Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category

Debbie Hemley at the Social Media Examiner offers 26 Tips for Writing Great Blog Posts. These A-Z recommendations will help you create optimal blog posts every time you sit down to write. Here are her first 7 suggestions:

• #1: Anatomically Correct
• #2: Blogging Platform
• #3: Categories
• #4: Description
• #5: Editorial Calendar
• #6: Fine-Tune and Revise
• #7: Guidelines for Writing for Search Engines

Marcus Sheridan at the Social Media Examiner offers 5 Reasons Your Business Should Be Blogging, all of which are relevant for libraries. If you’re wondering whether your library should join the ranks of organizational bloggers, check out these 5 reasons for inspiration:

• #1: The Power of Team
• #2: Blogging Sharpens Your Sword
• #3: You Become the Trust Agent
• #4: Content is the Great Qualifier
• #5: The Power of the Blog Comment

Amy Porterfield at the Social Media Examiner recommends 5 Tips for Creating Shareable Blog Content. If you’re looking for inspiration to spice up your blog posts and ideas to create compelling, bite-sized content your readers will devour—and share like crazy, you’ll want to check out this post. These are the points discussed:

• #1: Build instant rapport
• #2: Create relevance
• #3: Provide instant gratification
• #4: Ignite shareability
• #5: Make your closing count

Are you looking for ways to better engage your blog readers? If so, you’ll want to check out Charlene Kingston’s 7 Tips to Increase Your Blog Comments on the Social Media Examiner blog. This detailed article provides screenshots and discusions of the following tips:

• Tip #1: Check your blog comments settings
• Tip #2: Ask for comments
• Tip #3: Write a blog comment policy
• Tip #4: Provide comment instructions
• Tip #5: Respond to comments
• Tip #6: Make people feel good about their comments
• Tip #7: Build community with your replies

Lauren Indvik at Mashable writes about How To: Build Your Brand on Tumblr. If you’re considering creating a tumblog for your organization you’ll want to check out this post. Here are the questions the article addresses:

• Is Tumblr Right for My Business?
• Getting Started
• What & When To Post
• Setting Expectations

W. Gardner Campbell, Director of Professional Development and Innovative Initiatives in the Division of Learning Technologies at Virginia Tech shares his advice to ‘Narrate, Curate, Share’: How Blogging Can Catalyze Learning on the Campus Technology blog. This is a thought-provoking article which addresses many of the questions potential bloggers have about the medium.

“As I talk at colleges and universities across the country about the blogging initiatives I’ve led at the University of Mary Washington, Baylor University, and now at Virginia Tech, my audiences consistently ask about several issues. FERPA is one. Grading is another. But the fundamental questions have to do with the nature and value of the activity itself. What is blogging? Is it like an online journal? If so, how is a public journal of academic value? Should I give my students prompts? Will they think this is merely busy work? Should their blogs be about work done in specific classes, work done in several classes, work done outside of class, or all of the above?”

via Meredith

Kelli Shaver at Mashable writes about How To: Integrate Google+ Into Your WordPress Site. This brief tutorial provides instructions for integrating Google’s new social network into your WordPress blog or website. A variety of integration options are discussed including:

• Display Your Google+ Profile Information
• Add the +1 Button
• Use a Google+ Inspired Theme

Michael Stelzner at the Social Media Examiner writes about the Top 7 Reasons Blogs Fail and What to Do About It. This excellent post provides insight into why some blogs succeed while others flounder.

• Mistake #1: It’s all about you
• Mistake #2: You’re overselling
• Mistake #3: You’re not embracing outside experts
• Mistake #4: You don’t produce useful information.
• Mistake #5: You haven’t made it easy for people to share
• Mistake #6: You aren’t engaging people
• Mistake #7: You’re not giving people a reason to return

Cindy King at the Social Media Examiner discusses 21 Dangerous Blogging Mistakes (and How to Fix Them). If you’re blogging on behalf of your library, organization, or yourself you’ll want to have a look at this insightful list. Here are the top 5 mistakes:

1. Mistake #1: Not understanding your audience
2. Mistake #2: Not having a strong niche
3. Mistake #3: Covering too many topics
4. Mistake #4: Inconsistency
5. Mistake #5: Not committing to the process

Rich Brooks at the Social Media Examiner has put together the Ultimate Blogger’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization. If you blog on behalf of your library or organizatin, you’ll want to check out this all-in-one tutorial to improve your blog’s search engine ranking. Here’s what’s covered:

• What You Need to Get Started
• What Affects Your Search Engine Ranking?
• How to Improve Your On-Page Optimization
• Blogging for Search Engine Success
• SEO Tools and Plugins
• Off-Page Optimization
• How Do You Get More Incoming Links?

Danny Iny at Copyblogger has created a list of 21 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue. If you’ve run out of ideas for posting to your blog or website, you’ll want to check out this useful post. Here are just a few of his suggestions:

• Write a review
• Create a best-case study
• Create a worst-case study.
• Find out what’s trending
• Do an interview

Cindy King at the Social Media Examiner comes up with a list of 19 Ways to Use Images to Enhance Your Blog. These great suggestions are organized into “Design Essentials”, “Your Primary Call to Action”, and “Key Information” categories. Here are the first 10 on the list:

• #1: Branding
• #2: Easy Reading
• #3: Social Media Profiles
• #4: Free Incentives
• #5: Books
• #6: Key Presentations
• #7: Products
• #8: Blog Author Photos
• #9: QR Codes
• #10: Navigation for Internal Links

Cindy King at the Social Media Examiner recommends 17 Ways to Grow Your Blog From Top Bloggers. They asked the finalists of their Top 10 Social Media Blogs contest for their best tips on how to grow your list of blog subscribers. Here are her top five suggestions:

• #1: Be Active in Other Communities First
• #2: Write About What You Love
• #3: Write Insanely Great Content
• #4: Answer Questions for Your Audience
• #5: Offer Real Value

If you’re a WordPress blogger and have always wanted to be able to create or edit your own themes, you won’t want to miss this helpful guide to 8 Fantastic Tutorials On How To Build Your Own Custom WordPress Theme. Here are just a few of the tutorials:

• How to create WordPress Themes from scratch
• The ultimate WordPress Theme tutorial
• Build a Newspaper Theme with WP_Query and the 960CSS Framework

One of the best ways for a blog to gain visibility and traffic is through links on other people’s websites or blogs. Tara Hornor at Slodive offers 9 Tips for Encouraging Others to Link to Your Blog. These are all valuable suggestions, here are the first five:

• Write Content that Will Benefit Others
• Post Original Content
• Address an Issue that Already Exists
• Know What Topics are “Hot”
• Post Interviews