractions of a penny per click, which is a race to the bottom.

Digital Products
One question someone is probably going to ask themselves when getting into this is, "Why would someone buy my product when the info is out there for free already?" Remember, ultimately it goes back to providing value for your audience. I'll give one example. A full detail stripping, maintenance, and reassembly guide for HK hammer-fired guns (or even just one model). All of this is already out there for free. There are even fairly detailed videos on it. Here's the thing, though, not everyone is a gun nerd that will spend hours trying to find sources for all of this info. Paying say $20 for your ebook that gives them all of that immediately? That adds value, simplifies people's lives, saves their time, etc.

That $20 (arbitrary) ebook could also turn into a $100-150 (or whatever the market supports) video training course of the same. The difference from the free YouTube videos out there being extra attention to detail paid to things like showing assembly of various parts while NOT obscuring the camera with your hands (personal pet peeve lol). That and things like being clear and concise as opposed to unpolished YouTube stuff that wastes a lot of time.

Affiliates & Sponsorships
A lot of the influencers in the industry are effectively working the affiliate angle and getting direct sponsorships from manufacturers. In this industry, you aren't going to find many quality options from affiliate marketplaces (like some I listed above) for products relevant to this industry. Because of how gun control proponents have attempted to banish this industry from the internet, many networks won't even deal with companies in this industry. This is some of the reason the firearms industry feels like it's 20yrs behind the curve, because in many ways it's been forced to be. These sponsorships often only come once you've already built an audience, though there are a few companies that are a bit more forward-looking than that.

You kind of have to blaze your own path on the affiliate/sponsorship side of this industry. In other industries, this would be a simple matter of finding companies' webpages that outline the requirements of their affiliate programs or sponsorships, then applying. In this industry, I've almost never seen those things publicly disclosed. You usually have to ask, and even then, they may not actually have an organized program per-se. Some of this is also due to the high percentage of small businesses in this industry.

A lot of SMB's don't really fully understand affiliate marketing or sponsorships, legalities, what people in other industries do, etc. Approaching a small time holster maker, for example, you're very much BOTH learning about this stuff at the same time. In cases like that, whatever you do, get agreements on paper. Use services like Docusign to sign legally-binding contracts so everyone is protected. A lot of fly-by-night stuff happens in these cases in this industry and others where there's a percentage of SMB's. It's not necessarily malicious either, often just due to lack of experience.

Thanks so much for all the fantastic insights you’ve shared. Very relevant to the kind of questions that flicker through my head.

[Sig_Fiend]

Thanks so much for all the fantastic insights you’ve shared. Very relevant to the kind of questions that flicker through my head.

There is so much knowledge here on PF alone, let alone other forums and hole-in-the-wall gun blogs out there. The thing I'd like to encourage is people making a go of blogging and putting their thoughts and especially their knowledge out there. Even better if they create products around that, like those digital products I mentioned. We should support the hell out of that! If anyone is on the fence and concerned about any technical barriers, ask someone! It's not as hard as you might think and plenty of people would gladly help you get started.

A couple decades ago, it was a rare bird that could manage to sign a deal with one of a handful of companies to put out some VHS training or gunsmithing videos. I know some of you gun nerds are just like me and relished those things back in the 90s! As cheesy as most of them were, and as dated as they seem now, they were something. If Lenny Magill was your spirit animal in the 90s, go ahead and smash that like button! :cool:

98099

Nowadays, that technical or production barrier practically doesn't exist. Before, it was only maybe a couple dozen or few dozen people's knowledge immortalized on VHS tapes. Now, it could literally be thousands or more whose unique life experiences and knowledge are immortalized on the internet forever, and in digital products their family could keep alive long after they pass on. I'd love to see more of that happen.