See my previous post on blogging: One, two
Lately I’ve been doing tons of reading on blogging. I’ve read everything from tips on running a blog to articles on different social media websites (like Stumbleupon) to what SEO is to…you name it, if its about blogging, I’ve been reading it.
This has been such an interesting learning experience. I’m having a blast jumping right into the blog world.
I’m finding out that though there are obvious differences (real life communication is, uhhh, face to face, which makes it a little more personal. Things on the web tend to be less cordial. People say things that they wouldn’t dream of if they were face to face with the person), the blogosphere functions a lot like the social world outside the web.
Basically, its all about relationships.
In the real world, if you want to make a business venture successful, you gotta network. You gotta get out there, mingle around and rub shoulders with people. You gotta be nice, help others out, do a few favors. Those who are merely self-focused quickly get ignored and left behind. The “favor bank principle” applies just as much in the blogging world than it does in the real world.
Along those lines, most people I’ve consulted say the same things about building your blog. A few of the commonalities are:
1) Linking out.
2) Commenting on other’s sites
3) Featuring other bloggers on your blog
4) Belonging to social media sites
5) The little things build up to make a big difference, things like your avatar (first impressions!), the professional look of your blog, etc.
6) Frequent quality posts keep them coming back.
In summary, a combination of effective advertising and great writing pays dividends over time. One without the other yields diminishing returns.
Here is a list of some of the best articles I’ve read so far (the titles are pretty self explanatory, so I’m not going to add any commentary myself):
1) Why commenting is good for bloggers
2) How to find good blogs (and how to get yours discovered!)
3) Statistical analysis of blog traffic
5) The advantages of Stumbleupon (“The force is strong with this one”)
6) Using social media to grow your blog traffic
7) Things learned from blogging heroes
8) Analysis of Stumbleupon’s top stumblers
9) How to draw Stumbleupon users to your blog
10) Blogging to a mass audience
11) The 7 habits of highly successful bloggers
13) Understanding reciprocal and non-reciprocal links
15) The benefits of Twitter for bloggers
17) Linking secrets
18) More on how to draw Stumbleupon traffic to your blog
19) 10 ways to increase comment traffic on your blog
20) Things that will put your blog above the fold
22) More on driving traffic to your blog
23) The Ten Commandments of blogging
24) Linking no-nos
25) Building your blog with Stumbleupon: part cinco
26) Checklist for linking to quality blogs
27) Type styling tips: some turnoffs
28) Checking out “curb appeal”
30) Weblog usability
