Create A Sticky 404 Page

Build A Better Blog Day 29

Today's tip is one no blogger should be without. When someone tries to find something on your blog, say a post or a static page and the web server can't find it, it usually serves up some kind of error, known as a 404. If you run a self-hosted Wordpress blog there is usually a 404.php file in your themes root folder. If your blog is hosted with a service like Blogger or Wordpress.com, you probably won't have the ability to implement this tip. Sorry.

Here are some things you can put on your 404 page:

1. The last several posts from your blog
2. Show the last several comments
3. Show some of your categories or display a tag cloud
4. Show a list of the Archives
5. An option to search
6. Related posts of the key words used

Some blogging software have plug-ins you can use to create a 404 page that has all of these things built in. It requires a little bit of work on your part but once it's running it works quiet well. Try this link to see my 404 page. What I don't have on my 404 page are ads. Some people take this opportunity to throw a bunch of ads in front of you. You can do this, but I would recommend displaying relevant content instead.

Link to the plug-in I used on my 404 page. 

ProBlogger's day twenty-nine post: Email a Blogger that Linked to You to Say Thanks

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Yes, I’m Participating In NaNoWriMo This Year

That's right, starting tomorrow I'm setting out to write an entire novel, 50,000 words, in 30 days. Crazy? Maybe. I've been priming myself this past month by writing one or more blog posts everyday and writing small short stories. I'm ready, excited and hope I can get as close to 50,000 as possible. If you've participated in NaNoWriMo before you know what it's like. I'd love to hear your stories. If this is your first year, like me, leave your blog link in the comments and let us in on how you're doing.

Since the average daily number of words I will need to write in order to accomplish the goal is 1667, I hope I can fit a few days blogging in there.

My Build A Better Blog series is almost complete and I have two other series I am researching to write on, but won't be as aggressive as the one I'm just finishing. I'm just having fun writing and hope someday to have a Novel in Barnes and Noble. Wish me luck.

By the way, I ran across this really cool site today called NaSoAlMo. It's the national Solo Album Month. Just like writing a Novel in 30 days, this site encourages musicians to record an album in 30 days. Very cool. If you're a musician, visit the site and give this a try. If you do let us know. Good luck.

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Excellent Utah Facebook Developer Garage

Yesterday was the second Utah Facebook Developer Garage and we had a decent turnout. We talked about a couple new features of the Facebook API, Mobile capabilities and the new Invitation screen.

I want to thank Tim Stay of Know More Media for letting us use his conference room at the last minute. We had munchies, discussed the viability of Facebook and Social network applications, and future Garage events. I think fun was had by all.

I posted a couple of pics on the Facebook group, but I also posted them here for those not a member of Facebook.

Also, thanks to Jess Stay for making sure this whole thing happened.

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Thank A Blogger For Linking To You

Build A Better Blog Day 28

Everyone wants to be recognized and appreciated. Take the time to thank those who make your blog successful. I started a weekly Props to my Peeps post where I write about someone or something that helped me or turned a good deed during the week. I use their name, what they did and a link to a blog if they have one. I always get permission to discuss anything personal so I don't make the person upset or uncomfortable.

This tip doesn't have to be real complicated. Just pay attention to who reads your blog and who creates links to your posts, and honor them once in a while. Here's a great example. Jason Alba from JibberJobber gives out a 'You Get It" award each month. Liz Strauss gives out an SOB award, Successful and Outstanding Bloggers. Come up with your own award or keep it simple with a post thanking them.

ProBlogger's day twenty-eight post: What is Your Blog's Mission Statement

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Track of the day: Decoy by Red Blanket

Red Blanket
"Decoy" (mp3)
from "A Southern Manitoban Murder of Crows"
(C12 Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

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Protect Your Blogs Content

Build A Better Blog Day 27

Today's tip is a reminder to protect your blogs content. Over time you till undoubtedly create a large amount of content. You may want some of that content protected by copyright and some you may not. It all depends on what's important to you and what's not. However I would establish a terms of use statement on your blog just so everyone knows how you want your content treated. Will this stop someone from stealing your content? Absolutely not.

There is a great post over at DailyblogTips about Copyright Laws and blog content. I'm not a lawyer and I don't really want to get into a pissing match with Lawyers out there, but there are some good points in this article none the less. Here are a few ideas I like:

1. Make sure if you use someone else's material you either get written permission (this is pretty much what I do) or the material is explicitly marked public domain. You may lose any copyright to your own content if you use someone else's material.


2. Clearly mark on your site what is public domain and what's not. It may be that none of your material is public domain or all of it is. That's why I encourage you to create a static page, or some type of post that states you terms of use. I didn't have one until this post, now I do.


3. If you don't want to defend certain published material, don't make it available to the public. Did that make sense? Really, if you don't want the hassle of chasing down people that steal blog content, then don't post something. A good example may be an Author who posts a book, story or article. They may claim it's copyright but will have to battle anyone who uses it without permission, every time.


4. Do ask someone who has stolen you content to remove it or give you proper acknowledgment. This may be tricky but its the fight you may have to take on.


5. Remember images have a copyright too. Taking images from other sites and using them may put your content at risk. Again I would get some type of permission before using images. And refrain from directly linking to an image unless given permission. This puts an unwanted strain on the images web server.

The better your writing get and the more visitors your blog gets the more your content's copyright will play in the success of your blog. However, don't let copyright get in the way of blogging. Just make sure you have all the permissions you need, and you state your contents use and you should be pretty good.

Learn more about Creative Commons here, and view a presentation on blog content copyright given at the Bloggin4Business Conference by Rand Bateman.

I'm sure there are some lawyers out there who can add to this. What are your thoughts on blog copyrights?

Problogger's day twenty-seven post: Find a Sponsor for Your Blog

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Facebook Opens API To Mobile Developers

This is a very exciting addition to the Facebook developer platform. One major application I'm writing will definitely take advantage of these new features, specifically SMS. I use Facebook via my mobile device most of the time. I'm exciting this new addition to the API will bring richer applications to market.

Reading more about the SMS feature of the API it seems there is a throttle on the number of messages that can be sent out. That makes sense seeing how there is a cost to send out messages. However, I can also see this is as a drawback if you are writing an application and need to send out notifications each time an action occurs.

There seems to be 3 main parts of the SMS API.

1. User opt-in


2. Design features


3. User opt-out

One really cool option is a user can interact with an application via SMS. I assume this means I can send commands back to an application and have it perform some type of function. It will remain to be seen if this can be a feature that is usable or not.

The next part of the API is access to the profile and canvas areas. This gives mobile developers the ability to make mobile applications act more like the full web based version. And if I'm not mistaken, you can write one application that can be used via the web or on a mobile device. That is very cool.

As a budding Facebook application developer I hope to take advantage of these features. I hope there is more to come regarding the mobile API.

Link to the Facebook Platform for Mobile.

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Blogging For Love Or Money

Build A Better Blog Day 26

Today I'm asking a question; do you blog for love or money? You may be blogging for both but I doubt it. It's a very valid question and should be answered logically.

The logical progression for bloggers is to start introducing ads somewhere in there blog in hopes of earning some much needed income. If you ask most bloggers they would be happy with enough income to pay for their hosting costs. Personally I think you should be in one of two camps. One, you should build your blog template and content to drive advertising dollars, or you should just forget it.

You can look at it this way, when you dabble you never really succeed. Sure you may capture a few clicks that equate into a few pennys, but without a real plan you will be wasting your time. Looking at several of the major blogs who make money from ads, the site is all about the ads. If you are prepared to do that go for it. You have your work cut out for you. But if you are patient you can evetually make some decent money. It takes constant change to find the right advertising structure, be it banners, links, graphics, or widgets. There's plenty of opportunity but it takes a lot of work.

If you're into blogging for love, you can still earn something to offset the cost. As you build your blog, your readership and people get to know you, it's easy to make money from things like consulting, writing copy, building blog sites or creating educational materials and selling them. Or you may simply decide this is a great hobby which has a small cost each month.

One word of caution. Don't pay for these get rich quick e-book, or services, swearing they can get you at the top of the search engines or charge you to put their clients ads on your blog. With a little effort and research on your part you can find all the information you need to make money with your blog. You don't need to pay someone else to get it. If you are serious about becoming a Pro Blogger, then I suggest you start reading the ProBlogger. Add it to your RSS reader right now.

Tell us why you do, or don't, incorporate ads into your blog?

ProBlogger's day twenty-six post: Link Up to a Competitor

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Sweat Your Blogs Details

Build A Better Blog Day 25

Today's tip is to absolutely sweat the details. If you are serious about building a successful blog you need to make sure even the smallest aspects are right. People have literally millions of options when it comes to blogs. If you work hard to build a solid following, making small mistakes will undermine all your efforts. Here is a small list of things to continually pay attention too:

1. Spelling and Grammar. Have a serious problem with either of these and some people will just move on. At least take the time to run your content through a spell checker before posting. I made this vital mistake just a day ago. Its somewhat embarrassing, especially when someone points it out.


2. Make sure all your links work. Anytime there is a link on you site its your responsibility to make sure it works. If it doesn't, get rid of it. Of course you have no control over links going away or moving, but you are responsible for making sure you remove dead links.


3. Make sure all your graphics show up. One problem with graphics, especially ones you don't control, is they are move or removed from their original location. Your best bet is to host them on your own server if possible.


4. Make sure you can post comments without blowing up your blog. I don't know how many times I've written a comment and the blog software crashes for some reason. Frustrating because I don't know if my comment was saved, and if was lengthy I'll probably never return. This is one reason having a way to contact you is so important.


5. Finally, make sure your blog simply loads as expected. Over the years I've made changes to my blog, either upgrading, theme changes or adding plug-ins which caused my blog to quit running. Some times I've discovered this on my own but I feel real stupid when a reader emails me that my blog is broken. Hosts go down on occasion and you can't control that but you should always verify your blog runs after making changes.

One area I might suggest caution with are ads. I've seen people go completely overboard with ads and make it so hard to find the content I just move on. Of all the sites I visit those are the types I feel taken advantage of. Get me to come to your site then ambush me with more ads than content. I never return. Don't make that mistake. I'll cover ads in the next installment so I won't go into those any more.

My point here is to make sure you blog is running on all cylinders. If you take blogging serious then you should make sure all aspects of your blog are working. Have fun.

ProBlogger's day twenty-five post: Go Shopping and Improve Your blog

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Decide Your Blogs Domain Now Rather Than Later

Build A Better Blog Day 24

Today I want to talk about the type of blogging platform you use. There are basically two main types; one is self-hosted, where you pay someone to provide the infrastructure to run a blog, and the other is hosted, where you use a pre-configured application like Blogger or Vox. The other part that goes along with what type of platform you choose is whether you have your own domain or use a hosted domain. Here are some examples:

Self Hosted:
yourcompany.com
blog.yourcompany.com
yourcompany.com/blog

Hosted:
yourblog.blogspot.com
blog.vox.com
myblog.wordpress.com

There are conflicting opinions whether a blog hosted at Blogger gets more search engine love than one which is self-hosted. For me, there is one major issue with using a blog hosted by someone else; if you ever want to host your own blog and have full control, migrating will be much harder. Sure there are built in programs that will suck in all your posts, but there is something that you lose not matter what you do; links to your blog. Here is an example:

myblog.blogsport.com/archives/this-is-my-first-post/

The above URL is what all the search engines have. But now you want this:

mydomain.com/2007/11/1/this-is-my-first-post

Now, if you decide that you want to host your own blog you have a problem, there could be an extremely large amount of work to redirect all your old links to new ones. How to do this is beyond the scope of this blog, but believe me, it's not something you want to tackle. The best way to avoid this problem is to plan long term. Decide up front you want to host your own blog, or at least find a solution that will let you use you own domain name.

Most people base their decision on what platform to use on cost. Services like Blogger, Wordpress.com, Typepad or Vox are all free. With free you lose some things such as configuration. You may get some leeway but mainly you get to choose the name and the theme and that’s it. If you want to make major changes you have to pay the company for access to those features. The drawback besides cost is most of these blogs can be set up in a matter of seconds and you're off and running. Before you decide to start here, make sure you have taken some time to plan you blog and what you want to accomplish.

I really want to give my personal opinion here. Pony up the few dollars it costs to have your own domain and hosting. You can get a domain for under $10 a year at GoDaddy.com and they even supply hosting services for just a few dollars more. There are dozens of great hosts. Ask your readers who they like. In the end you will be happy you did.

ProBlogger's day twenty-four post: Do a Search Engine Optimization Audit

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Numb To What Has Become Commonplace

Posted by mobile phone:
Jim Long is a guy I would love to follow around and experience life as he sees it. His job as an NBC cameraman gives him a unique opportunity to experience life as it happens. Jim chooses to share some of his experiences with his friends on Twitter. I'm lucky to be one of those friends.

The other day Jim flew with President Bush to San Diego and he gave us a behind the scenes look at how it was going. But one tweet caught my eye and I'm not sure anyone really caught it. Her is what he said right after landing back in Washington:

newmediajim: as our plane taxis we pass an honor guard placing a coffin in a hearse here on base

Jim has seen this many times but the general public doesn't. Brave soldiers are still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. Whether you agree with our current military actions or not, our fellow Americans are giving their lives. Lets not forget them please.

Thanks Jim for remembering the things that are still important.

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Get Your Blog Readers Involved, Hold A Contest

Build A Better Blog Day 23

An easy and inexpensive way to get your readers involved in your blog is to hold a contest. This doesn't have to be elaborate or time consuming, in fact, the readers need to do all the work. Here is an example of what you could write in your contest blog post:

This months contest is a reader self portrait, with a twist. Write a blog post about a picture you take or was taken of you, standing next to your favorite car. Come back to this post and write a comment with a link back to your post. I'll pick the post with the coolest post/image and and I'll write one more blog post announcing the winner. So you will get two links back to your blog. The winner will then choose next months winner and so on. Good luck.

Of course this is only an example. You will want to think it through and write out what you want to happen in your contest. Make sure you give ample time for as many readers to participate as possible, thats the whole point of the contest.

Over time you may give prizes, heck Darren Rowse gave away over $60,000 in prizes for his blogs birthday celebration. I wouldn't expect you to do this but it's just an example of what you can do. You might start an internet scavenger hunt, picture taking contest or writing contest. The possibilities are endless. Initially the idea is to build connections with your readers and their blogs. Everyone likes free publicity, become the PR or Marketing tool for your readers.

The last thing I want to mention are Blog Carnivals. The idea behind a blog carnival is several blogs that have similar focus each write about a specific topic and then supply the links to each of the blog posts written. The next week its a different blog hosting the theme and the links. It rotates through a group of people. This gives everyone a chance to get some link love. Check out the Blog Carnival website and get involved.

B log contests can be fun for everyone, just make sure you plan well enough ahead of time that everyone understands what they are getting out of it. Build up the contest. Blog about it several days or weeks before the event. Comment on other blogs about it. Use Social Networks like Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook or MySpace to promote the contest. There are plenty of avenues, you just need to make some effort.

ProBlogger's day twenty three post: Go on a Dead Link Hunt

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Utah Geek/Blogger Dinner Tonight

Hey everyone, tonight there is a Geek/Blogger dinner in Sandy, Utah. Get all the details here. Have fun without me.

Time and Place
Date: Thursday, October 25, 2007
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Hometown Buffet
Street: 10390 S State St
City/Town: Sandy City, UT

Gcal link
Facebook link

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Create Catchy Blog Titles That Beg To Be Read

Build A Better Blog Day 22

You've heard the old adage don't judge a book by it's cover? Well, your blog has a cover, and its your blog posts. By now you should have a well functioning RSS feed that is syndicated with several blog directory services. When someone has a number of feeds in a reader, they scan for interesting headlines, just like a news paper. Think of the last time you were looking for something interesting to read, did you stop on a catchy headline? If course you did. Its human nature. We are all curious.

A blogs title is a very important part of the overall post. The content must be powerful and engaging, but you have to get someone interested in what you have to say before they will ever read it. I suggest you read some RSS feeds or post directories to get an idea how other bloggers are titling their posts. Visit other blogs, see what bloggers are using for titles. You might find some titles have little or nothing to do with the content you read. This is on purpose. I don't suggest you do this because it may turn some of your readers off like a bait and switch.



Take some time to come up with the blogs title. Some times I change mine 3 or4 times before settling on a title. Most of the time I write the post, edit, re-read and then come up with a title. I start out with an idea but that's not the title. Depending on your blogs focus you may try powerful title with calls to action. Or you may have a creative blog that stirs emotion. You also want to use good key words which will help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These are key words search engines like Google will pick up on and rank your blog higher on its result pages.

Let's try a few out:

• Today I went to the library vs. Picked up the Steven King book Bag of Bones at the Library today

The second title contained several key words that the search engines will pick up on plus if I'm a Steven King fan, I might want to read what you have to say.

• Back from vacation vs. View the pictures of my vacation to Machu Picchu

The second title tells me there are pictures, which everyone wants to see, and maybe someone is getting ready to go to South America and wants to get your take on the area.

The point is to give us a taste of what you want us to read. Tell a small quick story. Use words that carry larger meanings or paint a picture. You may try using words that describe a smell or a feeling. You will get better with time. Writing great blog post titles is an art. Practice makes perfect.

ProBlogger's day twenty two post: Catch New Readers Up on the Basics of your Blog

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Use Your Site Stats To Write A Better Blog

Build A Better Blog Day 21

Today's tip is to use your blogs stats to help you decide whats popular with your readers, and write more about that. It's a proven fact people will use a search engine to find your blog more than any other way. Your blog stats can tell you exactly what words they are using to find you and what blog posts they are landing on.

Over a year ago I wrote a blog post on removing sharpie ink from a white board. Its a very common problem in offices everywhere. I had inherited a white board that had a considerable amount of permanent ink drawn all over the surface making it difficult to see any new writing. I grabbed my keyboard and typed in "remove sharpie ink from white board". Straight forward question and I knew Google would show me the site I needed. And sure enough it did. At the time, the number one site had an article that told me exactly what to do.

Once I had followed all the instructions and cleaned the board, I just had to share this with others. So I blogged about it here. And to this day, the words "sharpie" "remove" and "white board" drive more users to my site than any other. I am shocked because its the only time I've ever written about the subject and I consider it to be way off topic for my blog. So what can you do to take advantage of this phenomenon?

Right after I noticed the increased traffic to my blog I installed a Wordpress plug-in called Short Stats. This very simple blog statistics program showed me a lot about who was visiting my site, what they were looking for and looking at. A few months later I installed Google Analytics which gave me an even better view into what was happening with my site.

Some of the things I noticed was traffic for words like T-Mobile, MDA, Mobile, Windows, and posts with images. Many of my posts mention these key words and I try and link to some other blog post or web site to improve the link tree and help Google index my blog better. But most importantly I started writing more about the topics people visited my blog to read. They aren't the only things I write about, but I try and stay with the general theme.

Here are some key points:

1. Install some type of statistics or analysis software for your blog. If you host your own you can use your web hosts built in stats or try using a plug-in like Short Stats.


2. Check you stats often. I'm anal about it and check several times a day. I'll see a spike in traffic and want to know why and decide if I can capitalize on the spike.


3. Change what you are blogging about if you notice a trend. I'm not saying you should only blog about whats most popular but I would try and keep your posts along those same lines. You may find out you want to go straight up with a niche and move your other posts to a personal blog site. Many people do this.


4. Make sure you have a good search system on your blog. Whether you use the built in search or something like Google Search, it's extremely important to provide some type of search mechanism. I always make sure my search box is above the fold and on every page.


5. Try different topics. If you're not getting the traffic you want look at changing what you blog about. And make sure your blog is syndicated using RSS.

There are plenty of free stat services like StatCounter and Free Stats. These require you add some type of code to your pages. If you aren't well versed in PHP or HTML this may be a little more than you bargained for. The simplest stats program comes from your web hosting provider and can usually be accessed from an Administrator panel.

Tell me what stat software you use, what you have found interesting and what you have done with the information.

ProBlogger's day twenty one post: Make a Reader Famous

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Benefit Dinner for Injured Utah Father

Hey all, there is a dinner tonight to benefit a friend of Ash Buckles who was paralyzed from the chest down in an auto accident a few weeks ago. This man is a Father of two and has one due in a few weeks. This is an extreme hardship on the family and his friends are trying to do what ever they can. Visit Ash's blog for more details on the dinner.

To take it one step further, if you can't make the dinner, please consider donating to the Family. There is a PayPal button on Ash's website that will let you donate what ever you feel you can. I've seen this community come together to support those in need. We need to do it now. Thanks for your support.

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Track of the day: Stormy Eyes by Derek Miller

Derek Miller
"Stormy Eyes" (mp3)
from "The Dirty Looks"
(Arbor Records Ltd.)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

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Stay The Course, And Don’t Give Up

Build A Better Blog Day 20

Todays tip is for those new bloggers and those who are feeling like their blog isn't going any where. My recommendation to you is stay the course. There are millions of eyes reading blogs these days but there are 10 times that many who aren't. Eventually, your reader base will grow.

Many people today are writing one or more blogs. Although writing more than one blog can tedious and time consuming, it has its advantages.

1. If you a feeling overwhelmed cut back on the number of blog posts you write.


2. Reduce the number of blogs you maintain. Use the process described in Seth Godin's book The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick).


3. Ask your readers to help. Give one or more the opportunity to write for you, and then go on vacation.


4. Narrow your blogs focus which may make writing posts easier


5. Start commenting on more blogs. Read more blogs. If it's writers block this can help.

The over all point here is not to give up, especially if you've invested a large amount of time and effort into building your blog. But be careful not to let the quality of your writing slip. Don't get sloppy or write pointless posts. Try and keep your goals high.

ProBlogger's day twenty post: Run a Reader Survey

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Keep Your Blog Posts Unique

Build A Better Blog Day 19

Today's tip is this; write about what interests you and not what everyone else is writing about. One thing that disappoints me about some blogs are the regurgitated content they use from another site. I want to read original content. Find your niche then give us your spin. Make a list of the things you write about or interest you and store it with your blog posting schedule. Review it often to remind yourself what you want to write about.

Breaking a news headline or an getting an inside scoop might not be something that happens on your blog, and that's OK. Writing an opposing or agreeing opinion on a news story or other blog post is great. I read hundreds of RSS feeds and news sites which keep me informed about current events, market trends or breaking news. Some times I get a great blog idea and I write it up. This is a great way to keep your content fresh. Don't cheat or steal other content. Don't use parsing tools that scrape content from other sites and call it your own.

Having fresh content may require more time and research than a shoot from the hip post. What I mean by that is take some time to make sure what you are writing makes sense, is truthful and will be appealing. Make sure you pay attention to your language standards on spelling and grammar. I'm so glad I have a spell checker because I'm a terrible speller. Poor grammar and spelling will turn some readers off, and we don't want to give anyone a reason to not come back.

Taking some time to decide what your blog focus is will help in keeping your content unique and fresh. Write your posts, save them and re-read them. You might find areas you want to change or add. I read the web site by Grammar Girl often. She covers the English language pretty well and I've learned some things from her. I recommend reading her site. Don't forget to apply The 10% Solution.

ProBlogger's day nineteen post: Respond to Comments on Your Blog

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Prevent Blogging Disaster, Back It Up

Build A Better Blog Day 18

Today's tip is probably one of the most important I'll write about. You may spend hundreds of hours creating the perfect blog site, only to wake up one morning to find it all gone. I've seen it happen, and its happened to me. The feeling is gut wrenching. But it is avoidable with a little work ahead of time.

Here is how I create a disaster recovery system.

1. I have every post sent to me via email so I have all the content. If for some reason I lose my database at least I have all the blog posts and can re enter them.
2. I have an automated database backup scheduled with my hosting provider. Once the database is backed up its emailed to me and stored on a different FTP server. This took a little work but can be accomplished.
3. At least once a week I back up all the blog files. This includes themes, plug-ins and images. I make a lot of code tweaks so I want to make sure I have everything backed up.
4. Once a week I zip up all the blog files and database archives and store it on my Amazon S3 space. This is a pay service but its so cheap. The advantage here is my files are off site and be recovered from just about anywhere. There are several free services like Mozy and Xdrive you can use too.

A few weeks ago a site I was maintaining was some how reverted to files created months earlier. I'm not sure if the web hosting company restored a backup on top of all my files, but the result was months worth of work was lost. And the ironic thing was I didn't have a back up. I know, I was slapping myself in the face. No one else had too. I thought every thing was lost, then I remembered a web site called archive.org which lets you search a domain for snapshots of the site in the past. This saved me. Archive.org had one day of files with all my modifications and content so I was able to get a good majority of what I needed.

If you use a hosted service like Blogger or Wordpress.com or LiveJournal, these services probably have your files backed up, but I wouldn't count on it. You can still create a backup plan for these sites as well. Make sure all of your posts are coming to you via email or RSS and make sure you are backing up static page content after you create it. Then package it all up and save it on a different server, not your local computer.

How or what is your process for backing up?

Problogger day eighteen post: Create a Sneeze Page and Propel Readers Deep Within Your Blog

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Photowalking Salt Lake City v2

Yesterdays Photowalk on the west side of Salt Lake City was exciting and fun. This was my first Photowalk and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I felt a little intimidated with my starter Nikon D40, but after I'd had a chance to meet everyone and we got moving I forgot about the gear and just started taking pictures.

I hadn't been to this area of Salt Lake City in quiet a while. This is an area completely under construction, mixed with transients, a train station, a bus station and of all things Art Galleries. The architecture was great. Ann picked a really good location.

I took a lot of photos, 151 to be exact. Most of them were dupes trying to get better angles or lighting. Some had nothing to do with the theme of the Photowalk. And mostly I was just taking pictures of things that caught my eye. I'm still learning and so its important to try all kinds of things to see how they turn out.

Some of the pictures I took were too dark, or blurry, but some came out much better than I had hoped. You can see all of my photos here and the groups photos here. I can't wait for the next one.

The group photo above was shot by Harley Pebley. He gave me permission to use it. I'm the guy in the red shirt.

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The Writers 10% Rule

A few weeks ago I met a really great Writer named Ken Rand. Ken has been a writer for a very long time. He's written everything from newspaper articles to short stories to novels. One of the really cools things about Ken's writing is he covers a broad range of genres. If you want to learn from a writer who has done it all, Ken is your man.

While I was at Mountain Con III I bought a book from Ken called The 10% Solution. One of the panels Ken was on he talked about how you can self edit your writing using several passes to cut out all the fluff, or as he called it, the 10% reduction. Every time you read through your manuscript find areas that can be compressed using smaller or fewer words or removing entire paragraphs. When you're done you will have a more concise story and something more pleasing for Editors to read.

You can apply this same solution to writing blog posts. I try to reduce what I write by 10%. Some times its just not possible to reduce what you've written but I would at least try.

Side note here. Ken didn't ask me or pay me to say anything about this book. I have truly gotten a lot out of it and just wanted to share it with all of you.

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Use Social Networks To Build A Blog Brand

Build A Better Blog Day 17

Today's tip is about Social Networks. These networks are becoming more important to building a strong blog brand. Believe it or not most of the work required to build a better blog happens somewhere other than your site. I'm sure you've heard of sites like MySpace and Facebook, but you should also become familiar with sites like del.icio.us, Digg and Technorati. Each of these sites is unique and should be used in same aspect with your blog.

MySpace

One of the planets largest network is undoubtedly MySpace.com. I've been using this social site for some time and I know many others who do too. MySpace has taken it on the chin in the past for allowing bad behavior on the part of its members, but I have been able to connect with a lot of really cool people. If you take the time to connect with others who have the same interest as you on MySpace you should be able to build relationships that can benefit your blog traffic.

Facebook

Facebook is what I would consider the grown up version of MySpace. It has a lot of the same features; friends, applications and widgets, profiles and picture sharing. But where MySpace is all about skinning your site and adding music play lists, Facebook is about connecting on a social level. Facebook uses groups and networks to build a large group of users who have the same interest. These groups then share information on each others site. The target audience is different from MySpace and you can tell. One thing I noticed right away was the interface. Facebook is very clean and professional.

Where MySpace is open, meaning each user can have a vanity style URL and you can see the entire site, Facebook is closed; you must be a member of Facebook in order to see anyone's profiles. This is a drawback in my opinion, but I have built much stronger connections on Facebook than I ever have on MySpace. Become a facebook member. Start building good relationships. Comment on your friends and groups profiles. In return they will visit your blog.

del.icio.us

As you are surfing the net you come across sites you want to save for later. One of the best services for this is del.icio.us. Interesting play on a domain. Almost all blogging applications have a del.icio.us widget which allows you to share your links with readers. I highly recommend you do this.

Digg

Digg is a site where users post a link and then ask others to critique the link and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. You may even hear the term "the Digg affect". This is when a blog post was submitted to Digg and a large amount of people thought the post was worth reading, so they clicked though to the site. This could generate thousands if not tens of thousands of visitors in a small amount of time.

The Digg affect is great because it drives people to your blog and hopefully you've been implementing some of the tips I've previously given and these new visitors stick around.

Technorati

Technorati is is an interesting site. It basically keeps track of who is linking to your blog. If you use a ping service as I suggested earlier, readers on Technorati will see your post and click through. Technorati also keeps track of sites that link directly to one of your posts. The service also provides a voting type system.

Finally I want to talk about two small but absolutely necessary social applications you should be using. One is Twitter and the other is Jaiku. Of these two Twitter seems to have a larger following and this is because the information passed from user to user is done over a web application, GTalk IM or SMS. I want you to stop reading right now and go sign up for Twitter. If you do nothing else with this tip today, do this. the other service is called Jaiku, like Gikoo. Recently purchased by Google, I think this service will give Twitter a run for its money. Both of these services allow you to build social networks where you share small bits of information, or what's being termed micro-blogging, with a select group of people. It's highly effective and can be done on the go. I a good majority of my traffic from Twitter. Try it. You will be surprised.

In the end, for Social Networks to be effective you have to participate. If no one knows your there it's basically a waste of time. Take some time to check these different services out and incorporate them into your blog brand.

ProBlogger's day seventeen post: Run a StumbleUpon Campaign for Your Blog

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No GTD Tool Required

I read a blog by Patti this morning that has more more sense of the whole GTD (Getting Things Done) syndrome than many I have read. Patti seems to have gone down the same path I did after reading David Allen's famous book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Being the geek I am, there had to be some type of technology to make it work. After spending more time than should have been spent, I came to the same conclusion Patti did: you don't need a software tool to implement GTD.

This is my GTD tool. A Molekine notebook. Could be any notebook. In the past it was 25 cent notepads from Wal-Mart. Those wore out too fast so I upgraded. The only real change I've made to my system in a long time. I know from past experience when I write something in my Moleskine its in a trusted spot and I keep the book with me where ever I go. Dumping what's in my head into the Moleskine has made my life very manageable. Geeks often try and over complicate things. This is supposed to be a simple solution. So keep it simple.

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Wanna See The Power Of Social Networking?

A few hours ago a young woman was requesting small donations to go to college. I think the starting amount was somewhere around $400. A Twitter friend of Chris Brogan mentioned this cause and Chris jumped into action. Within a few hours, and mostly through Twitter friends, people had donated enough money for the woman to meet her goal. As Chris proclaimed:

chrisbrogan: Raising over $500 in 2 hours? Great work, Twitter nation! I'm beholden to your power.

This was amazing. I'm sure everyone is abuzz over reaching the goal. But as Twitterer davedelaney said "@chrisbrogan: When the Brogan speaks we listen :-)" And I agree. That was the feeling of everyone who was watching and participating.

So my thought is, what else can we accomplish using Social Networking? Chris also started the Grasshopper Network which is a group of people dedicated to helping someone when they need it. All you have to do is ask.

Think what you could do and engage your Network.

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Give Your Blog Readers A Way To Contact You

Build A Better Blog Day 16

Today's tip is a big pet peeve of mine. Besides not having, or hiding, an RSS feed, not having some simple way of contacting the blog owner is very frustrating. Most if not all blogging tools have some type of contact system available; either built in or through a plug-in. It only takes a few minutes to set the system up. At the very lease provide some type of email link on a side bar or on an About Me page.

Some people don't feel comfortable giving out there personal information. Don't. There are dozens of free email options out there. Set up an account on GMail or Yahoo! specifically for someone to contact you. You never have to give out your personal data if you don't want to.

You might be asking why would someone want to contact me? That's a valid question. Let's say there is something wrong with your blog and you don't notice it but a reader does. How are they suppose to notify you there is a problem? What if they wanted to hire you to write blog posts or some other type of business? Give them a way.

As simple as this tip may sound its extremely important, if you want readers to take you serious, to provide some means of contact.

What do you think about getting private messages from your readers?

ProBlogger's day sixteen post: Create a Heatmap of Where Readers Click on Your Blog

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Photowalking Salt Lake City 10/19/07

Tomorrow is the day. The event is on. Photowalking the west side of The Gateway. This is very exciting. If you have a Flickr account and want to join the Photowalking group, here is the link. If you just want to show up, please do. We will be meeting at the corner of 500W. & 200 S. at 5:30PM. Look for all of my photos on Flickr tomorrow night. See you there. Parking might be a little scares so take TRAX if you can.

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Utah Facebook Developer Sells Popular LDS Application

Facebook is fast becoming a platform that Micro ISV's can make a serious amount of money writing and selling applications. Facebook has an established developer program and the API is well documented. This openness makes it very easy for developers to write applications and get it into the hands of Facebook users quickly.

The Facebook phenomenon is unique because it has a very tight nit group of users. When one user recommends an application, group or event, its pretty likely anyone connected with that user will follow. That's the power of Social Networks. A budding entrepreneur may find it easy to enter this market and build a brand leading to bigger and better projects.

The rumor mill is spinning this morning surrounding the private sale of a very successful Facebook application called LDS App. Here is what the author, Jesse Stay, says about the application:

Are you a Mormon? Proudly display your beliefs with this Facebook application! The "LDS" application adds a random scripture verse to your profile, selected from the 4 standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This verse also links back to http://scriptures.lds.org so visitors to your profile can see the context of the scriptures you are sharing.

My sources, who shall remain nameless, but reliable, indicated that More Good Foundation, a Utah Non-Profit whose mission states "The More Good Foundation helps persons of all faiths find accurate information about the Mormon Church on the Internet.", appears to be the purchaser. Of course there's no comment from the organization.

My unnamed sources also speculated the price to be somewhere near $2 a user. Apparently there are around 13,000 users who have the application installed. That's a big audience, and at two dollars a user its a pretty good chunk of change. Again, not verified by the author, but I feel very confident in the rumors I've heard.

Regardless of the terms or the buyer, the point I'm really trying to make here is Facebook does have a strong platform and a consumer base willing to pay for quality applications. I wish Jesse the best of luck in further development of this product and others.

Here is a link to Jesse's original announcement regarding the LDS App.

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Write A Series On Your Favorite Subject

Build A Better Blog Day 15

Today I want to talk about writing a series on your favorite subject. When I decided to write this series, it wasn't because Building A Better Blog was my favorite subject, it was because I wanted to share what I had learned over the past 5 years. I also wanted to learn more about building a better blog.

Writing a series on a subject is great practice. It requires you to think about your subject, plan the titles and content and deliver a quality series. Having a posting schedule and a list of ideas will help, but ultimately you want to write on something you know, understand and are passionate about.

Many of you who read my blog know I'm a huge NASCAR fan. I take a lot of crap for it, mostly from those who just don't understand the sport. It's probably the same as those who are fans of Soccer. I don't understand the rules of the sport let alone why you would want to watch a bunch of guys kick a ball back and forth for hours. OK, so there you go. Something that will invoke passion in someone.

The idea of writing a series should not be taken lightly. Today I'm writing this article very late and if it wasn't for a comment on one of my posts I would have probably forgotten. Sure, I could have written all 31 days in advance and just set the date to show up in the future. But I am trying to write a post everyday. that was one of my goals when I starting this series. Force myself to write everyday. What will your goals be in writing a series?

Your series might be small, something like 3 to 5 posts, or longer. I think Tom Peters has been writing the 100 Success Tips for the past several years. I've always wondered why he didn't just write them in consecutive days. If you know Tom Peters then you know why that wouldn't work. Besides it has given Tom time to think through each of the Success Tips. He may not have known when he started what each tip would be. That's the beauty of a series.

Readers of your blog should expect a few things when you start. For one they should expect to get information or knowledge about a subject they didn't have before. Don't just regurgitate what someone else has written. I have been finishing each of my Build A Better Blog posts with a link to the ProBlogger series which I got my original idea from. And while some of my tips or suggestions may be similar or the same, I have a different outlook and point of view. I don't write like Darren, the author of the ProBlogger series, so I give each day a different voice.

The next thing your readers should expect is an ending. Tidy it up. Create a wrap up post after your series is finished. Everyone wants closure. Honestly I stopped waiting for the next Tom Peters Success Tip because I didn't think he would eve finish them. I got bored and moved on. Don't be afraid to write other posts that aren't on the topic of your series, your readers may enjoy some off topic humor.

Finally, don't write more than one series at a time. Oh you're free to do what you want and maybe you've successfully done this, but my suggestion is to keep all of your focus on one series topic at a time. If you think of more series as you're writing your first one, add them to your list. There is plenty of time to put it all on paper. Good luck and really have fun.

Tell me about some of the series you've written.

ProBlogger's day fifteen post: Make Your Most Popular Posts Sticky

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Private buyout of Utah based online genealogy Company

This is a very interesting story I picked up from TechCrunch today. Local Utah company The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com and MyFamily.com and other sites, sold a majority interest to Spectrum Equity Investors. Good for those guys.

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Exploits of a Mom

This is a great comic strip. Check it out.

http://xkcd.com/327/

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Create A Blog Posting Schedule

Build A Better Blog Day 14

This is a really fun tip. Since I've been blogging, almost 5 years, I've kept a schedule of the blog posts I want to write and when I'm going to post them. If you are a serious blogger who writes one or more times a day this is a pretty nifty idea. If you only blog occasionally, its still a nifty idea. A good posting schedule should keep you from running out of ideas.

Download my Blogging Schedule Spreadsheet

You may also want to create a list of ideas to blog about. If your blog is based on a theme, say Science Fiction, then you know exactly the type of posts you need to write. But after a while you might start running out of ideas. There are a couple of things you can do. I personally read RSS feeds for this. I also read news sites like MSNBC, CNN and several local news web sites for potential stories. You could also use Chris Brogans list of 100 blogging ideas. I incorporated his list into mine and will add to it as time goes on.

Blogging schedules are good if your in a pinch, and don't think just because you have a schedule you need to stick with it. Use it as a guide and blog about things that are happening. Don't just let something slip by if you should blog about it. A posting schedule can also put your mind at ease and reduce stress knowing you have thought your plan out

Good luck and I would love to see how you schedule your posts, or not.

ProBlogger's day fourteen post: Analyze Your Blog’s Competition

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Track of the day: Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die by Four Year Strong

Four Year Strong
"Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die" (mp3)
from "Rise or Die Trying"
(I Surrender Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

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Announcing Your New Blog Post

Build A Better Blog Day 13

You've just written an incredible post on the discovery a new planet in our solar system. It's breaking news and you want as many people to your story as possible. How do you do this? By shouting from the roof tops? That might not get you too far. No, there is an easier solution, one that probably happens every time you post to your blog.

Say hello to Ping services. Whats a Ping? Well, you can look at it like this. Once you have posted to your blog, the software reaches out across the Internet and announce your post to services like Pino-O-Matic, or Weblogs.com, or a dozen other Ping services. These Ping services keep a running list of new blog posts almost the instant you press enter. You don't have to do anything. Your blogging system probably has the process built right in. If not, it's very easy to do manually.

This article won't discuss the technical aspects of Pinging. This article also wont discuss Ping services individually. This article will link you to a few services and tell you the benefit of a Ping.

Services

I've used several pinging services over the years. There are hundreds. Personally, I use Ping-O-Matic. This service will announce my new post to a couple dozen blog post lists. It's faster than trying to visit each on of these sites individually and you get the same effect.

Here are a few you can use:

1. Pino-O-Matic


2. Yahoo!


3. Technorati


4. Feedburner


5. Weblogs.com

I would take some time and visit each one of these sites and see what lists they add your posts too. Some might be more relevant than others. One caution; the more pinging services you use when posting your blog the longer it takes to complete. Example: if you post a new entry on your blog and you have 30 or more pinging services listed, it could take a minute or more for your post to complete. This is because your blogging software, i.e. Wordpress, has to send a command to each one and wait for a response. I've seen this cause problems with large posts to busy ping sites. You may find a single service like Ping-O-Matic will be all you need.

Here is a link to one of the most comprehensive lists of pinging services available. Choose wisely Grasshopper.

How Do Pinging Services Help Drive Traffic?

No doubt you've heard of the Top Ten List. It could be on any subject. But when you post a list, people tend to read the whole list. Now imaging a website that lists thousands and thousands of new blog posts as they become available. I'm not talking about RSS, I'm talking about a services that just creates a running list of new blog posts. Wouldn't you want to be on the biggest list ever created? You can by just by posting to your blog.

Services like Weblogs.com have been around for a very long time. It's sort of the de facto list. The sites not broken up into any kind of category or genre, its just a list of everything. But there are services that cater to specific type of posts, or lists that cater to a certain type of reader. You will have to do your research to know what lists are available and who the audience is. Some of these sites can draw hundreds of thousands of readers a day. As people are looking at the posts, if your title is intriguing enough, they just might click through. Good way to draw traffic to your site, right?

Make sure you have a good spam blocking plug-in or service setup. A lot of comment spammers get URLs from services like Weblogs.com and auto spam the post. That's a future tip, but I thought it was worth mentioning here. Stay tuned over the next couple of days as I discuss fighting spam and using various plug-ins on your blog.

Read the documentation of your blogging software or visit their forums to get information on how pinging works for your installation. It's pretty universal but could vary some from application to application. Happy blogging.

ProBlogger's day thirteen post:Â Search for an Affiliate Program that Fits Your Blog

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Is this the first Twitter Ads?

Everyone has noticed the increased Tip: usage on individual tweets coming from Twitter. However, just a few minutes ago, I got this:

Has it finally happened? The text says "If you like twitter you'll love ITConversations.com!". I'm pretty sure ITConversations has nothing to do with Twitter.

Anyone else seen something other than "you look *good*"?

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How Do I Subscribe To Your Blog?

Build A Better Blog Day 12

It must be a habit or maybe some type of obsession, but every time I visit a blog or web site the first thing I do is look for their subscription options. I want to know if I can subscribe to an RSS feed or email notification, and where on the site the link is located. After I've had a chance to read the blog I might want to subscribe to the feed via Google Reader. The most frustrating thing is a site who buries their feed somewhere at the very bottom or camouflaged on the side bar somewhere.

A major faux pas is to not have any type feed available on your blog. More and more people actually read blogs through an RSS reader (there are some reader links here). This process allows the reader to scan several posts from their favorite blogs quickly. If you don't have a feed I probably won't be coming back. When I see a good post title and like what's been written, I might click through to the site and learn more.

Almost every blogging system creates a feed by default. You can provide the feed as a text link, through some graphic, this seems to be standard, or use a service like FeedBurner. Using a service like FeedBurner allows you to see how many subscribers you have, track which posts are being clicked on and gives you the option of adding links to social book marking sites or the comments for the post.

There are many arguments for and against how much of your post is shown in your feed. One camp who says show it all, and a lot of readers agree. They don't want to read a few sentences and then have to click into your blog to read the rest. Sort of defeats the purpose of an RSS reader. The other camp says only show a small part of the post requiring the reader to click through to the blog. This tactic is used when the blog owner wants you to see ads or other eye candy. I admit I used the summary version of my feed until I had several readers tell me they hated having to click through to my blog to read the whole post. I wasn't trying to sell anything so I fixed it. Now I show the whole post.

I read somewhere, and I can't remember where, that if you put your blogs RSS feed link near the top, where visitors would see it quickly, increases the number of subscribers. I don't have any hard scientific numbers, but from personal experience as I wrote at the beginning of this post, if I have to hunt for it I probably wont subscribe. The more subscribers you have the better chance you have of driving traffic to your blog. What ever you decide to do, just make sure you have a feed and make it available to your readers. Don't make them hunt for it. See my main page. The links are right at the top. Easy to see and easy to subscribe.

ProBlogger's day twelve post: Introduce Yourself to another Blogger

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Linking To Your Archive Posts

Build A Better Blog Day 11

This tip is very simple; when ever you write a blog post try and find a way to link back to an archived post. There are several reasons for this.

1. Perfect way to lead readers to other relevant posts you've written.


2. It helps with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Search engines like Google and Yahoo! like internal link.

There are several blogs on the Internet where they show you the effectiveness if incoming and internal links. One site that I enjoyed and found very valuable was Vandelay Website Design's blog post 3 Powerful Results from Internal Linking. From my own personal experience, without any scientific evaluation, just what I see, external links drive most of the traffic to my blog. Once you've completed a blog post and before you publish, search your site for relevant posts. You might surprised at how many there are.

Link, link, link. I can't say it enough. Take time to link in every post. You may not be able to do it everytime, but try it, you'll like the results. Tell us how you use links on your blog.

ProBlogger's day eleven post: Dig into Your Blog’s Statistics

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Star Trek: The Menagerie Playing In Salt Lake City

That's right folks, the original Star Trek season 1 episode 11, The Menagerie, Parts 1 and 2, will be playing in select theatres Nation wide on November 13th, 2007. These episodes are digitally re-mastered and broadcast in HD. Fortunately for Salt Lake City, the Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing will be showing will be one of the selected theatres showing these episodes. There is a write up at this link. It looks like the price will be $12.50 for 120 minutes of show time. That's kinda steep, but leave it up to Paramount to gouge the fans once again.

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Make Sure Your Blog Is Mobile Compliant

Build A Better Blog Day 10

This tip is one I have a lot of passion for. I use my mobile MDA to surf the Internet frequently. It's very frustrating when I get to a site that doesn't support mobile web browsers. There's really no excuse for it. There are so many free plug-ins for various blogging systems that your site could be mobile compatible in a matter of minutes.

The major blogging platforms such as MovableType, WordPress and Blogger either support mobile blogging or have plug-ins that make your blog work on a mobile browser. There are also plug-ins specific to Apple's iPhone. The iPhone plug-ins are fairly new but browsing on an iPhone is a little different than a PDA or SmartPhone. These are plugins for WordPress, I use Andy Moore's WordPress Mobile. It was the ability to create posts and upload files to my blog through the mobile browser that hooked me. Now I can post no matter where I am. Although Alex Kings plug-in works just fine it doesn't have creation capabilities at the time of this writing.

WordPress:

1. Alex King's WordPress Mobile Edition plug-in


2. Andy Moore's WordPress Mobile plug-in


3. iWPhone WordPress plug-in (for the iPhone)

I'm not an expert with MovableType so I don't know what's available for that system but I'm sure there are plenty. It also appears that Blogger has built in mobile support, so any of the blogspot.com sites should render correctly.

If you decide to make your blog mobile compliant, and I hope you do, write a new post about it, tell everyone, and you may even create a unique sub-domain like m.digitalthom.com, which seems to be the way current way sites promote a mobile version.

When you get your blog mobile compatible please link back here in the comments and I'll be glad to take a look at it.

ProBlogger's day ten post: Declutter Your Sidebar

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Photowalking SLC v2

Photowalking SLC v1 was on October 5th but the weather was bad, and a number of other excuses, and I didn't make it. What a disappointment. I should have braved the weather. The Photowalk turned out pretty good. You can see some of them here.

The next Photowalk SLC is scheduled for October 19th at the Gateway. The idea is to travel West and capture the "grunge/graffiti" part of downtown Salt Lake.

If you are into photography and/or just want to meet some local photogs, come out. It will be my first time too so don't be shy. Check the Flickr group for more information (or subscribe to my blog, I announce all the details).

Thanks to Ann for letting me know about the next Photowalk SLC.

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Be Courteous To Your Fellow Bloggers

Build A Better Blog Day 9

Yesterday we talked about leaving comments on other blogs as a way to create connections with other bloggers and to drive traffic to your blog. I hope that when you do this you do so in a pleasant manner. If you want to find yourself alienated quickly start causing problems on other blogs. There's just no need. If you don't agree, you're welcome to say so, but don't be a jerk.

You will hear me say this over and over again; the success of your blog will depend on what you want to accomplish. If you are only out to make money then most of the tips here won't apply. But if you want to connect with others, share interests, and build a community, then being nice goes a long way. A few things to avoid:

1. You attitude will show in the words you use.


2. Give credit where credit is due. Don't take credit for someone else's work.


3. Use other blog posts to build on your own.


4. If you are being mean just to be mean, take a deep breath and try again, or let it sit for several days.


5. Try and refrain from causing an uproar on other blogs. I've seen cases where the blog owner had to shut it down just to stop the fighting.

Take the time to evaluate your posts. Some advocate you write a post, let it sit a few days, come back to it, read it, modify it, then post it. I want to read blogs that are positive and uplifting. I want to read blogs that will help me solve problems, inform me or connect me to others who think the way I do. The blogging tide can move on you in a second. Information travels faster than you can think. Keep things positive and you will be welcome where ever you go.

ProBlogger's day nine post: Run an Advertising Audit On Your Blog

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Creating Relevant Categories And Tags For Your Posts

Build A Better Blog Day 8

You're probably getting real good at writing content for your blog. We've covered several aspects of blogging which I think are important in driving traffic to your site. Now lets talk about categorizing your posts so visitors can find similar content to what brought them here in the first place.

Categories are not tags. A category is a way to group similar posts together rather than having one big list of posts. For instance, you might have something like Cats, Dogs, Technology, Writing, Books and so on. Personally I think categories should be somewhat general. An example might be a review you write on a book, and you would categorize it in Books. A tag on the other hand gives a post a little more detail and are good for search engines. Using our book example, you may tag a post book, fiction, dragons, swords and so on.

While surfing the Internet I've landed on sites where they have 200 or more categories. Why? You can't possibly have that much variety in your posts. This is where people confuse a category with a tag. I would suggest coming up with a handful, no more than 10, categories that represent the subjects you write about. When you have dozens of categories visitors will just bypass looking at them and either move on or head right to the search. You do have a search feature right?

Here is a link to a fantastic article on Categories and Tags. It's Wordpress specific but the concept can be applied to any blogging software. The point here is to logically group your posts together and then use tags to drill down.

ProBlogger's day eight post: Comment on a Blog You’ve Never Commented On Before

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Thank Those Who Comment On Your Blog

Build A Better Blog Day 7

There is no better feeling than to be acknowledged by the person who's blog you've commented on. Blogs are interactive and I know from past experience the disappointment when I comment and there is no response.

Take the time to ask your readers to comment. Ask them what they think. Ask for opposing or supporting views. But once they have commented take the time to respond back, or at the very least write a response that may cover multiple comments. If you get so lucky that you have a lot of comments on a post, at least respond to some of them.

New blogs tend don't always get comments until you have been posting a while or you are blogging a niche that may attract a large target audience. Don't worry too much about the number of comments, just focus on good content and the comments will follow.

ProBlogger's day seven post: Plan Your Next Week's Posting Schedule

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Create Short Custom URL’s With doiop.com

doiop.com is an interesting site that let's you create small URL's similar to tinyurl.com, only you get to choose the keyword. This gives you the opportunity to choose a vanity word for you links. Only problem I can see long term is running out of real keywords. The site doesn't look to be protected from spammers, meaning I could run a program to just kick out a bunch of keywords to spam pages. But for now it's kinda cool. Check it out.

Learned about this site from twitter.com/dmode

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Track of the day: Sonido Total by The Pinker Tones

The Pinker Tones
"Sonido Total" (mp3)
from "More Colours! The Million Colour Revolution Revisited - Plus Exclusive Bonus Tracks"
(Nacional Records)

Buy at Napster
More On This Album

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A Prize From MightMugs And ProBlogger

I think I have mentioned the word ProBlogger about a hundred times this week. The marketing campaign seems to be working. During the Birthday Bash giveaway, I entered one of the contests and won a very cool prize from MightyMugs. Please take a minute and visit MightMugs and order yourself or someone you love a mug with your mug on it.

Thanks ProBlogger and MightMugs.

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Posting Comments On Other Blogs

Build A Better Blog Day 6

Building a better blog requires more than just a good looking interface and great links. You also want to build a following. I hear a lot of new blogger's and even people who have been blogging for some time asking how they can get more readers. Well a good answer to that questions is to read and comment on other blogs.

If you don't already use an RSS reader I suggest you try using one on a regular basis. Google Reader is a great free application. This will allow you to scan a lot of new blog posts in a short amount of time. But while you are reading scanning through the headlines click through and leave comments. Here is what you can expect to get:

1. Typically you get to leave a link back to your blog.
2. You get an opportunity to connect with others who are interested in the same things as you.
3. You'll probably come away with ideas for future posts.

Being an active blogger is also being an active blog reader. Get out there and read more, comment more and you should get more visitors to your blog.

ProBlogger's day six post: Email an Old Timer Reader

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Linking Is The Name Of The Game

Build A Better Blog Day 5

A simple yet affective way to drive traffic to your blog is to use links in your posts. If you are referencing someone else's blog post, link back to it. If you are reviewing a product or service, link to it.

Several things happen when you link to other posts:

1. Commentors get a direct link back to your blog
2. You start to connect with other blogger's
3. Search engines love links in blog posts and rank you higher

Another must are link backs to your archives when ever possible. You should also consider a plug-in that shows similar posts in your archives somewhere on your individual posts giving your readers more to choose from, creating a sticky site.

Here is a great blog post from the famed Seth Godin on how to drive traffic to your blog. With 56 ideas on the list, I know there's one in there for you.

ProBlogger's day five post: Conduct an 'About Page Audit'

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Use An Easy To Navigate Blog Theme

Build A Better Blog Day 4

Today I want to talk about blog themes. This is probably the one aspect of a blog people take the most creative liberty with. I believe every blog should be unique and communicate the likes of the owner. But if you look at your blog from the perspective of the reader you will quickly note things that turn visitors off faster than poorly written posts.

There are hundreds of free themes out there for pretty much every blogging system, like WordPress, MovableType and Blogger. There are some near professional templates and then there are some pretty crappy ones. Please take the time to look at several. Most theme viewers give you the ability to look at the theme in live mode so you have an idea of what it will look like. Most themes are completely customizable and I encourage you to make it your own. Just type in your blogging tools name and the word template, "wordpress template", and start researching.

I will caution you when choosing a free theme. There is a common practice these days to embed some type of link back to a sponsor site. There are also some themes who embed spyware type code and this can cause other problems with your website. Take the time to review the comments on a theme and look at other sites that may be using it. You will also want to look at the terms of use for a theme. Some may require you to keep all links, others say they are optional. Most are in the foot but you just need to research the theme.

The 90's were a long time ago. Please get rid of all your flashing graphics, spinning bullets and 72 point fonts. Those things make reading your blog hard. Here are some simple things to think about when looking at your blogs theme or layout:

1. Pleasing colors. Make sure your blog uses colors that are easy on the eye.


2. Use standard web fonts like Times Roman, Verdana or Arial, and stay with a consistent size like 11 or 12 point. You also want the color of the text to be dark enough to read, like black.


3. Make sure each of your posts have an easily readable header. It's also a good thing to keep the date and category the post is in near the header.


4. There are several schools of thought on how much of you posts text should be readable on the front page. Some say only show the first 200 character others say use the whole post. I'm of the opinion you should use the whole post. Why make a visitor click through to another page just to finish reading. If you choose this path you better be writing content that catches their attention in the first few sentences or you will loose them.


5. Blogs were designed to be interactive, meaning you say something and hope someone responds back. Give your visitors the ability to comment on your posts. There are so many plug-ins out there to combat spammers that you hardly have to worry about it. You want dialog, that's how you build a good following.


6. Post frequently. Now frequently to you may be everyday, and yeah, if you can, post everyday. At the very least post once a week. Readers will forget about your blog if your don't post consistently.

The final thing about a blog themes is try several out.

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Helping To Find A Cure For Multiple Sclerosis

I have a vested interest in finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. There are so many lives affected by MS, and most people you see who have MS you wouldn't be able to tell. It's a debilitating disease that eventually robs a person of all their motor skills. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society describes it this way:

MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS consists of the brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves. Surrounding and protecting the nerve fibers of the CNS is a fatty tissue called myelin, which helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses.

Several of my close Family members have MS. I would love to see a cure happen in my life time. It's important to continue researching what causes this disease. Who gets MS?

Approximately 400,000 Americans acknowledge having MS, and every week about 200 people are diagnosed. Worldwide, MS may affect 2.5 million individuals.

There are many ways you can get involved in helping the fight MS. The MS Society has a great list here.

ProBlogger.net, as part of their Birthday Bash, and a sponsor FreeMoneyFinanace.Com are giving away $1000 to the winners favorite charity. Mine would be the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I would encourage you to donate as well.

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