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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