So many people have been emailing me about blogging tips that I thought I would put together a post with a few of my tips. I am in no way an expert on blogging, so keep that in mind as you read. On to the tips:
- Produce good, original content (the most important tip!). What do people want to read? Or better, what is your purpose for
writing? I was talking with Amusing Myself Musings a few days ago and we were discussing this very topic: content. Often, if you are not getting readers, revisit what you are posting. Find a topic people will be interested in reading AND returning! My personal favorites are those blogs that talk about a topic of which I have no experience and/or is written from a personal perspective. One of my favorites, to give example, is Power Plant Men. I know nothing of power plants but I find the topic mesmerizing and Power Plant man always provides a great story, well written and usually includes a life lesson. - Post enough to get noticed. I had someone email me last week asking how to get more people to notice her blog. I visited her page and she had not written a new post in 3 weeks! There’s your answer. If enough posts are not hitting the reader or available for tag searching, your reach will be limited. And limited reach equals limited readers and views.
- Learn to use tags properly. This is easily the most underused tool in blogging. Opinionated Man at Harsh Reality, http://aopinionatedman.com/, has written a great article on this topic which I recommend reading. Imagine being able to replicate yourself into a little computer person standing beside the WordPress highway. Bloggers are zipping up and down this highway and you stand on the median waving flags for people to see. Tags are your flags! They bring recognition to your post and page.
- Be open-minded and don’t get your feelings hurt. I encourage a wide range of opinions and not everyone agrees with me all the time. If you could read some emails I receive you would be shocked! I read and I dispose. Not all of the criticism is constructive, but some is very constructive! I do not take the criticism personal, even when it is down right destructive in nature. There are a lot of people in this world and some of those people have intentions to be mean, but still have valid perspectives! Remaining open-minded keeps you from pigeon-holing your blog.
- Be present in your blog. I read a lot of blogs and I can tell the bloggers that live their site and those sites that have the shingles falling from the roof! The more posts you make, the more comments you respond to, the more blogs you interact with, the more people will find your page. Why would you expect people to visit your page when you don’t even visit your page?!
- Learn about and use social media. I use Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn and WordPress as my social media outlets; yes, i treat WP as social media! The more you utilize these outlets the more views your site will receive. And keep in mind if you produce good, original content people will share! All of these people using social media are begging for things to share, so give it to them. But you must be a part of the game in order to capitalize.
- Interact with other bloggers. You must get out and find other bloggers, read, posts, comment on posts and communicate with people; that is how it is done.
These are just a few little tidbits I have utilized in the last few months that I thought might help. I hope you all enjoy!
Big Dreamer
Good advice!
Thank you very much! And thank you for reading!!
Hope your weekend is treating you well!
It is! At the beach house relaxing and writing!
Sounds nice!
Very very nice! Lol
Those are all excellent and valuable tips. Like you said tags are the most important to the success of people finding you.
Many people use them so poorly.
Reblogged this on HarsH ReaLiTy and commented:
Some great tips for new bloggers. Thanks for the mention! 🙂 -OM
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Great advice. I’m a fairly new blogger and am still trying to figure out the best use of tags. The advice was incredibly helpful! Thanks!
Go read Harsh Reality’s posts in Blogging Advice. Read them all!
Thanks, will do.
Thank you so much for reading! I am glad these tips helped!
From my personal experience I think first and foremost it can’t just be about how many people view/follow your blog. When I focused too much on that I found I wasn’t being authentic to what I find interesting. Catering to the masses can be a stifling thing. If you are interested ins something chances are, since we are all connected, at least one other person in the world is too. My philosophy with blogging is if even one person finds what they were looking for, is entertained, is given hope and validation, inspiration….then it is mission accomplished. When I get inundated with too many posts because I follow more than just one blog, I don’t read them all and tend to get annoyed a bit – most people don’t have the time or the attention span to read a bunch of posts in a day from one person. Just my opinion Also, inspiration doesn’t always flow every day and I think it’s important to do more than just post to post.
Very good points, thank you for leaving your perspective!!
Excellent advice! Thank you for taking the time to put it together. One of my favorite blogs is “creekviewcarol’, which is supposedly written by an indoor cat, whose ‘siblings’ include dogs and other cats … this is basically fiction based on real life and is highly entertaining, at least to me, but then, I adore cats enough to write a series from the perspective of a Siamese tom cat….
I also enjoy your page!
Thank you! Are you ‘owned by a fur-baby?”
I am! Sir Bentley is a Maltese mix. Spoiled rotten and the apple of our eyes!!
He sounds wonderful!
Great post! All very good, valid tips.
Thank you very much for reading!
Thanks for this post. Great tips.. 🙂
Thank you for reading!!
😀
Wow, I would have never known you weren’t an expert if you hadn’t said anything. These are good, solid tips. I usually post one post a day, Monday-Friday. I feel like I haven’t been able to post enough for people to want to read my blog, and sometimes I feel like when I’m making sure to comment on other people’s blogs, they don’t reciprocate. The lovely BG from Getting Through Anxiety has been a faithful commentator on my site, but I rarely see anyone else’s comments. How do I get people to comment on my blog posts? Am I not being interactive enough, or is my content simply uninteresting?
I highly recommend you visit Harsh Reality’s page and read his blogging tips. he actually has several great articles on this topic. They are very helpful.
Alrighty! Will do!
Hi Danny, Great blogging tips. I appreciate your blog and what you bring to the table. Finding the right balance between posting and keeping up with social media is the biggest challenge for me. I think one thing that people forget to do quite often is mention their names in their about page. Some say they do this to be private but if you are blogging how can you not let us know who we are interacting with? Sorry for the little rant can you tell it’s a pet peeve of mine. Thant, and not acknowledging a comment. Just a few of my personal observations. Thanks for posting. Hilda
Adding my name on my page was one of the first things I did. I do not listen nor read much from folk that talk but assign anonymously to the post. I sign my name to specifically identify myself to build trust and bond with others. That to me is common sense. I agree with you 100%!
Thank you for acknowledging my rant. Lol. I appreciate and value your opinion.
Thanks for these tips.
Thank you for reading my post!!
Great advice, I love teaching Blogging 101 and 201.
A. Blake, thank you so much for reading my post!! I appreciate you taking time from your day to stop in and read.
Wonderful tips on blogging. I’m pretty new at it and am having a great time, but I do need to get out there more. Thanks again.
I am glad to help in any way I can. Glad you found the advice useful! – Danny
Reblogged this on CELONA'S BLOG and commented:
I thought this would be a great share for all young bloggers in the house..
Twas very useful 😉
Thanks for the tips! 😀
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my page and read my post!
Awesome advice! I agree that tags are underused! Blogging 101 helped me see that.
Great post! Found you through OP and your suggestions are very useful! I have been using them over my blogging career, and I have to say that it’s paying off!
Thank you very much! It is great to connect! I will check out your page!
Thanks for the great tips given! I am definitely trying it out. One thing I do realized about my blog is that I have not post anything that is personal. Maybe I should do it so that my followers can know me better. 🙂
I highly recommend doing so. People identify more when they know who you are.
I’m writing one now! Thanks for the awesome advice again! 🙂
Glad to help!
Danny I love the Power Plant Men. One of my favorite blogs. Always read it.
It is a great blog. I like his writing style!
He was one of the first blogs I started following. Weird blog for a girl I suppose, but something about him caught my attention.
Me too. He has a great blog!
Hi, Danny! Great post and you’ve included some of the most important tips for being successful in blogging! Love your blog!
Shellie I appreciate your words incredibly! I am thankful that there are those, like yourself, that take time from your day to read what I write. I am grateful!
Great tips to ponder and act upon! Still trying to perfect my tagging. My biggest challenge is trying to find the time to read through posts, comment on other blogs and reading new blogs…then trying to assign sometime to myself to write, and then getting some quiet time. I don’t know how others with full-time jobs +kids do it without pausing on life. I’m still trying! 🙂
It takes a lot of work!
oh definitely yes!! 🙂
Thanks for the tips!
Thank you for reading my post!!!
Just what I need! I’m so new to all of this and I just changed all of my tags and it really helped! Thank you so much 🙂
Also, be sure to use at least 12 but no more than 15 tags.
This was a really good post.
I struggle with tags. I do my best but I don’t know if it’s enough. I use social media a lot but it hasn’t been much. I’d love it if you would take a look at my blog and let me know what I’m doing wrong? Would love to hear your opinion.
Thank you
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post! I will take a look today and give a few points of feedback. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
Thank you I really appreciate it x
Great tips!
Thank you!
Great tips!
Thank you for reading! I always appreciate that you take time from your busy day to give my page a read. It means a lot to me!
Same here, my friend!
Reblogged this on from the sticks to the bricks and back again and commented:
I was short a guest blogger for today, so I went to WordPress reader and typed in Social Media and Blogging and discovered Dream Big Dream Often. In lieu of a guest blog, I am re-blogging this blogging tips post from Dream Big Dream Often. Hope you find at least one useful tip. I did!
Thank you so much for the reblog!! Great to make contact!
Great tips! 🙂
Glad you found them useful.