Three months ago, I launched a resource curation blog - tools, websites, and open-source projects neatly categorized and reviewed. It grew faster than I expected. Traffic came in. People bookmarked it. But something felt off.
Readers weren't asking "what's good?" anymore. They were asking "how did you do it?" and "which one should I pick for my situation?"
The Problem with Curation-Only Blogs
Curated lists are useful. They're the starting point. But they have a ceiling:
- Low differentiation - dozens of sites list the same tools with similar descriptions
- No personal trust - readers don't know if you actually used the product
- Weak retention - people find what they need and leave
- Hard to monetize - affiliate links feel transactional without context
People don't follow blogs for lists. They follow blogs for perspective.
What This Blog Is (and Isn't)
wonderfulblogs.blog is my answer. It's not a replacement for the curation site - it's a complement.
| Resource Blog | wonderfulblogs.blog |
|---|---|
| "Here are 10 great tools" | "Here's how I used 3 of them to ship a project" |
| What exists | What to choose and why |
| Discovery | Depth and confidence |
Three Content Pillars
1. Practical Notes
Real project stories. What I built, what broke, what I'd do differently. No hypotheticals.
2. Decision Guides
A vs B comparisons with clear recommendations based on context - team size, budget, timeline, skill level.
3. Tutorial Series
Multi-part guides you can follow along with. Not overview articles - actual step-by-step instructions.
Lessons from Month One of the First Blog
- SEO favors specificity —"best markdown editors" competes with everyone; "why I switched from Typora to Obsidian" ranks for intent
- Comments reveal gaps - the most common question was always "but how do I actually set it up?"
- Consistency beats volume —2 quality posts per week outperformed my attempt at daily publishing
What's Next
I'll keep both sites running. The resource blog helps people discover. This journal helps them decide and build. They link to each other where it makes sense, but they serve different needs.
If you're a developer who learns by doing - welcome. This is the blog I wish existed when I started my first side project.