Ahhhh, another Friday. Time to slip into our favorite jeans and tee, kick up our heels and relax.
Here at Blogging Without A Blog (BWAB) we had lots to think about this week. We talked about our target audience, giving our readers eye candy, and how our online image is projected through our blog.
As a footnote on growing niche blogs and reaching our target audience, we also need to know how to get “those” visitors to our blogs. The most important way is by use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). To avoid being redundant, I suggest reading John Hoff’s post on “25+ SEO Tips for Getting Ranked Well In Search Engines”. He covers the subject from all angles and provides links to many great sites and plugins.
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m bad about not using SEO. Using keywords and keyword phrases does change the way we write, and often I sit at my keyboard and start typing. Like many of you, I, too, have a lot to learn in that area.
Looking back on the week, or forward on what you need to do with your blogs, are there any areas you would like to discuss further? Do you have any questions? Any suggestions for future posts you would like to see here?
How has this week impacted you?
Are you planning to make any changes to your blog?
Or, to the WAY you write?
The floor is yours.
Have fun!
Keep it clean!
Don’t forget to “subscribe to comments” (bottom of page) so you can follow the discussion and join back in.
Photo Credit: nugun’s photostream
Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 
We all make mistakes when we start blogging.
I know I did.
Today’s Lesson
I didn’t do enough homework and was unprepared for what blogging entailed.
I made small mistakes like typos (and I still do), and big ones like crashing my blogs.
I didn’t know HTML, coding or the blogging language.
I had no idea what SEO (search engine optimization) was, nor did I have time to learn it.
I didn’t know the difference between a plugin and a widget, or a trackback vs a ping. (Thank you John Hoff for the great explanation on pings and trackbacks)
I spent too much time checking my visitor stats when I should have been concentrating on other areas of blogging.
I wasted many precious hours signing up for, placing ads and then checking stats to see how much money I wasn’t making.
Social networks like StumbleUpon and Digg got me addicted, and they too consumed my time.
Although all of the above are important lessons to learn, (and I did), the biggest mistake I made was…….
Not making the time to comment on other blogs sooner than I did.
I had read many times how important it was, but thought it didn’t pertain to me.
When I did consider commenting, I was often intimidated by the other comments, and felt my words might sound stupid.
Instead, I worked quietly behind the scenes, wrote for my imaginary audience, and told myself, “If I build it, they will come”.
I was content……..for awhile.
Then I realized blogging is actually about interacting with others.
I was a one way street.
It wasn’t until I made time to visit other blogs that I got caught up in the thrill of comments.
Not only getting comments, but leaving them as well.
I’m not afraid of admitting my mistakes, and that was a big one.
What about you?
Today’s Assignment
What do you feel your biggest mistake in blogging has been thus far?
Care to share?
Photo Credit: toddneville’s photostream