8logglng besL pracLlces

keeplng Lhe hearL ln your blog ls a llLLle llke keeplng your own hearL healLhy. lor a healLh check, Lry
Lhe LkC approach:
Lngage wlLh oLher blogs and your own readers
keep Lhe maLerlal fresh and exclLlng
G|ve people a reason Lo reLurn
eople readlng your blog wanL Lo see:
Cplnlon: say whaL you really Lhlnk.
A personal Louch: 8logs llve, breaLhe, and dle based on Lhe level of lnvolvemenL wlLh Lhelr
readers and oLher blogs. ersonallLy ls key ln Lhls klnd of engagemenL. ueveloplng a volce
and persona for your blog ls lmporLanL, buL should come naLurally.
8egular posLs:
ost Cn 1he Go: lrom your moblle devlce of cholce, you can publlsh anyLlme, from
anywhere. use Lhe 8logsy app on Lhe lad. osL vla emall or LexL message uslng Lhe secreL
emall address. lrom your lhone or lod 1ouch, use Lhe 1ypepad app. ?ou can also slgn ln Lo
Lypepad.com from your moblle browser.
Schedu|e osts 1o ub||sh In 1he Iuture: 1he !"#$%&' )* sLaLus allows you Lo deslgnaLe a
fuLure daLe and Llme for your posLs Lo publlsh. Schedullng posLs ls noL [usL for when you go
on vacaLlon. lf you have mulLlple ldeas for a posL, spread ouL Lhe ldeas across several posLs.
ubllsh one posL now and seL Lhe oLhers Lo publlsh over Lhe nexL few days.
keb|og Irom our Iavor|te S|tes: 8rowse your favorlLe slLes for lnsplraLlon and use Lhe 8log
lL bookmarkleL Lo sLarL your posL addlng your own commenLary.

1o aLLracL people:
use caLchy LlLles and sLrong flrsL paragraphs. ln Lhe flrsL Lwo paragraphs, Lry Lo glve Lhe
reader an ldea of whaL you're Lalklng abouL, whaL you Lhlnk abouL Lhe sub[ecL, and -
Lowards Lhe end of Lhe second paragraph - a Leaser Lo geL Lhem Lo read more.
use a casual Lone: preLend LhaL you're havlng a conversaLlon.
keep Lhe dlscusslon open: ask quesLlons...
C||ck your own ||nks. When you posL an arLlcle LhaL llnks Lo oLher posL or blogs, be sure Lo
cllck Lhose llnks afLer you posL. llrsL, Lhls slmply verlfles LhaL your llnks work, whlch ls always
a good CA check. Second, Lhls wlll cause your slLe Lo show up ln Lhe sLaLs and referrer logs of
Lhe slLes you llnk Lo. MosL bloggers Lrack Lhelr Lrafflc and referrers rellglously, so Lhls wlll
make sure Lhey are aware of your posL as soon as lL's been publlshed.
Don't be afra|d to promote. l've wrlLLen a number of posLs LhaL l LhoughL would be of
lnLeresL Lo oLher bloggers or slLes, such as 8oberL Scoble, MacSurfer, and Packlng neLfllx. My
flrsL hope was LhaL Lhe wrlLlng would be so capLlvaLlng LhaL Lhe posLs would slowly rlse Lo
Lhe Lop of Lhe blogosphere and be noLlced. noL a good plan!

1o keep people comlng back for more:
Llnk Lo oLher blogs whenever posslble. lf you llnk Lo oLher blogs, chances are Lhey wlll read
you and llnk back.
1rackbacks are anoLher way of llnklng Lo a blog. lnsLead of commenLlng on a blog posL you
can posL your commenL on your own blog, and Lrackback Lo Lhe lnlLlal posL. 1hls creaLes a
llnk on Lhe lnlLlal posL, so when people read LhaL posL, Lhey see LhaL you commenLed on lL
and lL lncreases Lhe llkellhood LhaL Lhey wlll cllck on Lhe llnk Lo read your posL. And lf Lhey
llke lL, Lhey mlghL explore Lhe resL of your blog and come back Lo read lL agaln.
kead other b|ogs, and wr|te about what you read. keep a llsL of blogs, however shorL or
long, and read Lhem on a regular basls. 1hls wlll glve you an ldea whaL people are Lalklng
abouL ln Lhe blogosphere, and brlng your blog lnLo Lhe conversaLlon. lf you wanL Lo
commenL on someLhlng use your blog web address Lo dlrecL people back Lo your blog. lf you
wanL Lo wrlLe abouL and/or Lrackback Lo anoLher posL, llnk Lo Lhe lnlLlal posL ln whaL you
wrlLe.
1urn-around matters.1hlngs move fasL ln Lhe blogosphere. A sLory mlghL caLch on wlLh a
few blogs, and spread llke wlldflre Lo Lhe resL. lf you Lake more Lhan 24 hours Lo have your
say, you mlghL mlss an opporLunlLy Lo aLLracL llnks, Lrackbacks, and new readers. Whenever
posslble, lf you wanL Lo wrlLe abouL a hoL news sLory LhaL's all over Lhe blogosphere, Lurn lL
around by Lhe nexL day aL Lhe laLesL. And don'L forgeL Lo llnk and Lrackback Lo oLher blog
posLs whenever posslble.
Use synd|cat|ng techno|og|es. xML and 8SS feeds are a Lechnlcal ways of syndlcaLlng your blog Lo
oLher blogs, a sorL of personal A Wlre for your campalgn. lL ls a sLandard feaLure of mosL blogs, buL
make sure your blog has lL enabled, elLher Lhrough 8SS (8eally Slmple SyndlcaLlon) or ALom.

Sources used for Lhls paper
8ulldlng a 8eLLer 8log
hLLp://www.echodlLLo.com/blogglng
hLLp://everyLhlng.Lypepad.com/blog/2012/08/publlsh-new-posLs-frequenLly.hLml