February 6th, 2012 — Blog Design, Blog Tips, Blogging
Most of the open source blogging platforms out there are going to come with at least a few different basic blogging designs. Some platforms call them themes, others call them templates, and others still have completely unique names for them. Most of these basic themes or templates have nothing inherently wrong with them, but customization is somewhat necessary otherwise everyone would have a blog that looked exactly the same as every other blog. Most blogging templates are really basic, and adding your own flair to them is easy. Still, many people get the whole customization thing wrong, and need to be steered in the right direction. There are some basic mistakes to how people go about customizing their blogs, and hopefully we can dispel some of them in this series on principles for good blog design.
1 – Whether you really want to or not, it is vital that you have some information about *you* in the blog. Either create an about me page, or have some information about yourself displayed in the sidebar of your blog. This should be a prominently placed section so it can be easily found, and it should be truly about who you are, rather than read like a resume.
2 – Make sure that your personal contact information is readily available, and even more importantly, easily visible. You need to at least have an e-mail address visible, and a phone number would be even better. If you want to prevent spammers from harvesting your e-mail address, use an image to display it rather than text. You can always use a free web based e-mail address such as a yahoo, gmail or hotmail address to keep from having your true personal address displayed, if you like. By posting real contact information, you are going to make yourself appear much more real. Although people may not really find reasons to contact you, you’re still indicating to your readers that you are available, which is a good thing.
3 – You should absolutely include a picture of yourself in your blog. All blogs, even business blogs, are personal, and the people who visit yours are going to want to know who you are and what you look like so that they can get to know you, and can benefit from the personal nature of your blog. It is much easier to build trust between yourself and your readers if your picture is visible and your readers feel like they know you. You do not absolutely need a picture, but it is still strongly recommended that you do have one in order to get the most out of your blog.
4 – Some of your blog posts are going to be more popular than others. Once you recognize which blog posts these are, keep them from being buried by finding a way to highlight them.
Continued in part 2 of this series.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2009-02-06 08:15:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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November 12th, 2011 — Blogging, Web Traffic
Every blogger is looking to achieve the exact same thing: They are hoping to be read. There are millions of bloggers that give the idea a shot but then eventually give up because they feel like nobody is reading them. They feel like if they are unable to get blog traffic, then why should they even try?
If you feel like you are currently in this position, try not to give up. It is easy to get blog traffic and to gain loyal readers if you are willing to keep blogging. Here are five methods that you can use to get blog traffic where previously you were struggling to gain readership.
1 – Maximize your use of RSS.
Your blog will come with built in RSS capabilities, and you should make sure to be taking advantage of these. The easier it is for people to subscribe to your blog, the easier it will be for you to get blog traffic when you need it.
2 – Build links from other websites.
Search engine spiders use links to navigate the web and index the websites that they find. What this means is, the easier that you make it for the search engines to find you, the easier it will be for you to get blog traffic through search engine results pages. It really is this simple.
3 – Write and syndicate content articles.
Websites and blogs alike are both hungry for content, so if you are willing to deliver this content, then you really cannot go wrong. You will earn new traffic every day, and this flood of traffic will begin as soon as your first article has been posted.
4 – Comment in other related blogs.
Blogs are designed to act as conversations. If you have insights to add to a conversation, or a comment that you want to make, by all means, make it. Leave your e-mail address and a link back to your website, and you will actually be able to get blog traffic simply by participating in online conversations elsewhere on the internet. This is a quick, easy and interactive way to get blog traffic when you are looking for more visitors to your website.
5 – Keep blogging!
The more content that you have, the more visitors you will have, because blog readers love content and are constantly looking for fresh and new information and content. If you provide it, they will find it, and if you continue to provide it, they will continue to return time and time again to read it. It really is this simple. Content is one of the most vital aspects of the blogging process. If you are not posting content, your visitors will never find you or have a reason to stick around once they do.
Bonus Tip
WordPress blogs can make use of Related Websites plugin. Sign up for Blog Traffic Exchange to leverage your content and readership for even more blog traffic. Get quality links to and from your site with other Blog Traffic Exchange members. It’s simple, easy, and indispensable, but don’t just take my word for it. Try it! Learn more about the Related Websites plugin, what it is, how it works, who is eligible and how to get it.
Photo Credits: Sue Richards
Originally posted 2009-07-15 05:02:41. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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November 1st, 2011 — Blog Tips, Readership
Today, having a blog on the internet is just about as common as having an e-mail address. E-mailing and blogging actually share a number of the same purposes, such as that they are allowed to spread ideas, provide people with information and to promote online businesses. Blogs originally served, however, as online journals and diaries. Now that blogs are serving so many other functions, learning how to retain every blog visitor that you attract to your website is more important than ever.
Blogging has absolutely become an essential tool in internet marketing, especially for people that are trying to earn an income online. Learning how to write a blog effectively has taken on more significance and importance than ever before. Blogs that are poorly written simply are not successful, and they struggle more when it comes to blog visitor retention. If you want your blog to be successful then you need to turn it into a blog that is popular and highly inviting. Here are some techniques for better writing in your blog to improve your blog visitor retention.
Tip #1 – Try to keep your blog entries short and sweet. Clear and concise blog entries generally have the best blog visitor retention rate. Many people that read blogs are not looking for length – So say what you have to say in a clear and concise manner and move on.
Tip #2 – Make sure that you are thinking about the audience that you are trying to cater to when you write your blog posts. You should be conducting research based on how well known your particular niche is. Don’t write a blog on a topic that is so obscure that you are only going to have small blog visitor numbers.
Tip #3 – Write in a tone that is light and conversational. You should be writing to your readers as if you were talking to them on a face to face basis.
Tip #4 – Write about topics that are interesting, relevant and informative. You should be entertaining and you should be informative while you are supplying information that is relevant and useful.
Tip #5 – To boost your blog visitor retention numbers you are going to want to make sure that your blog is well designed. Avoid distracting and flashy colors and images and leave out the clutter, it’s just a waste of space.
Tip #6 – Make sure that there are always links included in your blog. Link to products, services and other useful resources, including your own and other people’s websites as well.
Tip #7 – Make sure that you are using search engine keywords on your blog, including in your blog title, your blog posts and links that you create for the maximum amount of search engine optimization.
Photo Credits: Ozyman
Originally posted 2009-11-04 03:59:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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