Yesterday I wrote a post asking for help regarding blogging... and this reply to that post is a long (with no pics), but it is intended to share knowledge... I have a few other blogging tips on the sidebar because I have had people emailing me for advice, check them out.
This was a two-fold question and I could have been more clear, but firstly it was a matter of personal interest on my part because we all want to improve on what we do, I know I certainly do, and the second reason was because over the last while I have had some discussions with two other blogging friends regarding this issue, and another had questioned the number of followers she had... and when I searched the internet I found a lot of other people have asked the same question... and so I thought with so many people asking the questions, perhaps I could find something new out and to add it to my "blogging tips" category.
I want to thank KS and G for their input (and of course, my sis)... everyone has their own reasons for blogging and their own ideas of how to "encourage" traffic, and they both had some good points.
I'd like to pass on a few of those comments as perspective tips (I hope you don't mind girls, I'm not singling you out), and I'd like to share my own ideas in hopes it well help other bloggers (new or old) out or at least, give you food for thought.
As a web designer, from my perspective, I say a blog is no different than a web site... a web site doesn't mean as soon as you put one on the internet, you'll get traffic... no sirree... the key is marketing...
KS indicated she found forums to be a good source for generating traffic, so use them to your benefit if you are a member of one. I have only ever joined two forums, one of which I am still a member, but time wise, I just can't find the time to be on the internet for too long, but if you are seriously looking at increasing your traffic, then this is a very good source... thanks K.
Both girls eluded to topic, or defining the purpose of your blog. A lot of blogs focus on one thing, many focus on several things, but in general those topics should all be related. That is, if you are a quilter only interested in quilting things, that is what you will seek out in blogs and may be the only thing you blog about, but if you have many interests and are interested in doing many things, then that is what you will seek out, whether you look for individual blogs relating to that one thing, or a blog that covers many of those different things (like mine in the form of a variety of art topics, ie. needle arts or graphic arts)... you are not alone, chances are many other bloggers do/think the same thing. The world is a big place and we are all different, so the blog is basically an extension of you, and your virtual conversation with the peoples of the world. Put on there what you feel good about.
One of the biggest things I have found whether it is a web site or on a blog, is stats. Most people want to see stats, they want to see numbers grow, they want to see how many people "clicked", which pages were visited, and how they found the site/blog. In general, I always say stats are subjective... if you want to know the exact stats for every page, then basically every page has to be tracked, so a general counter won't always give you the true results... there are a lot of stat counters out there that provide a variety of information, so find the one that you feel is right for the information you are looking for... the only thing I check once in a while is to see if I have had traffic, that tells me people are looking. Like everyone else, I think comments are wonderful to receive because they help motivate and encourage, but they are not all that matters... I love the personal emails I get because the conversation is usually a lot more indepth... but if you are lucky enough to get any comments (emails or posts), then you know your blog has reached someone and there are probably more that you don't know about.
I also had two other points, one was "what's the point of what I am doing", and when someone drops your blog... I have answered blog posts of other bloggers who have asked "what's the point" and tried to offer them encouragement, so this definitely needed to be addressed. Both girls remarked in basically the same way... . for the first part - defining what purpose your blog serves... who are you doing it for... if it becomes a chore then it's not worth doing, to me, that's the main thing, so blog when you can, your true friends will still be there when you get back... I love the siggies that say "blogging without obligation"... and regarding the second point, like K says, don't take it personal... for me, I have removed blogs from my site because either they've changed the direction of their blog, or I have become bored with seeing the same thing all the time, I like variety... so we must keep that in mind when creating our blog. And I also love what G said, "I would think it difficult to please everyone" and that is the whole key, in everything we do in life, we never will please everyone, so please yourself first.
Finally, lots of pics, regular posts and positive posts... all good points, but keep in mind who the blog is for or what reader you are trying to attract, and the purpose of your blog... lots of pics are great, but they take a long time to upload or download if you don't have high speed internet. Regular posts, very subjective, is that daily, weekly, monthly (I'm trying to get better on this)... do what you can is my motto, when I take the time to read a blog, I will go through all back posts because if they post daily, I probably don't read it until monthly. And regarding positive posts, it is something I have said since I got into computers way back in the 1980's when they were just coming out and not everyone owned one... emails and posts are very subjective and is not the same as personal conversation face to face or by telephone... you cannot convey your emotions in an email or post and sometimes what we write does not read the same way it was intended to be said... so for everyone out there, whether you are a reader, poster, blogger take some of what you read with a grain of salt and don't make assumptions of what someone meant or was thinking, it may all be innocently intended (unless it right out says "I'm mad", etc.)...
Once again, thank you to my commenters, I would welcome more comments on this subjective, so don't hesitate to leave some on this or the last post.
And if you are looking for successful blogs... try looking at the magazine Artful Blogging, they've been out for a few years, I collected a few from the start, they are indeed lovely to look at and have some very good tips!
Live, Love & Laugh!
Hugs....Heather
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