So there you go. Ssshhhh! Don’t tell anyone!
At the camp, we were discussing ways to improve ranking and traffic to sites, and setting up a blog was a biggie. And it’s fun, and basically non-commercial. That’s the way I want to present myself- you get to know me; if you like me in writing, chances are we will get along in real life. If we get along in real life, maybe someday we will be involved in business together. If not, that’s cool. Business is secondary to life and relationships.
So that’s my philosophy, and it bears out anecdotally. It also makes sense logically. Post a link on your blog where the business end of it can be found, and let things develop from there. Don’t make your blogging all about stats and things that can be found readily on an Internet search. Think about what interests YOU and go from there- write about fun, engaging things.
The platform (WordPress, Blogger, etc.) matters- I am using an out of the box WordPress.com blog, and can see its limitations- but maybe if you are going to get bogged down in the little things, it’s best for you to just pick something out of a hat and DO IT. The devil is in the details, and an awful lot of time gets taken up wrestling with demons.
Sometimes even the angels can muddy the waters.
More points to consider:
- DO NOT use sign up forms for access to content
- Content is king- effectiveness: written word <voice <video
- Break your writing up into paragraphs- don’t use a black background and white type
- Use pics! Be visually pleasing, and label your pics to enhance your writing. Many people read blogs from work, and labels help. Also, web crawlers cannot “see” pics- describe! -
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NbuDpB_BTc]
One last point with video. An article by eMarketer.com claims that people spent 40% more time viewing videos that were subtitled, making subtitled videos more “sticky”- and valuable to you, the creator.
So get out there and get started! WordPress.com is an easy sign-up and start. When you finish, come back here and post your first blog. Let’s see what you have done!
March 30th, 2009 on 11:47 pm
Great coverage of blogging for the newbie blogger. Lots of good solid tips. And agree on, “don’t use a black background and white type”, that’s so 1990′s. :)
March 30th, 2009 on 11:51 pm
What’s cool is changing so quickly that it’s hard to keep a fresh look, but you want to make your site easy to read and accessible to the largest number of people. Thanks- any tips to add?