BEST BLOGGING TIP … A GLASS OF GOOD RED WINE!
THEN, FOLLOW TIPS FROM ACCOMPLISHED BLOGGERS, ANDRA AND CHERYL
Andra Watkins http://andrawatkins.com and
Cheryl Smithem http://cherylsmithem.wordpress.com
My thanks to both of you for the following blogging tips (below). I am unsure of the ethics of blogging. I hope it is kosher to share blogs on my site. If, not, I will delete immediately.
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“To the Frustrated Blogger
The recent changes in your blog statistics are not about you.
Back in September, Google released a major update to their search engine. Called Panda, its stated goal was to help people find exactly what they were searching for. Its unstated goal was to shake things up and to compete with companies like Amazon and Facebook that are pulling away their market share.
Panda was such a fundamental change to Google search that most SEO-types recommended that folks go back and optimize every bit of content to meet the new rules. And, it teed up Google’s new mission to require a Google+ account with linked authorship, which will usher in a new system called ‘Author Rank‘ in the coming months. To me, Author Rank is little more than a popularity contest.
Sigh.
I thought I graduated from high school in 1987. I want to scream ‘what grade are we in?’
Anyway.
Combine a major Google update with Facebook’s push to optimize every newsfeed with ads and sponsored stories. Casual blog readers aren’t seeing blog links like they did a few months ago, because Facebook is pushing those out of the system in favor of people who are willing to pay for the same space.
These changes impact numbers. Your numbers.
I don’t expect things to level off. When major tech players fight over market share, the users lose. Every time.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stay the course. Keep writing. Support each other. I miss you when you’re not here. All of you. And I don’t mean on my blog. I mean in the Great Blogosphere.
What can you do?
- Post new content every day. Panda rewards it.
- Continue to fill your posts will relevant links.
- Utilize the tags and categories features in your blogging platform.
- Tag your photos in the Alt Tag field when you upload. Panda allows image search for tagged words.
- Use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation.
- Claim authorship of your blog on Google+. I wrote a post about that topic here.
- Make sure your blog is visually appealing. Pictures are a big deal on the Visual Web, and that’s where the internet is headed.
- Solicit direct subscribers for your blog.
These rules may seem cumbersome, but they only add a couple of extra minutes per post for me. A few little tweaks can yield a big return in increased engagement.
Good luck.
And, if any other readers have suggestions, please post them in the comments.
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