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

read more...

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.

read more...

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

read more...

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.

read more...

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

read more...