Writing in the Morning at our Ayutthaya Lodge in Thailand. My Old Netbook, miss that little guy!!
If you asked me 18 months ago what I thought about blogging, I’d simply reply: lame. Who would possibly want to listen to the midnight ramblings of websurfers out to glorify themselves and their lives? Who actually reads blogs anyway?
I was wrong. Yes, people are crazy enough to reach out to total strangers for information. And yes, bloggers do write at midnight. But, conversely, millions of people are poised at the edge of their keyboards each day for updates from their favorite blogs. They’re listening, reading, and youtubing their way into a multimedia info-feed that knows no boundaries. The blogosphere is a living, breathing beast, munching away at petabytes of data. Blogs are magazines and opinionaires and dear-diary-I-learned-this-today…. And it’s all good.
Now that I’ve been blogging for about a year, I’ve learned that blogs function as organic resumes. They tell the world (and potential bosses) what you’ve done with your life and how you are different. From my posts at World Winder, I’ve had publishing editors commission me for travel pieces and advertisers sponsor blog posts.
But blogging is hard work, at least a good blog is. So, I try to adhere to some equally hard guidelines. By no means are these tips comprehensive but I hope they help you too!
Publish Consistently
I toiled over which tip should come first, but in the end, this ideal is the most important. No blog exists without content. But content must be consistently posted. Readers like knowing: “Oh, it’s Sunday. Blogger X posts today.” There’s comfort in predictability—feed subscribers too. So, build a publishing schedule and stick to it. Once a week or twice a month, it’s fine. Just do it. Eventually you’ll get to the daily posts.
Chip Away to 50
In article terms, fifty is a magic number. I don’t really understand the algorithm behind it but it’s a milestone. On Suite 101, new members are told to wait and get to 50. Wait and see. The PV (page views) will come. On World Winder, I lived to hit 50 posts. Mid-October, I hit that goal and the PVs grew exponentially with the increase in search engine queries. It’s almost as if “50” gives you some legs to stand on.
Co-Blog with a Partner
Regular posts for content can be a hassle to manage, especially solo. I’m lucky that I have Neil at World Winder. But you don’t need a spouse to build a blog. How about a best friend or co-worker? If you’ve someone who shares the same passion and dedication as you….then it could be a harmonious union.
Use Original Photos
I freelance for several travel sites. Often administrators send updates and newsletters to the writers about content and PVs. On a few emails and now in their permanent guidelines, one company reported that articles with original photos earned twice the number of PVs than those articles with license-free images. Compared to articles with no pictures, the result is triple the PVs.
Use SEO Friendly Titles & Captions on Photos
Once you’ve got great original photos, squeeze out every ounce of PV punch! Before uploading them, title each image with an SEO (search engine optimization) friendly term or keyword; it’s cumbersome but worth the extra step. Then once they are attached to your blog post, caption the image. Captions give an extra anchor for readers. Humans are naturally visual animals. Our eyes are drawn to pictures. An illustrative caption keeps their attention on the article instead of the outbound links that you’ve provided. Also, some SEO-friendly keywords don’t hurt either. Just don’t over do the keywords! Otherwise you’ll get bloated-blog syndrome to which search engines are allergic.
Comment on All Comments
Be social. Be grateful. Most readers will not respond to articles, even if they like them. They take the information and move on. So when you get a benevolent reader, respond promptly. Address them by name, add to the discussion, and invite them back.
Publish An “About” and “Privacy Policy” Page
In an attempt to crack Google’s algorithm, Mashable suggested that blogs with “About” and “Privacy Policy” pages are deemed more legitimate and serious than those without. Interesting suggestion right? I’ve added mine just to cover my bases.
Email Signature with URL
At the bottom of every email you send, your signature should include your blog URL, especially if you are corresponding with a professional in the field for which you write. Optimally, you should have a separate email account designated for these correspondences so that your personal messages don’t get lost in the mix.
Invite Guest Bloggers
We love guest bloggers! They add a different voice, tone, and style to World Winder. Think of when you were a kid. Even if you had a great teacher, there was something fascinating about a guest speaker, a stranger who had something to say—how mysterious! Guest bloggers also help with exposure. Let’s say you have one guest blogger with 300 friends. When you post that blog, how many of her friends will come to your site? How many will click around after reading the initial post? Even if only two of her friends read the post and love your blog, that’s two more people that you would never have met otherwise. For guestbloggers, the backlink to their website is a healthy SEO perk.
I’ve more suggestions but don’t want to overwhelm you! Feel free to add more tips in a comment or check out Tips for a Writer’s Life. I’ll be sure to add more suggestions soon.
sending...
Hi Melissa,
Thanks – lots of valid comments and solid advice. I did not know about the magic ’50′ posts so I will keep at it and see if its true!
I have a DIY site lagulhas.blogspot.com and have posted loads of fantastic tips for those who share my hobby of furniture restoration and decor. I often feel that I am writing into a void as I get very little feedback but my numbers are growing so your article gives me hope.
Regards
Newbie Wendy
Hi Wendy! I’ll def check out your blog. 50 was definitely a milestone for World Winder. We chugged away and I just had a feeling 50 that was something great to work toward. How close are you to 50? Try keeping tabs on what kind of posts are popular and go with your strengths– to balance out what you love of course
I feel like I am talking to a broken mic too. But keep at it! It’s fun!
Hello Melissa! I really love your blog and the way you write! Thanks for creating this post. I really need some inspiration and tips as of the moment. And I must say – you’ve inspired me! I’m currently nursing a neonatal blog and I must say that it’s not as easy and I’ve first thought! I think I’m becoming so overwhelmed about all the things I don’t know and need to know about blogsphere. I’ve always been worried that no one notices my blog. Good thing you’ve stressed about the “50″ milestone. It gave me hope that I’ll soar up one day.
Btw, have you travelled to the Philippines? You can visit here in the near future. =)
Thank you Chopstick Lady!
Nursing is such an important career. Good for you! About half of my family is in medicine, lots of nurses in the mix. I have not travelled to the Phillipines yet. But we are planning out the Asian leg of our trip soon! So we’ve heard lots of great things. My best friend in high school was Filipino. So the culture intrigues me! Thanks for stopping by!
I love these tips- they’re things all bloggers should read and know. Since you sort of asked, here are a few others I would recommend based on my own experience
10) Don’t expect to make millions, thousands, or hundreds right away- if at all.
Because the blogosphere is so huge, as you mentioned, there are thousands of blogs starting out every week- if not every day. Do not start a blog if you expect to make $10,000 in your first month of writing online. In fact, don’t start a blog if you expect to write for 6 months and have money, contracts, and maidens hurled at your feet. It just won’t happen and- if it does- you’re a very lucky exception!
I mention this not to discourage bloggers from starting out, but rather to help them avoid discouragement when they don’t see huge paychecks from their efforts. Which reminds me…
11) Know what you want from your blog.
Are you interested in becoming an online journalist? Are you hoping to write for a Top 10 gaming news site? Do you want to blog as a means of earning income? Are you writing to keep your friends and family updated on your semester abroad? Know what you want from your blog before you buy the domain name (you are using a top-level domain name, right?) or write a single word. If you don’t consider these questions from the outset, you may be disappointed by the lack of progress you see towards your ultimate goal.
12) Bring something unique to the web- or at least say something in a unique voice.
If content is the most important aspect of what makes a successful blog, novelty and a unique point of view would be the second most important thing. If you’re looking to enter a heavily saturated blog market like, say, celebrity gossip (please don’t…) and hope to be the next What Would Tyler Durden Do you may be disappointed as there are hundreds of blogs that exist in this area only to regurgitate stories they see posted on larger sites with more readership. At best, this is uninspired. At worst, it can be illegal. Make sure that you have something new to say and offer to your readers, or else you won’t see your readership grow much beyond those who have direct links to your site.
…assuming, of course, that this is what you want from your blog in the beginning
WOW! Matt, you are the man! Great additional advice and really, really helpful for bloggers! Very obvious that Kawaiian Punch has a great webmaster at the Dashboard
I really like #11: Know you purpose. Bloggers shouldn’t ramble. They should get to the point and elaborate. I think the blogosphere gets a bad wrap from people who just spew nonsense about a million different topics in one post. As a blog reader, I like bloggers who’ve a straight shot approach to 1 or 2 niche subjects. For us, we are still culling our traveling and writing angle. But all in good time! Keep in touch, Matt!
These are excellent tips! I love the set up…then the knock down presentation. Easy to follow and informative. I am a fan!!!
-T
The old “set ‘em up and knock ‘em down” presentation, it’s an old techie technique from what I hear from Silicon Valley! Thanks for stopping by, T! It means alot to me that you read (and find valuable) what we are writing about. It’s great to have state-side, California support!
Hey Tim,
Blogging is like any other form of writing. The longer you spend and the more you analyze your posts the stronger they become. So many people are entering the blogosphere that you have to find ways to distinguish yourself. Pictures, video, music, and networking make blogging unique compared to traditional forms of media. Put them all together and you will stand out.
Thanks Melissa! These are great tips for those of just starting out, and not wanting to ask stupid questions!
It’s great to hear from you, Rebecca! The idea of “stupid questions” is silly. As a former teacher, I know that if one person in the room is curious or confused about something…at least 10 more are too. Ask away! Though I probably won’t have the answer…just putting a query out there will start the conversation.
So glad these little tips help!!!
dear Melissa thank you so much for your suggestion, i did not really understood how to title images with a SEO…can you write more about that?
Hi Vanessa! Thanks for stopping by! I will definitely come up with more info on SEO titling! Let me get my notes together and I will post about it soon, maybe Monday! For now, check out Google’s AdWords and their Keyword Tools. More to come!
thank you Melissa!
Great post, Melissa!
I have RTed it
Keep’em coming!
Thanks,
Anca
Great tips indeed. And yes, this blogging gig is very hard work! Really underestimated the time involved to keep a blog going, esp the social media aspect.
Hi Gerard! Oh the networking piece takes longer than the actual writing, right? It’s hilarious but worth it. Social media is another beast in and of itself! Thanks for popping by!
Great tips. I plan on implementing the tip on the privacy policy asap.
Thanks
Hey Rusty! World Winder implemented the policy and privacy pages the same week that we hit our Magic 50….so I can’t tell whether it boosted the reputation of our site. But…who knows!? If you see any difference, please let me know. It would be an interesting factor to track, analytically! Cheers!
Great article! I am very new to blogging, so the tips were very helpful.
Thanks Cathy! Blogging can be very overwhelming straight out of the gates. So hopefully some of these tips work for you. More to come! Thank you for stopping by!!!!
Thanks for sharing your post. As an author with several sites it is always interesting to see what other people have to say and see if I can pick up any tips to improve my sites, Blessings, Deborah H. Bateman
Thanks Deborah! Sounds like you have your hands full with blogging too! What do you write?
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your great advice. Everyone here is a newbie blogger at some time, and a great piece of newbie advice is always to hit that “Publish” button as soon as you can. DONE trumps PERFECT. We can always revise and edit later.
I agree, Robbie. Get it done, refresh if needed! That’s good advice too.
Hi! I just stumbled over here via Linkedin. While I’m not a new blogger, there are a few tips in your article that were new to me. Thanks for sharing.
Fabulous information and guidance from professionals on the road and on the front lines. Thank you for sharing this, especially the point about sharing the blog writing.
Hi Paul! Thanks so much for dropping by. We’re really excited to get into the nooks and crannies of S. American life. We took a spin around Cuenca today and at at Rayimpampa for ceviche. Delicious! Also got some great shots of people walking past the cathedral. Maybe we’ll see you around! Hope you enjoy your travels too!
Great tips! I would add just do it advice, about anything-posting, commenting guest-blogging or any particular SEO strategy! You will never know until you do it!
Thanks for that post Melissa. I’m a relative newbie, up to 32 posts and the minute and counting… My page views are slowly increasing but I really appreciate the encouragement to keep on going. And I’ll give that privacy policy a go!
Sounds great Julie! Let me know how things go as you approach 50. Thanks for coming by
Great post…
My advice is… learn SEO writing. Learn to market your blog. Network. Share. Share. Share. Have a distribution system. Create a Paper.li and customize it to the Twitter #Hashtags you use the most… Others produce similar papers. You can dominate someone’s paper with the right hashtags. Free distribution.
I got 37,000+ page views in my 3rd month, starting from zero. (Then I lost my computer for 2 months). It’s coming back.
I absolutely agree….SEO is a must! It’s so great that your blog shot into the 5-digital realm in its 3rd month. How did you lose your computer? Stolen or broken?
As we travel, we try to set up shop at a place for long periods of time, then network and share and market everything the best we can. We were just Cuenca with a friend. So it was hard even with the unusually fast internet connection. Now we’re in the valley of longevity, Vilcabamba and it’s time to catch up on some work. Good luck with the come back–as you put it! Our Paper.li is in the works, especially now that we’ve a room with connectivity. Thanks for stopping by, Roger!
Hi Roger,
WOW! That’s fantastic advice about Paper.Li, and I’ll get working on that right away. THANK YOU! One of these days, I’ll post a tip of my own.
Robbie
These are great tips! Thanks for sharing.
As a new blogger, my hopes are really (maybe naively) high! To keep myself motivated and pushing towards my goals, I make sure that I:
*Celebrate each accomplishment – I celebrate months of blogging milestones, page rank, alexa, etc. milestones, gains in fb page likes, offers to be a guest blogger, when a visitor sees my site from a new state (Google Analytics), etc.
I try to celebrate everything!! It really helps and adds a sense of accomplishment.
That is so great and incredibly important to celebrate! When I too writing classes at Manhattanville College, my teachers always said to celebrate and enjoy what you write. You are your own biggest fan and I absolutely agree.
BTW: Bloggers should have high hopes and expectations! How else are we suppose to succeed and…honestly…raise the bar in terms of writing. Love that advice.
Good stuff Melissa … even when we ‘know’ things it’s greta to be reminded – thanks
Hi again Melissa,
Your article has really had a fantastic response and so many good tips – here’s one more that is pushing my stats up significantly: link your posts to each other so that if a visitor reads one then their interest is piqued by an introductory sentence to click on the link to another post.
Works for me and so did adding captions to the photographs.
Regards, Wendy.
Hi Melissa! I enjoyed the post and your site. Great tips. 50. That’s the number that caught my eye. I started blogging just a few weeks ago (http://bit.ly/ruvwDN). I have about 35 posts about editing, writing, and grammar. I am getting a few followers and great comments. It’s been lots of fun so far. I’m gonna push for that 50 and see what happens.
Good catch! Thanks. You say you blog about writing. What styles do you focus on?
So far, it leans a bit toward technical editing and writing since that’s my background. I’ve recently started to do some creative writing, so I hope to branch out a bit in that direction too with my posts.
However, I’m hoping that all kinds of writers will find at least some of the information useful. So far my followers include poets, editors, creative writers, and a few technical writers.
Melissa, my computer died and I was using the library computer for two months. My page views still peak most weeks around 5K, so I’m not too far off the high. I’ll get there.
A gadget you want to check out is LinkWithin (just google the name). It was designed for recipe sites, but it works well for sites that have humor, advice, observations, how to, stories, tips. Useless if you write time-sensitive material, like news or sports.
It will how a picture and title of 3 to 5 posts. I use it on all of my sites because it will pull related pieces from keywords. Sometimes the posts are completely unrelated, but that showcases other work I do.
A final tip… write SEO friendly titles. Do not write an artistic title. Titles like: Rough day at the ranch, Kids are nuts, Horsey like blue are not things that people search for.
Find a couple keywords from your post. Go to Google AdWords (Free sign-up). Use the keyword tool.
Let’s say you were writing about Looking Better. You enter those keywords “Looking Better” into the Keyword tool. Maybe something different comes up with more interest like “Looking Younger” (I know because I did this for a post).
So, change you post to include looking younger where appropriate. And make that part of your title. “Ways to Looking Younger.”
You want your keywords at or near the beginning of your title because your platform will create a unique URL for that post and you want the keywords in the URL.
The way it is above, your URL would be…
http://www.yourblog.com/posts/ways-to-looking-younger.html
If you made the title: Seventeen ways I found for you to be looking younger soon. — the URL would be…
http://www.yourblog.com/posts/seventeen-ways-i-found-for.html – it will get truncated. And your keywords will be missing, which kills you on SEO.
I wrote a piece in April designed to talk people out of killing themselves. Instead of titling it: Don’t Kill Yourself, It’s Not Worth It
I did some AdWords searching and came up with this title:
Painless Suicide – A Complete Guide To Suicide
The URL looks like this:
http://www.rogerblazic.com/2011/08/painless-suicide-and-complete-guide-to.html
The second “Suicide” was cut off, but it’s already in there, so I get action “Painless Suicide” and “Suicide Guide” “Guide To Suicide” “Complete Suicide”
I get dozens of hits a DAY from search engine traffic on that post. Sad that so many people want to die, but I’m trying to stop them.
You really have to put some thought into your post title and make it SEO friendly if you want to grow organic search engine traffic.
In the spring, I beat NBC three weeks in a row on page one of Google for Celebrity Apprentice. I knew how to write it and title it.
I hope these ideas help.
Melissa:
Greetings. I read your wonderful article on living in Banos Equador. I’m considering a move to Equador, and wonder if you (or any of your followers) might be willing to comment on the current living conditions there for a new person moving from US.
Hi Joe! Baños de Santa Agua is lovely. There are two Baños towns, so the one I am in love with is the one 3.5 hours south of Quito in Tungurahua. The best thing to do if you’re planning on coming to Ecuador is to just come scout it out. I had a friend who swore he’d fallen in love with 2 towns here before he finally settled down. Rent and get to know locals/expats. I’ve a great homestay in Quito with Maria Pillar. Look her up and she’ll help you in the capital. Then make plans to come south. Baños and Cuenca are great. Lots of people love Vilcabamba too. I’ll be blogging about Vilcabamba soon. So, I will have some good pix and info shortly.
Anyway, Banos is super safe, relaxed and international. The food is great. Apts are reasonably priced– $300 for a fully furnished 1 or 2 bedroom. WIFI can be in/out at times but who cares. The basilica is gorgeous as are the thermal pools, mountain vistas, and great restaurants.
Melissa:
Thank you so much for the response. I’m very excited about finding your blog, as you certainly share great information. I am starting to plan my trip and look forward to visiting this beautiful area. Thanks for sharing the contact information. I’ll contact Pili when I firm my plans.
Again, thank you for the information. I will be following your writings with great interest and look forward to any information you share on Equador.
Some solid tips from your article and comments. My contribution is to make it easy to follow/read your blog. I mean, have multiple ways that people can subscribe, follow etc.
Wendy had a good point about linking posts within your blog article. This is something I need to always work on.
Agreed, Tazim. People will follow if you make it super easy–especially if you have good content.
I could not agree with you more. The other tip is to use Zemanta as a tool for related news items, suggested labels, links that can be inserted into your posts and photos. I never use the photos, but since using the links and related items, my readership has soared. I have over 1,700 posts (yes, I have been at it for years). My page views are over 69,000 at http://www.budgetnomad.blogspot.com. Make sure you use Google Analytics.
Thanks for summing up your year’s experience, Melissa! I’ve just wrapped up post #47 so I’m excited to see the magic # 50 on the horizon ~
Hi Nancy! I’ve been following Wanderlust & Lipstick, such great things you’re talking about there. Love it! Freelancing and blogging takes time, but it’s so much better than a 9-5…or rather, since I was a teacher…7-3. lol!
Great tips here Melissa thanks.
Found you on ‘travel bloggers.’
You have a great site with loads of info!
How much emphasis to you put on creating ‘backlinks’ for your site?
Please drop by my site when you get a chance, your input is greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Rob
Hi Robert! Great to see you here from “Travel Bloggers”. I look at backlinks as forms of advertisement and a way for potentially interested readers/editors to find my blog. They’re good for SEO but mostly I look at them as a venue for people to stream back to World Winder. So, when I sell or publish articles on other sites, backlinks are important particularly from websites/profiles that are aesthetically pleasing and valuable. I haven’t guestblogged in a while but I love those too. They add variety to my voice, putting me in forums and venues that are a little different from World Winder and with a varied audience.
So yes, backlinks deserve attention but so does the content surrounding it.
Will check out your site now!! ~Melissa