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Everywhere you turn you can find tips about how to build your blog, build your audience, build your social media presence, etc. What I want to talk about are the every day blog tips you can use to keep things humming along:
- Choose your link words carefully.
- Use pictures to enhance your post and underscore your meaning.
- Encourage commenting by asking a specific question of your readers.
My three pieces of advice would be
- Choose your link words carefully. Every time you include a link in your blog post text, make sure that link counts. In other words, instead of typing Click Here for my ad rates (where "Click Here" is the link), type Download my advertising guidelines and media kit and make "advertising guidelines and media kit" your link. This little trick takes advantage of SEO (do a search for "click here" and see what you get and whether it's usable). In addition, your reader can quickly scan your page, find your links, and have a fairly good idea of what they'll find if they click the link. Choosing your link words carefully is simply more efficient for everyone.
- Use pictures to enhance your post and underscore your meaning. (This particular suggestion is one I need to work on myself.) You know the adage (1 picture=1,000 words), but have you put it to the test? I have noticed that I am more interested in reading a post that includes a clever picture than a post that does not. A picture adds interest to an otherwise text-heavy page by drawing the reader's eye to your article. (See this tip in action at Skelliewag.org.) You can find royalty-free images at iStock Photo, Free Foto, and Stock Vault. The images you find at these sites are not free, but they can be purchased inexpensively (some are only $1.00). Of course, if you're a shutter-bug, you probably have several photos you can use right now! If you're using Flickr (or want to), Sue Waters at Edublogger has a three-part series called Quick Start Tips for New Flickr Users.
- Encourage commenting by asking a specific question of your readers. Inviting your readers to participate in a conversation is always more successful than just assuming they'll respond in comments. Many times readers may agree with your thoughts, but they just think to themselves, "Yep, me too" and move on. Encourage those readers to become a bigger part of your community by asking them specific questions about how they might use the information you presented. Then respond to those comments yourself (either in the comments section or via personal e-mail). Responding in the comments section encourages the dialogue to continue.
When I tweeted the question What every day blogging tip do you live by to make your blog useful to you and your readers? I received several answers from seasoned bloggers:
- @MomDot: Be consistent in what you do every day.
- @merchantships: Make yourself blog BEFORE checking into any social media sites like Twitter.
- Linds54: Post in the morning.
- dcrmom: Be true to yourself.
- ADramaticMommy: Respond to your readers via the comments section or email as often as you can. Being personable and available is important.
- JendisJournal: Re-read and edit before hitting publish.
What part of your blog routine has become second nature to you? How does it help you blog? How does it benefit your readers and blog community?
Further reading:
- How to Make Your Writing Matter to Your Readers at Write to Done
- Ten quick tips for better blogging by Pundit at actuality.log
Melanie writes tips and instructions for beginning bloggers at Blogging Basics 101.
