So what should you include in your profile?
You may notice my from my "About Me" section on the right side of this blog that my profile isn't really about me as a person. That's what most people usually use it for.
But as you can see, you can write it up to address the needs of your readers instead of just blabbing on about how you like monkeys.
I think that's probably the biggest thing you can do for your profile - make it about your readers instead of making it about you!
As you saw in my profile instead of writing about me I hyperlinked to a blog posting about me - and actually if you followed the blog posting to the page about me called The Creator then you saw how even there although I spoke about my personal experience I made the entire story's goal to be about why I am like my readers and how every thing I do is about making the best possible site for them. One word of caution here - be sincere - people can spot insincerity instantly even on the internet!
As you may have noticed in my profile I took my readers on a little walk - I let them click on different blog posts and even go directly to my webpage to find out more instead of just letting them sit on my profile. Here's why I did that.
Of course this is just a suggestion, if you want to list all your interests then go right ahead and do that! Just think in terms of universal appeal to your readers and you'll be fine.
Sincerely,
CB Webmaster
P.S. I excerpted this post from another of my posts called: Create a Great Blogger.com Profile because I kept finding myself wanting to refer to this part of the post, and since it's a long post it was hard for my readers to find this part. So I apologize if you've already read that post.
Showing posts with label Advertise Your Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advertise Your Blog. Show all posts
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Keep a To Do List
Anyone who's ever blogged knows it isn't as simple as just typing some thoughts into a post and voila that's it!
There's a lot that goes into it and your blogging life will be much happier if you stay organized!
To keep your sanity I suggest you create a "To Do List" text file on your computer.
If you have a Windows Computer just click on: Start, programs, accessories, and open: Notepad.
Then enter things you plan to do on your blog in the new text file.
And of course since this list will grow and grow - you may want to prioritize the tasks you want to do first at the top of the list.
The great thing is you can copy and paste and delete text to move it around to easiily arrange what you want to be priority tasks at the top of your text file.
Note: If you need to learn how to copy and paste scroll to the bottom of Quote Posting Guidelines for instructions (it's right under the text: How to Hyperlink).
Things you may want to consider priority tasks:
1. Errors you come across on your site.
Especially broken links, improperly loading "widgets", etc.
People get flustered easily - and if your site doesn't "appear" in order they may not return.
Just remember every day your blog and blog postings have an oppotunity to appeal to new readers!
So basic upkeep like this will safeguard you against people's impulses to find another site that isn't "broken"
2. Optimizing your blog settings.
Don't delay doing this! You'll save a lot more time in the long run if you label your posts up front instead of doing it down the road.
Your blog probably has tons of features you're not even aware of!
At blogger.com you can subscribe to their Rss Feed of their New Features called: Blogger Buzz
And remember you can always check your blog's help files
Some blog sites even have forums where users exchange tips for improving the functionality of their blogs.
One of the most important features you want to display on your blog posts is an RSS feed.
3. Self-Promote
Once you have at least 5 or more quality blog posts you're going to want to get the word out to people about your blog!
Check this out:
The Importance of Linking Your Blog Posts!
4. Things you want to research
5. Things you need to finish
And the best way to avoid more tasks accumulating on your ever-to-do list is to prevent them from accumulating in the first place!
Also I keep a text file called Blogs to Post - where I write down any ideas I have for blog posts - even if it's just one line describing what I want to write about - that way I don't forget it. And if I don't have time to write the post right now I'll have something to trigger me to remember what I wanted to write about. I also like to make notes to myself about what labels I should add to the post - to make it easier for myself later when I'm posting it and selecting labels for it!
And to keep things really organized I even have a text file called Blog Posts to Edit. This is a list of posts I've already posted that I have something new to add to (either a new thought or a link). Because I usually don't remember the title of the post off the top of my head I just write down the thought/link for each post I want to update. Then I use a dotted line to distinguish that the information below each line is for a different post that needs to be edited. Can't decide if your new thought should go in a New Post or Add to Previous Post?
You can even create a seperate list just for URLS that you want to reference in your posts - remember you can go back anytime and edit your posts and add hyperlinks to relevant blog postings or articles you come across.
Phew,
CB Webmaster
There's a lot that goes into it and your blogging life will be much happier if you stay organized!
To keep your sanity I suggest you create a "To Do List" text file on your computer.
If you have a Windows Computer just click on: Start, programs, accessories, and open: Notepad.
Then enter things you plan to do on your blog in the new text file.
And of course since this list will grow and grow - you may want to prioritize the tasks you want to do first at the top of the list.
The great thing is you can copy and paste and delete text to move it around to easiily arrange what you want to be priority tasks at the top of your text file.
Note: If you need to learn how to copy and paste scroll to the bottom of Quote Posting Guidelines for instructions (it's right under the text: How to Hyperlink).
Things you may want to consider priority tasks:
1. Errors you come across on your site.
Especially broken links, improperly loading "widgets", etc.
People get flustered easily - and if your site doesn't "appear" in order they may not return.
Just remember every day your blog and blog postings have an oppotunity to appeal to new readers!
So basic upkeep like this will safeguard you against people's impulses to find another site that isn't "broken"
2. Optimizing your blog settings.
Don't delay doing this! You'll save a lot more time in the long run if you label your posts up front instead of doing it down the road.
Your blog probably has tons of features you're not even aware of!
At blogger.com you can subscribe to their Rss Feed of their New Features called: Blogger Buzz
And remember you can always check your blog's help files
Some blog sites even have forums where users exchange tips for improving the functionality of their blogs.
One of the most important features you want to display on your blog posts is an RSS feed.
3. Self-Promote
Once you have at least 5 or more quality blog posts you're going to want to get the word out to people about your blog!
Check this out:
The Importance of Linking Your Blog Posts!
4. Things you want to research
5. Things you need to finish
And the best way to avoid more tasks accumulating on your ever-to-do list is to prevent them from accumulating in the first place!
Also I keep a text file called Blogs to Post - where I write down any ideas I have for blog posts - even if it's just one line describing what I want to write about - that way I don't forget it. And if I don't have time to write the post right now I'll have something to trigger me to remember what I wanted to write about. I also like to make notes to myself about what labels I should add to the post - to make it easier for myself later when I'm posting it and selecting labels for it!
And to keep things really organized I even have a text file called Blog Posts to Edit. This is a list of posts I've already posted that I have something new to add to (either a new thought or a link). Because I usually don't remember the title of the post off the top of my head I just write down the thought/link for each post I want to update. Then I use a dotted line to distinguish that the information below each line is for a different post that needs to be edited. Can't decide if your new thought should go in a New Post or Add to Previous Post?
You can even create a seperate list just for URLS that you want to reference in your posts - remember you can go back anytime and edit your posts and add hyperlinks to relevant blog postings or articles you come across.
Phew,
CB Webmaster
Permalink How To in Blogger.com
At this time Blogger.com does not clearly display the permalink on each blog posting for your readers to easily view.
You can fix this!
This is the method I came up with to show people how to find the permalink on my blogger.com blog postings.
First off, in case you didn't know the permalink for your blog postings IS actually at the bottom of the post - the problem is blogger.com has it labeled as the timestamp!
And trust me most people won't realize that if they click on the timestamp they'll be brought to the permalink for that post.
So here's how you can edit the text of your to timestamp to state it's a permalink.
In case you're thinking of using another word/phrase such as "Link to my blog post" -you should be aware that the reason I suggest the word "Permalink" is because it is the word most people will be looking for on your page when they want to link to your posts.
Steps:
Go to your layout page
In the center of that page it will have a large box labeled
"Blog Posts" and in the bottom right corner of this box it will
say: Edit
Click on that.
A window will pop up with a list of settings you can change (by
the way you can change any of these! Cool, huh)
Under: Select Items
Go to the third item on the list
By default it will say: at
and then there'll be a box next to it with the date/time options
Click into the box with the word: at
Now erase the word "at"
Then copy or type in this: <br><b>Permalink =></b>
Note: By default on my blog the comments were displayed right next the timestamp making it even harder for readers to distinguish the permalink.
At the bottom of this pop-up window you're in look for this phrase:
Arrange items
Then simply drag the comments box down to make it appear below the permalink instead of next to it.
I also dragged my labels down so they appear on their own line.
Then scroll to the bottom and click on: SAVE.
Then make sure you also click on the SAVE button on the Layout page.
Then your changes will be saved successfully.
Although it doesn't actually create a hyperlink for the word "Permalink" like most sites do - the little arrow we've created using the equal sign => should make it clear enough to people that the permalink is to the right.
When people place their mouse cursor over the timestamp a little label will pop up saying: permanent link
That will confirm to your readers that you're not making it up - that yes the time stamp is the permalink they need to use.
So who knew life could be this complicated? Maybe someday blogger.com will give us the option to clearly display permalinks at the bottom of our blog posts and then I'll celebrate being able to delete this post as it's purpose will become obsolete!
"Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature's mandates." Marquis De Sade
Being bold as ever,
CB Webmaster
You can fix this!
This is the method I came up with to show people how to find the permalink on my blogger.com blog postings.
First off, in case you didn't know the permalink for your blog postings IS actually at the bottom of the post - the problem is blogger.com has it labeled as the timestamp!
And trust me most people won't realize that if they click on the timestamp they'll be brought to the permalink for that post.
So here's how you can edit the text of your to timestamp to state it's a permalink.
In case you're thinking of using another word/phrase such as "Link to my blog post" -you should be aware that the reason I suggest the word "Permalink" is because it is the word most people will be looking for on your page when they want to link to your posts.
Steps:
Go to your layout page
In the center of that page it will have a large box labeled
"Blog Posts" and in the bottom right corner of this box it will
say: Edit
Click on that.
A window will pop up with a list of settings you can change (by
the way you can change any of these! Cool, huh)
Under: Select Items
Go to the third item on the list
By default it will say: at
and then there'll be a box next to it with the date/time options
Click into the box with the word: at
Now erase the word "at"
Then copy or type in this: <br><b>Permalink =></b>
Note: By default on my blog the comments were displayed right next the timestamp making it even harder for readers to distinguish the permalink.
At the bottom of this pop-up window you're in look for this phrase:
Arrange items
Then simply drag the comments box down to make it appear below the permalink instead of next to it.
I also dragged my labels down so they appear on their own line.
Then scroll to the bottom and click on: SAVE.
Then make sure you also click on the SAVE button on the Layout page.
Then your changes will be saved successfully.
Although it doesn't actually create a hyperlink for the word "Permalink" like most sites do - the little arrow we've created using the equal sign => should make it clear enough to people that the permalink is to the right.
When people place their mouse cursor over the timestamp a little label will pop up saying: permanent link
That will confirm to your readers that you're not making it up - that yes the time stamp is the permalink they need to use.
So who knew life could be this complicated? Maybe someday blogger.com will give us the option to clearly display permalinks at the bottom of our blog posts and then I'll celebrate being able to delete this post as it's purpose will become obsolete!
"Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature's mandates." Marquis De Sade
Being bold as ever,
CB Webmaster
Place Your RSS Feed at the Top of Your Blog!
This is very important people!
Now if you know anything about me, you know I value labels very highly and definitely believe they should be at the top of your blog.
RSS feed is the one exception to this rule!
Trust me once you get going on the labels you're going to get quite a long list of them and your RSS feed will get buried somewhere midway down the page - making it hard for people to just sign up for you RSS feed instantly.
So if you're on blogger.com - on your layout page you can drag your gadgets around with your mouse! That's how I do it - it's really easy to do!
Remember your RSS feed is how people stay up to date on your new blog posts - yep that's why its sooooo important that it deserves its "Reserved Space" at the top of your blog!
Always at the top,
CB Webmaster
Title Your Blog Posts! Don't Skip This!
I can't believe I missed this one - title every single one of your posts! I guess I just assumed everyone would do this automatically - but if you haven't made this your habit make it now!
People use the title as their "IN" into your blog post.
Without a title why should they dig into a posting which they know nothing about?
And this is not to mention of the most important things about why you should create a title for each and every blog posting - titles are how people find your blog in the search engines!
So please please don't get lazy and think - oh I can title it later - or even worse miss it altogether because you're so busy creating the content of the blog post.
Always providing titles,
CB Webmaster
P.S. Here's a link to blogger.com's help article on how to change the settings to your blog to use the title as your permalink URL: How do I add title tags to my template?
But you should know that unless you altered the code of your template, this setting should by default automatically be set to display the title of your blog post as your permalink URL.
People use the title as their "IN" into your blog post.
Without a title why should they dig into a posting which they know nothing about?
And this is not to mention of the most important things about why you should create a title for each and every blog posting - titles are how people find your blog in the search engines!
So please please don't get lazy and think - oh I can title it later - or even worse miss it altogether because you're so busy creating the content of the blog post.
Always providing titles,
CB Webmaster
P.S. Here's a link to blogger.com's help article on how to change the settings to your blog to use the title as your permalink URL: How do I add title tags to my template?
But you should know that unless you altered the code of your template, this setting should by default automatically be set to display the title of your blog post as your permalink URL.
Save Yourself Time!
Menial tasks got that name for a reason - that's why it helps if you get them out of the way every time you post a blog posting.
Trust me if you don't they'll accumulate over time and you'll feel so overwhelmed it's unlikely you'll go back and do your essential housecleaning!
So here's some things you should do after you publish a post:
1. Label it - for the love of God do this please!
2. Title it - I cringe at the very thought that you aren't doing this!
3. Add hyperlinks - click here for my post on what to hyperlink.
4. Check your Hyperlinks - make sure they actually work!
5. Proofread - your and you're are not the same! Accuracy is a nice quality you can give to your readers for free!
6. Hyperlink your signature - I just have this code in a text file so I can copy it whenever I'm posting!
7. Backup your post. That means copying and pasting it in its entirety (hyperlinks HTML code and all!) to a text file on your computer! That way you won't end up flipping out in the event that your blog posting one day just ups and disappears! Just think if you do this now then you won't end up crying into your cheerios about how you've lost your baby! By the way blogger.com actually offers its bloggers a way to Backup their entire Blog! I haven't tried this yet but when I do I'll let you know if it works.
8. Ping Your Posts - well even I'm guilty of forgetting to do this one! But it's essential because it's basically how the search engines and RSS Feeds know that you've created new posts on your blog.
Think about how many thousands of blogs are out there that are outdated - well if you are keeping yours up to date you might as well get credit (and readers) to your blog! Here's a link to a site that submits the ping for your blogs
Personally I could really stand to find an excellent free automatic ping service because at Chatblog I have to ping over 50 blogs and that's just tooooooo much upkeep for me! But I guess if you have only one blog it's not that big of deal to enter your URL in a ping site every time you update your blog.
Though I have to think even you could stand from an automatic submission on your behalf - sign up once and bam it does the work for you! lol! Well I can dream, right? Heck, if you know of any free automatic ping services tell me about it so I can share it with all our bloggers! Thanks!
Well that's all I can think of right now, if I come up with any more I'll make a Part 2 for this post. Oh and if you can think of any I missed let me know!
Take care,
CB Webmaster
P.S. In case you're wondering - keeping it clean isn't only for your readers - it is for your ability to retain readers, gain new readers, keep your blog improving its rating, and increase your blog's success. Maintaining high quality is one of the best self-promoting things you can do for your blog!
Trust me if you don't they'll accumulate over time and you'll feel so overwhelmed it's unlikely you'll go back and do your essential housecleaning!
So here's some things you should do after you publish a post:
1. Label it - for the love of God do this please!
2. Title it - I cringe at the very thought that you aren't doing this!
3. Add hyperlinks - click here for my post on what to hyperlink.
4. Check your Hyperlinks - make sure they actually work!
5. Proofread - your and you're are not the same! Accuracy is a nice quality you can give to your readers for free!
6. Hyperlink your signature - I just have this code in a text file so I can copy it whenever I'm posting!
7. Backup your post. That means copying and pasting it in its entirety (hyperlinks HTML code and all!) to a text file on your computer! That way you won't end up flipping out in the event that your blog posting one day just ups and disappears! Just think if you do this now then you won't end up crying into your cheerios about how you've lost your baby! By the way blogger.com actually offers its bloggers a way to Backup their entire Blog! I haven't tried this yet but when I do I'll let you know if it works.
8. Ping Your Posts - well even I'm guilty of forgetting to do this one! But it's essential because it's basically how the search engines and RSS Feeds know that you've created new posts on your blog.
Think about how many thousands of blogs are out there that are outdated - well if you are keeping yours up to date you might as well get credit (and readers) to your blog! Here's a link to a site that submits the ping for your blogs
Personally I could really stand to find an excellent free automatic ping service because at Chatblog I have to ping over 50 blogs and that's just tooooooo much upkeep for me! But I guess if you have only one blog it's not that big of deal to enter your URL in a ping site every time you update your blog.
Though I have to think even you could stand from an automatic submission on your behalf - sign up once and bam it does the work for you! lol! Well I can dream, right? Heck, if you know of any free automatic ping services tell me about it so I can share it with all our bloggers! Thanks!
Well that's all I can think of right now, if I come up with any more I'll make a Part 2 for this post. Oh and if you can think of any I missed let me know!
Take care,
CB Webmaster
P.S. In case you're wondering - keeping it clean isn't only for your readers - it is for your ability to retain readers, gain new readers, keep your blog improving its rating, and increase your blog's success. Maintaining high quality is one of the best self-promoting things you can do for your blog!
Advertise Yourself!
Shameless self-promoting?
Nah, that's not what I'm talking about!
I'm talking about making a habit of linking to your other relevant posts.
If you do that you'll gain more blog readers and people will stick around because you're giving them more than what they asked for!
Don't you just love getting 2 for 1?
And even if you have another blog or a website you can link to those too whenever it's appropriate - the key word here is appropriate - people don't wanna hear you going on and on about how great your other blog is - unless it's relevant to the topic they're reading about in this blog posting.
I often mention my website Chatblog whenever it comes up "naturally" in context. See an example of how I do that here.
So there you have it! Be your own spokesperson!
Free advertisement never hurt anyone!
Plugging along,
CB Webmaster
Nah, that's not what I'm talking about!
I'm talking about making a habit of linking to your other relevant posts.
If you do that you'll gain more blog readers and people will stick around because you're giving them more than what they asked for!
Don't you just love getting 2 for 1?
And even if you have another blog or a website you can link to those too whenever it's appropriate - the key word here is appropriate - people don't wanna hear you going on and on about how great your other blog is - unless it's relevant to the topic they're reading about in this blog posting.
I often mention my website Chatblog whenever it comes up "naturally" in context. See an example of how I do that here.
So there you have it! Be your own spokesperson!
Free advertisement never hurt anyone!
Plugging along,
CB Webmaster
Share What You Learned How To Do!
If you notice you're using a blog posting technique a lot in your posts why not tell your readers how you're doing it?
They'll be interested, especially if they're bloggers and will want to learn how to do that in their own blogs!
Plus it automatically means another link you can include in your post to another one of your posts!
Hey no one ever said you couldn't advertise yourself! ha!
See I found myself hyperlinking frequently and I thought I bet there's a lot of people out there who would like to do that but don't know how so I wrote a post on it!
In life we're all students and teachers...
Your Master (lol j/k),
CB Webmaster lol
They'll be interested, especially if they're bloggers and will want to learn how to do that in their own blogs!
Plus it automatically means another link you can include in your post to another one of your posts!
Hey no one ever said you couldn't advertise yourself! ha!
See I found myself hyperlinking frequently and I thought I bet there's a lot of people out there who would like to do that but don't know how so I wrote a post on it!
In life we're all students and teachers...
Your Master (lol j/k),
CB Webmaster lol
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Psssst....One more thing!
Always give your readers: one more tip!
Yes I've said before that you should keep your blog postings focused on one idea - and while that's true (in most cases) that doesn't mean you have to give just the "bare minimum!"
If you can give your readers just one more tip, they'll appreciate it!
And if you're really focused on your idea a new tip will come more readily to you.
But how will my readers know it is a "bonus" tip?
Well since it happens to be my last thought - or sometimes even an afterthought I use our basic letter format of P.S.
It's a friendly approach that makes that last tip stand out.
Your friendly Webmaster,
CB
P.S. Btw your new tip may give you an idea for a whole other blog posting! Great, huh? (see how I used the P.S. here - it makes you feel like I'm talking to just you! As in "Psssttt...I have one more thing to tell you!
P.P.S. Not to mention that one more thing you can say is "Here's a post I wrote that's related" OH YES! I know you like that one ;)
Friday, December 5, 2008
The Importance of Linking Your Blog Posts!
Why should I link to my other blog postings within another blog post?
If you look at your blog you'll see all your current blog postings are neatly displayed sequentially in the order you wrote them and people can easily make the connections between each post.
But when the posts get individually archived they are no longer within the context of the preceding and following posts.
That means the posts that have relevant information in them will not be viewed alongside your post in the long run.
There are 4 quick ways to rectify this problem:
1. Hyperlink your relevant posts within the blog post.
2. Create a label for the post.
3. Create a blog just for your best posts!
4. And always always hyperlink to your profile through your signature.
You can do any or all of the above. I personally do all of the above to make it that much easier for my readers to locate relevant information in a snap!
Adding hyperlinks to your other posts is also important because:
1. You're going to get new readers who have not read those old posts.
2. You're going to get readers who may end up at your site by coming directly to that posting and by linking to your other posts they can see that you have a collection of high quality posts and will then want to subscribe to your Rss Feed.
Ever keeping the readers in mind,
CB Webmaster
P.S. Check out my other blog postings on profiles:
Do I really need a Profile?
Create a Great Blogger.com Profile
If you look at your blog you'll see all your current blog postings are neatly displayed sequentially in the order you wrote them and people can easily make the connections between each post.
But when the posts get individually archived they are no longer within the context of the preceding and following posts.
That means the posts that have relevant information in them will not be viewed alongside your post in the long run.
There are 4 quick ways to rectify this problem:
1. Hyperlink your relevant posts within the blog post.
2. Create a label for the post.
3. Create a blog just for your best posts!
4. And always always hyperlink to your profile through your signature.
You can do any or all of the above. I personally do all of the above to make it that much easier for my readers to locate relevant information in a snap!
Adding hyperlinks to your other posts is also important because:
1. You're going to get new readers who have not read those old posts.
2. You're going to get readers who may end up at your site by coming directly to that posting and by linking to your other posts they can see that you have a collection of high quality posts and will then want to subscribe to your Rss Feed.
Ever keeping the readers in mind,
CB Webmaster
P.S. Check out my other blog postings on profiles:
Do I really need a Profile?
Create a Great Blogger.com Profile
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