The number one way to grow your blog is simple: action. That might sound ridiculously obvious, but I find that most bloggers, meta or otherwise, just read what’s out there, and don’t apply it. So what if you know what SEO is? Do you utilize methods to improve it? And of course we all know how important your “About Me” page is, but what have you done to work with it? If you’re not actively working on your blog, then it doesn’t matter what you write, nobody will read it, because it will either be invisible in the sea of information, or it will never improve.
So what actions should you be focusing on? Well honestly, I think it depends on your personal goals and ideas. If you want to make money, you’ll want to focus on things like product appeal, marketing, advertising, etc. If you’re like me, and in it for the content, then you might spend a lot of time with comments, research, and general content optimization. All bloggers, however, will cover the same six areas in some way. I like to call this the MADCOW method.
- Marketing
- Audience
- Design
- Content
- Oversight
- Work Load
Marketing
Marketing is important for the following reason: to sell stuff, you need customers. For information based websites to succeed, they need people who want the information. Be it through forum posting or blog commenting, you’re going to have to get the word out somehow. And while you’re out meeting your audience, be sure to make a good first impression. However, don’t think that your audience is confined in your small corner of the internet. There are 6 billion people in the world, and they exist offline.
Audience
This is why your blog is here: to be read. You should focus on getting to know your audience, and responding to their ideas, suggestions, and comments. Think of your blog as a community, and your readers as the members. You begin discussions, you sell them products they might need, and you occasionally protect their interests.
Design
Your design is part of your brand, and probably the biggest part. Design determines how you best interact with your audience, and how people view your content. It can even effect how people view you. (colors correspond to psychological ideas, ya know.) If you have a sloppy, generic, or unattractive design, you could turn away part of your possible audience, and thus, part of your clientele. You should put planning and thought into the message your appearance sends, just as you would into content.
Content
Content is the most important part of your blog, seriously. Not because “content is king” but because I don’t think an empty blog part with a very nice looking sidebar full of ads will land you any cash or visitors. (Hmm…does anyone else smell an experiment?) As part of your overall branding you’ll want your content to be “unique.” This doesn’t mean you have to have ground breaking ideas, but rather, that you should have a unique voice, and opinion on things. In short, be yourself. Once you define yourself, feel free to put into standardized form.
A great quote from my History teacher is “there’s only one correct way to say something.” While this seems counter-intuitive, (can’t I say “I like pie” with a variety of sentences?) it’s true. You can’t tell someone you love them by saying “I think you’re pretty awesome, and your flaws don’t irritate me.” You say, “I love you.” Then you puke because of the inherent terror of rejection that’s built up inside you. When you write your content, don’t beat around the bush. Say what you want to say.
Oversight
Oversight refers to the overall management and administration of your blog. This is your “business plan,” your battle tactics, or that annoying little voice in the back of your head.
Ted’s a smart guy. Ted’s asking questions that he’ll have to answer to succeed. What do you blog about? Once you manage to pick a topic, how do you go about writing engaging content? Every blogger will want to consider how to run things from the dashboard end, and what will be most effective in terms of productivity, reaching out to your audience, and establishing your brand. (Which you’ll want to do.)
Work Load
Blogging is hard work. Seriously, it is. I should know because my work doubles every time this evil server of doom crashes. You should use methods to keep yourself from getting stressed out, or over worked. Darren Rowse (sp?) over at Problogger uses something he calls “Batch Processing.” Personally, I keep a notebook of post ideas and when I feel particularly inspired, I churn out a few. Everything else is filtered as it comes in. It’s important to have a system when dealing with everything.
So what do you think? What actions do you take to grow your blog? What areas do you tend to focus on the most?
(This is a repost of an article that was lost in the crash. I would like to thank Google for caching the stuff it indexes!)
Commenting on Other Blogs
1. Get a Gravatar
Gravatars (Globally Recognized Avatars) are images that follow you around the web, and they’re connected to your email address. A Gravatar helps build your reputation. If you see the picture of me, you’ll think Diligent Design and Corey Freeman. If I see a picture of Darren Rowse or of the Problogger “P”, I know who’s talking to me. Gravatars are generated on most blogs and can be obtained for free.
2. Contribute to the Conversation
You should always strive to contribute to the conversation happening on the blog. Not only does the author appreciate your effort to share your ideas, you also attract people reading your opinions. They may want to hear more about your opinions, and will follow the link in your name back to your site. If you join in enough conversations, and really dig into handing out your honest views, you’ll find your clicks grow.
3. Link to a Popular Post
All too often do people just put in their blog link in the “website” field of the commenting profile. Why not give new readers a place to start? Link to a popular post on your blog that really draws people in or link to your current running contest. If you give new readers a place to start that shows of your good side, you’ll find your conversion rates growing.
4. Use Your Name, Not Your Blog
It’s kind of a turn off when you see people posting under their blog’s name. It feels spammy and unless you’re honestly contributing, it gets a bit irritating. People want to know that you’re commenting on their blogs because you appreciate the post, not because you want to get indexed and up your ranking.
5. Follow the Conversation
If you are a blogger that visits and then comments, do you go back for a follow-up? Do you subscribe to the blogs comments, or ask for reply notification? If you’ve asked a question on a blog, go back and see if it’s answered! If you see someone else who’s asked a question, why not respond if you have the answer? Replying to and interrelating all of the comments not only gets you more backlinks, but also grows your reputation and authority.
Getting Comments on Your Blog
6. Encourage Comments
At the end of your posts, ask a question. Ask for some feedback, and invite users to comment always. When users do comment, consider sending out an automatic email thanking them and inviting them back to look at other features found in your blog. If you’re really generous, you could enable plugins like “commentLuv” to grab your commentor’s latest blog post. You can also enable “dofollow” and let Google index their links. This draws even more attraction to commenting on your posts.
7. Always Respond!
Be sure to always respond to comments left on your blog. Thank people for commenting, answer questions, and suggest resources. If you’ve got the time, why not check out their blog and comment back? Being an active voice as well as a passive one will encourage your readers to keep coming back.
8. Show Off Your Readers
Having a “top commentator” section in your sidebar can really help people feel as though they’ve contributed. Perhaps give a good commentator a link in the blogroll if you feel that their site is really helpful. Let your commentator know that you appreciate what they’ve done for you.
9. Use Your Comments
Feedback has its uses! If you’re asked an interesting question in a comment, why not blog about it? Don’t forget to give props to the person who asked. Using comments not only gives you a wider range of post material, but also allows you to let your readers know, “hey, I listen. And here’s what I think.” Use comments that can benefit your entire audience.
10. Be Cheesy
There are plenty of blogs that call comments “comments.” Why not branch out? Why not label them “responses” or “discussions”? I just recently commented on a blog that used “speak” instead of submit for the submit button. By customizing your feedback, you add a little more personality to your blog, and reach your readers on a slightly more human tier.
I know that before I became a “professional,” I would have gladly done design work for a free backlink. Of course, I need gas money and Dr. Pepper money, but what about when a friend asks for some help?
A lot of designers frown on helping friends and family, but you know what, I don’t see why you shouldn’t get excited about doing a project for fun. No real limitations, no worrying about making money or not getting paid, and no big deadlines. Just, code some css, make some suggestions, and have some fun with it.
I think it gets to a point where every designer needs to cut back and have some fun, maybe try something new. What about you guys? What do you think about helping out for free?
There are plenty of blogs on graphic design out there, but I wanted to highlight some exceptional ones in this post. These blogs are those that explore more than just the “how to” of graphics.
Niki’s DesignO’Blog is a blog about, well, graphic and product and sometimes website design. However, it’s not really a “how-to” blog so much so as it is a “hey! Lookit this!” kind of blog. Niki finds interesting stuff I’d never stumble across. My favorite, so far, being the target women video. I don’t think I enjoy yogurt that much. I’m lactose-intolerant, haha. And I’m glad to say I do not own a gray sweatshirt. I enjoy the lightweight tone of the blog, and some of the finds are really, really interesting!
Design Observer tilts more towards the heavy side of graphic design, with deep, in-depth articles. I suppose you could say that the blog focuses more on “informational” design with things like political cartoonists and the recent post on I.O.U.S.A. If you don’t mind some healthy reading, the blog does make some interesting analyzations, and the comments go beyond the article to debate and expand as well. It’s definitely like sitting in a lecture hall, examining purpose and specific facts. If you’re looking to feel smart, go for Design Observer.
So while Diligent gets back up and running, go check out these two killer sites!
