Setp 1 The first step to writing better blog posts is to know your audience is and have a clear view of what the purpose of your blog is. Are you writing to educate your readers? Entertain them? Or maybe you're writing as a way to connect with family and friends who live in other parts of the country. Whatever your reason for blogging, knowing why you are blogging, and who your audience is, is the first step to improving your blog posts.
Step 2 Follow the latest trends, especially if they relate to your blog niche (mommy blogs, tech blogs, ect.). If you come across something interesting, blog about it. Offer the facts, but try to put a new twist on it. Don't just rewrite what everyone else is already saying. Give your readers something fresh to read.
Step 3 Be Yourself!Remember to be more than just a writer. Your readers don't have to read your blog- there are millions of other blogs out there- so give them a reason to stick around. Stand out by letting your readers see a bit of who you are. You shouldn't be writing articles. Even if you are writing a professional or technical blog, where there may not be room for a lot of blog posts about the details of your life, you should still use a little personality in each of your blog posts.
Step 4 Follow basic grammar rules. Write in a clear, concise manner. In the age of texting and other abbreviated forms of communication, it can be hard to remember that writing correctly still counts for something. Pick up a grammar book at a local bookshop, and read through it. You might be surprised by how much this simple step can help you to write better blog posts.
Step 5 Proof read your posts before you publish them. Does everything make sense? Are there any points that you could improve on? Check for word usage, spelling errors, and anything else that doesn't look right. Taking this one extra step will almost immediately improve your blog posts.
by: Bluewingz
source: http://www.ehow.com/how_5058310_write-better-blog-posts.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
10 Tips for Writing Better Blog Content
Creating better quality content is arguably the single best thing you can do for your blog. In order to create better content, you need to be able to use the written word effectively so that you can connect with your readers and maintain their interest over time. Here are ten things that you can do to make better use of your words.
1. Use strong keywords in text and links
Although it is always a good idea to write for actual human readers instead of writing only for search engines, using well-chosen keywords that are relevant to the topic of your article is still one of the best ways to improve the overall visibility of your blog. You can use some of the free keyword research tools offered by Google AdWords, Overture, or Wordtracker to get ideas for good keywords and then refine them to suit your specific needs.
2. Get to the point quickly
Many people who scan blogs, feeds, and search engine results do not have the patience to read past the first two or three sentences unless they see something interesting. Therefore it is important that you capture their attention by telling the reader what the main point of your article is within the first two sentences. If you ramble too much in the first paragraph without getting your message across clearly, the reader is very likely to click away from your blog instead of reading the rest of your content.
3. Edit your post for clarity and relevance before publishing
In order to translate good ideas into good writing, editing is necessary to clarify the exact meaning of your words. This includes not only adding relevant content to support your ideas but also removing unnecessary and/or irrelevant content to increase your post’s power and effectiveness.
4. Create content that stands the test of time
Although difficult to do in the case of news-oriented blogs, it is always useful to write articles that contain the kind of enduring wisdom that maintains its relevance with the passage of time. With the exception of a few major historical events, most current events and fads will not be remembered 20 or more years from now. But solid advice on finance, lifestyle, personal growth, and other similar topics never goes out of style.
5. Explain technical terms and acronyms when appropriate
It is easy for many of us to get caught up in the technical jargon of our specific niches. As a newbie, one of the most frustrating things that I have experienced with online forums is that many posters will blithely use acronyms as if everyone already knows what they mean. Because of this, I have adopted a general practice of including the exact meaning of acronyms and niche-specific terms in parentheses for at least the first instance in which they are used. Explaining your terms in this way can help you to connect with a greater diversity of readers whenever you are writing something that is likely to be read by a general audience.
6. Use descriptions for video and other multimedia
If you include video or audio presentations on your blog, it is useful to include some type of text description for them so that users know what they are going to see or hear before they click the “play” button. It is also worth noting that is very annoying to have audio/video play automatically upon visiting a site, so it is best to allow the visitors to play these files at their discretion.
7. Follow a logical order when presenting problems and solutions
If you are writing an article that explains how to solve a problem or overcome a challenge of some sort, it is important to clearly explain the problem first and then follow logically with your solution. With sufficient interest, the reader will be able to identify with the problem and understand your solution well enough to continue reading the rest of the article. If the solution provides favorable results, the reader likely will be appreciative of this and return to the site later to consume more content.
8. Back up opinions with facts
When expressing opinions in an article, particularly if they constitute strong accusations or speculative theories, one should always provide supporting documentation whenever possible. If you can manage to cite valid facts and relatively credible sources for your assertions, you will support your own credibility and increase the chances of swaying others to your way of thinking.
9. Don’t try to write on too many topics at once
As a general rule, you should not write about more than three topics in the same post, and the topics should be relevant to each other. Trying to stuff ten or more topics into the same article is a good way to confuse both readers and search engines, making it very unlikely that you will rank well with either.
10. Keep your content original
Avoid excessively long blockquotes, redundancy, and overuse of clichés. Aside from avoiding duplicate content issues, writing original content will make a more favorable impression on your readers while also having the side effect of ranking better with the search engines. Even if your idea is not new, presenting it in a different or unique way can help readers understand it better and allow you to hold their interest.
source: http://www.karlonia.com/2007/04/24/10-tips-for-writing-better-blog-content/
1. Use strong keywords in text and links
Although it is always a good idea to write for actual human readers instead of writing only for search engines, using well-chosen keywords that are relevant to the topic of your article is still one of the best ways to improve the overall visibility of your blog. You can use some of the free keyword research tools offered by Google AdWords, Overture, or Wordtracker to get ideas for good keywords and then refine them to suit your specific needs.
2. Get to the point quickly
Many people who scan blogs, feeds, and search engine results do not have the patience to read past the first two or three sentences unless they see something interesting. Therefore it is important that you capture their attention by telling the reader what the main point of your article is within the first two sentences. If you ramble too much in the first paragraph without getting your message across clearly, the reader is very likely to click away from your blog instead of reading the rest of your content.
3. Edit your post for clarity and relevance before publishing
In order to translate good ideas into good writing, editing is necessary to clarify the exact meaning of your words. This includes not only adding relevant content to support your ideas but also removing unnecessary and/or irrelevant content to increase your post’s power and effectiveness.
4. Create content that stands the test of time
Although difficult to do in the case of news-oriented blogs, it is always useful to write articles that contain the kind of enduring wisdom that maintains its relevance with the passage of time. With the exception of a few major historical events, most current events and fads will not be remembered 20 or more years from now. But solid advice on finance, lifestyle, personal growth, and other similar topics never goes out of style.
5. Explain technical terms and acronyms when appropriate
It is easy for many of us to get caught up in the technical jargon of our specific niches. As a newbie, one of the most frustrating things that I have experienced with online forums is that many posters will blithely use acronyms as if everyone already knows what they mean. Because of this, I have adopted a general practice of including the exact meaning of acronyms and niche-specific terms in parentheses for at least the first instance in which they are used. Explaining your terms in this way can help you to connect with a greater diversity of readers whenever you are writing something that is likely to be read by a general audience.
6. Use descriptions for video and other multimedia
If you include video or audio presentations on your blog, it is useful to include some type of text description for them so that users know what they are going to see or hear before they click the “play” button. It is also worth noting that is very annoying to have audio/video play automatically upon visiting a site, so it is best to allow the visitors to play these files at their discretion.
7. Follow a logical order when presenting problems and solutions
If you are writing an article that explains how to solve a problem or overcome a challenge of some sort, it is important to clearly explain the problem first and then follow logically with your solution. With sufficient interest, the reader will be able to identify with the problem and understand your solution well enough to continue reading the rest of the article. If the solution provides favorable results, the reader likely will be appreciative of this and return to the site later to consume more content.
8. Back up opinions with facts
When expressing opinions in an article, particularly if they constitute strong accusations or speculative theories, one should always provide supporting documentation whenever possible. If you can manage to cite valid facts and relatively credible sources for your assertions, you will support your own credibility and increase the chances of swaying others to your way of thinking.
9. Don’t try to write on too many topics at once
As a general rule, you should not write about more than three topics in the same post, and the topics should be relevant to each other. Trying to stuff ten or more topics into the same article is a good way to confuse both readers and search engines, making it very unlikely that you will rank well with either.
10. Keep your content original
Avoid excessively long blockquotes, redundancy, and overuse of clichés. Aside from avoiding duplicate content issues, writing original content will make a more favorable impression on your readers while also having the side effect of ranking better with the search engines. Even if your idea is not new, presenting it in a different or unique way can help readers understand it better and allow you to hold their interest.
source: http://www.karlonia.com/2007/04/24/10-tips-for-writing-better-blog-content/
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
20 Tips For A Better Blog
By Big Ben Patton
You have almost a fraction of a second to grab your reader and get their attention. From the time a new visitor hits enter until the whole page and graphics are loaded. That is all it takes to decide your success or failure. Yes, a fraction of a second. Many articles have been published backing this even with scientific experimentation. If the site takes a long, long time to load, even if it's the best designed, coolest content, then the public at large will visit the site less often. They might not return at all.
There are millions of blogs out there and some have an immediate cheap feel and look to them. If you write a blog and want more people to read and actually subscribe, besides snatching their attention with a striking, creative headline, then aesthetics — the overall design, navigation and layout — should be next.
It is time to reveal some tips which will help improve the overall quality of your blog. Some of which might be extreme changes, and others of which are much more subtle and easy to implement quickly:
1. Provide more original content! The #1 thing you can do to improve the blog quality is write compelling, original copy, preferably early on and with an unsaturated topic. If you feel like your blockquote is overshadowing your insight and analysis, the feeling's probably right. Try to reduce the quotes to the points most relevant to your commentary on the post.
2. Find things you are insatiably curious about and write with full-on passion. If you write about things you are only marginally interested in expect that readers will notice and the overall blog quality will suffer. It is extremely difficult, even for very talented writers, to write about subjects where they have little to no interest.
3. Rather than make 10 so-so posts every day, make 3-5 really good ones. If you want to increase exposure, the 10 so-so ones will help in the short term, but in the long run 3-5 good ones will grow the subscriber base more.
4. How-to/fixes/solutions make great topics.
5. Have a contest or give away once in awhile. Surprise your readers. It can be tangible like prizes, money or intangible like advice, tips, or tricks where you've gleaned wisdom and experience.
6. Start blogging about subjects that aren't already being blogged to death, or write about them with a fresh perspective. Unless you are some kind of celebrity, the head of a major company, movie star, etc, just being you is likely not enough in today's overcrowded blog space. If too much of your content is “me too†then readers will find it harder to stay interested and look elsewhere.
7. Pay a professional if you suck at graphics and design. It's not a crime, really, unless you pay way too much for an overly artistic, less practical design. Look at the designer's portfolio and see if the designs match your content and show the designer this list. And for those who say they never come to a website to read blogs, they use strictly RSS, remember that there are still many, many people who do!
8. Don't use too much Flash. Sure, Flash is cool when used sparingly on a website, but use it too much and it makes your website look like the Vegas strip. Flash-only sites can work in some rare cases, but blogs aren't one of them.
9. Don't slap a bunch of flashy banners and buttons (no matter how small) all over the place. The clutter effect will happen if you keep jamming more and more stuff onto the pages, so be picky about what gets on the pages — and keep the content relative — and when something doesn't seem as important or relevant either remove it completely or move elsewhere.
10. Use a smaller, less gaudy logo. Google is a good example of a logo that is there, but unobtrusive. Conversely, the MSN header looks bulky. A vertical measurement of space used with a tool like Screen Calipers can be helpful in not wasting valuable browser real estate.
11. Make sure at least some content (not logo, not header, not advertising, etc) shows on every webpage without browser scroll.
12. Provide consistent navigation. The home page link and search are especially important to be in convenient, obvious places.
13. Do include a byline and author bio so it's clear to readers who the author really is.
14. Always disclose conflicts of interest or the source or basis for your posts.
15. Clearly mark or define advertising placement.
16. Don't cripple the RSS feed. Some readers may actually prefer to read your posts in their favorite aggregator or portable device, so try not to punish them for their preferences. RSS IS GOOD!
17. Liberally blend with descriptive text: pictures, screenshots, audio (podcast), video and any other items that will help keep the readers interested, informed, enlightened and/or entertained. Make it easy for them to have access to this when it becomes archived as well.
18. Keep an open dialogue with commenters and two-way trackbackers. If someone leaves a really good comment try and thank and acknowledge their contribution. [note: A two-way trackback means the blogger actually linked to your blog, a one-way trackback means they just sent you a ping and have no link on their site] If you get someone who regularly leaves good comments then add them to your blog roll, or noteworthy links section.
19. Don't let flamers destroy the community. It's ok, and dare I say useful at times to face some flames yourself (and some of your posts might be inflammatory, so if you dish, you better be able to take it), but be careful when this happens among readers. Stand up for readers and demand standard decorum in the commenting section among readers so that civil debate and discussion (I know, not easy on the web) can ensue and add value to the blog entries instead of taking away. It's a simple formula for human interaction really: make people feel badly and they will be less likely to return, make them feel good, important and appreciated for their contribution and they'll keep coming back. BTW, you do need to be sincere about this, no phoniness. If you hate comments and interaction, then don't have blog comments by all means. Generally speaking, and of course there are exceptions, I believe not having comments and trackbacks hurts the quality of a blog.
20. Are you having fun? Readers are smart and can tell who is having fun from their writing over those who are laboring. Don't labor, have fun. If trying to follow too many things on this list is peeing in your cheerios, then stop following this list. It's not the gospel, although I believe these tips will help those who are seeking some guidelines and direction.
Can you follow all these tips? Probably not. This blog doesn't even follow all them, although I do try to keep this stuff in mind when I feel the quality is starting to slip (and it is an every day job working on blog quality, not something one can just go into autopilot on). But follow enough of these and it will greatly increase the likelihood that you'll become one of the most read blogs out there someday. Let's face it, the web can never have enough quality content. You can add or take away with each post you make. Want to be a shallow, one dimensional blogger? There's tons of those. Want to really work at your writing and make it better? This post is for you.
Did I forget something that you find makes a blog higher quality? I'm sure there's at least another 42million tips out there, so feel free to use the comments/trackback below and contribute. Have a friend or blog roll member or associate who is complaining about blog focus? Drop them a link to this post.
If I'm not already reading, then I hope to be reading and looking forward to your high quality blog someday soon.
source: http://www.realbloggingtips.com/20-tips-for-a-better-blog/
You have almost a fraction of a second to grab your reader and get their attention. From the time a new visitor hits enter until the whole page and graphics are loaded. That is all it takes to decide your success or failure. Yes, a fraction of a second. Many articles have been published backing this even with scientific experimentation. If the site takes a long, long time to load, even if it's the best designed, coolest content, then the public at large will visit the site less often. They might not return at all.
There are millions of blogs out there and some have an immediate cheap feel and look to them. If you write a blog and want more people to read and actually subscribe, besides snatching their attention with a striking, creative headline, then aesthetics — the overall design, navigation and layout — should be next.
It is time to reveal some tips which will help improve the overall quality of your blog. Some of which might be extreme changes, and others of which are much more subtle and easy to implement quickly:
1. Provide more original content! The #1 thing you can do to improve the blog quality is write compelling, original copy, preferably early on and with an unsaturated topic. If you feel like your blockquote is overshadowing your insight and analysis, the feeling's probably right. Try to reduce the quotes to the points most relevant to your commentary on the post.
2. Find things you are insatiably curious about and write with full-on passion. If you write about things you are only marginally interested in expect that readers will notice and the overall blog quality will suffer. It is extremely difficult, even for very talented writers, to write about subjects where they have little to no interest.
3. Rather than make 10 so-so posts every day, make 3-5 really good ones. If you want to increase exposure, the 10 so-so ones will help in the short term, but in the long run 3-5 good ones will grow the subscriber base more.
4. How-to/fixes/solutions make great topics.
5. Have a contest or give away once in awhile. Surprise your readers. It can be tangible like prizes, money or intangible like advice, tips, or tricks where you've gleaned wisdom and experience.
6. Start blogging about subjects that aren't already being blogged to death, or write about them with a fresh perspective. Unless you are some kind of celebrity, the head of a major company, movie star, etc, just being you is likely not enough in today's overcrowded blog space. If too much of your content is “me too†then readers will find it harder to stay interested and look elsewhere.
7. Pay a professional if you suck at graphics and design. It's not a crime, really, unless you pay way too much for an overly artistic, less practical design. Look at the designer's portfolio and see if the designs match your content and show the designer this list. And for those who say they never come to a website to read blogs, they use strictly RSS, remember that there are still many, many people who do!
8. Don't use too much Flash. Sure, Flash is cool when used sparingly on a website, but use it too much and it makes your website look like the Vegas strip. Flash-only sites can work in some rare cases, but blogs aren't one of them.
9. Don't slap a bunch of flashy banners and buttons (no matter how small) all over the place. The clutter effect will happen if you keep jamming more and more stuff onto the pages, so be picky about what gets on the pages — and keep the content relative — and when something doesn't seem as important or relevant either remove it completely or move elsewhere.
10. Use a smaller, less gaudy logo. Google is a good example of a logo that is there, but unobtrusive. Conversely, the MSN header looks bulky. A vertical measurement of space used with a tool like Screen Calipers can be helpful in not wasting valuable browser real estate.
11. Make sure at least some content (not logo, not header, not advertising, etc) shows on every webpage without browser scroll.
12. Provide consistent navigation. The home page link and search are especially important to be in convenient, obvious places.
13. Do include a byline and author bio so it's clear to readers who the author really is.
14. Always disclose conflicts of interest or the source or basis for your posts.
15. Clearly mark or define advertising placement.
16. Don't cripple the RSS feed. Some readers may actually prefer to read your posts in their favorite aggregator or portable device, so try not to punish them for their preferences. RSS IS GOOD!
17. Liberally blend with descriptive text: pictures, screenshots, audio (podcast), video and any other items that will help keep the readers interested, informed, enlightened and/or entertained. Make it easy for them to have access to this when it becomes archived as well.
18. Keep an open dialogue with commenters and two-way trackbackers. If someone leaves a really good comment try and thank and acknowledge their contribution. [note: A two-way trackback means the blogger actually linked to your blog, a one-way trackback means they just sent you a ping and have no link on their site] If you get someone who regularly leaves good comments then add them to your blog roll, or noteworthy links section.
19. Don't let flamers destroy the community. It's ok, and dare I say useful at times to face some flames yourself (and some of your posts might be inflammatory, so if you dish, you better be able to take it), but be careful when this happens among readers. Stand up for readers and demand standard decorum in the commenting section among readers so that civil debate and discussion (I know, not easy on the web) can ensue and add value to the blog entries instead of taking away. It's a simple formula for human interaction really: make people feel badly and they will be less likely to return, make them feel good, important and appreciated for their contribution and they'll keep coming back. BTW, you do need to be sincere about this, no phoniness. If you hate comments and interaction, then don't have blog comments by all means. Generally speaking, and of course there are exceptions, I believe not having comments and trackbacks hurts the quality of a blog.
20. Are you having fun? Readers are smart and can tell who is having fun from their writing over those who are laboring. Don't labor, have fun. If trying to follow too many things on this list is peeing in your cheerios, then stop following this list. It's not the gospel, although I believe these tips will help those who are seeking some guidelines and direction.
Can you follow all these tips? Probably not. This blog doesn't even follow all them, although I do try to keep this stuff in mind when I feel the quality is starting to slip (and it is an every day job working on blog quality, not something one can just go into autopilot on). But follow enough of these and it will greatly increase the likelihood that you'll become one of the most read blogs out there someday. Let's face it, the web can never have enough quality content. You can add or take away with each post you make. Want to be a shallow, one dimensional blogger? There's tons of those. Want to really work at your writing and make it better? This post is for you.
Did I forget something that you find makes a blog higher quality? I'm sure there's at least another 42million tips out there, so feel free to use the comments/trackback below and contribute. Have a friend or blog roll member or associate who is complaining about blog focus? Drop them a link to this post.
If I'm not already reading, then I hope to be reading and looking forward to your high quality blog someday soon.
source: http://www.realbloggingtips.com/20-tips-for-a-better-blog/
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Top 10 mistakes new bloggers make
Written by Kevin Muldoon from Blog Themes Club
I’ve started to notice the same mistakes recurring by new bloggers. Infact, most of these mistakes are applicable to everyone who starts a website for the first time. Unfortunately, there is a learning curve with this kind of thing and the majority of new bloggers will only learn from making these mistakes. Very few will realise that they are actually making mistakes until further down the line.
I have decided to list what i consider to be the top 10 mistakes that new bloggers make. I’m sure many of you reading this have made some of these mistakes but this is nothing to be ashamed about, i myself made some of these mistakes when i first started in web development. As as i said, with a lot of these mistakes you only seem to learn about it by making the mistake yourself.
Anyways, enough rabbling, heres my list of the top 10 mistakes new bloggers make in no particular order. Enjoy
Repeating what other bloggers are saying – I believe that if you have something to say about a subject you should write about it on your blog however i’ve noticed a lot of new bloggers do nothing but just echo and repeat what other bloggers in their genre have said. It’s good to give your opinion on a subject but if you only post about topics which began on other blogs your blog is never gonna be successful.
No Opinion / Scared to rock the boat – A lot of bloggers are scared to go against the crowd and take a stance that is against what everyone is saying. If you disagree about something then say so in your posts
Link Trains – Bottom line, there is no quick and easy way to get traffic to your site other than writing good articles on a consistant basis. If a traffic scheme seems sounds to good to be true it most probably is.
Spamming other blogs with comments – So many new bloggers think that it’s a good idea to cheat their way onto the top commentators list of a blog by posting lots of small and pointless comments just to get their number of comments up on the blog. This won’t make you too popular with the author of the blog and may even discourage others from reading your blog. For someone to want to visit your blog from a comment you need to write something worth reading! A good comment is an indication of a good author.
Spending more time commentating that writing posts – If your launching a new blog, spending some time commentating on other blogs is a great way to bring your site to the attention of people. However, readers need a reason to come back to your site ie. you need to keep writing good content. I see so many bloggers who are spending more time commentating on other peoples blogs than writing on their own one!
Promoting their blog before its ready – This is a very common mistake which i see time and time again. I really don’t believe that a new blogger should do any major promoting until the blog is about 2 months old. You clearly still need to do some promoting at the start but more time should spent on writing posts. It’s like advertising a new shop before its got any stock in to sell!
Blogging about too many subjects – The top blogs on the net are all focused on one topic of genre. So many new bloggers are blogging about a very wide range of subjects. For example, ive read blogs that post about blogging, music, their pet dog, movies, computer games, their favourite sports team etc. It’s hard to buld a steady readership with categories and posts so random.
Erratic posting frequency – It’s very important to update your blog on a regular and consistent basis. Posting like crazy for a while and then not posting for a week is a sure way to lose you readers.
Trying to make money instead of just concentrating on running a good blog – Too many bloggers are putting all their efforts into making money instead of trying to write good posts and develop a good blog. Dont worry about the money aspect at the start of a blogs life, if you build a successful blog the money will come with it in time.
Expecting to have a successful blog within 3 months – It takes time, a lot of time, to build a successul blog. I’ve noticed a lot of new bloggers lose interest in writing after a few months. The time it takes for a blog to be successul isn’t always the same but if you continue to update it and work hard on the blog it will do well. It’s a hard long slog but it’s worth it. Don’t kid yourself that you can get to the top so quickly – Rome wasn’t built in a day
source: http://www.bloggingtips.com/2007/06/30/top-10-mistakes-new-bloggers-make/
Monday, August 10, 2009
How to Lose Your Subscribers
by Praval Singh
in Blogging Tips
As a blogger, keeping up with the subscriber count is one’s great desire. Good traffic, large number of RSS and email subscribers and a lower bounce rate is what a pro-blogger needs to run a great show. But, there are instances wherein blogs begin to lose their subscribers for some reason or the other.
Today, we take on a few reasons to give you an understanding on how does a blog lose its subscribers willingly or unwillingly;
Many bloggers lose their subscribers because of the Feedburner widget they install on their blog. There have been many reasons of losing your subscribers with Feedburner, the main being false plug-ins and unsupported upgradations. Cases such as that of Tom Raftery are actually hard to explain, but the end result is the loss of subscribers.
There have been instances when a site has been sold a number of times in a very short duration. That is, the ownership of a site has changed. Putting up a sigh on the site such as “For Sale” results in the loss of reader’s confidence. Consequently, the subscribers tend to lessen making a famous blog into an infamous one.
Irregular schedule of posting. Subscribers always have a particular expectation in mind about the number of posts in a day or week. Playing with this frequency results in loss of subscribers.
If the content that gets published on your site is old, plagiarized and shabby, it does not take much time to lose subscribers.
Falsifying facts and figures to gain false popularity is another way of breaking people’s trust for what you write.
Writing about topics which are no where close to what your site is all about often confuses subscribers. For example, if an affiliate marketing site starts writing about women health and beauty, it won’t make sense to subscribers resulting in a loss of numbers.
If you provide content to subscribers which they don’t value, chances are that you would soon lose your credibility and the subscribers too. Remember, greatest bloggers write content which is of value to readers and thus the word of mouth spreads. Content is the king!
Putting up a feed which focuses too much on advertisements makes your regular subscribers lose interest, unless you’re blog is all about rocket science!
Writing about topics or people which is not in the true spirit of blogging makes a dent in the number of your subscribers. For example, a true blogger is one who is able to publicize or promote his blog by not calling others’ work bad. One shall follow the Internet etiquettes.
The web is full of thousands of reasons for losing your subscribers but these are a few largely observed reasons.
Dear Bloggers and webmaster, remember that it does not take much time to lose your subscribers. Put in some sincere efforts to keep the number of subscribers of your site increasing day by day and try not losing them. Keep blogging!
source: http://www.profitblogger.com/lose-your-subscribers/
in Blogging Tips
As a blogger, keeping up with the subscriber count is one’s great desire. Good traffic, large number of RSS and email subscribers and a lower bounce rate is what a pro-blogger needs to run a great show. But, there are instances wherein blogs begin to lose their subscribers for some reason or the other.
Today, we take on a few reasons to give you an understanding on how does a blog lose its subscribers willingly or unwillingly;
Many bloggers lose their subscribers because of the Feedburner widget they install on their blog. There have been many reasons of losing your subscribers with Feedburner, the main being false plug-ins and unsupported upgradations. Cases such as that of Tom Raftery are actually hard to explain, but the end result is the loss of subscribers.
There have been instances when a site has been sold a number of times in a very short duration. That is, the ownership of a site has changed. Putting up a sigh on the site such as “For Sale” results in the loss of reader’s confidence. Consequently, the subscribers tend to lessen making a famous blog into an infamous one.
Irregular schedule of posting. Subscribers always have a particular expectation in mind about the number of posts in a day or week. Playing with this frequency results in loss of subscribers.
If the content that gets published on your site is old, plagiarized and shabby, it does not take much time to lose subscribers.
Falsifying facts and figures to gain false popularity is another way of breaking people’s trust for what you write.
Writing about topics which are no where close to what your site is all about often confuses subscribers. For example, if an affiliate marketing site starts writing about women health and beauty, it won’t make sense to subscribers resulting in a loss of numbers.
If you provide content to subscribers which they don’t value, chances are that you would soon lose your credibility and the subscribers too. Remember, greatest bloggers write content which is of value to readers and thus the word of mouth spreads. Content is the king!
Putting up a feed which focuses too much on advertisements makes your regular subscribers lose interest, unless you’re blog is all about rocket science!
Writing about topics or people which is not in the true spirit of blogging makes a dent in the number of your subscribers. For example, a true blogger is one who is able to publicize or promote his blog by not calling others’ work bad. One shall follow the Internet etiquettes.
The web is full of thousands of reasons for losing your subscribers but these are a few largely observed reasons.
Dear Bloggers and webmaster, remember that it does not take much time to lose your subscribers. Put in some sincere efforts to keep the number of subscribers of your site increasing day by day and try not losing them. Keep blogging!
source: http://www.profitblogger.com/lose-your-subscribers/
Sunday, August 9, 2009
6 Tips to Attract More Comments on Your Blog
6 Tips to Attract More Comments on Your Blog
by Gobala Krishnan
in Blogging Tips
Do you ever wonder how to attract more comments from your readers to your blog posts? Blogs are unique because they enable writers and readers of a blog to add comments which in itself add to the unique content a blog provides. After conducting some detailed research, I discovered 6 tips that you can use to attract more comments to the posts you write on your blog. The 6 tips are as follows:-
Interact with your readers – When readers leave comments on your posts, make sure you reply back and ask questions to continue a discussion that your readers started.
Ask questions at the end of your posts - This will enable your readers to start a discussion that could end up involving many other readers.
Make it easy for readers to comment - Do make sure that your comments section is set up such that readers don’t have to go through a long process to register. This sometimes deters readers from commenting.
Notify commenters of new comments: A Subscribe to Comments plugin enables commenters on your blog posts to check a box before commenting and get an e-mail notification of further comments related to that particular post. This will encourage readers to come back and take part in the conversation.
Reward your commenters – You can encourage commenters to increase comments on your blog by rewarding them. You can do this by using the Show Top Commentators WordPress Plugin.
Use plugins that attract more comments – There are a couple of other plugins in addition to the Show Top Commentators WordPress and Subscribe to Comments that you can make use of to attract more comments from your readers. These are Comment Relish and Brian’s Threaded Comments. The Comment Relish plugin sends a thank-you email to your blog’s first time commentators. This will surely encourage them to come back again and comment regularly. Brian’s Threaded plugin adds a ‘Reply to this comment’ link to every comment which means, your comment is placed directly under the comment you replied to. This plugin make comments easier to follow and also prevents readers from scrolling down to look for answers to their questions.
These 6 tips will surely help you get your readers to add more comments to your blog posts and at the same time provide you with more unique content which in turn will keep the search engines spidering your blogs more often.
source: http://www.profitblogger.com/6-tips-to-attract-more-comments-on-your-blog/
by Gobala Krishnan
in Blogging Tips
Do you ever wonder how to attract more comments from your readers to your blog posts? Blogs are unique because they enable writers and readers of a blog to add comments which in itself add to the unique content a blog provides. After conducting some detailed research, I discovered 6 tips that you can use to attract more comments to the posts you write on your blog. The 6 tips are as follows:-
Interact with your readers – When readers leave comments on your posts, make sure you reply back and ask questions to continue a discussion that your readers started.
Ask questions at the end of your posts - This will enable your readers to start a discussion that could end up involving many other readers.
Make it easy for readers to comment - Do make sure that your comments section is set up such that readers don’t have to go through a long process to register. This sometimes deters readers from commenting.
Notify commenters of new comments: A Subscribe to Comments plugin enables commenters on your blog posts to check a box before commenting and get an e-mail notification of further comments related to that particular post. This will encourage readers to come back and take part in the conversation.
Reward your commenters – You can encourage commenters to increase comments on your blog by rewarding them. You can do this by using the Show Top Commentators WordPress Plugin.
Use plugins that attract more comments – There are a couple of other plugins in addition to the Show Top Commentators WordPress and Subscribe to Comments that you can make use of to attract more comments from your readers. These are Comment Relish and Brian’s Threaded Comments. The Comment Relish plugin sends a thank-you email to your blog’s first time commentators. This will surely encourage them to come back again and comment regularly. Brian’s Threaded plugin adds a ‘Reply to this comment’ link to every comment which means, your comment is placed directly under the comment you replied to. This plugin make comments easier to follow and also prevents readers from scrolling down to look for answers to their questions.
These 6 tips will surely help you get your readers to add more comments to your blog posts and at the same time provide you with more unique content which in turn will keep the search engines spidering your blogs more often.
source: http://www.profitblogger.com/6-tips-to-attract-more-comments-on-your-blog/
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Using Social Media to Advertise Your Blog.
By: Derald
One of the popular trends on the web right now is social media and/or social networking, and it looks like there is no stopping it in the near future. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit are among the many sites which are leading the way with social media, but is there a way for you to use social media to your advantage?
There are a few ways you can take advantage of social media for your blog. Sites such as cracked.com seem to be on Digg’s front page daily, and this success shows. Blogstorm.co.uk recently released a list of 100 sites based on how often they reach Digg’s front page. Cracked.com was ranked 26 on this list, and looking at Alexa’s stats is seems that it maybe a lot of where their visitors are coming from.
So, what advantages does social networking provide for blogs, and what are some ways to use them effectively? The most obvious advantage is traffic directed toward your site. From this traffic you can make some revenue, which is the goal for most sites. You can also build a loyal support base via social media. Looking at any of the social media sites, you can tell that they are very loyal to their brand. Just visiting any of the sites, you will notice arguments like Facebook is better than Myspace, or Reddit has a better user base then Digg, and so on. This loyalty is something that takes large companies years to build, but via social media you can do the same thing in less time.
In order to effectively use social media, you have to be part of the community. As we already stated, the communities are loyal for the most part, but they are not welcoming to outsiders. If you were to submit a blog entry to Reddit, or Digg, it will most likely get lost in the shuffle. If you were to only use Twitter to announce a new blog article, your chances of looking interesting to other users can be very low. So how do you break this trend? You have to become part of the community. This can require a lot of time. You will have to build a relationship with the users, and get to know them. This is a key feature that most people who use social media for advertising don’t fully understand. Most people are drawn to social media because it is a “free” way to advertise. Then they wonder why their plan doesn’t work, when they are not apart of the community. Some ways to start to fit into the community is simple, acknowledge the community. Comment on stories at Reddit, reply to tweets on Twitter, send personalized messages to people on Facebook. After you build a good network, then start linking to your blog, but continue to communicate in other ways. You can send a personal tweet or message telling a user that you thought they would be interested in an blog entry you posted, but only do it when you really mean it. After doing this, you have to remember not to “abuse” the community. After building friends, don’t send them links to every blog article you wrote. Respect the users of the service. Remember the saying “Respect is a two way street”, and in social media this is really the case. By not spamming the people on your friend’s list with every article you write, you are respecting them. When you actually do send them a link, they are more likely to read the link.
Don’t seem like you are in the community just for advertising. If you are using Twitter, make tweets about other subjects. On Digg, submit stories from other sites, which you truly find interesting. Making yourself not look like a person spamming just one site, will allow you to build friends also. A person may enjoy the article enough to look at your past submissions, and if they feel like there is something in common they may check out your profile more often.
Write about something the community will like on your blog. If you know that most of your followers on Twitter really like 80’s TV show, talk about those shows and be creative when doing so. Talk about how you think the MacGyver would respond to current events, or how a reality show would be if the A-Team was part of it. If people find your site interesting, and can connect to the content, they will be willing to look at what else you have to say. Posting an article on Digg about how to rebuild a car motor wouldn’t do as well as how to hack an electronic road sign. This is another aspect where being active in the community helps you understand what will do well on a social network site.
Make your site social. Allowing the user to interact on your site via comments, or a forum will make the user feel part of the site. They will be able to voice their ideas about the blog entry, and in doing so it will start to build your own community. This also allows you to get feedback from the community. If you post an entry that you thought was great but the community says they thought it was horrible, then you know not to write similar articles in the future.
Just like wine, it takes time to get the best out of social media. If you are expecting that social media will make a large influx of traffic to your site over night, then you should not use social media as a mean to advertise your site. Social networking doesn’t make advertising easier, it just makes creates more of a level playing field for the small blogs. With hard work, social media can be part of a site’s success.
source: http://www.pureblogging.com/2009/04/10/using-social-media-to-advertise-your-blog/
One of the popular trends on the web right now is social media and/or social networking, and it looks like there is no stopping it in the near future. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit are among the many sites which are leading the way with social media, but is there a way for you to use social media to your advantage?
There are a few ways you can take advantage of social media for your blog. Sites such as cracked.com seem to be on Digg’s front page daily, and this success shows. Blogstorm.co.uk recently released a list of 100 sites based on how often they reach Digg’s front page. Cracked.com was ranked 26 on this list, and looking at Alexa’s stats is seems that it maybe a lot of where their visitors are coming from.
So, what advantages does social networking provide for blogs, and what are some ways to use them effectively? The most obvious advantage is traffic directed toward your site. From this traffic you can make some revenue, which is the goal for most sites. You can also build a loyal support base via social media. Looking at any of the social media sites, you can tell that they are very loyal to their brand. Just visiting any of the sites, you will notice arguments like Facebook is better than Myspace, or Reddit has a better user base then Digg, and so on. This loyalty is something that takes large companies years to build, but via social media you can do the same thing in less time.
In order to effectively use social media, you have to be part of the community. As we already stated, the communities are loyal for the most part, but they are not welcoming to outsiders. If you were to submit a blog entry to Reddit, or Digg, it will most likely get lost in the shuffle. If you were to only use Twitter to announce a new blog article, your chances of looking interesting to other users can be very low. So how do you break this trend? You have to become part of the community. This can require a lot of time. You will have to build a relationship with the users, and get to know them. This is a key feature that most people who use social media for advertising don’t fully understand. Most people are drawn to social media because it is a “free” way to advertise. Then they wonder why their plan doesn’t work, when they are not apart of the community. Some ways to start to fit into the community is simple, acknowledge the community. Comment on stories at Reddit, reply to tweets on Twitter, send personalized messages to people on Facebook. After you build a good network, then start linking to your blog, but continue to communicate in other ways. You can send a personal tweet or message telling a user that you thought they would be interested in an blog entry you posted, but only do it when you really mean it. After doing this, you have to remember not to “abuse” the community. After building friends, don’t send them links to every blog article you wrote. Respect the users of the service. Remember the saying “Respect is a two way street”, and in social media this is really the case. By not spamming the people on your friend’s list with every article you write, you are respecting them. When you actually do send them a link, they are more likely to read the link.
Don’t seem like you are in the community just for advertising. If you are using Twitter, make tweets about other subjects. On Digg, submit stories from other sites, which you truly find interesting. Making yourself not look like a person spamming just one site, will allow you to build friends also. A person may enjoy the article enough to look at your past submissions, and if they feel like there is something in common they may check out your profile more often.
Write about something the community will like on your blog. If you know that most of your followers on Twitter really like 80’s TV show, talk about those shows and be creative when doing so. Talk about how you think the MacGyver would respond to current events, or how a reality show would be if the A-Team was part of it. If people find your site interesting, and can connect to the content, they will be willing to look at what else you have to say. Posting an article on Digg about how to rebuild a car motor wouldn’t do as well as how to hack an electronic road sign. This is another aspect where being active in the community helps you understand what will do well on a social network site.
Make your site social. Allowing the user to interact on your site via comments, or a forum will make the user feel part of the site. They will be able to voice their ideas about the blog entry, and in doing so it will start to build your own community. This also allows you to get feedback from the community. If you post an entry that you thought was great but the community says they thought it was horrible, then you know not to write similar articles in the future.
Just like wine, it takes time to get the best out of social media. If you are expecting that social media will make a large influx of traffic to your site over night, then you should not use social media as a mean to advertise your site. Social networking doesn’t make advertising easier, it just makes creates more of a level playing field for the small blogs. With hard work, social media can be part of a site’s success.
source: http://www.pureblogging.com/2009/04/10/using-social-media-to-advertise-your-blog/
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