Thank you for this list of useful information, Barbara. It is so helpful to be reminded of where to find your excellent resources.

Personally, whenever I visit a blog I do like to have a look through past articles to get a sense of what it’s all about.

It really helps when the Archives are signposted well.

Now… I’m off to explore…

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Hi Barbara – I have to say that picture is one I’ll never forget.

I’d missed a couple of these due to being ill or away. The poem was one of them. It’s really good and very true.

Also – I hadn’t seen your first post. It’s interesting how learning how to set up your OM blog inspired you to create this one.

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Hi Barbara – had a laugh at the smoking hen.

And I thought I’d amuse myself by looking at your “corniest post” poem – and I found it inspiring!

For my own blog, I link to old posts now and then when its relevant, I use the random posts plugin after the comments and I have a “featured posts” page. Cheers!

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I have not read any of these Barbara. Thanks, Now I will.

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Hey Barbara,

You are a funny woman – especially exposed!

I think if I don’t link people to older posts, why would they want to read them. In other words, if I don’t remember them, who else will?

Of course, searches take people to older posts. I am amazed how often I am reading a post that I get all excited about and then realize they wrote it two or three years ago. Sometimes the sites are even ghost towns when I snoop around.

Thanks for being here.

Harmony’s last blog post..IF YOU HAD A CHOICE WOULD YOU SUCK LEMONS

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I installed the “similar posts” Wordpress plugin.

http://rmarsh.com/plugins/similar-posts/

It does seem to create more traffic for older posts.

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I try to link contextually when I can.

I do like the approach of putting up “related articles” at the end of a post though – and I know some blogs do that.

Bamboo Forest’s last blog post..Wikipedia: The Holy Grail

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On my to-do list is to create two short lists for the side-bar. One for most popular, and one for “best of” — the second is my own list of what I consider the best/most important posts. Obviously it won’t match the first.

My posts are linked to each other A LOT. Sometimes I feel like I’m not writing a blog — but one of those game books, where you read a chunk and you have make a choice of where to go next? It’s like a serial story with multiple entry points and endings.

ari

Ari Koinuma’s last blog post..Why You Can’t Do What You Love (Digest)

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Hi Catherine,

Like you, every time I see that smoking chicken, I have to laugh

Yes, the first post of mine is the beginning of it all. Who knew where it would take me. It’s been a wonderful journey.

Hi Natural,

Good day to you, too. Having read your blog for a long time, I know you have some wonderful posts in your archives. I say, “dig them up” and showcase them. Your readers would love to read some of your earlier work.

Hi Robin,

The chicken is funny, isn’t it? Like you, I also use plugins to get more attention to older posts. I think they work pretty good, but sometimes it’s good to “toot our own horn”, too.

Hi Chris,

Oh my gosh! You have some great reads in your archives. I love your car chronicles series. You should do a post of your favorite ones.

Hi Writer Dad,

You’re welcome. I hope you find a favorite one, too.

Hi Stacey,

Welcome to the BWAB community.

Yes, we do need to self promote more often. Using the “Check Out Other Posts” is a great way to shine some light on our earlier work.

Hi Harmony,

You’re welcome.

Yes, that was a misleading title, but it got people’s attention.

Who wants to read your older posts? We all do. You have some great stuff going all the way back to when you first started your blog. Dig them up.

Hi Rita,

You’re welcome.

I was thinking of that as I linked to these posts. I wasn’t sure if readers would comment on those, or here. I’ll have to stay on top of it so I don’t have any hanging chads.

Hi Vered,

The similar posts plugin you linked to is another great one for showcasing other articles of ours. I know it does a good job on your site.

Hi Ellen,

It sounds like everyone is enjoying the smoking chicken. Don’t forget to do more linking as your archives have some great reads.

Hi Bamboo,

Yes, the related posts plugin works good, too. In fact, I use that.

Hi Marelisa,

Yes, when I was learning about blogging, I felt like I was in school, taking notes as there was so much to learn. Who knew it would be the start of this blog.

Listing old posts is a great way to let our readers know of our previous work. Often they don’t take time to dig through our archives.

Hi Ari,

Having the lists in our sidebar(s) works great. We can only hope our readers will click on those posts. Internal links (in our posts) works good, too.

That’s interesting how you worded that, “It’s like a serial story with multiple entry points and endings.”

Hi Davina,

Glad to hear you liked the poem. I thought it was kind of corney, but at the time that’s how I was thinking.

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Hi Lance,

Yes, that’s my goal; to make you all think of the possibilities. Like all of the other BWABers, you also have great articles in your archives. Don’t forget to showcase them from time to time.

Time? What’s that? I wish I could bottle it.

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Barbara – I always wondered how to promote articles of the past. I wonder if anyone knows about any plugin that can help promote hot articles in the archives.

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Hi Barbara – these were some cool articles! The funniest picture made me laugh, the first post was fun to read in retrospect, and I nominate “I Love to Blog” as the official post for all bloggers!

Al at 7P’s last blog post..The Criminally-Minded Approach for Achieving Goals

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Now that I have built up an inventory, I am starting to add related posts links at the bottom of my posts. Also, if I reference a previous post, I always hyperlink to it. Not sure if people actually go there, but I suspect they do, because the visit times are increasing.

Urban Panther’s last blog post..Cut and run

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Hi Urban Panther,

Yes, linking to our previous posts will drive traffic to them. New readers love to find of our writings.

Hi Sara,

Welcome to the BWAB community.

Thank you for your kind words. I’m hoping you won’t be sorry you subscribed. The community here is a group of wonderful people who also have great blogs well worth reading.

I’ll be over later to check our your blog too. Your current post looks interesting (our kids are all grown…whew…. )

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****smiles**** Thank you Sara

Building community takes time, but as you can see it’s well worth it. All of the bloggers who participate, keep me motivated and grateful I started blogging.

I’ll definitely enjoy seeing your future comments.

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Hi Kelly,

Feel free to borrow any idea you like. I’ll be watching for the recap of your archived posts, as well.

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Hi Craig,

Welcome to the BWAB community.

Yes, unfortunately most new visitors don’t take time to dig through our archives. By showcasing some of our older posts, it helps to bring them to the forefront and will hopefully help new and recent visitors see our “old favorites”.

Thank you for the compliment.

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