Blogging can really take up a LOT of time.
Want to blog smarter and not so much harder?
Check out which if these activities you are doing to blog smarter.
1. Maximize SEO
Things like explicit, unique title tags and good meta description tags are not so important these days. Google keeps changing it algorithms but what stays the same is the need for quality unique content. The trick is getting found. Tools like All-In-One-SEO-Pack are great. Don’t overdo it or get too complicated. You’ll learn as you go. Start simple and build grunt over time.
2. Use stats.
Get stats on your blog. They have the power to highlight what’s working on your blog. How many page views and unique visitors are you getting? Where are visitors coming from? How do they find you in search engines? Which posts and categories are most popular? You can either use the analytics software your blog hosting company provides, or install Google Analytics. JetPack and other plugins will also give you stats. Review them at least monthly and tweak away.
3. Use RSS feeds.
Marketing demands consistency to optimize its value. And that can take time – so use technology! An RSS feed service like Feedburner will simplify blog email marketing for you. Visitors can sign up to your feed and get an email update when your blog post goes live AND it does this automatically for any new blog post.
4. Use a Share button.
Notice that little red button to the left – it allows you to retweet this post and it makes it super simple for readers to do so. Try it now 🙂 There are a few plugins that will enable instant tweeting for you as well as Facebook sharing and other social sharing. Give readers the option to share the love.
5. Use Categories Wisely.
Why? It makes it easier for people to find things on your blog. A reader looking to find out what you write about or looking for help or answers on a specific topic can use categories to find posts more quickly. Place the categories in your sidebar. Make the category names keywords and try to use only 1-2 categories per post .
6. Spam Defense.
One thing you are guaranteed to get as soon as you start a blog is … SPAM. If you’re unlucky, tons of it. And at some point your site will end up on a spammer’s list and be multiplied around the web as a target. You MUST have several lines of defense. Akismet is essential. I also use WordPress HashCash on some blogs. Bad Behaviour is another. ReCaptcha tools are often built in to themes these days. Dig through the WordPress Repository – you’ll find a few plugins so try them out and see which suit you. .
7. Comment following.
Give people the chance to be notified when others comment on the same post. Taps into the voyeur in all of us. A number of plugins will do this for you.
8. Links to your other assets.
Make sure people have more ways to connect with you. RSS feed, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest … plug in links of your other online spaces so people can connect in ways that suit them. Choose at least one and add to them as your online presence grows.
9. Moderate comments.
If you open your blog to comments (which you don’t have to do) you must review the comments. You will get spam. Spam looks silly on your blog. If you have some sort of captcha system the spam will be minimized but you will want to prune your blog of spam on a relatively frequent basis depending on how much traffic you get.
10. Related Posts.
Max out the reader experience by using a related post plugin. It allows people to find other great content that they will probably want to read if they’re reading the current article. Very easy to do.
11. Your own domain name.
Unless you already have a brand (or you’re leapfrogging off of someone else’s), I recommend getting your own domain name. It shows dedication and seriousness. If you’re just starting out can you have a successful blog without one? Yes! Is it harder? Yes!
12. Tell them.
Writing is nice but it’s better if you tell the reader what you want them to do after reading. What now? Read more? Consider hiring you? Buy a book? Come see you speak? Shop at your store? Share the story? Provide a call to action to entreat them to interact with you.
Any other ideas for working smarter on your blog? I’d love to hear them in the comments below 🙂
I’ve found that the “delete pending comments” plugin is wonderful for spam comments. I go through and reply/approve real comments, and then delete the spam with one step.
That’s great, Crystal. Send them outta there!
I couldn’t live without #8 spam defense and #2 Google analytics. Great tools here!
Thank you for this post! These are all great ideas!
Glad you liked them. Which one could you implement?
I just reworked my categories and now have to go do some moving around of posts. I track stats to some degree, but not much.
Fabulous, Jenn. Keep improving 🙂
All excellent tips, some of which I have yet to implement. I want to added the “Related Post” plugin and I definitely need to look at my stats. I have Google Analytics for this.
Setting up the RPP is not something I’ve mastered yet but it functions. There’re always tweaks. Best of skill tweaking your site!
I follow most of these tips, but there are some that I need to do! I’m guilty of not checking my stats on a regular basis, so that is something I really need to work on.
It’s a lot to juggle but stats give great improvement opportunities.
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