Archive for the Category »Increase Traffic «

Feb

broken heart graphic for ComLuv post Dont Let Your Heart Be Broken Many of you know CommentLuv is my all time favorite plugin.

With CommentLuv a blogger gets to let those who comment share a link back to their site which often results in more traffic for both bloggers.

It’s a great reward for those who take the time to comment on our blogs; a way to thank others for sharing their thoughts.

CommentLuv definitely spreads the love.

Today’s Lesson

You may have noticed when a blog has CommentLuv enabled, at the end of the link to your blog post is a small red heart. By hovering over the heart with your cursor, it can tell more about you, your blog, where you visited last as well as more of your posts. It’s also clickable.

While going through the comments on recent posts, I noticed many of you are not using this feature. Instead, if I hover over the heart, I’m either seeing,

or,

When your CommentLuv link is labeled as a Feedburner link, Feedburner is getting the link love, instead of you.

In other words, your CommentLuv heart is broken.

When I signed up at ComLuv.com, I wanted to make sure my heart was working. After several tweaks and the Feedburner “fix”, here’s what you will see if you hover over the heart after a link to one of my posts:

Although some of you may prefer not to have additional information about yourself and where you visit available, for those of you who are trying to get noticed in blogosphere, by using this feature, you’re giving readers a chance to learn more about you as well as what other posts you have on your blog AND they can click directly on them.

The fix for your broken CommentLuv heart is easy.

You MUST register your blog.

1) Go to ComLuv.com

2) If you have the plugin installed and want to register your site(s*), click on the gray “Register Your Sites” bar and follow the instructions. Be careful when entering your feed address. It must be accurate for the CommentLuv links to work.

3) If you do not have the plugin installed, click on the orange “Download the plugin” bar. After activating the plugin, return to ComLuv.com and register your site.

If the CommentLuv links shows your site as a feedburner link, the fix can be found on the ComLuv blog at How To Turn Off Feedburner Redirects

It’s that simple.

What say you?

Today’s Assignment

Are you taking advantage of all the CommentLuv plugin has to offer?

Do you see any disadvantages to using the plugin?

Or, is this just one too many plugins to worry about?

signature for blog post .

P.S. For more information on how CommentLuv was born, you can read my interview with the plugin author, Andy Bailey.

*For a small fee, you can register more than one URL or add static links.

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Comments, Increase Traffic, Plugins and Widgets 92 Comments

Jan

Advantages of Guest Posting Outside Your Niche

Barbara Swafford

Good Day, Class,

Although it’s been awhile since we had a substitute teacher (guest writer) here, today that’s changing.

Some of you may have heard of him. Some not.

Please join me in welcoming fellow blogger Bamboo Forest, from the fabulous blog, Pun Intended.

Bamboo has chosen a topic we haven’t discussed before; “guest posting”.

On that note, I’ll grab a seat and join you in listening to this great lesson.

The floor is yours, Bamboo.

Hello Class!

As you’re reading this you may recognize that I’m guest posting on a blog about blogging even though my blog is definitely not in this niche; it’s a blog about humor and inspiration.

Is it foolish to guest post on a blog outside of your niche, putting all your energy into drafting a post that will be published on a blog that covers a subject different from your own?

My answer is no and I’d even go a step further: There are definite advantages to guest posting outside of your niche.

For starters, our ideas are finite. Don’t get me wrong, there are some beasts who can churn out good posts like an overly enthusiastic factory worker. That being said, our ideas still reach a finite number. Further, not all our ideas are equal.

Today’s Lesson

Every time we guest post on a blog within our niche we’re giving away some of our finest ideas and some of our best posts. Once this is done, your loyal readers won’t see that material on your blog. So by posting outside of your niche you lose nothing and gain a great deal.

Another strategy to maintain great content for your blog, even while guest posting within your niche is to share material that simply wouldn’t fit well on your blog. In fact, I’ve done this. I’ve written personal development posts that though could pass on my blog, really fit better somewhere else. This is a great way to guest post within your niche while not really losing out for your blog.

The obvious criticism of guest posting outside of your niche is that people who click through to check your blog out are less likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

While I agree this is true to an extent, I don’t believe it’s enough of a factor to render guest posting outside of your niche a waste of time. Far from it.

For example, my blog is about humor and inspiration. Who among us doesn’t like to laugh and be inspired? Many interested in blogs about blogging will, nevertheless, find a blog on humor and inspiration to be a real winner and worthy of subscription–hopefully. Will you please prove my theory correct, you know you wanna.

Guest posting outside of your niche can create traffic, gain subscribers and raise your profile all while taking nothing away from your own posts on your own blog.

That’s quite the deal, no?

Today’s Assignment

Ever guest posted outside your niche?

What were the pros and cons?

Considering guest posting outside your niche?

Why or why not?

Bamboo Forest writes for Pun Intended, a blog that blends humor with inspiration. To ensure you never miss a good hearty laugh or a good dose of inspiration, subscribe here.

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Posting 61 Comments

Sep

SEO and Blogging – Keeping It Simple

Barbara Swafford

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a HUGE topic. So large in fact, many blogs are dedicated to just that. Books are written about it, and some businesses are built around it.

In the comments of the Readers vs Bots, Making Everyone Happy post, Patricia of Patricia’s Wisdom asked if I could write more about SEO. I promised her I would.

A search engine optimization expert, I am not, but I do know if bloggers want to get search engine traffic, some degree of SEO must be used.

Today”s Lesson

In a nutshell, here’s what I feel is true about search engine optimization.

If we are targeting readers who are searching for widgets, then we need to write about widgets.
If we are trying to get search engine traffic to a article (or a blog) which is about widgets, but we go off track and start writing about shoes (for example), the search engines aren’t going to send us people who are looking for widgets. Our posts need to stay on topic.
We can rank high with one search engine, but not on another.
Many bloggers concentrate on ranking high with Google, however Yahoo, Bing or another search engine may be a better choice. With Google currently being the biggest search engine, it may be best to concentrate our efforts on getting more traffic from the smaller search engines where there may be less competition.
Search engine optimization can change the way we write.
If we want search engine traffic, we need to tell the search engines we have a relevant post about a specific topic. This is done by using keywords and/or keyword phrases. Although those posts may need to be worded differently than how we normally write, challenging ourselves to write for the search engines (and our readers, too) may help to gain a larger readership.
Every post does not have to be search engine optimized.
On this blog, I seldom use SEO. It’s not that I don’t want search engine traffic, but I either forget to include it, I get lazy, or I’m not sure how to optimize a specific topic. Having said that, just having a handful of posts that are optimized can help to keep search engine traffic coming our way.
Catchy titles can attract the wrong audience.
In a previous lesson we learned how using catchy titles can deceive our readers and the search engines. Although we may get traffic based on the words we used in our title, chances are we are not reaching our target audience.
Even the most carefully optimized post may not get found.
Because the search engines use parameters other than just optimization of posts, even a perfectly written post may not get highly indexed by the search engines. Search engines consider page rank, inbound links, the credibility of a site (plus other algorithms), therefore, if our post is on a subject in an already saturated market, search engine optimization could all be for naught.
When we pick keywords or keyword phrases, we’re just guessing others will use the same terms
If we look at our stats and see how others find us, they often use search terms we wouldn’t even think of. Although we can’t possibly know what search strings people will enter, it’s important we consider possibilities other than the obvious.

So there you have it, my seven simple tips on SEO.

Today’s Assignment

Do you use search engine optimization in your posts?

If so, do you have any tips to share with the class?

If not, what about SEO confuses you?

Raise your hand and share your thoughts.

And now, seven fabulous resources on search engine optimization:

SEO Tips For WordPress Bloggers (Video) by Matt Cutts (a Google executive) – posted on John Hoff’s blog. I strongly recommend watching this video in it’s entirety.
Google Webmaster Central
Yahoo.com. Log into your account and search “help” for webmaster resources.
Bing.com/webmaster plus their toolbox
Best SEO Practices for Creative Writers – courtesy of Jan Geronimo
SEO and Accessibility by Joe Dolson
101 Great Blogs You Should Be Subscribing To Starting at number 36, Kevin lists 12 blogs which specialize in SEO

Category: Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Keywords, SEO 73 Comments

Sep

Tapping Into A Larger Audience

Barbara Swafford

When we start blogging, it’s easy to assume other bloggers are just like us.

You know, they write, they visit blogs, read the works of others, watch the videos, listen to the audio, and when life calls, jump up from their desk.

But that’s not the case.

Many people who blog and who read blogs are living with disabilities.

Today’s Lesson

Although the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require personal and commercial websites to be compliant (yet), by not considering those who have disabilities, we may be leaving a large sector of the population untapped.

The deaf depend on their eyesight, but may not be able to hear the audio portion of embedded videos or audio. By providing a written transcript (or a link to it), the deaf will gain insight into what’s being said.

To read websites, the blind may use a screen reader or a refreshable Braille display which translates standard text into Braille. Those who are visually impaired may also use their browser to increase the size of the type on web pages.

Contrast between the background and the lettering is an issue for some, and those who are colorblind, will see things much differently than someone with normal eye sight.

For those who prefer to hear what’s written, the use of software that converts text to speech (TTS) may be used. Some of the free options include:

Click Speak – an addon by Firefox
sds Talkr
NVoice
Voz Me
Odiogo

In the ADA Tool Kit – Website Accessibility article, they spot several situations which could be easily corrected to make our sites more accessible by the disabled. One example is:

Problem: Documents Are Not Posted In an Accessible Format

State and local governments will often post documents on their websites using Portable Document Format (PDF). But PDF documents, or those in other image based formats, are often not accessible to blind people who use screen readers and people with low vision who use text enlargement programs or different color and font settings to read computer displays.

Solution: Post Documents in a Text-Based Format

Always provide documents in an alternative text-based format, such as HTML or RTF (Rich Text Format), in addition to PDF. Text-based formats are the most compatible with assistive technologies.

They also suggest adding an “alt” tag to images. For those who use text converting software, images cannot be seen, therefore by adding text we can describe what is included in the image. Note: Search engines cannot “read” images, either.

To give users of our blogs the option to change the font size, the wpchangefontsize plugin can be utilized. Although it is not compatible with all themes, it’s a great start to provide our readers with another option.

For those of you who want to test your site and see how those who are color blind will see it, check out the Colorblind Web Page Filter

Want to know if the colors you’ve chosen for your site are “compliant”? Have a look at the Colour Contrast generator

When I started blogging I was so wrapped up in all there was to learn, I didn’t consider if those who live with disabilities could easily read my blog posts, but the more I blog, the more I realize I need to remember anyone who has access to a computer is a potential visitor.

How about you?

Today’s Assignment

Are you tapping into this sector of the population?

If so, how?

Other great sites worth checking out:

Enlightened Webmastery offers a tutorial on Odiogo (text to speech software), or try it for yourself on George’s blog, Tumblemoose Writing Services.
Big Fork Web Development’s Is Your Website Color Conscious?
Another color analyzer is provided by, Vision Australia
And for a blogger who lives with disabilities, Paul Maurice Martin has a wonderful blog and book both named Original Faith

Photo Credit: jyyne_2000

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Writing Tips 60 Comments

Jun

When The Conversation Moves Off Of Your Blog

Barbara Swafford

Good Day Class!

Remember Tracy, of I Hate My Message Board? When I interviewed her last month, she told us what happened when a post of hers went viral (see: For The Sake Of The Children, Blog Smart)

Today, we have the honor of having her as our substitute teacher (guest writer).

Tracy will discuss another source of traffic to our blogs we often forget about – forums. As the owner and administrator of I Hate My Message Board Forum, she’s here to share the rules of engagement.

Without further ado, here’s Tracy.

Hello Class!

It’s great to be here.

Please take a moment to review the exhibit and then we’ll get on with the lesson.

Today’s Lesson

Forums can be a good traffic source for bloggers. I estimate 15% of my traffic comes from forums.

It can be an ego booster and deliver new readers or you can feel personally attacked and helpless.

Here are some hints on what to do when you find a forum link in your referrals.

Decide if what, if any, action you’ll take.

I get a kick out of the Air Force’s blogger engagement chart and I think it applies to forums, too. There is no need to respond to posters who are hostile to you and it will probably backfire.

Likewise, if they are just happily discussing the contents of your post, you have no obligation to respond if you aren’t interested or don’t have the time. If you would like to respond, keep these points in mind:

Don’t spam or overly self-promote .

Forum owners are inundated with spam and could remove your post if it seems like you are only there for self-promotion or to sell something.

If the forum allows it, you can put a link to your blog in your signature, but I’d be hesitant to ask people to subscribe or provide additional links back to your blog, unless they are directly related to the topic being discussed.

Add value

Do the posters have questions that you can answer? Do you have additional information that’s helpful? Can you provide other resources?

Helping others is a great way to establish your expertise and get people interested enough to take a deeper look at your blog. Remember, forums are indexed by search engines, too!

Debate but use caution.

Just like comments on our own blogs, the key is to state your argument without losing your cool or being insulting. Show off your wit, but be gracious.

I think that it would be wise to do a quick scan of other posts on the forum to get a feel for the general culture. Some welcome a lively discussion while others are more geared to people saying what they think and that’s that. On the latter, it would go over better to simply thank them for reading your post, if you want to say anything at all.

If it gets ugly, leave.

There is no reason at all for you to subject yourself to people insulting you or not being respectful. You don’t owe them any explanations, chances are they’ll forget quickly that you posted once or twice and left but getting visibly upset can be a red flag to some internet users.

Consider linking back.

If the conversation went well and you think your blog readers would enjoy it, sharing the link is appropriate but not obligatory.

But don’t trash talk.

If it didn’t go well, it’s tempting to post a rant on you blog. You’ll likely get a lot of sympathetic comments, but again, red flag to others. If you want to discuss it, do it after you’ve cooled down.

Forum traffic can be very valuable.

Taking a moment to think before you act can save you unnecessary headaches and possibly earn you traffic years to come. It’s upsetting sometimes when people are talking about our posts in a medium where we have no control, but take comfort that it’s a sign that you’re on the map.

Today’s Assignment

Have you been linked to from forums?

Did you reply on the forum or address it on your blog?

Do you actively use forums as a source of traffic? If not, why not?

Raise your hand and share your thoughts.

Tracy is the author of I Hate My Message Board blog, I Hate My Message Board Forum as well as I Hate My Message Board – Life and Style blog. When she’s not blogging or administering her forum, Tracy can be found on Twitter.