Tag Archives: Web tools

Change can be scary, but sometimes you just have to try new things. Giving a third party service, in beta, control over the home page of my blog was one of those scary things. I’m still not sure it was the right decision, but I’m sticking with it. For now.

Rebel Mouse describes itself as your social front page, building a dynamic site around what you share. According to the Rebel Mouse page, people are becoming embarrassed by web sites that are not as current or active as their social media accounts. I believe the problem is real. It can be difficult to find the right way to integrate social media on a blog. I also find that a quick tweet or mobile photo upload is more fun than a full blog post, and a lot faster. It can be tempting to skip the blog posts altogether, but you still need to have your own home on the web with fresh content.

Here are some of the reasons why I ultimately decided to try Rebel Mouse on my home page:

1. I wanted to make it easier to discover content on my blog. There is a new emphasis on discovery rather than search in web design. Rebel Mouse provides that dynamic panel or masonry style layout made famous by Pinterest. Mashable’s new web site design is also a great example. The layout does that neat infinite scroll trick where you can just keep scrolling down to discover more content. My favorite examples of the infinite scroll are Pinterest and the Chrome Web Store. 
2. My social media posts can automatically help keep my blog fresh. If blogging isn’t your full time job, it can be really hard to do more than a couple posts a month. Posting to Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and other social media sites will now add freshness to my homepage without any additional steps on my part.
3. It helps me create more visual content. I read somewhere that blog content has evolved from lengthy text posts, to micro-blogging short text posts in social media, to skipping the text altogether in favor of pictures and videos. The web is becoming more visual, and that is exactly the way I like it. Rebel Mouse automatically tries to add an image or video to each post. If there isn’t one already, it will try to find one that is relevant. My new rule is to never make a post without an image or video.
4. It provides an incredibly simple way to curate content. Many content marketing experts suggest that it is important to supplement your original content by sharing relevant content from other sources. Generally in social media copying other people’s content is naughty, but sharing or linking to that content is nice. Now whenever I share a link in social media, the link is republished on my homepage. In effect, I can get even more fresh content on the front page of my web site. It’s as easy as hitting a retweet/like/+1/pin it button.
5. Rebel Mouse allows custom CSS rules. If the layout was locked in with the default colors and options, I never would have put it on my site. It would not have looked integrated, so the result would be unprofessional. It took some work, but I figured out enough of the CSS to decently blend the design with my site.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. Rebel Mouse will dig up your history in social media. Suddenly all of those little posts will be on your homepage. Be prepared to find some skeletons in your closet. You can easily remove those items from your Rebel Mouse page, but plan to spend some time pruning the content at first.
2. Your content flow from blog post to social media will be reversed. I have always created blog posts first, then shared them in social media. Now you have to think about sharing content in social media as a means to publishing it on your blog. Consider how the end result will look on your homepage. Eventually you will be able to use this to your advantage.
3. Beware of duplicate posts on your homepage. If you like to share the same piece of content on multiple social sites, you will likely end up with copies of the same content in multiple Rebel Mouse panels because it will pull from each separate source. Consider the old formula of writing a blog post, then sharing the post in social media. You might put a link to your blog post on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. If you have all of those accounts linked to your Rebel Mouse, you will have three copies of that blog post on your homepage. Probably not what you’re looking for. If you have to share the same piece of content on multiple accounts, just remember to remove the duplicates. Maybe one day the Mouse will do this automatically.
4. Your social media presence will need to be relevant to your web site. This is why I didn’t link my Facebook page to Rebel Mouse. I don’t filter myself as much on Facebook. The last thing I want is to have pictures from the party last weekend mixing with my thoughts about content marketing on my career-focused blog. If your Twitter account is a fire hose of tweets about anything and everything, maybe don’t open that valve up on your homepage.
5. Rebel Mouse is still in beta! Things could change. Keep an eye on it so you don’t find any surprises when you load your own web site.