Recently a friend of mine asked for some insight into publicizing his business which is the manufacturing of really beautiful paddles for Stand Up Paddle boards. https://www.facebook.com/bakerworkz/ And he asked if WordPress was a good place to post. We’d talked about this four years ago before he moved from Potrerillos Arriba, Panama, to some God forsaken shit hole in Costa Rica noted only for its good surfing, wonderful scenery and beautiful women. Other than that the place has nothing going for it.
I told him I thought it was a worthwhile site and stressed that the use of “Tags” was extremely important for drawing people to his blog. This week I have a good example of just how true that is. Like most bloggers I started off like a house on fire back in 2009. I posted every day. When I was new here to Panama I had a lot of interesting stuff to post about. I had hundreds of visitors a day who found the blog through search engines when they were looking for information such as: Retirement Abroad, Retirement in Panama, A Stroll Around Dolega has been a BIG draw over the years. But as so often happens to bloggers life intruded. I mean the mundane aspects of life. I get up, check my emails, read news stories, go grocery shopping a couple of times a week, take naps in the afternoon, go to bed at night and do it all over again the next day. Not the stuff to write about.
Recently, though, one of the things I think of as routine, hiding my computer when I’m out of the house, led me to write a post about crime here in Panama. Since I’m not posting much lately my readership has dropped off considerably. For example, this Monday (I’m writing this on Thursday) there were 54 visitors to the blog. Tuesday there were only 45. When I wrote the crime story I added a couple of tags to it that I don’t normally use. They were Boquete and Volcan, two very popular expat locations nearby. Naturally people interested in possibly expatriating here have heard of at LEAST Boquete and search engines would have picked up my tags which people would then see and possibly click on. Well, they DID! On Wednesday there were 182 visitors to the blog. Certainly not overwhelming, but nearly a four-fold increase.
It shows the power of using the right tags that will be picked up by search engines and draw people to your site.
One More Good Adventure 
Good to know Richard!
Hey Old Salt – I found you back in September and subscribed right away. I’m quite interested in Chiriquí Province, but not up in the mountains, just like you. I like your unpolished frankness on expat life. You tell it as you see it and that’s why I’m here. Keep it up!
Thanks, Rob. There’s nothing inherently wrong with living up in the mountains. The temps are definitely nicer than down here on the flat, but physically I can’t do the altitude with just 34% of normal lung capacity. I am admittedly harsh in my judgement of those who do live up there, though. I mean they’re cliquy as all get out. I understand that mentality, though. I was sort of like that the first six months I was over in France. It was COMFORTABLE to hang out with other English-speakers, and there were plenty of them in Antibes…Brits, Scots, Irish, Aussies and Yanks. All of the Dutch speak PERFECT English as do the Swedes, Finns and Norwegians. So it was easy being with them But when I started exchanging bodily fluids with a French girl my whole perspective changed and a different world opened up for me. It’s the same thing here.
Quite frankly I HATE where I’m living now after being in the same house for the last four years. On Tuesday I went to look at a house in San Pablo Nuevo Abajo, about half way between here and David. The transportation there would be great. In the half hour I was there two buses passed within a half block of the house. It was even smaller than where I’m living now but there is more distance between the houses. Here it’s barely eight feet and I hear the infant and the baby crying next door all the time. Since I’m not under any time constraints to find a place like I was before I moved to La Bariada, I can afford to take my time and look around. I don’t have a lease and the law says all I have to do is give a 30-day written notice.
Oh, the place in San Pablo was 2 small bedrooms a single bath, a living room maybe 10X10 and a minuscule kitchen. Had a nice back yard, though and the rent was just $185/month. The last place I was in I was paying $175 for a fully-furnished, air conditioned place. Here I’m paying $120.
If your blog doesn’t have to earn money to pay your bills, you can do whatever the heck you want which makes it way more fun.