More blogging tips for the eager blogger

If people wanted to read news, they would have turned to CNN, Aljazeera or some other media outlet. They are ALL OVER THE PLACE and have a huge fan base. Repeating what is already mentioned there isn't useful to anyone. Besides, most of these sites now allow people to post comments. Which means, you [As a blog owner] have promoted the already very established news source and your own readers have ended up on THAT SITE commenting and interacting THERE. (Which is all fine and dandy) but think. What have YOU gained out of this?

Quote news, but add your own twist. Add your own view, and your own ideas. Use the news as a starting point. Where you end is completely up to you.

Tip: A picture is worth a thousand words. Some context to the picture is worth a Million.

Yes, some pictures are VERY expressive and might not need any additional explanation. It might contain the whole idea without you having to say, or explain anything. Great! But for 99% of the time when the picture may be interpreted in many ways, many might not be what you actually intended. A small caption would go a long way.

The same applies to videos. Just add your own value, even with a couple of words

Tip: Promote yourself. But don't OVER promote yourself

Yes yes, everyone is eager to see more traffic, and see more people come their way. It's great to promote yourself. But don't sound too obvious. Don't sound too needy, don't sound too desperate. If there is anything I've learned it is this. The good content WILL ATTRACT people. Eventually, they will make it to your blog. But only good content will keep them coming.

Tip: Keep up!

This is the trickiest one, since it's time sensitive. If people are heavily consumed about the US Economy, and the latest news about it, posting about something that happened 3 months ago will not appeal to most. Unless, what you're posting is actually timeless (works in other time frames). People will steer away from older news, especially if they have seen them 16 times before.

Tip: Resist the forwarded Emails

Yes, some contain AMAZING wisdom, or very funny bits, or seriously interesting pieces of information. But unless this is an extremely rare exception. Don't re-post it. 99% of the time, it's someone's else post and somehow THEY WILL FIND YOU, and they might be pissed off at YOU for republishing their work without crediting, contacting or asking for their permission. It might also be copyrighted material. But usually, it's mostly crap. So resist these at all costs.

Tip: If you're part of a community, Support it

This is the best way to get traffic, especially for smaller communities. Support your blogging community. Actively engage in events with them (time and geography permitting) and help promote them as well. They will definitely return the favor

Tip: Watch those "referers"
(yes, one 'r', "legend has it" that some weird geek made this mistake in the original Http and it's stuck since then)

Incoming links to your blog are some of the most important aspects of blogging. You need to keep an eye on those. Some people might require some additional input from you. Some people might have referred to an article that you have wrote. Or some people my be citing you. It's always good to follow these.

To check your referrers, you either need to install a tracking software (Like Statcounter, Clicky, Google Analytics, Whoopra, Jeeran tracking gadget), and once you do. You would be able to see these incoming links.

If you can't install one, you can rely on a service by Google "Blog search" that shows who linked to you. Here's a Link to people linking to my blog. (However, Google blog search might not be collecting data for all blogs, so your experience may vary)

Finally, you can resort to Technorati. Which also gives you a list of who links to your blog. Here's a Link to technorati links to my blog.(Called, Reactions)

(There are MANY MANY others, I know, but I just don't want to confuse people)

I hope you find these tips helpful, and until next time

Happy Blogging, stay safe, protect your privecy, and keep your computer up to date