by Deborah Ng
Since launching this new Freelance Writing Jobs network the other day, I received a flurry of emails. Most of them are from people who can’t find the leads, or feel the leads need to be at the top of the home page in huge, flashing letters making them easy to find. It appears an explanation is in order.
Where to Find the Jobs Leads
Back in the day (last week) one could visit FWJ and find leads and blog posts on the main home page. Now upon coming to our home page, our readers come to a paragraph of explanation:
Welcome to the Freelance Writing Jobs network of blogs. Your favorite bloggers are still here, we all have our own blogs now instead of playing in the same crowded sandbox. Below you’ll find a list of all of our blogs, along with the three most recent posts. Please adjust your bookmarks and feeds to reflect all of the blogs in the FWJ Network.
Still, I’m receiving email after email asking where to find the leads. After explaining that everything is on the main page many responded back that they didn’t even read the main page, they just looked for their lists of leads and panicked.
This is slightly upsetting because it tells me many of our visitors don’t really care to read our blog posts beyond the job leads. By building this network I was hoping to better showcase the different bloggers and their topics. I do hope those who just come for the leads will look around and bookmark or subscribe to the other blogs.
Before switching over to this format, readers read all posts and participated in conversations for nearly every post. I hope this will be the norm on our individual blogs as well. Links to all blogs are available at the top of each page, in the sidebar, on the homepage and on the bottom of each post.
Why the Leads are At the Bottom of the Home Page
The reason leads are at the bottom of the home page is that it’s my hope that while your eye is traveling down the page, it will stop at one of our other blogs and you will be inclined to visit.
Please Visit or Subscribe to the Other Blogs in the Freelance Writing Jobs Network
- Article Writing by Terreece Clarke
- Business Tips for Writers by James Chartrand
- Freelance Writing Tips and Other Good Stuff by Deborah Ng
- Freelance Writing Job Hunt Tips by Jodee Redmond
- Network Blogging Tips by Deborah Ng, Jennifer Chait and David Peralty
We’re more than just leads. Please stop by for a visit and join our communities!
I still can’t find the leads. The site is so much more difficult to navigate since you changed the format.
Cana on the Main Page, http://freelancewritinggigs.com, there is a list of blogs with their last three posts under each link. At the bottom of the list you will find the blog with the leads, it’s called Freelance Writing Jobs for Web and Print – and under that you will even see links to the last three leads post.
I’ll admit that I do come here primarily for the leads (and you do a great job of presenting leads), but I’m always pleasantly surprised by other, well-written articles on here. I have bookmarked many, MANY articles on here, and traveled to different blogs as a result of what was written here. So, I think you’re doing a great job, and I’ve never had a problem finding the link to the jobs.. if you’re a writer, READ!
Deb,
When I sent the e-mail I did, I had, in fact, read the paragraph you quoted. My problem was just that, *my* problem. WIth limited eyesight, when things change, it makes it difficult for me to find where things have moved to. Because of the settings I use for my monitor, the pages don’t always fully load beyond what is seen on the immediate screen. That’s where my problem came in and was by no means a reflection on you or the site itself.
Best,
~Jen
I like the idea of transforming FWJ into a network and think the homepage works, for the most part (I found the job leads pretty easily). Maybe it’s confusing because every network starts off with the same few words in title? I’m thinking that a box format, rather than listing the blogs, might be easier to visually navigate. But what do I know? By next week, I probably won’t even remember what the old FWJ looked like. I remember being so upset when the Yahoo homepage changed. I survived!
Jacqueline, I think you’re right. The first few words being the same is a bit confusing. I basically looked for Jodee’s name for the leads. I know this sounds weird, but for some reason “Freelance Writing Jobs – Web and Print” didn’t click in my mind as “leads” immediately.
The first time I came here since the change (Wed.) it took me a bit to find the job leads. Today I found the leads no problem.
I do agree with you on why the leads were placed at the bottom to show other blogs, etc. And emphatic words – the last thing said people usually remember the most.
I admit I come here for the leads. When all the posts were in the same blog, I would read them. Now that they’re separate from the leads — I doubt I will read them very often. I hope your network grows as you hope and you find success with it. Also — I didn’t have a problem finding the leads, and I’ve subscribed/bookmarked that page.
I love perusing this site. I find it very helpful to me, the freelance writer. The job leads are a bonus! I’ve learned a lot from this blog such as how to set my pricing and to “watch out” for those scam ads. Thanks for the great information!