#SummerBlogSocial Prompt 2: If a real life friend approached you and said, “I want to start a blog. Can you give me a list of helpful tips?“, what 10 (or more) things would you tell your friend?
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I feel like this list would have been different if I wrote it 6 months or a year ago, and I’m sure 6 months or a year in the future, I’ll look back and giggle at a couple of points that I include today.
In no particular order, here are 10 tips I’d give to a person interested in starting a blog:
1. Purchase your own domain. It shows that you are serious. It aids in reader recall. It only costs around $10 a year. Even free platforms like Blogger and WordPress.com allow you to use your own domain, and Blogger makes it super easy to purchase one through your Blogger dashboard (Blogger even handles the redirection for you!)
2. Make it easy for people to follow you. Locate all your following options (RSS, Email subscription and Google FriendConnect) and social media icons at the top right side of your sidebar or home page.
3. Give people all 3 options to follow you. This point may be contested by some as Google FriendConnect is not favored by all bloggers. My feelings on providing all 3 options comes down to giving my readers the choice in how they follow. Your readers are your customers, so shouldn’t they be able to get your updates in a form they most prefer? When I first started out on Blogger, I had no idea what an RSS reader was or that it even existed, and because of that, I never followed blogs that limited my options to RSS only.
Blogger is a popular platform and where many bloggers start out. Not offering a GFC widget may limit the number of new subscribers to your blog.
*For those who have never used Blogger: Blogger users who subscribe via GFC widgets can view all their updates in their Blogger dash. It’s basically like an integrated RSS reader.
4. Make it easy for people to share your content. Be sure you have both a Twitter Re/Tweet button and Facebook Like/Share button at the bottom of your blog posts.
5. Build an About Page and include all relevant information. After your main post, your About page is going to be the next most likely page for a reader to click on. Be sure to include your name, a photo of yourself, a brief bio and/or explanation about what your blog is about, and your email address & Twitter handle.
6. Post at least 2 or 3 times a week to generate steady traffic. It’s extremely difficult to grow readership when you aren’t putting out a regular stream of content.
7. Branch out across the blogosphere. Seek out other blogs to read. Participate in memes or blog hops. Visit others who have linked up to the memes and blog hops you participate in. People need to know that you exist before they can stop by and read your words. Putting yourself out there is key in order to grow.
8. Expect for blogging to take time. It takes time to write, time to comment, time to network, time to tweet, time for readership and community to grow. There is nothing about blogging that happens in an instant.
9. Be consistent in your branding. Does your URL match your blog name? How about your email address and Twitter handle? Is your blog button the same as your Facebook fan page profile picture? What image do you use in your gravatar? Consistency in your brand is one of the most vital parts of developing a strong online presence.
10. Be consistent with your blogging. How do you feel when you fall in love with a new TV show and then the network starts moving its day and time? Readers typically have set times of the day they sit down to visit blogs. Posting at 4 am one day and 3 pm the next makes it harder for them to catch all of your posts. If you wanted to post something today, but didn’t finish it until noon, just wait and schedule it to post first thing tomorrow.
This list could most definitely grow well beyond 10 points, but I’ll stop here.
What tips would you add? What would be your #1 piece of advice?
Great tips, Liz! Participating in different memes has been a lot of fun and, along with twitter, it’s how I found most of my favorite bloggers! Plus, if you have a few memes in your back pocket, it can help you push through some uninspired blogging weeks. :-/
Thank you for putting this together… and I agree with all your tips!
I’m so excited about this Summer Blog Social, so thank you! With my husband deployed and having decided to use the money towards a writing conference instead of a blogging conference, I was missing out on the blogging talk, but then I discovered your Summer Blog Social from Mama Wants This! Yay!
So my advice…well, I just did a three day series on blogging for non-newbies, those who have already done a lot to perfect their blog but want to do more, and after reading the comments that came from it, I think my advice would be to say stay true to yourself and the reasons you wish to blog, don’t tweak your blogging voice just to get followers.
Make it easy for people to follow/subscribe/share etc. That is one of my biggest frustrations with blog sites.
Great tips Liz. All of them are really relevant, especially #2 (I don’t like to search for them all over the page and spend a lot of time to do that, time I could use to read or comment), #4 and #9 (Especially with the blog name and the picture/gavatar you are using on the web. It should always be the same to make it easy for others to remember. It’s your business card.)
[...] many other bloggers pointed out (see here, here and here), to have a successful blog or {insert anything} takes time and work. I work with a lot of [...]
I love the tip about making it easy to share content. I can’t tell you how many times I read a great post on someone’s blog and go to tweet it, only to discover there is no twitter button.
Great post!
I really like this entire list. And I love that you didn’t trash Blogger. So many people on WP talk smack… I kinda think it’s like the iPhone vs. Android argument. Since I’m on Blogger, I appreciate that you didn’t trash my platform.
And I agree with Dana, memes are a great way to find inspiration when we’re running low on ideas. They’re also a great way to find new buddies and make connections in a really simple way!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I love your perspective!
I THINK THIS IS AN AWESOME POST – YES, YOU SEE THAT I’M SCREAMING IT! OK, back to my regular voice….thanks.
I don’t have anything to add, I’m kind of new. But I do have a question, why should the follow options be in the top right? mine are in the top left. Should I move them?
I do think consistency is key (and as a somewhat inconsistent blogger, I have first-hand experience on both sides of the consistency coin!). I need to do better at this.
So… I’ve never installed GFC on my blog, and now think it would be mortifying to only have 2 followers or something like that! Should I still go install it?? I’m not sure what to do about that.
I don’t quite know how to ask this question to the wider group but here’s a thing: I love doing this writing and reading all these great writers but the word “blogger” really bums me out. And don’t even get me started with “mommyblogger.” Both terms seem somehow to trivialize the work we all do–the WRITING we’re all doing (not to mention the reading, the photographing, the editing and etc etc etc). I mean, I AM a mom and I write a blog, but are book writers who are moms called “mommywriters?” Anyway. Love this virtual conference and wanted to toss a question out to anyone who is reading. Thx!
I think #9 is pretty key. And #2 as well.
You’re really good at this stuff, you know, Liz?
Great tips!
Thanks so much for hosting this.
Well, I feel like I have maybe half of these down. I figure, another 3 years, and I just might have a clue. Then again, who am I kidding? Great points as usual, Liz.
—Love all of the tips….
7. Branch out across the blogosphere (my Fave) thanks.
Ugh – I use WordPress but not their self hosted option so some of those “sharing” tips are not an option for me, especially Google Friend Connect. I am definitely going to need to switch to self-hosted I think to really utilize everything that is available. But – the first thing I think I’ll do is re-vamp my About Me page. Thanks for all the great suggestions!
You are SO VERY RIGHT about all of these points and I need to make it more of a priority to follow this more closely. Most especially in terms of my blog posting schedule. I can’t ever seem to remember when I usually post, but I realize that it’s probably confusing my readers. Must. Get. Better.
Thank you for a great list!
So, here’s a question from a newbie to the blog world – what’s memes or blog hops?
Great tips. I would include commenting, and responding to comments you receive. You have to do both to build a community.
Fantabulous advice. I am so guilty of not abiding by number 10. I have gotten much better about posting more regularly, but the same time of day every day? Not so much.
So I was reading your tips and went straight to blogger and bought my own domain name. Thanks for the great tips!
Thanks for all the tips. Here I am following one of your tips already (pat on back). Could we barter for 30 hours days to get it all done??
I’ll be back for more great information.
Well of course your tips are spot on. I’d expect nothing less.
These are amazing tips. I love number 7. To branch out in the blogosphere. I have found most of my favorite bloggers through memes and bloghops.
Great tips, Liz! It’s amazing how much there is to figure out and it is nice to have it boiled down to a manageable starting point.
I have most of the tips down, but you did not mention blog design? How important is it? How do you know if you should hire someone? Thanks for the advice!
I’ll admit these kinds of posts make me really overwhelmed. Between working my day job, two little kids, writing as much as possible, learning the ins and outs of wordpress, and adding social networking on top of it, gah! sometimes makes me feel like I’m going to explode. But I’ll keep marching on, I guess. I have a little faith.