Building a better blog
Aug 11, 2007 Blogging
There’s been at least a couple posts in the past on ProBlogger that have rubbed me the wrong way, though in Darren’s defense I believe they were both written by guest bloggers, however I have to say the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog series is fantastic. I know many of probably already read ProBlogger, but for those that don’t you should really check out the series. It’s not just about making money. As the title implies, it’s really about making you a better blogger. So far 10 days of the series have been posted and I thought it would be neat to take a look at what I’ve done and not done so far. Keep in mind I only just discovered the series today, so any of the things I have done have been because I made the initiative on my own, just as I’m sure many of you have as well. Remember these 10 tips are from Darren at ProBlogger. If you want to read the entire article for each I encourage you to check out his 31 Days to Building a Better Blog series. It’s worth your time.
- Day 1 – Email a New Reader – This is something I have done in the past but probably don’t do it near as much as I should.
- Day 2 – Run a ‘First Time Reader Audit’ on your Blog – This one is really interesting. Darren suggests having a friend check out your blog for the first time and then find out what things interested them most and what things didn’t. I’ve yet to try this but I think I just might.
- Day 3 – Search for and Join a Forum – I’ve joined a few and even created one of my own though admittedly I don’t spend near as much time on them as I’d hoped to. I can testify to the fact though that when you’re active you will see more traffic to your blog from forum participation. Most importantly though I’ve met some great new bloggers and found several blogs which I now visit regularly.
- Day 4 – Interlink Archived Posts - Definitely doing this with the related post plugin. I also try to link to recent posts I’ve made as often as I can when they relate to something new I’m writing about.
- Day 5 – Conduct an ‘About Page Audit’ - Now THIS I definitely need to do and in fact I’ve had it on my to do list for a little while now. It’s something I’ve done for years with any kind of website I run. Keeping the About page fresh and interesting is important. You want your readers to say “hey this person sounds cool, I think I’ll stick around.” A well written About page will help.
- Day 6 – Email an Old Timer Reader – This is I definitely do.
- Day 7 – Plan Your Next Week’s Posting Schedule – Guilty. I’m not very good at planning and never have been. I should really try to get better at it though. I’m sure being a more organized blogger will also make you a more productive blogger.
- Day 8 – Comment on a Blog You’ve Never Commented On Before – I try to do this as much as possible. You can’t be a great schmoozer if you don’t follow this tip ;)
- Day 9 – Run an Advertising Audit On Your Blog – I haven’t messed with this much until recently. I’ll keep tinkering until I find something that works though.
- Day 10 – Declutter Your Sidebar – Heh. Uh yeah that could use some work ;) Though I don’t think my sidebars are too terribly bad though.
There are also tons of great tips from ProBlogger readers as well that you should definitely check out. They’re all listed on that same 31 Days page.
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July 4th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Texas_Jam has a post about a trend trying to make “open marriages” acceptable. I like his down-to-earth response to yet another attack on the institution of marriage. Ordinary Folk Need a little help building your blog? Or maybe you’ve built one and you need help keeping it going? Mike (a.k.a. Mr. FiveK) references the ever-popular ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Building a Better Blog project. Hey, this guy Mike must be doing something right with all his Technorati and
August 11th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I started a blog schedule before I saw this. Best thing I ever did. Posting is so much easier now. Good luck with your blogging projects.
BeachBum
August 11th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Yeh it’s definitely something I’m thinking about doing considering I’m now running more than one blog. It just makes sense.
Thanks for stopping by :)
August 11th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Thanks for the heads up about this series!
Ow and I’m back by the way left the bloging for some soul searching or in my case some serious partying abroad.
Time to bring my blog back from the dead wish me good luck.
Ow and congrats on your progress, it’s nice to see that you come a long way since I last visited this page :D
August 11th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Hey there, buddy! I’d been wondering what had happened to you. Welcome back to the blogging scene :P
August 11th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
That’s awesome, cuz I just did one out of that list today — I updated my bio part! Haha. Woohoo! I’m a better blogger today!
August 11th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Hehe…you go girl :D
August 11th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
I’ll definitely have to check out this series. :) Thanks for the tip!
August 12th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Yeah, I think you’re cool. I’ll be sticking around. ;)
Yes, that series is quite interesting indeed. His new design has also made my inner designer do a little jig thinking I should rethink how my blog’s design.
Speaking of “jigs”, you might find this interesting. :D
August 12th, 2007 at 11:13 am
@Tish: You’re welcome :)
@Mark: I hear ya. I’ve been thinking about playing around with a new design and every time I see someone else with one I start thinking about it even more ;P
August 12th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I have already done a few of those tips as he/they are mentioning before they did the series, but they are good tips, no doubt.
Now I only have to take my Alexa ranking down to 10,000 (for getting better opps at PPP) :P
August 12th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Darren’s new design is pretty good. I just don’t like the footer area heh.
August 13th, 2007 at 6:06 am
Great tips, thanks Mike!
Don’t know about the first one though.. I’ve received a couple of those (unpersonal, standard) emails from sites I visited. They more turn me off than encourage me to visit again.. But hey, maybe that’s just me..
August 13th, 2007 at 6:28 am
@Malin: Those advertisers on PPP looking for blogs with Alexa that low are dreaming :P
@Baron: I’m not a big fan of footers like that either. A lot of the info he has in it I’d rather have on the sidebar.
@Ellen: I imagine a lot of people use a plugin which sends out the same e-mail to all new commenters. I’m not a big fan of that. If a new person comes along and totally wows me with a reply I’ll take the time to put together a personal e-mail to them.