I thought I would take a look back at the year of blogging in 2019 for St Andrews Wargaming, and seeing what the new year has in store.
Blogging
My blogging content has been down significantly in 2019. I posted 160 articles on the blog in 2018, compared to only 81 in 2019, a reduction of about 50%. These articles have been exclusively hobby updates, battle reports and codex reviews.
There are several reasons for this. One of the main ones is that I think blog interaction and views appear to be down across the board. I think a lot more readers are migrating to social media and Youtube channels to get their hobby content. This has left a lot of bloggers behind and I think my average article views are well down compared to a couple of years ago.
I think another issue is the way that GW have changed their release schedules and release practices. In previous years, Codex Reviews were a big draw to the blog, as people wanted to read about the new releases and new rules and units for an army. For much of 8th edition, GW have started giving advance copies of the codices to the bigger Youtube channels and websites. As a result, most people are getting their information about the new releases from those sources, weeks before anyone else can supply these highly sought after articles.
Another issue for me has been the increased release schedule of the new books. We have gone from one to two codices a year, to almost one a month with 8th edition. It can be hard to keep up do date with the reviews for just the armies that I have. For most of my reviews, I have focused on the special rules, warlord traits, psychic powers and stratagems, rather than reviewing each unit in turn. I have saved the more indepth reviews for my Frontline Gaming articles.
As I will discuss below, the battle reports have also been a time-consuming part of blogging. This has limited the number of posts I can put out.
Changes in my social life have also limited the amount of time I can spend on the blog. I started a new relationship this year and have taken up some hobbies that have cut down the time I can spend on blogging each week, which has helped contribute to the lower output this year.
Another aspect that I need to work on for the new year is interacting with other blogs. Potentially one of the reasons for the reduced readership and comments on the blog has been that I have also dropped off in reading blogs and commenting on other blogs. As I have said previously, interacting with other bloggers is a great way to keep the community going and get more people interested in your own blog. I've been trying to start this up again more recently, and hope to improve on this in the new year.
Many of the people I starting blogging around the same time as, and many of the blogs I used to follow on a regular basis have either stopped altogether or seen a dramatic reduction in their posts; Confessions of a 40k addict, The Burning Eye, From the Horus Heresy to Infinity and Beyond, From the Fang.
A big shout out to some recent bloggers who have taken up the mantle, producing great content most weeks; Stylus from the Woffboot Chronicles and Redtoof from Redtoof's mostly 40k blog.
I also want to call out some blogs that have continued to go from strength to strength; Old School Gaming, WeeMen and Cascadian Grimdark. If there are any other blogs you think I should be following, please leave a comment and let me know.
Many thanks to all of those that continue to read and comment on the blog on a regular basis, and for helping to keep my motivation up in the past year.
Blogging
My blogging content has been down significantly in 2019. I posted 160 articles on the blog in 2018, compared to only 81 in 2019, a reduction of about 50%. These articles have been exclusively hobby updates, battle reports and codex reviews.
There are several reasons for this. One of the main ones is that I think blog interaction and views appear to be down across the board. I think a lot more readers are migrating to social media and Youtube channels to get their hobby content. This has left a lot of bloggers behind and I think my average article views are well down compared to a couple of years ago.
I think another issue is the way that GW have changed their release schedules and release practices. In previous years, Codex Reviews were a big draw to the blog, as people wanted to read about the new releases and new rules and units for an army. For much of 8th edition, GW have started giving advance copies of the codices to the bigger Youtube channels and websites. As a result, most people are getting their information about the new releases from those sources, weeks before anyone else can supply these highly sought after articles.
Another issue for me has been the increased release schedule of the new books. We have gone from one to two codices a year, to almost one a month with 8th edition. It can be hard to keep up do date with the reviews for just the armies that I have. For most of my reviews, I have focused on the special rules, warlord traits, psychic powers and stratagems, rather than reviewing each unit in turn. I have saved the more indepth reviews for my Frontline Gaming articles.
As I will discuss below, the battle reports have also been a time-consuming part of blogging. This has limited the number of posts I can put out.
Changes in my social life have also limited the amount of time I can spend on the blog. I started a new relationship this year and have taken up some hobbies that have cut down the time I can spend on blogging each week, which has helped contribute to the lower output this year.
Another aspect that I need to work on for the new year is interacting with other blogs. Potentially one of the reasons for the reduced readership and comments on the blog has been that I have also dropped off in reading blogs and commenting on other blogs. As I have said previously, interacting with other bloggers is a great way to keep the community going and get more people interested in your own blog. I've been trying to start this up again more recently, and hope to improve on this in the new year.
Many of the people I starting blogging around the same time as, and many of the blogs I used to follow on a regular basis have either stopped altogether or seen a dramatic reduction in their posts; Confessions of a 40k addict, The Burning Eye, From the Horus Heresy to Infinity and Beyond, From the Fang.
A big shout out to some recent bloggers who have taken up the mantle, producing great content most weeks; Stylus from the Woffboot Chronicles and Redtoof from Redtoof's mostly 40k blog.
I also want to call out some blogs that have continued to go from strength to strength; Old School Gaming, WeeMen and Cascadian Grimdark. If there are any other blogs you think I should be following, please leave a comment and let me know.
Many thanks to all of those that continue to read and comment on the blog on a regular basis, and for helping to keep my motivation up in the past year.
