Blogging tips

[Senior]

Hi,
Any good tips on promoting a blog, I started mine about 10 days ago, aim to add content every day.
New to it, so any good tips will be appreciated.
Can I post a link to it?

 

[James1980]

Pace yourself - perhaps post a new article every week rather than every day?


James

 

[silvermusic]

Use a relaxed writing style in the same manner that you'd talk to your friends, people read blogs because they like the person and their personality and/or style. New articles twice a week is plenty unless you really have other things of interest. Oh and don't waffle, get to the point.

 

[danielmeade]

I would echo both comments above. Maybe refrain from posting everyday to begin with, keep it to two or three posts a week. Remember it'll be a few months before you gain a loyal following and start seeing some serious traffic, so don't get put off by the small numbers coming to the site in the first three, four, five months or so.

Keep it personal, people will grow to you and your personality. It's all about engaging with the reader, much like you would on the various social networking platforms.

 

[virtuallysorted]

Cross post blogs of interest in forums, twitter, email list etc. But DON'T spam!!!

Make it easy for people to subscribe to your live feed so they get updated every time you have a new post.

 

[silvermusic]

Forgot to mention. In most blogs you can write articles in advance to go live at some point in the future. If you suddenly have a brain storm it's worth doing a few in advance when you're in the mood providing it's not a time sensitive article. Also handy for when you're busy too.

 

[virtuallysorted]

Good point Silvermusic!

Also cross post on other blogs and comment.

 

[Newcott]

Whats your subject matter? Follow silmilar blogs for inspiration.

 

[BeeDub]

Definitely agree with the above. Pace Yourself! It's easy at the start to be carried away but then just a couple of months in....you'll spend ages staring at your computer screen, desperately thinking of something to write! I do ours every Monday and Thursday and have done so for getting on 2 years now...some weeks is easier than others mind you!

 

[studiowide]

Posting every day? That's some challenge... why such a gruelling schedule? What's your main objective for the blog?

 

[Senior]

The main objective is to increase traffic to the website, and to update content, I believe this will do my google position no harm.
Also its a way of showcasing my handmade furniture in more detail.
I don't find a daily post particularly daunting, a bit like writing a diary, but who knows 2 months down the line I may well have changed my mind.

 

[Penny Haywood]

Journalists write every day, often on the same area. It's not that hard for experienced writers. But you do need to have a strategy around blogging and not just be generating content for the sake of content.

If it's to boost SEO, blogs are great, but well tagged video is even more potent. You can of course make vids and post them on your blog so that people see what you're like - great for encouraging the ones that are drawn to you if you are offering a service.

Suggest if not already planning to do this that you put relevant keywords in the blog headlines and tags to maximise impact on search engines and make sure the content goes onto your own domain and not the blogging software site.

 

[Penny Haywood]

Now I know it's about furniture-making, a blog detailing the daily highs and lows allied to videos or slideshows detailing progress points could be fascinating if done well. People like looking over artists' and craftsmen's shoulders. And it adds context to the buyer to have a video and photo record of their piece's creation.
You could cross post links to the blog, videos & pix on Twitter, Facebook + LinkedIn for the corporate commissions.

 

[Senior]

Thanks Penny,
One of my aims is to do work in progress pictures and video of builds.

Is it OK for me to post a link to it, I want people to see my 2 weeks worth and give me an idea of good and bad points. No point in carrying on regardless, feed back would be great.

 

[-Joe-]

Also, a good thing to do to prepare for the days when you don't feel like blogging is to spend a day or two just writing a load of posts. Then you can set wordpress to autopost them as you please.

 

[Senior]

Suggest if not already planning to do this that you put relevant keywords in the blog headlines and tags to maximise impact on search engines and make sure the content goes onto your own domain and not the blogging software site.

Could someone explain what tags are, and how I use them?

 

[studiowide]

Could someone explain what tags are, and how I use them?

Think of your blog as a dynamic book (expanding and growing over time); your 'categories' are your chapters and your 'tags' would be sticky flag bookmarks pointing at specific areas throughout your book (tied in with your keywords) that can be seen (indexed on the web) without even opening your book... lost with this analogy? I am!