Friday, 22 February 2013

3 New Posts

3 New Posts

Link to Tips Blogger

5 Ways to Create a More Social Blog

Posted: 22 Feb 2013 06:58 AM PST

There’s nothing particularly innovative about creating a blog these days. A decade ago that was cutting edge, and the world’s preeminent tastemakers had thousands of followers on these appointment-viewing websites. In 2013 the average high school student often has thousands of followers, thanks to the massive emergence of the social networks. So what can you do to differentiate your blog from the millions of other sites competing for the same audience? The answer lies in interactivity, and the creation of a blog that promotes social engagement. Here are five ways to create a more social blog.

First of all, make sure you incorporate multimedia content in as many posts as possible. Remember, the goal of any blog is to share your ideas with readers, but if you don’t provide something compelling they will slowly but surely navigate elsewhere. Images, videos and animated content are more likely to spread, and be shared amongst people who aren’t necessarily even aware of your blog. Use all of the assets that most grab attention, and you’ll find far greater interaction will start to happen.

Whenever you write a post for your blog, include some sort of call to action to your readers right at the end. Sharing information is great, but you want to start developing feedback. Leave each blog post open-ended, or write in such a way that obvious questions come to mind. Ask for comments, and promise your readers you’ll respond to each one. As the commentary stretches beneath each blog post, casual visitors will begin to make your blog a regular destination.

Next, consider including a contact form on the website that doesn’t post in public. This may sound counterintuitive, as a focus on the social should mean everything becomes an open conversation. But a social blog also requires there is a way for visitors to reach the site moderator directly. They may have questions that are keeping them from interacting, or perhaps they have a grievance to air. If you don’t give them a safe, private place to do this they may end up spouting some serious anger on your site, or worse yet just leaving and never coming back.

Any social blog must also have embedded social network connectivity. You probably have your Facebook and Twitter pages active, but are they sending new fans and followers to your blog? Embed links at the end of each post that allow fans to share their favorite articles on their own site. And place a visual feed in one of your side panels, so visitors to the blog can see the active conversations happening on your social networks. The best option is an embedded feed that shows the latest posts and a running count of fans.

Finally, don’t be afraid to scrap your site and redesign it if these social needs aren’t being met. Sometimes a blog that’s several years old has simply run its course. If you’ve been using a template from http://www.make-a-web-site.com you may now need a bit more personalization. Or maybe those ‘click here for more info‘ links that you embedded throughout are broken, and you can’t figure out how to fix them. A visual refresh with more points of connection around the web can help your interaction immensely. This is especially true if your redesign makes the site show up better in searches. Proper SEO of your blog will automatically increase its effectiveness.

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5 Ways to Attract a Loyal Reader Base for Your Blog

Posted: 22 Feb 2013 06:58 AM PST

Have a unique idea or story to tell? Starting a blog can be a cheap, fast, and incredibly easy way to share with the world your unique thoughts, opinions and views. Keeping a daily web log can either be a satisfying hobby or even a great way to make some extra cash. Yet, starting a blog is the easy part – the hard part is getting people to visit your blog on a regular basis. If it is just a hobby it can be gratifying to know that people are enjoying what you have to say. If you are trying to make a little extra money, having the right amount of visitors can be directly correlated to how much money you actually make. Here are 5 ways to attract a loyal reader base for your blog.

  1. When you want to start your own blog you might have a number of different ideas. The best way to attract a faithful readership is to stick with one idea. Focusing on one topic or métier will offer your blog a special distinction amongst the others on the web. The more unique your blog, the higher your chances are of targeting a very specific demographic and thus more readers.
  2. Another way to attract a loyal readership is to increase SEO. Search Engine Optimization simply means that you fill up your site with keywords and meta tags that people might be searching on search engines to increase the likelihood that someone will stumble upon your site. Many blog platforms have plugins that will allow you to fill up your site with these very specific tags. The more keywords you add the better you chances of rising to the top of the various different search engines.
  3. One other great way to increase readership to build a strong social network presence. Growing a large fan base on any of the major social networks will allow you to connect with a much larger audience, usually all at once. Developing your presence on social networks takes time and dedication, but studies show the bigger your presence is, the more likely you are of building a much more loyal reader base.
  4. Also, you want to publish content on a regular basis. Generally, people want to keep visiting every day and they expect to see new content. This might seem daunting, but posting at least one blog post a day will offer consistency and consequently a more loyal readership. If you don’t have the time or the energy, you can always find contributors or a site administer to do the work for you.
  5. Out of all the quote meanings, “bad design is ubiquitous” is pretty self-explanatory and apropos. One of the most important ways to build a loyal readership is to make your site user friendly. Your blog should be simple to navigate and easy to read. Typically, you don’t want a bunch of irregular colors, like yellow or white text on a black background. Choose neutral colors and if you want to go for something bright and flashy, keep it minimal and designated. Having a beautifully designed site can mean the difference of people exiting right away or sticking around to read what you have to say.

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Adding Interactive Features to Your Blog

Posted: 22 Feb 2013 06:58 AM PST

Blogging is a great way to develop a creative outlet for personal expression, build a reputation as a forward-thinking writer, or promote a business among many other things. People all over the world are taking up blogging for their own reasons, and this revolution in web publishing has given everyone the chance to have their voices heard. One of the most unique aspects of the blog as a publishing platform is the potential for interactive features. Your visitors can do more than just read–they can become involved in something much bigger than a simple article.

Comments are the most basic and essential interactive feature that every blog should have. Allowing your visitors to offer their own feedback on your writing opens up a whole new dimension of interactivity. This helps to increase traffic on blogs, as people are visiting not only to read your latest articles, but to have ongoing discussions with other users via comment boxes. Every popular blogging platform features some kind of comment utility–consider adding open commenting to your blog as your first interactive feature.

If you’d like to go one step further in accommodating user interaction, consider setting up a discussion forum for your blog. This allows your users to discuss any matters they like in a more open setting that encourages repeat visiting, loyal readership, and the cultivation of a friendly community. If your blog has grown to the point that commenting becomes unwieldy, consider adding a forum to your blog to encourage more user interactivity.

Blogs and social media networks have grown up hand in hand, and in fact social media has been instrumental in the growth of blogging as a literary platform. This has been largely due to the function of sharing. Social media sharing allows for instantaneous exposure to nearly limitless audiences. Adding social media sharing buttons to your blog is among the most beneficial ways to promote user interaction. When a reader enjoys an article or post, he or she will have the option to easily share your work with a few mouse clicks. Suddenly, your blog is making its way through social media channels, gaining more popularity with every share.

Some bloggers may occasionally feel burdened by their craft, which is perfectly natural. While blogs offer more freedom than traditional publication, they also impose new requirements. Bloggers must come up with new and interesting content on a regular basis in order for their blogs to stay popular and relevant. To offset this burden of creativity, many bloggers solicit guest posts. Offer your users the option of submitting their own stories, graphics and other contributions. This will increase the variety of interesting content that you can post, as well as relieve stress.

Always make sure that your new blog features have a purpose, and that they’ll be used. While an interactive world map may be a great feature for some sites, your readers may not make use of it. Measure the popularity of your interactive blog features, and consider polling the audience to get their honest thoughts. This is another great way to encourage interactivity, and you can use it to improve your blog and build a loyal following.

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at 08:05  

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