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I have been working to sort and organize out all of the typical Black Friday deals, and there’s still a mountain of information to filter and share.
I try to organize all of this information in a way that makes sense for me and you, but there’s always room for improvement.
Your feedback – if you have any – would be most appreciated! Note: this post will self destruct in a few days.
Republishing Posts
Last year, we had around 160 different Holiday and Black Friday deal posts.
There is still a LOT to post about for this year, and things also get frantic Thanksgiving weekend when new limited time promos pop up constantly online.
The volume of posts tend to constantly push things down the homepage, and no matter how well I try to categorize things for later reference, the sheer volume makes things difficult.
When a question comes in, I have to sort through everything to find the correct post and relevant details. Or, if I want to cross-reference something, it was a chore to find it. If things gets sluggish for ME to dig through, I imagine you might feel the same.
It can also be a hassle to compare pricing on Black Friday when new deals come up.
One of the other side effects of all this is that I there are some deals that I find interesting, but not interesting enough to add to the mess of things. The deal overflow post is a way to combat this, by providing a singular place for quick deals that we otherwise might not post about.
For this year, I have been updating and republishing certain posts, and that seems to be helpful, but I’d love for your input.
This also solves another problem. How useful is a Black Friday deal post once it’s over? Some pages are great for historical reference, but what about the 150 other posts from last year that are living on the site with outdated information? Some of those will be updated into general deal discussions that can be pointed to now or in the future, others will likely be consolidated.
So, about updating and republishing posts with new deals at the top – I’m sure regular readers have noticed this. Has this been working well for you, or would you prefer a different approach?
It will likely be more convenient for me to do the same on Thanksgiving weekend, rather than post 20 different times, which tends to constantly push the big “guide” posts down the page.
Adding to, updating, and pushing posts to the top also eases some of the rush involved, as it means a post doesn’t have to be perfect. In previous years, I worried that adding new content to existing posts would be missed.
I figure that in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, I will update relevant posts but only republish them after major updates or a couple of days worth of additions and changes.
New Format
I tried something new with our Milwaukee Deal Page.
Does this work for you? I plan to update this post frequently as well. AND, there will still be individual posts for the biggest deals, and these posts will be linked to in the roundup.
Some deals, such as the 15pc drill bit deal, are great bargains, but there usually isn’t enough for me to say to warrant a post.
I’m still tweaking the layout and structural formatting of some of these posts, but I already like that I can add updates without publishing brand new posts.
I usually have a filtered list of designated Milwaukee deals, and we’ll still have posts, but they will then be summarized and fit into this post as a sort of quick cheat sheet.
I started working on this to help me better compare deals and answer reader questions, and then I staretd to spruce it up a little to make it more presentable and easier for you guys to navigate.
As always, please let me know if there are any unexpected behaviors. (I have been testing the “back to top” link to ensure it doesn’t accidentally activate when you’re scrolling.)
Best Black Friday Guide
I’m still working on this as well.
I have not decided if this will be where all the new deals go once Black Friday does arrive, but that seems like a good place for them.
I’ve been working on different roundups for this post. This should make things easier for me, and I hope you’ll find it helpful as well. I think I’ll restructure this post in the same styling as the Milwaukee post.
Comments
I have turned the comments off on the black friday “hub” page, and I will likely do the same on the index-like “landing pages”.
There are two reasons for this – performance (comments greatly increase page resources, and these posts will end up being quite lengthy already), and because I always find myself struggling to answer questions when they’re in so many places.
I figure that the central questions post can handle questions, requests, and tips/shares, and questions about individual deals can go in the individual deal posts.
I know some of you might be unhappy about this, and I am already forgetting and catching myself looking to see if there are new comments, but I think the benefits will outweigh this. Plus, this is only going to be done on a handful of posts, and it’s something I can always reverse if need be.
Ideas? Requests?
I tend to arrange things in a way that’s convenient for me to refer to, and I can’t recall ever hearing complaints.
Here’s the big question. Is there any way for me to make all of the deal and promo details and information easier for you to digest or refer to?
Did you see a format or reporting style that you’d like to see us adapt here?
All I’ve seen on other media sites so far are guides written by “content experts” that recommend garbage multi-tools, 3-generations old drills, tools on Amazon that Amazon doesn’t even sell (and at double pricing), and overpriced outdated cordless “special buy” kits that nobody who buys tools for themselves would ever interested in.
I tend to refine and improve my deal reporting every year, but I want to ensure that your needs and wants are met as effectively as possible.
