Socialize it
Socializing a blog involves some of the most time-consuming efforts in blog management. You have to first visit the social sites of which there are many. There you have to join groups and form alliances. then you have to visit the blogs of these new-found allies and 'endorse' some of their works. Some, usually less than 30% will reciprocate, as their eyes will be trailing the big fish bloggers, not you rookie.
Is it right to do this? Well, it is all relative, but a little bit of this would not hurt. However, one must not forget the primary business of the day:blogging. Do not lose sight, just continue to blog. New quality content. The internet will find you. You do not need to spend all your time seeking social sites and not have good quality content at home. If you do that, you may get visitors to your blog, but they will leave disappointed and will never come back. Put sticky content that people can not do without on your blog. Even if it has been said before, say it in a different way.
RSS Virus
This virus is more potent than anything I have heard of. You must have an RSS feed....whether you like it or not if you want your blog to survive. In addition to having one, encourage visitors to subscribe to it. Mine is powered by feedburner and I want you to subscribe. It is at the upper left hand corner of my page. If you do, you will always get the latest entries on this blog.
Include an advanced RSS burner or reader that will allow you to sign visitors up by email too. The RSS virus is so viral and we usually can not tell where it will get to in the blogosphere. When a virus carries your information, rest assured it will get to many continents. Blogs fail if they fail to concentrate on stuff like this.
Watch your Stats
If you blog, you want traffic. I am often amused when 'experts say, do not get obsessed by traffic. Apart from content, trafic is the most important aspect of blog development. Traffic validates content. If you remember in the first part of this post, I said that your blog is just numbers, 'one's and 'zero's sitting somewhere. If nobody reads it, it is useless. when you watch your stats, you see how things that you do daily, affect your traffic.
Wordpress has excellent dashboard stats. You can also use google analytics which is free. I have a link to site meter also as backup. Look at it closely, visit those that have sent you traffic, learn from them too. Mahalo actually gives excellent tutorials on the tool. Do those things that drive you traffic more.
Read your blog, read other blogs, get 'hot'content
This must sound crazy, but I am saying it. Read your blog. A must read for others is also a must-read for you. there will be hidden typos, 'nuke' them. read other blogs to get great ideas and blog about them. third is to hunt for hot news. Your blog is not necessarily about news, but being the first, or among the first small sites to blog about some new remotely or closely related news activity or development has a way of getting you ranked really high on searches.
Do not hesitate to blog at 1 am. You may find something from an Australian blog and there you are. Also, a blog like Techcrunch has mid-night bloggers, so be the first to comment/link to one of their articles. They do publish your trackback and that could inch you up the ladder too.
And the beat goes on.....
. There are many other tips and secrets, but I have shared the experiences I have had with blogging in my first 30 days. This post is definitely non-exhaustive, so expect more guidance as we move along. the best is yet to come.I can continue, but I will stop here so that we will have space in the concluding part of the series to discuss where blogging is going. thanks you for stopping by and please link to me. You can visit my first blog here.
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