Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

Great Find: GraphicPUSH

Filed Under Blog Review, Content, Design, Great Finds, Successful Blog | 3 Comments

Since this week has been about Design, I thought you might enjoy exploring this Great Find over the weekend.

Great Find: GraphicPUSH by Kevin Potts
Target Audience: Everyone who’s looking for or learning about design
Site Type: Design Site
Content: The quality of Kevin’s work shows in his own site’s design, in the relevancy of the topics and transparent, well-thought, well-written content of his posts. He markets his work with generosity by providing a quality free offer–three sets of beautifully-rendered free icons to spice up your own blog’s design or your desktop.

Notes: Don’t cheat yourself by jumping straight down to click through to the free icon sets. There’s plenty to see, and to learn about, if you go exploring on this site. Be sure to read the 9 rules that he wrote. No I didn’t realize this was a 9rules network member when I found it. I went there for the free icons I could get for you–and was delighted to find so much more.

More Great Blog Designs to Discuss

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Design Checklist

Filed Under Audience, Blog Review, Checklists, Design, Successful Blog | 11 Comments

A successful blogger is always asking the question, How does this serve my readers?

To many of us design is the fun and “creative” part of building our blog, talking and tweaking design can take up more time than writing content–if we let it. A checklist can help keep my creativity at uptimum levels and keep my focus on how my choices will ensure my readers enjoy their stay well enough to return again and again.

Blog Design Checklist.

Use this checklist to remind yourself not to let too much design creativity take the “fun” out of reading your blog. Then get started. Have fun tweaking.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

And don’t forget the other checklists in the set:
Blog Review Checklist
Editing for Quality and a Content Editor’s Checklist
Checklist for Linking to Quality Blogs
A Blogger’s Personal Narrative Checklist
Checklist for Starting a Directory Listing

More Blog Designs to Discuss

Filed Under Blog Review, Community, Design, Successful Blog | 110 Comments

muddy teal strip A

Successful bloggers are constantly trading ideas and talking about things.

Remember tonight is Tuesday Night Successful Blog Design Discussion Night.

Here are some more blog designs you might check out.

Koray Online about Web 2.0, technology, business, and college life.

koray online ws

Living with Music about collecting music and all that goes with it.

Living with music design

I Remember about brief experiences and feelings.

I Remember design

A Venture Forth about venture capitalism.

A Venture Forth design

Travel Dive about scuba diving.

Travel Dive design

Phil Renaud blog page “35 sexiest websites.”

phil renaud design

muddy teal strip A

Come if you can. If not it will be just Javier and me, figuring out how to comment on everyone’s blog.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles:
NEW————->> Cool Designs April 2006
Call for Designers
Blog Promotion: Checking Out Curb Appeal
GAWKER Design: Curb Appeal as Customer-Centered Promotion
Turning Reluctant Readers into Loyal Fans
Blog Design Checklist

SEO–Five Traits of Relevant Content

Filed Under Blog Review, Content, SEO, Successful Blog, Writing | 27 Comments

Practical SEO for Every Blogger

Five Traits of Relevant Content

Relevant is the keyword. Content without “relevant” is less than content. Who would want to post something irrelevant? Here are five traits of relevant content.

Relevant content is text.
Search Engines love quality relevant content. They love quality content because readers do. Content here means text, not graphics or photos. That’s where search engines and readers see pages differently. Readers “read” photos and graphics; search engine spiders crawl right past them. So under that photo or graphic include a caption explaining what’s in it.

Relevant content is fresh and free-flowing.
Search engine spiders are demanding creatures. They want original, relevant content to list for their readers–and lots of it. Provide original content with accuracy and frequency about topics readers search for, and your posts will be born relevant.

Relevant content is formatted.
When your document follows a structured format, a search engine can follow how topics relate. Relationships between topics establish that keywords aren’t just mentioned–they are connected and relevant.

Relevant content is linked–Links in, links out, and links to yourself are relevant.
Spiders crawl the web by following links. Links draw spiders to related pages from blog to blog and within your blog. Connections in content are inherently relevant.

Relevant content is error free and accessible.
Open HTML tags, gross errors in spelling, and unnecessary plugins trip spiders. Enough said.

Relevant content is what readers are searching for, what spiders are crawling for, what bloggers are blogging for–right?

I’d rather not blog than be irrelevant.

I think there’s a t-shirt in that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Next Week–Interview 2: The Reign of Ellen

Filed Under Blog Review, Community, Interviews, Successful Blog | Leave a Comment

An Interview with ELLEN who’s been blogging since 2003, and
The Reign of Ellen where you’ll enter the Blogdom of Royalty.

Ellen Alone

Click her picture. See the blog that crowns readers Kings and Queens.

See you then!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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