Blog Basics Archives - Page 26 of 26

Blog Review Checklist

October 25, 2005 by Liz

How to Blog Series

When was the last time you looked at your blog the way your readers do? If you write only for yourself, you look at it that way every day. . . . You are your audience. You’re done.

The rest of us are looking for an audience a little bit larger than one.

Humans have unconscious tendencies. We do lots of the things we like to do and ignore the things we don’t. This makes for a blog that looks great from our point of view, but can leave gaping holes–holes that our readers see, holes they probably won’t tell us about.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s okay to leave things out, as long as we know that we’re doing it. Not every blog has to do everything. In fact, most really shouldn’t. But walking around with a hole in your blog could be embarrassing, especially if you don’t know about it.

Here’s a checklist to make sure your blog’s (ahem) vital parts are covered.

Blog Review Checklist

Audience: What words would your readers use to describe your blog? What do they like best about your site?
Purpose: What is the purpose of your blog? Why does it exist? Is the purpose stated plainly where your readers can see it? How well does your blog meet that purpose?
Content: How well does the content support the purpose? Is the content readable, interesting, accurate, entertaining, and appropriate for your audience?
Design: How well does the look of the blog communicate the kind of blog it is? Is navigation easy and intuitive? Do items flow naturally from the first to the next? Do the color palette, image, and type choices support the content or call attention away from it?
Posts: Do you post on a consistent schedule the information readers came to find? Do your posts reflect the unique purpose and style of your blog? Do they offer variety and interest within your blog’s purpose and theme?
Comments: Do you read and respond to comments to form a sense of community? Consider which posts get most comments and which get none. How does that effect the topics that you’re posting on?
Technical Issues: Have you checked lately to see whether and how fast your blog loads in other browsers? Have you overdone the use of plug-ins and gadgets, making the experience more confusing than fun?
Writing: Is your writing clear and respectful of your readers? Have you established a writing voice that lets readers know who you really are? Is the blog essentially free of errors in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation?
Organization: Have you set up your categories to draw readers into your backlist? Do you feature “Golden Oldies” that new readers would have interest in? Do you name your Categories things that readers can understand?
Marketing and Social Networks: What are you doing to let readers know that you are here? Are you listed in the right directories? Do you read and comment on other blogs within your readership? Have you included linked to the social networks where your ideal readers spend their time?

Sure it takes time to review your blog. It takes even more to make tweaks and changes. But you invest so much time blogging. Doesn’t it seem worth it?

A rule of good publishing says, Spare the reader not yourself. In the end, you won’t be sorry.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Want to be a better blogger? Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

Blogging and Perseverance

July 21, 2005 by Liz

From: D. Keith Robinson

Duncan Riley has some good advice for those of us who might get a bit discouraged trying to build a successful blog. His main point is to stick with it, keep posting quality posts on a regular basis and try not to let “the blogging blues” let you down.

He says:

“Very few people find fame and fortune through launching a blog overnight, but over time most people can build a reasonable audience, or even more, based on perseverance at blogging, literally going the distance.”

This is so true and can be hard to remember. It took literally almost a year before my first blog, Asterisk, saw much readership. I had to keep posting and wait. Eventually it “tipped” and I began to see comments and links coming in. But even before that I was having fun and I think that is key. If you’re not having fun, you might have a hard time sticking to it.

I’ve got a newish site I’m working on (Sweetdex) and I hit a bit of roadblock because it was kind of a chore to post in. I decided to mix it up a bit, not worry about sticking to the format and have a bit of fun. Now it’s much easier to post because I enjoy it more. Think about something like that if you are thinking about throwing in the towel.

So, keep at it, make it fun and hopefully you’ll get something worthwhile out of it.

How To Deal With Negative Comments

July 13, 2005 by Liz

From: D. Keith Robinson

Commenting and discussion, to me anyway, are the “killer feature” of most blogs. They”re what make the medium special and different. Blogging is best when it’s a two way discussion.

Most bloggers who allow commenting, at one time or another, will have to deal with negative feedback. Sometimes this comes in the form of comments. It’s inevitable and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

I’ve gotten my share of disparaging comments and I know how bad it can make you feel. I remember a time I worked my ass off for what I thought was a great, very well thought-out post with a positive message. I thought for sure I’d have a great discussion and that my readers would really jive with my message. I was wrong and I was inundated with negative comments. It really upset me, but in the end it turned out to be a positive, educational experience.

Over the years I’ve thought quite a bit about how to handle negative comments and I think I’ve got some great tips that might be of help to y’all.

Read and understand. Make sure you really understand what is being said. It’s easy to read something negative and jump in with a response that might not be as informed as it should be. That just causes more trouble.
Learn from it. Sometimes you’ll get a negative post because you were wrong. Take it as an educational experience.
Don’t get defensive. This just makes matters worse. Take a step back and try to be objective. Thing long and hard before you respond to negative feedback.
Ignore trolls. Do not engage in a discussion with someone who is just looking for a fight. Ignore the comment, or delete it if you feel comfortable with doing that.
Post your comment policy. Let people know if there is are types of comments you don’t want to see. For example, if you don’t want off-topic comments, let your readers know.
Respond with kindness and a willingness to understand. I don’t know how many times I’;ve turned a bad comment into a good one by simply trying to understand the point of view being offered and taking a positive attitude.
Admit when you are wrong. Your readers will actually respect you more if you acknowledge your mistakes. We all make them, don’t beat yourself up over it.
Don’t take it personally. Sometimes it may seem like a negative comment is a personal attack, but this is often not the case.
Take it offline. I’ve found that engaging in an e-mail conversation with someone who I’m butting heads with is very helpful in resolving the situation.
Use self-deprecating humor. Let’s face it. If you have a blog that you post to with any frequency there are going to be times when you screw up. Sometimes this can actually be pretty darn funny if you can take a step back and look at it through another’s eyes. Take teasing from your readers with a grain of salt and if you can’t beat ’em–join ’em.
Realize before you hit “post” that it’s a big world out there and you’re not going to please everyone every-time.