Last week I urged you all to take the plunge, and now I’m back to give you some more getting-off-the-ground tips for your new blog!
Now, there’s a tremendous amount of bloggy jargon out there (heck, there are still words and phrases that people toss around that I still don’t know, and I have been blogging for 6 years). So, I thought today I would begin with a little explanation of those buzzwords, but then I decided that all of that stuff can wait until later.
First things first…make you space your own so that when others stop by…they want to stay. Now again, for the record, I am NOT an expert. But I AM a reader of many, many blogs…and I’ll tell you what keeps me coming back to YOUR site.
1. Write often. Not every post you write needs to be an essay or an editorial or a thesis or a term paper. New information keeps people coming back. If you are stumped, there are some sites like Girl Talk Thursday or plinky that give you topic ideas and prompts to get your brain and your fingers moving. Also, I keep an ongoing list on my iphone of things I NEED to talk about….funny things my kids say, weird things that happen to me, etc. because otherwise I would totally forget!
2. Allow comments on your site. The beauty of having a blog over, say, a newspaper column is the sense of community. By opening up your comments, it lets people be a part of what you are writing, as opposed to just being able to read it. In addition, consider participating in your comments by either responding in the comment section, or emailing the commenter back separately. The first time I received an email from a blog author, I was floored.
3. Make sure you comment on other sites, too. It’s the best way to leave your stamp and let other people know who you are.
4. Keep your posts easy to read. This is an important one. A site may be entertaining and wonderful and insightful, but if the posts are TOO LONG, I may not take the time to read them. It’s probably best to use a white or light background and an easy-to-read BLACK font. You can break up long posts by using photos or pictures.
5. Most importantly, remember that it’s not about how many comments or readers you have. Write what you LOVE, and the rest will come. Don’t change yourself because you think you’ll get more readers. There are thousands of blogs out there, and there are people out there who want to read YOU. And they will!
gday, I haven’t spoke to you on the chat in a while, but I considered I might text you from my cutting edge Notebook!! No fun, I work for a top company now in the development dept. Really don’t tell everyone but we located this site that is absolutely glitching and providing out zero cost Netbook!! to everyone that signs up. I suppose you could have to confirm your e-mail, Yours amateurseite
Great advice, Ali. I think the best blogs and bloggers are those that are honest and real. You can tell immediately if someone is trying too hard and blogging is not the right forum for this. Be yourself.