Build A Better Blog In 31 Days Wrap-up

Well here we are wrapping up this series, Building A Better Blog In 31 Days. There were several things I wanted to accomplish writing this series. One, require myself to write everyday for 31 days. That may not sound like a big deal but it was. I actually wrote each post everyday. Next I wanted to try some SEO techniques a friend shared with me. And I have to admit it worked pretty well. I'd share with your the secret but he might hunt us both down. Next, I really wanted to share what I thought were great tips and ideas on building a great blog.

I hope you had a chance to read these posts and you got something out of them. I appreciated all of the feedback I got and ideas shared. If you liked something I'd love to hear about in the comments. Here is the link to the series Category, and here are links to the individual posts:

Day 1: Reduce, if not cut out, your blogroll

Day 2: Tell Me What You Are All About

Day 3: De-cluttering Your Blogs Sidebar

Day 4: Use An Easy To Navigate Blog Theme

Day 5: Linking Is The Name Of The Game

Day 6: Posting Comments On Other Blogs

Day 7: Thank Those Who Comment On Your Blog

Day 8: Creating Relevant Categories And Tags For Your Posts

Day 9: Be Courteous To Your Fellow Bloggers

Day 10: Make Sure Your Blog Is Mobile Compliant

Day 11: Linking To Your Archive Posts

Day 12: How Do I Subscribe To Your Blog?

Day 13: Announcing Your New Blog Post

Day 14: Create A Blog Posting Schedule

Day 15: Write A Series On Your Favorite Subject

Day 16: Give Your Blog Readers A Way To Contact You

Day 17: Use Social Networks To Build A Blog Brand

Day 18: Prevent Blogging Disaster, Back It Up

Day 19: Keep Your Blog Posts Unique

Day 20: Stay The Course, And Don’t Give Up

Day 21: Use Your Site Stats To Write A Better Blog

Day 22: Create Catchy Blog Titles That Beg To Be Read

Day 23: Get Your Blog Readers Involved, Hold A Contest

Day 24: Decide Your Blogs Domain Now Rather Than Later

Day 25: Sweat Your Blogs Details

Day 26: Blogging For Love Or Money

Day 27: Protect Your Blogs Content

Day 28: Thank A Blogger For Linking To You

Day 29: Create A Sticky 404 Page

Day 30: Keep Comment Spam From Burdening Your Blog

Day 31: Successful Blogger’s Share Their Insight

Thanks to Jason Alba for creating the list I was going to make, it much easier. Please visit Jason's blog here.

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Successful Blogger’s Share Their Insight

Build A Better Blog Day 31

Today's tips come from several blogger's who I've asked to share with you what they feel are important aspects of building a better blog.

Laura Moncur says - Have a long view. If you are expecting to have huge numbers the first year, you will be disappointed. It takes a good five years of consistent writing to grow a blog that will make money and give you positive feedback in the comments. On those days when it feels like all your blog entries are going out into the void and no one is reading, you NEED to remember that this takes time. It's alright if they aren't reading right now. When they discover you, they will go back and read every word you've written. Just keep writing with that day in mind.

Chris Brogan says - Make your ABOUT page AMAZING! Add your name and ways to contact you, and as much information that will attract your audience into a relationship with you as possible.

Matthew Reinbold says - The relationship between you and your readers is paramount. The second you begin to view them as a means to an end (financial, fame, etc.) instead of peers deserving of your attention you're using them. In those cases your audience will leave you when they find someone who treats them as equals.

Jason Alba says - Clean up the real estate. Too many bloggers have too much crap on their blog, making their readers search for good content or links. If you have widgets, images that don’t add value, or other distractions, strip it down. Do you want to try and build community with widgetry or with content? Respect your readers.

Douglas Cootey says - Respond to comments. There is no better way to develop a community of readers than to respond to their feedback. You can post comments along with their's or, even better, you can use their comments to give you something new to blog about. When I had my intense moment on the Blogger of Note spotlight two years ago my efforts to respond to people's comments netted me loyal readers that stayed with me to this day. I don't regret the time spent at all. In fact, I rather enjoyed it.

ProBlogger's day thirty-one post: Run a SWOT Analysis on Your Blog

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Keep Comment Spam From Burdening Your Blog

Build A Better Blog Day 30

Comment spam is the bane of most blog owners. It's everywhere and if left untreated will turn off reader in a heartbeat. It's controllable and manageable, and removing it can some times be a daily ritual. But there are solutions to make controlling comment spam pretty easy.

If you host your own blog there are several plug-ins that help fight spam. On of my favorites is Akismet. It's very easy to setup and works pretty good. The basic use is Akismet check certain keyword, IP addresses and URL's in its database and marks the comment as spam. The administrator has the ability to review the marked comments and decide if its really spam or whether it was a mistake.

Another form of spam comment control is using a plug-in called Captcha. Basically, the user is required to enter a random set of characters in a text box before the blogging software will save the comment. This is a big deterrent for automated comment spammers since your blog wont even allow the comment into your blog until the Captcha is passed.

Most software can require a commenter to be a registered user, or comments are accepted but are put into a queue for the administrator to manually approve. If you have a low volume of comments this can be an easy solution. If you have a lot of comments an automated solution is about the only path to take.

When it comes to requiring visitors to register just to leave a comment, a lot of visitors will just move on to another blog. Blogs are designed to encourage feedback and participation. Requiring someone to fill out a form doesn't seem very inviting. Implementing these techniques will allow your readers to comment, which is what you want, right?

How do you handle comment spam on your blog? Is it a big problem for you?

ProBlogger's day thirty post: Explore a Social Media Site

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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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