The 3 Things That Have Helped My Blog the Most
G’Day! David Turnbull here, and over the years I’ve built up a few blogs to relatively popular levels in short periods of time (my biggest blog receiving upwards of 10,000 unique visitors per day when it was online).
For the past 3 months I’ve been working on my blog, Adventures of a Barefoot Geek, where I share my thoughts on life, with a mix between geek and hippie ideas. And while my audience is certainly not massive (around 200 subscribers) there have been a few things I’ve done that has noticeably improved the rate of growth and interaction compared to past projects.
1. Writing with Authority
Too many bloggers are afraid to have an opinion. Their articles become wishy-washy as they try to appeal to everyone and suck up to the “gurus” in their space. I don’t recommend you purposefully try to cause controversy, because that’s a fairly cheap and short-lived tactic, but don’t be afraid to say what you want to say with definitiveness.
If you agree with everyone you agree with no one.
Agreeing with everyone and a lack of definitiveness is a cowardly way of avoid criticism. But the thing is, if you avoid criticism you also avoid praise. No one will care for what you do because you’re just another me-too blogger with nothing original to say.
2. Interacting with Everyone
People tout the wonders of “social media” but rarely take full advantage of it. Reply to all your emails, but don’t stop there:
- Reply to all tweets that mention you (or one of your posts), even if they’re simply retweeting what you’ve said.
- Reply to tweets that don’t even mention you, but are from people who’ve read your blog or reached out to you.
- Reply to all commenters on your blog. They took the time to interact with what you’ve said, it’s the least you can do.
- Visit your commenters blogs and leave your own comments. Most people who leave comments will be bloggers themselves. Join their conversations.
- Email readers. You don’t have to do this with everyone (bonus points if you do though) but reach out to readers via email, thanking them for their support and letting them become apart of the direction of the site.
3. Being Ruthless
About 50% of the posts I write do not end up being published. That’s not because these posts are terrible, or would even necessarily get a bad response. I delete them because they’re not up to my standards.
It’s better to post less than it is to post low quality content regularly.
Ask the following three questions before you post anything to your blog:
- Are you saying anything original?
- Have I written with authority and definitiveness?
- Will my readers get significant value from this post?
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Hallo and thanks for this Motivation to write articles.
Nothing can grow up an article so strong. Because i use some votings in different articles. The comments come on and the results are great.
In this time alle articles expand with new visitors and many comments.
Catch the Point and the visitors are help and thanksfull to your article.
Thanks said
Thomas
I start my blog as media for sharing about my daily work experience. Being afraid of making mistake (grammar, spell etc) hold me to create post for almost 2 month. But after I try to ignore those thing and publish my draft I see a difference. Practice and practice make me more confident and I think that’s my primary concern at the moment.
Many bloggers are following these tips. In fact all of these are primary tips. Anyone going to write on successful blogging…?
I want to be one of those who are really master in blogging and have millions of backlinks.
David,
Good post! This is always something we should be reminded of but in my case rarely use. Many of my posts are informational rather than idea based.
Sometimes a company can get more good publicity out of a bad news report than it can in all of the positive commercials and ads it puts out. It’s not to say that you should write all negative, but it does prove that negative or writing with an attitude, will stir up thoughts and responses.
Jim
I Was Laid Off
Good three points to consider. I will follow this advice in all my next post in my blog. Thanks for this post.
Azad Shaikh
http://www.internetgeeks.org
Max, I ended up coming to you because I must have downloaded one of your wordpress plugins. In which case, I ended up on your mailing list, which lead to an email, which got me here to your blog.
So, here you are practing what you are preaching. I found this blog post useful not because it was profound (ok, so it was somewhat proound), but that it speaks to the fact that some blogs posts are not blog worthy and I totally agree that if you don’t have anything original to say, then don’t say anything at all. I think a lot of bloggers would be quiet if this was the case. I particularly like re-explaining things with visuals or charts or simply giving my spin on things. So, there you have it. My originally explain concepts that were poorly explained to begin with. That’s my niche and it’s been working well for me.
Cheers and have a great day!
i think those are what i need right now. I’m a new blogger learning how to be successful in blogging. Thanks for sharing! I learnt a lot from this post!
Hello MaxBlogger,
I seem to do the same thing with my Posts.
If I don’t like what I am saying in one of
my Posts,I will Delete the Post and not even
Post the Post.
Like David said,I have trashed Thousands of
words because they don’t meet my Standards.
I don’t have any success stories as of this
time,but hopefully I will in the near future.
This is a good post by David and it really
makes you think about Posting B4 you Post.
Thanks for the Email on this subject.
Just another Blogger,
Gary,
Excellent advice.
The fastest way to prevent surfers from returning to your blog is to waste their time. When you maintain quality control, you will also promote value.
David,
I am discovering that the universe definitely responds to good intentions. I am so grateful to have found your site. This post is eye-opening for me. I just started my blog and have spent countless hours writing and deleting. I have a lot to say but just have not found the right rhythm on paper. I am sure that my flow will come in due time and I will be on my way to posting articles I can be proud of. After reading your post, I know now that I am on the right path. Thanks.
Interacting with everyone who tweets or joins your blog is one thing I need to do more of. I have yet to exploit twitter to its fullest.
‘It’s better to post less than it is to post low quality content regularly…’ Absolutely and cannot be stressed enough!
Karl
You are certainly right about putting quality content on your blog. At the same time, there is a need to be very productive if you use your blog as a source of income. Probably you need multiple blogs and a very active site for each to attract traffic. So, blogging in one area that really is your passion is great – but it is a different situation from blogging for business.
Hy!
Very great post! You write always news very interesting on web sit and puplhising…
I think that too many bloggers dont’wanto to take a strong position theirs ideas!
For example, in Italy, there are many bloggers that write the same things on the same category, how personal development, internet money making, etc..
I have often many bad comment’s beacause i tell things different from other in my personal experience of wirk!
Nice to meet you!
Alberto Facchielli
from Italy
Great post, David!
“If you agree with everyone you agree with no one.”
This is one of my favorite cliche’s. It parrallels with what my Grandmother taught me, and that is…
“If you don’t stand for something, than you’ll fall for anything.” and “You better know what you stand for, and more importantly, what you wont!”
In a day & time where most Americans have become intoxicated with ‘Political Correctness’, bloggers will be well served if they stick to writing about their passions, and with purpose!
Again, great post.
James Artre
Sound advice. Less is more.
Patrick
Houston, TX
Patrick’s music/blog site
Good point about quality. We see too much rehashed rubbish written today.
I will be using your criteria for my future blog posts. Thanks for the advice.
Great post, i don’t post enough but when I do I try to make it useful to my readers. thanks for the great pointers about social media
Great post. Thank you very much.
Great article David.
I love your Bare Geek blog, I am one of the 200 subscribers.
Great post as usual,
Igor
Hello David,
Thanks a lot for your article, I’m very appriciate about you, ones again thanks so much for your learning, have a good day David
This is a good question “…Are you saying anything original?” and I fail this step a lot of time because I put my post on autopilot from other blogger.
To tell the truth, publishing my blog on autopilot without reading my posts was a bad idea. And my 2nd mistake was “…Will my readers get significant value from this post?” I always end up with lots of crappy ones.
This is a good post, and I think that everyone (Newbie & Prof) should read it.
I am an Authority, as well as my partner, Bill when dealing with issues regarding Internet safety for children, families, and mom & pop businesses. We write with authority, although it wasn’t always that way. Write more – write often, and before long you will write expressing your own personal knowledge of the subject matter.
Any successful minded individual knows the value of the phrase “follow up”. I agree with your suggestion to interact with everyone. As Bill’s grandma would tell him, “You have to be friend to have a friend”. The same holds true with your visitors, they stopped by so be sure to follow up and let them know you appreciate the visit. That is great advice.
However, I disagree with tossing a valuable thought process of expressing his or her thoughts. For me it is always a diamond in the ruff. I would and do walk away from a post that does not feel right, only to come back later or even the next day and finish. Many times one day and a pair of fresh eyes will be enough to polish that diamond.
Have a great day,
David
Sorry about that – I guess I need to learn how to toss that last post and close
David
Sorry about that – I guess I need to learn how to toss that last post and close >strong<.
David
PS: If I had given up you would have missed all that humor.