“What are you doing, Pig?” Robert asked.
“I am writing to publish on my website chantchhaya,” I said.
“What are you writing about?”
“About the color of ‘wall of the museum of Cambodia.”
“Why do you write about it?”
“I want to tell both Cambodians and international tourists that the wall of the national museum of Cambodia is not called red.”
“Will it be published now?”
“Not yet. This article will be published on Wednesday, next week.”
“How often do you plan to publish your article?”
Hearing this question, Robert made a sour face. “I have no clue about this,” he said.
“It’s important,” I claimed.
“What is your suggestion?”
“No matter if you are a blogger or a vlogger, you have to have products in your hand before you make a website or a video channel. Based on my experience, the number of products you should have is more than one hundred.”
“More than one hundred?”
“Yes.” I nodded my head. “When you create your website, you should post one hundred articles. If it is less than one hundred, you will make the readers feel you are not ready and it can make them feel not impressed about your site.”
“I see.” Robert wagged his head. “Like we open a fruit store, for example. We have to have fruits in our store. When the customer comes, they will go around and see what we have. If we have little, the customer will leave.”
I nodded my head with a smile.
“But why do we need more than one hundred contents?”
“If we own a store on the land, to make people know that our store is opening, we open the door - everyday. But own a website, an online store, the only way to tell the customers that it is opening is to post everyday or regularly. So, besides the one hundred published articles, you have to publish a new article - which you can choose between posting it one daily, two daily, one in a week, two in a week etc.”
“Oh god! It’s not easy.”
“Like I told you already, it is very very very very very hard. And it will be harder while you are operating your site. You will understand when you work with it yourself.”
Robert dropped his shoulders as he heard me.
“Now, summary what I have told you.”
“To make a website,” Robert narrated, “find a domain and a niche. The domain should be no longer than four syllables, it should be easy to say, to type and to remember, it should be a word that a lot of people know about it and it should not be too specific. As for the niche or the topic, it should be a thing that is useful for the readers or what the readers need. Then think about channel and language. If I choose Blogspot, I should write in English; if I choose Wordpress, I can write in any language. To make the website work, I should build my fame. So, besides creating a website, I should create a video channel as well - and I should link them together. Before I make a website or a video channel, I should prepare the contents in advance more than one hundred. When I start my website, there should be one hundred contents published on the site, then I should post regularly to make my website go on.”
“Perfect,” I said with a smile.
I continued, “When I changed yayaidea to be Wordpress org’s site, I also changed its topic from balcony garden to television commercial script. My mind thought and hoped that this would be successful to pull readers to read, still it failed.”
“Why?” Robert said.
“First reason is we are new, second reason is no one knows about us, third reason is it doesn’t give any benefit to the readers.”
“Um,” Robert wagged his head slightly, “I seem to feel about what you said.”
I smiled when I heard it.
“What’s about your chantchhaya? You said it is written in Khmer. How can it get views?”
“It’s because I link it with youtube.”
Robert shrank his eyes as he heard what I said.
“Besides writing blog, I have also used youtube - in 2011 or 2012 I think. At that time, I just wanted to learn using social media. In 2018, when youtube became famous, Cambodian users including me tried to get our channel monetized. I made many types of content but it didn’t work. One day, I tried an administration video and it went viral, so I decided to choose administration teaching as a niche for my youtube channel. At first, it went very well; then youtube closed the advertisement in Cambodia, it was the down period of all Cambodian users in Cambodia. Because of that led me to become a real blogger, and I decided to buy the domains - which two are failures and one is walking.”
“It is written in Khmer, so your youtube channel is in Khmer as well, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is in Khmer.”
“How can your site work by just linking to youtube?”
“Good question.” I grinned. “For instance, I made a video teaching how to write a meeting report uploaded on youtube, then I uploaded the sample of report as PDF file in chantchhaya for the viewers to download it.”
“Ah,” Robert wagged his head in a row, “I see.”
“It’s called a strategy,” I stated. “The same as very happy piglet and yayaidea, chantchhaya didn’t get views by just posting articles. Instead, people go to it because they want the free download document.”
“I’ve got it. You want to tell me that I should build my name if I want to walk on a path of online career. I should not create only a website, but also a video channel and link them together. And to make my website successful, there should be something beneficial that the readers can take from it.”
“Correct.” I nodded my head. “It’s a business. When we do business, we give a product or service to customers and we take product or service costs from them. If our business doesn’t have a product or a service that customers need, no one will come to us. So, you have to think carefully and deeply before you create your site. Not only the website career but also other businesses.”
Robert wagged his head in a row, “I see. Anything else?
“Yes…”
“So, if we choose the correct domain or website name, will it be successful?” Robert asked.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “There are other aspects.”
“What are they?”
“Let’s talk about my three websites as examples. The site very happy piglet wrote about general articles, and yayaidea wrote about balcony gardens. Both failed. Then I changed very happy piglet to be written about whatever I want; I stop caring if it gets views or not. As for yayaidea, I decided to try something new by changing it to be Wordpress. When I did it, I thought it would become Wordpress’s site, but then I realized I was wrong. Before yayaidea is 'https' meaning it was under protection of Blogspot. Now it is 'http', no 's', meaning it is not under the protection of Blogspot anymore - because I pulled it out of Blogspot. In addition, Wordpress just took it to be in Wordpress organization, not Wordpress dot com, so now, yayaidea is cloud in the sky. That’s why I asked you about the channel. You have to be clear and sure which one you want for your works to put on. It is like you are setting up a store. You have to think carefully, because it is not easy to change or to move - the same as the store on the land.”
Robert wagged his head, “I see. Is there more?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Language is one aspect as well. Both very happy piglet and yayaidea are written in English. I made it in English because Google adsense doesn't allow monetization if the website is written in Khmer. However, there aren’t any viewers. But for chantchhaya, I wrote it in Khmer; it seems to be more successful than the English sites. With this experience, I have to remind you besides thinking of a domain, channel, you must think about the language of your work as well. Sure, English websites are good because a lot of people know English, but it doesn’t guarantee that they will come to read our site. On the other hand, Khmer is not a worldwide language, but it turns out my Khmer website gains readers much more than. Hence, you have to think and choose wisely.”
“Okay.” Robert nodded his head. “If I choose Blogspot, I should write in English. If I choose Wordpress, I can write in any language. That’s all?”
“Not yet all…”
It has been a few days already. Robert told me that he could not think of a niche for his website.
“Can you help me?” He said.
“I want to, but it is your site, you must do it yourself,” I said.
“Then, can you tell me your experiences? Perhaps it will help me to find out.”
“Well,” I thought for a moment, “I have been writing a blog since 2011. At that time, I used Wordpress. Then in 2018, I started Blogspot. Because I love writing stories, I decided to write short stories on my site. I chose very happy piglet as my domain since I thought I am a pig and I want to be a happy pig. After that, I published one story a day, till I got 500 views, I applied for monetization. The adsense refused; it said my website didn’t have uniqueness and it didn’t give any benefit to the readers. I had to change from a short story site to a general article site. Though it had views, it didn’t go well. There are plenty of sites that have the same type of articles as mine. I could not attract the readers. Then I decided to build another website - yayaidea, by writing about my plants that I grew in my balcony. I really expected it could attract the readers, especially the people who like gardening. Furthermore, there is no website talking about garden on balcony; I was really hopeful that my site was the first kind and the best. In the end, everything failed. Still I didn’t want to give up, in 2023 I decided to upgrade my Wordpress blog to be a website with the domain - chantchhaya. It worked, but not very well at all. Even though I felt I didn’t lose for nothing. At least, through the experiences, I understood that choosing a website name or a domain is very important. It should be one or two words with no more than four syllables; that word should be easy to remember, easy to type; it should be the words that a lot of people know. Between the three websites, very happy piglet and yayaidea are good because they are used easy words, but very happy piglet is long, yayaidea is better. As for chantchhaya, though it has three syllables, it is Cambodian word that is hard to remember and it is not a well known word. Even Cambodians, there are not many people who know about this word. Furthermore, it is hard to type. When people cannot remember it, they cannot type it correctly, then it can’t be ranked in Google search and this leads my site to be not successful.”
After hearing it, Robert popped up his eyes, “Just a domain is hard. What about other things?”
“It is not hard, but it is very very very very very very very hard…” I laughed.
It was a cool night. Robert walked to lay near my chair.
“Pig, I heard that being a blogger needs to know how to write and love writing, isn’t it?” He said.
“Being a blogger is a kind of career dealing with writing more than other jobs, but I don’t think we have to love writing in order to be a blogger,” I said.
“Like I, I can write, but I can’t write long articles, I can be a blogger, can’t I?”
“I think you can.”
“If so, please teach me. I want to be a blogger. I want to earn money.”
“Being a blogger doesn’t mean we can earn money.”
“I know; however, at least it can help.”
I nodded my head, “Yes, it can help us - sometimes.”
“Teach me.”
“Well, I have experience with Blogspot and Wordpress. Which one do you want to choose to be your channel?”
“What is the difference between them?”
“If you choose Blogspot, you will spend about $20 a year but your site is under control of Google. If you choose Wordpress, you will have more freedom, but you need to buy a plan - the low price plan with a monetization option is about $120 a year.”
“Can I choose both?”
“Of course, you can.”
“Okay, I choose both of them. What’s next?”
“You need to find a niche for your website. I mean a topic. Then you have to find your domain.”
“Can you give advice on these points?”
“I can give you advice related to the domain. You should select a domain which is easy to say, to remember, and it should not so specific because if you want to change topic of your site, you can change it; if your domain is so specific, you might be have to change your domain, and it will affect your site and also your readers.”
“What’s about the niche?”
“It is about your own preference. I can’t give a comment.”
Robert wagged in a row.
“Think about these two things. After you find them, we can talk about it more.”
Robert nodded his head, “Okay.”
It was early morning. Crow told that she got well, so she would go back to her home. Before she flew, she thanked us for taking care of her these few days.
After the crow left, Robert and I went to the garden.
“It was a long time. You don’t deliver the vegetables to your customer,” Robert said.
“This is a hot season. There is little rain, so the vegetables are not growing well. We have to wait for about one or two more months,” I said.
“Where can we get money while waiting for the vegetables?”
“I told you before that I am not earning from only vegetables but from being a blogger too.”
“Well, can you teach me how to be a blogger?”
I looked at him, “You are learning how to do business with me. Now you want to learn how to be a blogger. Why?”
“I think I should study multiple majors at the same time.”
“What is the cause?”
Robert didn’t reply, just made his face low and showed a shy behavior.
“I got it.” I nodded my head in a row. “You work hard because of that female human.”
Robert did shoulders shimmy, then he expanded his right hand to touch my arm within a manner of shyness, but because he used much strength, the touch turned to be a push and as a result I laid my face in wet soil.
“Oh sorry Pig. I didn’t mean it.” He hurriedly came to help me out.
I t was hard to decide if I should close my website or not. Because I couldn't make a decision yet, I decided to take a break. And I fel...
