Stardate 20020204.0824

(Captain's log): I remember when I started this site last March that one of my deep frustrations was the problem of getting noticed. I've talked about this before here, and mostly made light of it, but it really is a bitch. Writing well will get people to come back, but before they can come back they have to visit for the first time.

I ragged a bit on some high-profile sites who didn't help out the down-trodden miserable newbies, and it really didn't help. I even tried sucking up to the A-list once, just before current events made my traffic levels go through the roof. I've remembered that, and I'm trying to do otherwise.

Most sites will have a list of other sites to visit, either on their front page or elsewhere. The criteria by which they are selected is as varied as the people who select them. Sometimes it's "these people are friends." Sometimes it is "these people are VIPs and I'm trying to suck up." Sometimes it's "I really like these." Sometimes, pathetically, it's "Everyone else links to these guys so I probably should, too."

I have an extensive list of outside sites elsewhere here, but for the sidebar I've decided that what I want to do is to keep a short list of sites which are not heavily trafficked but which I think are high quality. In other words, I'm trying to do what I wished others had done for me last year. So you won't find Glenn Reynolds over there, because he doesn't need my help. By the same token, periodically I'll be dropping names off the list again as new ones are added, so as to keep it short and selective.

The reason is that a short list is more effective at driving traffic than a long one (less dilution). What I will be linking to is sites that I think are well written but which haven't generally gotten noticed. So, for instance, today I'm dropping several sites off the list: Inappropriate Response, Little Green Footballs, fuzzybelly, Rantburg, More than Zero, antwon.com. It's not that I think that these sites have suddenly become worse and no longer deserve your attention, on the contrary. Those sites all remain on my daily-read list. But they've been consistently good for so long now that they have finally gotten the recognition that they deserve and generally get healthy traffic levels. They've built up regular readerships. So instead, I'm replacing them with a list of other sites which I think are also good but which haven't yet been noticed, and probably don't get much in the way of traffic.

My hope is that this helps everyone. These new writers get noticed; my readers get to discover new things; I get points in heaven. Wait a minute; I'm an atheist. Oh, well; two out of three ain't bad.

Well, then, my reward is that I can look at myself in the mirror and say, "No, I am not Kottke."