10 Things I should do more of on this blog

1. Write to first time commentators, and reply to their comments.
2. Write speedlinking posts, which are collections of the best links of the week. – A great resource for readers and also a great way to meet new bloggers.
3. Use wasted space on my header. Its a lot of blue space, which is not used for anything. I am currently testing out blog themes at other blogs, if successful I can use the same theme here.
4. Move to unlimited bandwidth. At the moment, this blog is not on unlimited bandwidth. If I suddenly got on Digg home page, I may be left with many bitter regrets.
5. Write a post everyday. Rather than just posting anything, I should build up a bank of good posts for when I need to fill in a few daily gaps.
6. Highlight best posts of month from this site.
7. Link more to other bloggers. The problem is it is quite time consuming to find suitable links.
8. Get A contact form.
9. Have a blog contest, to encourage reader interaction.
10. A killer logo and tagline. Current logo is too ordinary.

That’s quite a lot of work I need to do. If you have any other suggestions I would be grateful to hear. Of course, giving advice is one thing; but, as the old saying goes: actions speak louder than words.

Related:

• Common Mistakes of Blogging my top 20
• 11 mistakes I made blogging at Blogging Fingers

What I learnt from my 1st year of Blogging.

1. Blogging vs Websites

Adding a blog to a website is one of the best things you can do to make your website more dynamic. See: advantages of blogs. Generally blogs have several advantages over websites, but there are still some situations where ordinary web pages can have advantages over blogs. E.g. Biography online works better as a web resource, rather than a blog. If you want to quickly add lots of pages, targeting keywords on Google, you blog is not necessarily the best place.

2. Page Rank does have some importance.

When I first started blogging, I was under the impression page rank, was no longer of any relevance. Why? Because on my websites, I had seen significant increases in traffic and SERPs without any change in Page rank. However, over the past few months, I have realised page rank, is of some importance. Its primary importance is as a signal. If nothing else – get a higher page rank and you can use this to command higher prices from advertisers.

3. The Importance of Writing

Writing is the building block of a successful blog and website. With writing you should aim for quantity and quality. You can’t expect to make a successful blogger, with a few well crafted posts. It is important to continuously build your archives and pages. At the same time as writing in quantity, you have to write articles that are useful, informative and give people a reason to link to them. If you find writing very difficult, you will not find blogging easy. Writing Tips

4. Work on Building Links.

Net Writing has accumulated a number of backlinks; however, the majority are through some personal effort. Either submitting to blog carnivals or being aware of writing projects e.t.c. Don’t sit back and expect to see your technorati ranking shoot through the roof. Tips for getting more links

5. Read Good Blogs.

I read other blogs for inspiration, ideas and notice of writing competitions, e.t.c. Some of the blogs include:

• Problogger
• Nate Whitehill
• Daily Blog Tips

6. There is life after Adsense

If you rely on only google adsense (like many new bloggers) you are limiting your earning potential. Look out for new earning opportunities. But, for new blogs I would advise concentrating your time on writing and developing your blog. The time to really monetize your blog is when it has achieved a certain level of traffic and RSS subscribers. Why I got rid of Google

7. If you want to Make Money don’t just blog about “Making money online”

There seem to be an awful lot of blogs about blogging and making money online. I don’t doubt that some have become very successful from a financial point of view. However, it is my experience that it is easier to monetize topics related to finance / products. If I had only 1 blog, Net Writing, I would perhaps be disappointed from a financial perspective. (Although on the other hand, if it was my only blog, I could dedicate more time)

8. You Don’t need to be an A list Blogger to make a good return from blogging.

Some of my blogs have a relatively low RSS readership. I haven’t specifically targetted building up an RSS readership, but, the blogs, in a quiet way, make a good return. Don’ feel reaching some mythical “A list” is a prerequisite for making a living online.

9. It is good to Have more than 1 blog.

I can appreciate why people wish to have only 1 blog and make it as good as they can. I definitely believe that to be successful, you should never blog half-heartedly. However, I enjoy having several blogs:

1. Greater range of topics, enables greater variety of writing.
2. I can have a break by changing blog. – A change is as good as a rest.
3. You can use your blogging expertise to help grew new blogs, with less effort.
4. You can find which topic and blog proves to be the most successful, over time you may wish to concentrate more on this one.
5. Diversification makes it less risky. One site suffered a bizarre 2 week penalty from Google. Luckily it soon went, but if it was my only blog, it would have been a stressful 2 weeks.

10. Create Good Relationships.

Actually, this is something I should do more of. But, it is definitely worth cultivating friendships with other bloggers. When you help others, invariably it improves your own situation as well. There is no need to hold a competitive feeling towards other bloggers.

11. I love Stats

I love checking stats, whether it be statcounter, google earnings, technorati ranking or just number of links. Sad? probably, but I’m not alone.

The first thing I notice about the site, is that it is designed by a real expert. It has calming effect, that very few websites have. It inspires me to consider hiring a designer to take improve the rather ordinary design of this blog.

The second thing, which sticks in the mind is how did the blog get a PR of 7.? I think the importance of Page Rank is quite often overestimated; nevertheless, given the chance to increase our page rank, most bloggers would be very happy. Given the blog has a page rank of 7, I was surprised that the blog has activated the “do follow” plugin. It is interesting that the blog has such a high page rank, given that it willingly gives out so much “google juice”.

Binary moon is well worth checking out for a few design and wordpress tips. It is also worth reading this thoughtful review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. – Don’t worry it is a non-spoiler

It is a look at what stops us from writing and how we can overcome it.

I came across Blogging Tips, when it was a very new site. I think Blogging Tips is destined to be a very successful blog for various reasons:

1. Aims High.

To be a successful blogger, you can’t afford to be half hearted. Blogging Tips is on its own dedicated server and Kevin has paid for quite a few paid reviews at related blogs. For example, he paid $400 for a blog review at John Chow.com. This brought a big increase in traffic and RSS subscribers. See John Chow effect 

Of course, it is not necessary to advertise your blog, but a little investment now can quickly build up your RSS readership quickly. To capitalise on these paid reviews your blog has to give good reasons  for people to stay.

2. Built Good Community 

Comments are actively encouraged and Kevin does respond to many issues raised.

3. Distinctive Logo and Tagline 

There are so many blog about blogging, you really need to stand out from the crowd. The Superman logo is not exactly to my taste, but, it is memorable. The tagline “Take your blog to the next level” is pretty good too. URL is memorable and does exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak: www.bloggingtips.com

3. Very detailed Posts 

The thing I like about blogging tips, is that it has a good selection of detailed posts. Many blogs about blogging ignore CSS, but, as a webmaster I like to learn the odd tip or two. Check out this post on integrating Adsense onto your blog with CSS

4. Encourages others to Participate 

A key feature of blogging tips is a selection of guest writers. There is also  a forum and Kevin takes the time to respond to readers questions. If you can help other bloggers out, this creates a very good energy for your blog.

5. States Opinion without being too opinionated 

For example: Technorati is being gamed by webmasters who swap links and do those horrible **** link trains. It’s time technorati became more sophisticated like google and started ranking the quality of links. See technorati post on Authority 

6. Brings Online experience to new Blog 

Most blogs which make a big impact after a short time are usually promoted by people who have had experiences with other blogs. To be honest I think to have a good ” blog about blogging” it is important that you do have other sites so you can make your advice come from personal experience.

7. High Posting Frequency 

On a blog like blogging tips, I like to have a high posting frequency. If you can rely on 2-3 new posts per day it really gives a good reason to go and visit. Blogging Tips is starting to become a real authority on blogging. Between blogging tips and problogger you can get alot of the best tips and news.

What Can you learn from Blogging Tips?

1. Does your design stand out? – I need to work on customizing mine.
2. Are you 100% behind the blog? – At the moment, net writing is not my highest priority, but, at least I can keep a reasonable posting frequency.
3. Do you engage with Readers?
4. Think long term and consider advertising your blog. The experience of paid reviews suggests that it may be worth investing in a top of the range review.
5. Do you have a good posting frequency?