Moving on to non-stamp related news for a while… I’ve done some modifications for the blog, and as usual would appreciate to receive (both positive and negative) feedback on the changes from people reading the blog.

Show that You like Stamp Collecting (Blog)

It pretty common knowledge that these days any website is doomed unless it shows up in well search engines and social networks. It’s true for this site too: over 70% of blogs daily readers come from services like Google and Facebook looking for information about specific subjects discussed on the pages of this blog. Without them, there would be much less discussion on various topics.

In order to promote this blog on search engines and social networks, I’ve made an decision to include Google’s PlusOne and FaceBook’s Like buttons on each page of this blog. You can find these buttons on bottom of every page, between the article and comments (see below image).

If you are not a registered user of FaceBook or Google, then clicking of these buttons will not do You anything (except asking you to register as a member on these sites).

However, if you are a registered user on these sites, then clicking on these buttons will tell Your friends in these services that You liked that particular page. The bottom line is very simple: the more people click on these buttons, the more likely other collectors will find their way to read the particular blog entries and participate the discussions. And the more people join in, the more fun this blog will get (or at least I hope so).

This is one very easy way to support this blog, and show the world that You are a stamp collector – and proud of it.

So go ahead, and click the buttons below (and keep on doing it for any article You like – either on this site, or any other stamp related site You use to see similar buttons).

Stamp Collecting Blog on Google Plus

I’ve put quite a lot of effort in making it easy for people to follow updates on the blog. The weekly email newsletter has currently over 650 subscribers, RSS feeds have over 200 subscribers, my Twitter account has over 150 followers, and over 500 people have found my FaceBook account worth befriending.

But the evolution of technology never stops, and the latest addition to the above list is introduction of Stamp Collecting Blog’s GooglePlus page. Like every other channel, the blogs GooglePlus page will keep You updated on any new articles on the site as well as some other (usually non-stamp related tidbits) about my life. The use of GooglePlus requires that You have an account for Google Services (such as GMail or GoogleDocs).

View blog contents in your native language

Finally, I’ve added Google Translate service to the site. The translation tool can be found on the sidebar (just below search).

I know that the quality of auto-translations is not perfect, but I also know quite a large number of non-English readers prefer to use similar services to read blog contents in their native language. So this one is for You. Instead of using external websites or toolbars, You can now simply click on the dropdown and view site in your native language. Hope You find the change useful.

Closing words

I acknowledge that these changes do add quite a many new widgets on the site, and make it look even more filled than ever. But let’s say that most of them are IMHO necessary evil.

As usual, I would like to hear how You feel about the changes. So please, do share your opinion whether you like or dislike changes (or even if you find them indifferent).

Join the discussion on this topic below. There are 10 responses already!

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