The Rouge Shadow Blog

Just wanted to know what you think? This is going to be a new project for me over the summer:

http://therogueshadowblog.blogspot.com/

Any hints/tips on how to promote a Star Wars blog and how to get linked to other Star Wars sites? I'm going for an art/pop culture/fanboy demographic. Hope you like it and come back again.

Regards,
Necro

 

Hey, neat idea! Some suggestions for the front look of your site... if you're going to keep Blogger's look and feel, you're probably going to have to add some sort of explanation at the top to describe what images you're attempting to collect or show off. I know from your post here that you're trying to go for art and pop culture, but that's not necessarily apparent from a first glance. Specify in your banner or just below it that you're blogging about "art | pop culture | fanboys" or something like that. It can be simple and still get across the idea of what you're doing.

I think I'd also actually do a bit of writing with each entry. Maybe why the image is cool to you, some ideas for similar work that might be neat, or a tidbit here or there that someone might not know about the picture. Nothing really detailed, just something besides the images.

As for links and promotional ideas, I think you should start by getting in contact with artists and art websites that may have done a bit of Star Wars art in the past. They don't have to solely be SW art, of course... they may be a good source of images for you, though, in addition to traffic. Ask these artists if they'd like to be promoted on your blog by putting their images on there, get a bit of history on the creation of the image, and, with their permission to do so, stick it on there! They'd definitely want to link to you to show off where their art is being displayed, and that will give you just that many more visitors.

Alternatively, there are sites to submit your website to be archived or included in, such as StarWarsSearch.com or certain webrings. Looking up "Star Wars Search Engines" or similar keywords may assist you in finding the perfect spot to promote your site.

Best of luck... great idea!
Trikes

EDIT: I'm actually thinking this may make a really good idea for a Flash-based website... the outline of which would have its own pop culture/art feel and show off anything that fits the description. That would be sweet.

 

Trika,

Thanks for the advice. I made some changes as you mentioned...I think it works better now.

 

Hey! Great job with the changes over today! I saw your edits this morning, and it's lookin' pretty good now, too! More informative and interesting, for sure! Great work!

Best wishes with promoting your site... keep us updated in the future!

Trikes

 

Hey necromancing! Welcome to fan sites!

The site looks pretty good. I just have a few suggestions for you (you don't have to listen of course). The style you have is a bit plain. It's just white text on back background. I know styling for blog software is kind of hard, but it is worth it to look into it and to become familiar with it. A visitor to your website will most likely want to stay if you have an awesome, unique style. So, I would suggest creating your own (or getting someone else to do so if you don't know how). Just to clarify, I don't think the style is bad at all. I just think it could use a bit of livening up.

I like the banner/logo you have. It's pretty well put together, and nice and center. Good job on that (the Darth Maul eyes are cool!). As Trika said, you should add a bit more writing to you posts. I notice you have a little bit, but not much. Writing a paragraph about a picture is probably hard, but I am sure, if you put time into it, you can think of something.

Trika also had a good idea about asking artists on the web to promote their pictures. A good idea is to visit the Fan Art section here on the Jedi Council Forums. There are some really talented artists that post here. I'm sure you can find some good images there (I wouldn't post a thread about your site though, it might get locked).

One more thing, your site uses the Blogspot favicon. I am not sure if you can change that, but if you can, you might want to. It's not a very noticeable change, but it will make your site that much more unique. (If you can't change it, then ignore this)

Again, nice job so far!

 

Darth Nemisis,

Thanks for your comments and for taking a look at the site. I made some changes per your suggestions. See what you think...

Regards,
Necro

 

Wow! What a difference a little switch here or there makes! I think you may have found a neat design... a little big at the top, but really effective in setting the mood for what you want to display on this site. You might experiment with shrinking the image just before the blog if you get some time. Overall, I like what you've done with the blog. Very neat.

 

Wow! I like that a lot better! Though, I do agree with Trika again, the images at the top are a bit large. It's not that bad though. Good job with the style, it definitely looks really good.

 

Thanks to you both for your feedback. When you say the image at the 'top' of the blog, did you mean the title banner with Darth Maul or the image below with Vader and Padme?

 

I was talking about the one with Vader and Empress Amidala, but both of them could technically be a bit smaller so you get more of both, I suppose.