Blogging Tips
More and more I'm finding that blogging is an art form in and of itself. To be a great blogger you have to have a certain touch, and way to connect to other readers.
We all know as bloggers that content is key. What your content should be is entirely up to you. On the same token, you'll probably find that some of your posts are more popular then others. Keep track of your stats so that you know what readers respond to, and what searches Google likes to bring to your blog.
All that being said, the reason for this post is to let bloggers know about a few ways to make blogging more user friendly. Bloggers like to visit other blogs, but if your blog isn't up to par, people will stop coming and stop commenting. Don't let this be you!
The #1 thing that holds people back from commenting is that darn CAPTCHA. I've already written a post about this, but I still see so many people using it (and I'm sure a good portion of them aren't even aware that they have it turned on). Seriously, these things are hard to read and annoying when you have to do it over. If I'm commenting from a phone or a tablet, I'm not even going to bother leaving a comment if you have CAPTCHA. It's too much hard work for an touch-screen keyboard. Read my post on how to turn it off, now!
Next, bloggers like to communicate. I like to respond to comments, and I'm more likely to respond if I can see your email. It's easy for me to reply to your comment and that way I'm certain you actually got my answer. If you ask a question I think needs an answer I'll still visit your blog to let you know what I think, but I won't always do that. If your email is available then we can talk about silly things and not just the serious stuff. Here is an awesome post by Peggy Eddleman on how to solve that problem.
Last but not least, make sure to visit the blogs of people who leave you comments. I came to your blog because I want to get to know you better, but if I never hear back from you--I won't visit again. I liked your blog, but it makes me feel like you don't value what I have to say.
That's it. It doesn't take much to be accommodating to other bloggers, and some of us appreciate it more than you know. Following these tips will bring you more comments and pageviews in the long run. Good luck blogging!
What tips would you add to the list?
We all know as bloggers that content is key. What your content should be is entirely up to you. On the same token, you'll probably find that some of your posts are more popular then others. Keep track of your stats so that you know what readers respond to, and what searches Google likes to bring to your blog.
All that being said, the reason for this post is to let bloggers know about a few ways to make blogging more user friendly. Bloggers like to visit other blogs, but if your blog isn't up to par, people will stop coming and stop commenting. Don't let this be you!
That's it. It doesn't take much to be accommodating to other bloggers, and some of us appreciate it more than you know. Following these tips will bring you more comments and pageviews in the long run. Good luck blogging!
What tips would you add to the list?
Comments
And is it me, or are the captcha pictures getting worse? Sheesh!
I would add a hearty "YES" to the point about visiting and commenting on blogs that visit and comment on you. It seems very basic, but there are a lot of blogs that I enjoyed reading for a while, and finally gave up on because they never responded to anything I wrote, or returned the visit. With so many blogs out there that DO foster communication, why would I waste my time on the ones that don't bother?
Spam is also why people are shy about leaving their Email addresses around online.
Anyway, Blogger needs to find something more effective to do about spamming than that stupid Captcha thing which as you point out is often hard to read and I would imagine it would be much tougher on a tiny screen like an iPhone.
Thanks for the tips...
But I am resolving to be better at the responding thing. I also like to respond by email. Because who goes back and sees if you left a response? Not many, I would assume.
Great post!
I never follow just to get a return follow, but I'm sometimes disappointed by the people who don't make an effort to even look at my blog.
I'm falling behind on visiting, because of the sheer number of blogs I follow. I do try my best though! :-)
As far as tips to add: Black text on white background, please! Or something not too far off that. Bright pink on black? Orange on brown? Anything on patterned? Not unless you're looking to give your readers a headache! (And a healthy dose of frustration.)
Another thing I really wish more blogs was a way to subscribe to comments so I get a notif of when I get a response to a comment. I probably see a way to do this on half the blogs I comment on.
And I get put off a page if it has moving graphics anywhere...it might look clever when it's first set up, but visitors get distracted with moving memes or profile pics or ads, while you're trying to concentrate on the blog itself!