Blogging is a lot like fishing. Some people do it all the time and never catch anything…while others catch everything.
Why is that? You know better than to say it is luck.
So let’s call it what it is…when you look around at successful blogs…whatever industry or topic…there are several undeniable basics to success.
And it starts with blog posts that kill it…rather than get killed. But what kills a blog post? Here’s a list of 12 things…ignore them and you will have a tough time being successful.
1. Crafting cute, clever or confusing headlines (or really bad ones)
Your headline is going to appear in many places. At the top of your post…
In search engine page results…
Feed readers…
And subject lines.
The goal of the headline is to stop readers cold and draw them into your post. You can’t do that if you use cute, clever or confusing headlines.
You can stop readers cold, however, if you write headlines that are unique, ultra-specific, useful or urgent. Here are a few examples:
- 6 Lessons You Can Learn from the Rise of DropBox (Unique)
- 100 Ways to Becomes Twitter Power User (Ultra-Specific)
- How to Become the Person Everyone Wants to Interview (Useful)
- 10 SEO Trends You Can’t Ignore If You Want High Rankings (Urgent)
As you can see, headlines can share multiple U qualities. The best ones often do.
2. Never linking to old posts
In the example above I linked to four older posts of mine. I did that for several reasons.
- They helped me prove my point.
- Those links drive traffic to those older posts…giving them new life.
- Those links contain keywords I want to rank high with.
- Links are one of the best ways to direct Google spiders through your site.
Just because you’ve published a post doesn’t mean you should forget about it. Each post is a valuable asset in which you can give new life to with each link.
3. Never linking to other bloggers
A long time ago I wrote a post without any links. It was an important topic…I was busy and just wanted to get the post out. I actually intended to go back and put in links when I had more time.
However, an influential blogger who had started reading my posts commented almost immediately. He said, “Don’t you want others to join the conversation?”
I immediately went back and put in links.
The value in linking out to other bloggers is three-fold:
- You draw others into the conversation – By linking to others opens yourself up to discussing the topic at hand. This allows you to listen and trade ideas with others, learning things you didn’t know before you started…and creating relationships.
- You give credit where credit is due – If you write something that is based on an idea that you got from somewhere else, you must link to that blogger. Its proper manners on the web.
- You get the authority juice – Inbound links no doubt have high impact on your search rankings. But so do outbound links…especially if you are linking to authority sites. Read my The 10 Golden Rules to Attracting Authority Links to learn more.
4. Forgetting to fill out your page title and description fields
You’ll screw any chances of your post ranking if you forget to fill out the page title and description fields for each post.
That meta data is critical to search engines crawling and indexing your site. And when you use keywords properly, it tells those spiders what the page is all about.
To make life easier on you, use a plug in like All-in-One SEO pack. In WordPress you’ll see this form at the bottom of each post:
That’s by far been the best plug in I’ve used. Here are some tips on creating good meta descriptions.
On top of that, your titles and descriptions have to be social friendly. For example, Jennifer from SEOmoz tried to share Nutella Day on Facebook and here is what happened:
If you want Facebook to pull in the right title and description, follow these steps.
5. Creating clunky URLs
Having the worst domain name is one thing. Creating clunky URLs for each post that people can’t read or search engines can’t index is another thing.
These are the worst offenders:
- https://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-9912342-3...
- https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=98115&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1&iwloc=A
If you want to give your post a fighting chance in the SEO landscape, then you have to include recognizable words in your URL. This means keywords, too.
Here are a few approaches you can use when it comes to URLs:
- Long form + tracking digits: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/a-quick-and-dir... (at one time also needed for inclusion in Google News)
- Date + long-form: https://www.quicksprout.com/2012/01/23/how-to-desig...
- Short form: https://www.copyblogger.com/writing-bullet-points/
6. Plagiarizing other bloggers
Listen: one of the keystone elements to successful blogging is consistent content. In fact, in one study HubSpot proved that the more you blog the more traffic you will get.
But ask any blogger, doing that over time and the well will eventually run dry. That’s why there are so many blog posts about creativity and overcoming writer’s block.
Bloggers need a ton of ideas!
That’s when the temptation to copy what other bloggers write comes in. (By the way, scrapers are shameless plagiarizers.) But there is no faster way to kill a post and ruin your reputation than to plagiarize.
Here are a few articles to help you understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it:
- Law Firm’s Plagiarized Website Subject to Expanded Jurisdiction
- Plagiarism, Content Farms, and Google
- The Right-Brain Thinker’s Guide to Beating Blogger’s Block
7. Publishing less than one post per month
Okay, I understand that you are very busy, and that churning out one blog post a month is not easy. But really, the less you post, the less chance your newest post has any chance at gaining traction.
That one blog post every two months is about as good as not blogging at all.
As I mentioned above, the more frequently you post, the more traffic you are going to get. That traffic eventually slows and then dies when you stop posting.
Besides, if Google comes back to your site to check for more content and doesn’t find any, it will back off and it may be a long time before the spiders come back… which sucks for your newest post.
8. Writing big blocks of copy
On an article for Optimizing Marketing Copy for Mobile I found these paragraphs intriguing… especially the one with the arrow pointing at it:
I understand the author isn’t writing for mobile. He’s writing for Mashable. But the same rules that apply for mobile marketing copy…well, pretty much apply across the web.
Writing short paragraphs is a basic blog post writing law. Just like simple words and short sentences. Resort to long blocks of copy and you are stacking the deck against your blog post.
9. Zero presence on any social media platforms
When blogging was the only game in town, well, all you really had to do was blog. There weren’t other social media sites you could leverage like Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
That has all changed.
Hopefully you are on these sites, and hopefully you are being strategic about how you use these social sites to promote your content. Every post you publish needs a boost from your social media presence.
10. Never inviting readers to leave comments
A post without comments is like that abandoned house down the end of your street… creepy and not to be trusted.
Of course if you are just launching a blog, it may be a few weeks before you get your first comment. But follow all the steps above and that comment will come.
You also have to encourage people to comment. That’s why I end every post I write with a question:
I do this on my blog and every guest post I write.
You will also get comments when you write detailed posts on advanced topics. You may cover a complicated issue that needs a little more explaining…or somebody wants to know how you did something.
That’s okay… you want that.
In the end, good comments give your post proof that people find what you are writing about valuable. And the more comments the better. It’s social proof in action.
11. Writing about a topic nobody cares about
It’s this simple: your post will fall flat on its face if you do not write about what your audience cares about.
The same is true if you try to write about a topic that somebody else is already doing a good job writing about. For example…
- If you want to write about online copywriting, then you have to do a better job than Copyblogger.
- Want to write about social media news? Then you have to compete with Mashable or Social Media Examiner.
- Perhaps SEO is up your alley. If that’s the case, then you have to square off with the likes of Search Engine Land or Moz.
Don’t get me wrong… it can be done. Every single one of those blogs started small. But it takes a lot of work, which brings me to my last point.
Find out whether your topic is popular with hyper-accurate monthly volume from Keyword Explorer ››
12. Giving up
In a wonderful post about 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic, Rand Fishkin ends with the tactic of being consistent. He points out that the SEOmoz blog, his personal blog, and his wife’s popular Everywhereist blog didn’t really take off until two years had gone by.
Sadly, most people quit about nine months in.
Blogging is hard work, and commitments like job, family, or other reasons can overtake your blog. That happens. This is why it is so important to count the costs before starting a blog — because in the end, giving up on your blog will kill every post you’ve ever written… and success will not come.
Conclusion
None of what I shared — except the part about social media presence and Google+ — is probably new to you. But it’s true, and it has been for years, which means it’s probably not a bad idea to follow — right?
Fortunately, blogging is a level playing field; anybody can apply the basics and succeed. I mean, if you want a blog that grows year after year, you have to start with the basics — namely, writing a killer blog post. And do that non-stop.
That’s it.
What are some other things that people do that kill blog posts?
Hi Neil,
Thanks for the insightful post, but i believe there are a few more things that define the success of a blog -
Having Kick ass Images - Let’s be honest "looks do sell" what i mean here is that a blog post should not be filled with just some text, no matter how intriguing the post may be, the impact that an amazing image can create is something that a post with only text cannot do. In fact if the images can at times make or break the image of a Blogger. With Funny or cocky images not only is the blogger displaying his blog writing style but is also displaying his persona.
Humor - Now this might be a little controversial one but let’s face it, it takes a lot of skill to get that right sense of humor and if applied properly can bring a huge amount of success to the blog and the blogger.
Appreciation - Very few bloggers appreciate the reader and sponsors, by sponsors i mean people who have text link ads on their page. I mean what’s wrong with a little Thank You
Response to Comments - Now I won’t take names but unfortunately there are loads of so called Big bloggers out there who just do not respond to comments, I mean then why the hell do you even write the post if you are not interested in the people who are reading
Going out of the way - Alright so you are an expert in your field, but it will not harm you if someone wants to learn something, it might be a small query in the form of a comment but you don’t have to charge FEES all the time to help someone. Who knows that small good deed might get you some awesome referrals :)
Invite People - Everyone loves an invitation, so maybe next time you are writing a kick ass post and you know about it send an email blast. There are loads of providers who offer free email blasts.
Spread the love - If there is someone else in your field who is doing good work show some appreciation. People by default will look up to you as the bigger guy.
- Sajeet
Definietely agree with the images shout - if you don't use images or stick some cr*ppy images in your post then I think you lessen the effect a strong blog post could have.
Yeah you are right, I am partially agreed with.
I personally feel the use of image can be divided into two purposes,
1. Reference / presentation: At times when you need to make understand people with graphics and pictures then you have to use relevant images in your posts. It not only makes your post look good but as well help user to grasp the content of the blog post better and with ease.
2. Cosmetics: Another role images play in the post is to enhance the look of the blog posts even though not having any logical requirement. Such images I would call the cosmetics of the blog post. And real beauties look great if without cosmetics too. I read hundreds of blog posts without images and liked them very much.
These are my personal take, you might have your perspective of looking into.
I must agree with Sanjeet on this one!
There must be a verity of posts that may include humour, I remember, while back I update a funny post about SEO on SEJ and got a great response in terms of social value and links.
Good thought!
Humor is a funny thing, though. (You should excuse the expression.) This is definitely an area where you have to know your audience.
I've had numerous experiences where the same joke, delivered in the same way and during the same presentation, kills in one place and falls flat in another, simply because the audience was a different group of people. They were all in the same industry, but one group was higher on the food chain than the other group. Guess where the joke failed?
I try to keep my blog posts light in tone, but I save the real weirdness and the darker humor for the alt-text of the pictures. I try to have at least one image of some kind in my posts. As manojG notes above, it's a cosmetic thing, but I've also had traffic come to my blog specifically because someone was doing an image search, and the stats often show that person poking around other parts of the blog for awhile.
Hi Sajeet Nair,
nice one. It is good that you take your time and write so often good advice within the comments here.
Thanks Michael,
Appreciate the Kind words here.
- Sajeet
Good points Sajeet. Let me share you something which goes behind the scene when someone leaves a comment on a blog where comments are moderated .When you leave a comment your comment goes into the pending comments queue. But sometimes it ends up in the spam folder and blogs get tons of spam comments every day. More famous the blog, more the spam comments. My blog gets around 150 spam comments a day even when i am using Akismet and other spam protection techniques.
Oflate Akismet has started labeling lot of genuine comments as spam. A comment which contains a link to a site often ends up in spam folder. Sometimes comments are labelled as spam for no apparent reason. So i have to manually filter out genuine comments from the huge pile of spams. This process is long and tiresome. Sometimes i come across comments which were left months ago. Then i think whether there is any use of replying to this comment now. The person who asked this question will most probably not read it and so i move on. Well this is just me. But i think we all can get an idea of why sometimes our comments don't appear on a blog or are not answered.
I have to agree about adding images. At first I didn't bother, good images can be hard to secure but they really are worth the effort. I ensure that each post has an image relating to it and that it's consistently placed and sized. It makes the content look more trustworthy.
When i link the content on Facebook and LinkedIn with out an image the post just looks poor and as if something's been forgotten.
I just wish LinkedIn would sort out the image links as at the moment it seems very hit and miss. As a B2B company LinkedIn coverage is vital for us.
One thing that has worked really well for me in the past is using funny pictures within your blog posts. I used to do it a lot more in the past and it was effective. So effective that people used to even comment on posts telling me how much they love the pictures.
Stop giving away my secret, man! j/k
-Mike
Regarding images: this guy on www.baekdal.com creates original images for every blog post he writes, and his images tell the story, his blog posts would not be the same without it, or with boring stock photos. He explained why and how he does it here: https://www.baekdal.com/insights/inside-the-graphics-of-baekdal
Does anyone have more examples of great images in posts?
Now see... I think luckyisgood gets bonus points right there. Not only did she make a comment, she gave credit where credit is due, she linked out to involve others AND she asked for comments within her comment. She wins.
;-)
Rob
I agree with you about the top of what you say! But the article page design is one of important task for your reads or Potential customers
Really good points Neil, but Sajeet is "right on" with his points as well. Images do add flavor to the eyes, like salt on french fries.
The only thing I would add, is don't get disappointed if you do all these things and your blog doesn't get big over night. It does take time to get people flocking to your site.
Great additions here, Sajeet.
One thing I've started doing is creating images for my posts with Pinterest in mind. So, they're large and have a caption that tells a little about the subject of the blog post. Pinterest referral traffic is now second only to Facebook and Google for us!
"You’ll screw any chances of your post ranking if you forget to fill out the page title and description fields for each post."
I think we need to be careful with phrasing here, considering the audience on SEOmoz. Your meta description is incredibly important when it comes to influencing your CTR from the SERPs... but to say that you will "screw any chance of rankings" without filling in your meta description field is misleading.
Just an FYI for those who might be confused by this, from https://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au/2007/09/improve-snippets-with-meta-description.html
"And it's worth noting that while accurate meta descriptions can improve clickthrough, they won't affect your ranking within search results"
Sorry for being nit picky, but I think there's a responsibility here to be accurate when a lot of readers here are new to SEO.
Great point. And depending on your site structure, it can be an advantage to let Google choose the meta description if you know what you're doing.
Yeah, you may screw your chances of ranking by not adding a title, but that won't necessarialy happen if you don't add a description. What will probably happen, though, is that fewer people will click on the SERP result without a description.
Good point Burgo. You can still rank without having a description tag, but it is important in many ways... including the CTR.
Touche, thanks Burgo for the info and points. The big bad world of SEO can be intimidating.
Great post, Neil!
Here are a few more things that will kill your blog post...
Too Much Self-Promotion - One of the easiest ways to kill a blog post is to make it read like a sales pitch. A little self-promotion is fine, but you don't want it to be the post's dominant theme.
Bad Writing (e.g., Misspellings and Poor Grammar) - Your prose doesn't have to be Shakespearean, but it does need to be readable. You want your audience to focus on your message - not your inability to run a spell checker.
Not Including a Strong Call-to-Action - #10 (above) is a specific example of this recommendation. You want to give your readers actionable advice, and ideally, you want to end your post by telling readers what their next step should be (e.g., continuing the conversation on Google+, leaving comments, etc.).
For even more blogging mistakes, here are a few resources you might find helpful:
7 Fatal Business Blogging Mistakes (And Easy Fixes!)
21 Dangerous Blogging Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Hey Steve, good additions, thumbs up!
Funny enough, I was just on the phone with someone who told me they wanted to create a blog so they can "self promote" their own business. Some people just don't get it...
Seth Godin replied to this post with an interesting (and completely opposite) take.
Another great post, Neil. It got Seth Godin's attention and he posted his contrarian point of view here:
https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/03/doing-it-wrong-relentlessly.html
Pretty interesting to compare the two perspectives. Of course if SEO is your thing, Seth's advice isn't really that helpful. His formula for success is much harder to replicate in my view. All the same, interesting stuff.
Yes, and not all of us have the kind of following Seth has. I imagine there was a time when he couldn't afford to ignore all these things, either!
Thanks for the post Neil, and most importantly, the figurative "poke with a sharp stick" to make me get my blogging schedule back on track :)
I'll share just one more thing that I believe will kill your blog post every time.
Operating in a vacuum
It's as important to READ blog posts within your space as it is to WRITE them.
Reading other people's posts, both good and bad, will help take care of some of the things you mentioned, like not plagiarizing or going over the same ground. It will also help you to do some other important things:
Naturally, this very post is a case in point!! :)
Sha
Thanks for sharing. You make some valid points as it is really helpful to learn from others in your spcae. Not just blogging, but the new skills part is important. The moment you stop learning is the day you start to fail.
Another way to breathe new life into old posts is to share them again on social media after maybe a year has passed. This can get the post out there to new followers or followers who missed it the first time. I do this a lot.
I actually disagree with Patel as well.
But I think it has more to do with "writing for your audience". Patel's strategies are more for "the newbz". Who googles SEO strategies? People that don't know where to go for that kind of information. Hence, SEO.com ranks.
People that know their stuff, already know the basics. The stuff I read online from Godin to Lefsetz is stuff that would never rank for anything but I keep checking everyday because it's made for the expert community.
I'm so tired of post that start with "10 ways to" and I know I'm not alone. It's boring. I've seen it before. But to people who are wet behind the ear, it's exciting for them to click on in google. And yes sure it gets traffic and Neil's work ethic is incredible.
But I think in the long term his strategy may only be focusing on roping in the suckers. And it's not his fault, it's Google's fault. Google's whole purpose is to help people at the beginning of the learning curve. If you didn't know something, you google it.
But where do people who already know their stuff go? Where do the experts in each niche go that just want to interact with a community and keep up to date? We don't go to SEO.com, we go to SEOMOZ. Who ranks for "seo tips"? See what I mean?
Godin's blog is a perfect example of someone that writes like a human being for humans, not google's monkey robots. Using search to find interesting content is the worst way to find interesting content, and Google knows it, that's why they bought Youtube.
A person didn't one day google "funny cat videos" and funny cat videos appeared in google's results. No someone made a funny cat video and it spread on facebook, twitter, and blogs and then people in real life showed other real people this funny cat video. It was only then that you went on google and searched for "funny cat videos" because you wanted to show your friend.
It's ironic that Google is making sites brand themselves, because their will come a day when most people skip search and just go to Wikipedia for the facts or just go to an expert site for the interesting content. I know I do.
Interesting response, Maven. I actually came to this blog for the first time because I had just read Seth Godin's post. I found Patel's points to be mostly dead on, and yet, I didn't find anything at odds with what Godin is saying, either. Godin is far too clever to simply throw a blogger under the bus to make his point.
Funny thing - Seth actually scores high on nearly all of the criteria (except that he rarey follows #10 and solicits comments at the end of his posts. When you're a multi-best-seller and already branded a guru, you probaby don't need to).
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Seth was making the point about approach. And actually I'm going to make the same points you just made:
He doesn't set out to "get up and running with critical mass."
His headlines DO NOT (thank God) have the oh-so-tired "10 Ways to...," "25 Great Tips for... blah, blah..." You're right - these titles are not for a brand-loyal blog audience. They're for blogs who see themselves as a commodity.
Godin's titles clearly fall into the Unique, or Urgent category. Godin doesn't need to think about Patel's system because he's beyond it and is instead, refusing to work the system (from an approach POV).
When he says he misses 7 of his 12 rules rules I don't buy it. I think (and I can easily be wrong here) is that he doesn't care about those 7 out of 12. It's kinda like the scene in The Matrix with Neo and Morpheus: Neo: "You're saying that I can dodge bullets?" Morpheus: "No - I'm saying that when you're ready - you won't need to."
Totally agree with your points about google and what it perpetuates.
Rob
Looking at my blog after reading your post and feeling guilty, so much guilty.
Procrastination, this is the big problem when it comes to blogging; at least is mine. Somehow it is like starting a diet: "I will start on Monday...".
Maybe it is really the time to stop delaying and stick to a publishing schedule and fix objectives, also "at-first-superficial" ones as to see my blog again as one of most promising blogs came out along the year :). Let's say, to apply some sort of gamification principle to myself in order to not forget my blogging objectives.
Finally, answering to your question, Neil, I've found that using charts, embed quotes, videos or images I've previously curated about the topic of the post I'm writing, make it stand better than simply text-only ones.
And I've seen (just a my little give it up tip) that adding correct descriptions to the images so to put them better into the context of the post is making them even more relevant, also those ones we use apparently just for "cosmetic" reasons.
Don't feel guilty. Just do something about it. As long as you make changes and progress to improve, you will be fine. ;-)
Nice blog post. I am currently working on a project in an industry where it is really hard to be creative and even harder to get people to care about what you write - it is literally as boring as it gets - so getting blog views can be quite hard, getting social interaction can be harder. However, it is not impossible and using this guide (plus a couple of the comment additions) I think I can make it a success. Cheers!
it's true that it's hard to follow the rule of not blogging about things no one cares about when your whole industry is one that few people care about. You have to go in to hyper-creative mode. I'm there with you on that one.
Have you thought about doing a brainstorming session with a small group? It will help spur some creative thoughts.
Terrific article. Bottom line like you said, start with the basics and write awesome content!
Great information, I must admit I'm guilty of reverting to my old seo mentality of NEVER linking out if you want the site to rank for something.
I know it doesn't apply anymore but old habits die hard.
Nice post some valid points there.
Here you shared 12 things I totally agreed,If getting best result from blog then write best things what is about blog and Publishing your post in blog less than 15 days or month. Write small but useful thing . Also try to less or never appriciate blog .
One thing which I think is very important, not just with blogging but in life in general, is to set clear goals and stick to them. You're right in saying that people shouldn't give up, and I think having short-term and long-term goals really contributes to keeping bloggers motivated.
Also Neil, as you said recently on Google+, its important to celebrate the little victories, and then raise the bar a bit higher next time. Good work on the article, keep it up.
Thanks! Yep it is all about celebrating the little victories as it will keep you motivated and push you to constantly do better.
Great post Neil. I always look forward to reading your posts.
Back to what you were suggesting about google+ , if you have a blog on a certain niche, is it neccessary to create a google+ account just for the blog itself, or is it just fine using yourself ( and potentially others ) as "authors" that link back to your/their google profiles.
Basically what I am asking is should we have a sort of "fan" page on google+ for the blog.
thanks again neil
You don't have to. With Google + I just use my personal one for my blog, myself, my company blog...
They aren't setup to have fan pages yet (or as far as I know), so I wouldn't do that until they have that feature.
Really great check-list, Neil. I'm going through all your previous posts here today. :)
Neil , that is seriously a Handbook like Post having the necessary guidelines for successful blogging.
The Pinterest example is perfect for showing the simple and catchy title and its importance!! BTW Neil, even your every post published in Youmoz has a unique and eye catching title!
As you said, Writing big blocks is not good for blogging, as a matter of fact writing and explaining in big blocks in real life also doesn't work. Nobody likes to listen or read long confusing sentences for more than 5 to 10 minutes.
From your post , I learned some important things, always write in simple language and in clyclic manner i.e. linking the valuable relevant older posts to the new one! And socializing your presence and your content in social media! In Conclusion , The Blogging life is much more like our real life, the way we behave and represent ourselves in real life is same like blogging! By the way I am not perfect enough in Fishing , But I like it!! ;) Nice post and examples Neil, Thumb up to you!!
It's also important to use simple language. Trying to use big words and acting all smart will just turn off your readers.
Very true, Neil. I see that a lot in the literary criticism circles. I had a grad teacher quip once, "I think (author not mentioned) would have been severely disappointed you made sense out of his paper." Requires more intellect to deliver digestable information to your reader, inspiring them to turn on their 'head lights.'
I would add that not editing blog posts can kill your results as well...
If you have the time, team up with another blogger to at least review the work before it goes out and you can do the same for them.
Within the editing process it is useful to include a step to ensure that you are talking about one idea and making 3-5 points about that idea, at most. That way you have created content that is impactful AND easy to consume.
...Just my two cents
Very true and really amazing and informative post. A must read for every blogger that exists in the blogosphere!
Turning yourself into a superhero kills a post every time in my books. When it comes to travel writing, it's crucial to distinguish between what your mother and grandfather will be happy to read and what the world is interested in. If your posts, when combined together, turn your blog into an epic about your life, I don't think much can come out of it... and traffic can only remain contained. Creating posts that are truly useful, even if they do include your perspective and how you developed tips or learned lessons, can cut it!
Thanks so much for the wonderful tips. In particular, I want to work more on linking to authority sites. This always confused me as it seems like you are giving away link juice, so I'm not sure I really understand how it helps, but I've now read this same concept from 3 different people.
Thx for other tips, too.
Awesome and VERY helpful information. Thank you! I think one thing that I see a lot of people do to kill a blog is when they go crazy with background images, colors, and graphics. I remember seeing one where the color was a pink and neon green color - hard to even look at, never mind read.
Again thank you...I've gained some great knowledge I can put to use right away!
Very insightful post Neil! Particularly for the newbie bloggers (like me) who are about to wet their feet in the baby pool of blogging (before they swim with the sharks). I was quite intrigued by how links within blog can increase traffic; however, too many links thrown at you can be overwhelming and make you lose your chain of thought. I got side-tracked several times while reading this article, and after I was done with all the links, I realized that I had spent almost an hour reading this post. On the hind side, I know a ton more than I knew an hour ago :)!
Fantastic post. Totally agree with All-in-One SEO plugin being the most useful plugin.
Thank you for the information. I have started to apply your tips on my blog, let's see where I can get with that :)
www.nicenfunny.com
I'm working on my very first blogging site. Yes I'm a beginner but after reading this post, I had an insight what pro did to become successful. Thank's for this wonderful info's. It helped me a lot. Goodluck to me! XD
Nice work... I really impressed with your blog..I recently activate your blog.This is useful to me thank you
A very interesting post. I have the All-in-one plugin but never really considered the options that are shown. I will certainly go back through my posts and use this to its fullest.
Neil-
Great thoughts on blogging. Unfortunately I realized we are violating about 5 of your 10 rules. As the CEO (and chief blogger) time is extremely limited but there is no sense in blogging if we are not generating more traffic. We pride ourselves on delivering pragmatic insights to our clients but clearly that is not enough.
Thanks much-
Dave Gee
CEO-Bungee Loyalty Programs
https://www.bungeeloyaltyprograms.com
Thank you for some really good insights that I am actioning on right away.
Question:
Is it better to link to an older post, or to a relevant page on your website?
Thanks for all the valuable information i have just started my internship and this is a great place to learn
Great tips. Thanks for sharing. I have only been blogging for about 3mths now but learning as I go. I don't think I have made too many mistakes..... (fingers crossed) but will add your tips to my blog checklist.
Thats one of the most useful post on the tip pf blogging i have ever read.
Neil,
Great list, and many of these post-level tactics (1-4,6,8,10) should be included on any new blogger's checklist until they become second nature. But points 7 and 12 imho are the most important for anyone new to consider before they even start...and it speaks to taking a hard look inside at their own personal level of motivation.
Just because it's easy to start a blog/website, doesn't mean that it's easy to succeed. Starting a blog is like starting a business, and whenever I start a new business, one of my top goals is to make decisions based on building "sticktuitiveness" and longevity for the business. Namely, I recognize that the overall sales, marketing and branding efforts as a new business most likely won't take hold overnight. They take time, and one of the most important objectives for any new business is to STAY in business, so that a prospect who hears about you on Day 1 of your business can still find you 3-5 years later when they are ready to become a customer. Building an audience around your blog/site works the same way.
If you don't see yourself wanting to still be in your niche 3+ years from now, why even start? If your blog/site is not centered around a subject your are MOTIVATED by, all of the very valuable tactics identified above won't matter. You won't take the time to research keywords, create engaging titles or post more than once a month. Not only does it take time to build a repository of valuable and authoritative content to gain the trust of the search engines, it also takes time to build your personal reputation and level of trust within your respective community. Success won't be created overnight, and only the truly motivated will stick it out and trust enough in themselves to keep at it until it is realized.
Great advice! I just had a marketing expert look over my website and he said that my use of headlines was nothing short of disatrous. Definitely something I am going to be paying close attention to in the future.
This will be very useful and we are getting into blogging heavier then ever. Thank you for sharing.
PS. The links to old posts are awesome.
Thank you for writing this excellent post. You said, "Never inviting readers to leave comments", well that's a great point. However, can you tell me, if someone just put an ordinary comment or spammy comment only to get a back-link, what to do in that case. Should I delete all those spammy comments?
Great article.
The couple points I would add are:
1. Good image, particularly important if promoting on facebook;
2. Social sharing buttons - of people like your post you want to make it easy for people to share it.
I agree that people should be able to leave comments. It is all about creating conversations.
Richard
This is excellent. I have been writing in regular paragraph form because that is what I have always been taught to do. I will work very hard on breaking it up into smaller chunks. I thank you, excellent advice!
Such an amazing blog post . Thanks for sharing.
Great article. I heard that once you publish your post you cannot improve it's visibility by adding keywords or a keyword title that people ares searching for. You have to include all of the SEO info before you publish it to make it effective.
Is that true?
Great article Neil! I had'nt thought I'd be commenting on your blog yet because your level of technology is so far above me. See, my level of "newbie"ness is not toward SEO yet as I am still stuck in preparing to write good content.
But I am so glad you've bridged the gap and I look forward to much more engaging reading/learning.
Alice
Well, it certainly looks like this post has been successfully in garnering comments at least! We'll definitely take your advice when writing blog posts for Zone In -- we just launched the blog at The Zone In Blog. The site itself is a service for people to see what's happening near them. We've also rolled a mobile site, and we're working on an app, so you can see what's going on at any time or place. Makes it easy to be an explorer!
Great blog Neil
I ran into at just the perfect moment in my blog life. I love the links an back links, genius. I have not been using them. As a neophyte I designed my art blog myself, completely from scratch. It is a work in progress artbykathymitro.blogspot.com and I am constantly looking for new ways to make it better. Again thanks so much
I am going to be friends and twitter you!
I really appreiciate your post, this would really provide the great information .Thanks for sharing
This was a great read with lots of information that I feel will really help us out. My wonderful wife recently jumped into the world of blogging and we have been trying to do all that we can to get more exposure and followers. Would you take a look at her blog about coupons, cooking, saving money and life in general [https://www.couponscookingreallife.com/] and let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!
Our Q&A section at https://moz.com/community/q/ would be a good place to ask that, as well as reading our Beginner's Guide to SEO at https://moz.com/learn.
Hello, I have a website about web page development. (melprokweb.com)
I have a question. which topics should I include in my blog? Only topics related to my work?
Right now I include other topics like, smartphones, operating sytems, tablets, it,
This is good?
Thanks,
Jose
It's usually good to focus on what is applicable to your potential customers. Do customers who are looking for websites also want to know about smart phones? And is your time best spent telling them about smart phones, or is your time better spent informing them about web design?
Thanks for the help...
These are great tips. Something I need to do a better job at doing is inviting readers to leave comments. I feel like I write interesting articles but I never ask my readers' opinions about it. Thank you so much!
Great post, thanks Neil! I have one question that I was hoping you might have some insight on. In point #3, you say that linking to other bloggers is a positive thing. That makes sense for a blog about blogging (or any general interest blog, for that matter). But what about e-commerce blogs? On my company's blog, I often link to my other posts or to our e-commerce website, but I don't see the benefit of linking users to a third party site. That's just taking them away from my content and my brand. Would you still recommend linking to third-party sites for a branded e-commerce blog?
Hey Neil!
I have a question that may be very beginner. I work in an environment and we blog about 5 times a week. We write on the same 10 keywords for 1 quarter and then we change a few up depending on how they perform. Is that pretty typical?
Should we pick 10 keywords and keep them forever? Should we only write 1 blog per keyword? What is the best approach?
Thanks for this. its really helpfull
Thanks for this post Neil.
The tips were clear, concise, and easy to apply.
Bookmarked! And still useful information. Thank you for your help.
Great post. It is an older post but most of it is still very relevant and will always be relevant. I think it is important in building a successful blog to be consistent in your posts for sure. However quality over quantity is still one of the most important tips to building a successfull blog.
Good article. Question: If the real sole purpose of our blogging for a customer is SEO and they are highly seasonal (think snow plow company), should we continue blogging in the summer months? We currently blog once a week now and were debating if we should go only twice a month in the summer... or should we keep up the 1x week? Please give me details - I'm a sponge! :)
So what about the other end of the spectrum? - the MAXIMUM number of posts we can do per day / per week. I have multiple people (my FB group) who are all willing to write articles/blogs - we could easily pump out 10, 20, 30 + every day and always stay fresh and original.
But my question is, at what point does Google penalize for TOO MANY? - what is their presumed "upper limit per day or per week?
This is one of those posts where there really isn't ever a bad time to read it. Even two years later I am so glad I found this because I am really trying to make every blog post better than the last one and I crave perfection even though it isn't possible. I need to remember to not write blocks of copy because that is what i always do and I also need to leave a question at the bottom too!
Neil I am impressed with your quality work. I note down all things and next I am careful about them. This is a little bit difficult to maintain the page rank of your blog. So these tips are essential to develop your blog year by year.
can i post small post in my blog??
Hey thanks for the awesome post! I am translating it into Japanese so more people can benifit from it, of course with a big link to your post and your website (hope it is fine with you?). I now want all my blogger friends to read this! Thank you again for putting things together in such logical terms!
btw, here is the article translated in Japanese by one of our colleague https://www.s-bokan.com/blog/seo/technique/12-opportunity-loss.html, have a look at it if anyone reads Japanese :)
These are some great tips.
I would add one more. Always add relevant description of the images in alt text attribute, so that you can receive traffic from the image searches.
But I am wondering about one thing. What is the recommended length of the post? What is considered too short and what too long?
Very helpful information. Thank you! I like asking the question at the end of the blog to draw your readers to respond. How do you get your blog to be seen? I am using SEO tactics for ranking the main site, but no one has left a comment on the blog site. Any suggestions?
www.garrettspecialties.com
Can someone tell me how many pictures to put in a post? Are 5 too many? Also, how many links in the post are too many?
Very good info! I especially like what you said about having to hang in there for the long run and that it could take a couple of years for you blog to become successful. thanks.
Great article and it proves that its the true efforts which make your blog a successful one.
Hi Neil, thanks for such a great post. According to me one of the other important thing which will brings in good traffic is the "image" along with your post in the google search. I was actually searching for the same as how to make my photo display along with my website posts and ended up looking at your photo in the search results. Following you for some time now i wasted no time in clicking this link. So you see, that these images really matter in search results. However, i wasn't able to get that information here, can i get any link if you have already written on this thing before.
Thanks.
Neil this is the clever point you have mentioned I have done those mistakes in Bestworld but looks it takes me sometime to change my posts. Ok! I'm going with your change is the only thing never change:)
Really quite a useful article. Now on words I'll think before publishing anything.
I find funny the Seth Godin post in a reply to this one.
From his point of view this is a huge fail, but from mine he is who cant see whats really hapening here.
He is famous, he is a well known writer with a lot of well known books, so he doesnt have to follow this rules....is like Justin Bieber opening a blog, writting once a year with posts like... "hello im having breakfast"....do you think moz has social interaction??? Prepare to have thousands of shares for that crappy "blog" post...because he is famous. Lol, i even see the media covering "the last blog post from Justin Bieber"
My point: Seth doesnt have to follow those rules, his blog isn´t read because he has good titles for Google nor because he writes with frecuency....its because he is famous.
The rest of the blogsphere should do it if they want to have succes
Really great post, with plenty of fantastic points.
I'm a sucker for trying to create smart titles. You're right in saying that sometimes they've got to be focussed right on the point to hook people in though.
Thanks for the advice.
Very nice article, blogging is very time consuming and you're right, writers block is often impossible to get over! If blogging is like fishing, then it's all about knowing what lake to fish in to catch your desired fish. I've been blogging for a little while now and I found marketing tools, My Viral Web very beneficial in terms of discovering relevant markets.
Excellent post Neil. I have been blogging steadily on a faith driven blog for two solid years and my traffic just continues to grow and on some major keywords I have first page of google without paying for any clicks. Consistency is the key!
I'm glad I took the time to come over from twitter to read the entire post. It was a combination of a pat on the back (for doing the right things) and a kick in the ass to keep going!
Bloggers need to leverage the anchor text they have control over and linking to old posts is the best way.
I particularly like the idea about linking to old posts. It's a good way to keep the flow of link juice going, but more importantly it lets the search engines (and your readers) know that your old content is still important. If an article from 12 months ago is still relevant, but you never mention it again or send it a link, how will your readers know?
Plus a fresh link with some anchor text variation can help that old article rank a little better.
I think formatting is also overlooked on too many blogs. Making the paragraphs shorter, and breaking things up with bullets, lists, images and videos all make content flow better.
For every post I write on my personal blog, I make sure I link to AT LEAST one older post. If you constantly do that, you won't have to worry about it.
Thanks for the concrete ideas and techniques to use for keeping a high level of visibility. Although I'm not a user of the All In One product, thanks for clarifying the use of the descriptions for snippet previews.
You said All In One SEO is the best wordpress seo plugin you've used. I gotta ask ..have you tried Wordpress SEO by yoast? It blows everything else out of the water and is free.
All-in-one SEO pack was my favorite until I tried Yoast! Now I'll never use anything else! I highly recommend it.
That and the Yoast plugin are both great.
Good stuff, Neil. I especially champion 3. It shows your community you're passionate, interested, and want to participate. Also, linking to others opens new doors for readers and exibits your diligence in keeping a finger on your respective industry's pulse. Someone recently asked me about blogging, stating he desired to get in the 'comic book' scene. I suggested finding where that community is, discovering the major contributors, and start adding.
John Doherty mentions not 'forcing' writing, waiting for natural inspiration in his recent 3 Tenets personal blog post. I think it's difficult to balance the anxiety related to wanting to get something live and feeling like you could have devoted more time...
As far as 11, I get inspired by others rather than intimidated. If you're passionate about blogging and doing it for genuine reasons, people are going to notice. Some competitive notions are healthy; keep doing your thing - the cream eventually rises. I like this Einstein quote: "You have to learn the rules of the game and then play better than anyone else."
I really dig the tenacious attitude suggestion. It's a marathon, right? Some businesses don't take off for years; it's not so unrealistic for a blog to take adopt a slow burn (especially if it is a personal blog and not primary mode of income). If you're passionate and enjoy contributing, don't count yourself out; keep going, little engine.
I also like Sajeet's suggestion above re: humor. I think humor is hugely appreciated in general and someone who impresses with their insight as well as makes people laugh only enjoys more readership.
Goodness Neil, everywhere I look I see your name. Great work again; solid advice here.
Hopefully I can now write some blog posts that don't die right out of the gate. :P
This was one of your better posts Neil, I really like the links you provided here - great resources.
Hi Neil,
Some really good tips/reminders.
I think I just made mistake number 1. I think I always make mistake number 8! Ho hum.
Thanks for those tips Neil. I will try to apply that to my blog as well. One important factor of a blog is to keep readers engage. This is one way to make them stay, read and comment.
Another excellent post Neil
If you forget to fill out your page title just give up!
But you don't have to fill out all these seo details or use any Seo plugins if your theme already includes them.
If you include compelling content in your first 2-3 lines and a compelling title then why do you need to also fill in seo titles and meta descriptions?
Love the reminder on linking to old posts - I always forget to reiterate to visitors that I've already covered a particular topic. Repurposing old, good posts increases time on site and engagement. Nice work!
Thanks for reminding me how important all of these are - great post.
Great ideas. I try to do a lot of these already but the best advice for me was #8. I tend to be long-winded and find myself spilling out large blocks of text with awkwardly long sentences in an attempt to get across the interesting points I find myself wanting to get across!
So thanks for the great reminder about the short attention span and distractions of online and especially mobile use... if you can break long paragraphs into short ones (and maybe delete a few sentences in the process), it's a lot easier for someone to figure out where they were if they have to leave and come back.
My favorite: #11. NO matter what industry you're in, there is always a 'trending' topic, you just need to know how to find it. I've been doing content marketing for quite some time now, and have worked in many industries, and every industry has it's niche where you can find out what the trending topics are within that niche. Another great way to write what the people want is to review your analytics and take a look at when topics that are bringing people to the website. Find some keywords that are generating traffic on a topic that you have yet to dive head first into, then expand on that topic as best you can. Works every time!
Those were great tips. I'll try to implement all
Very Interesting post Neil! And I must agree to Rand’s tweet that says ‘may be his best Moz Post, yet!’ This is a complete pack of information that is very much essential for bloggers.
I Quit! Is the point I really like about the post. One have to consider that blogging is a hard work and it needs lot of ideas, time, efforts and research. Many bloggers give up (nine months is a safe number) within few months, I believe in blogging seminars and conferences this should be imposed that building readers for a blog is creating a community that obviously will take time.
Blogging is tough. When you look at a lot of the popular blogs like SEOmoz (more than a blog these days), they didn't start off with millions of visitors. They had to produce a lot of great content and participate in the community before they took off. People tend to forget that.
Great post Neil, you have covered almost everything in this post. Great source of guide line for bloggers to run their blogging show.
Thanks! Problogger and Copyblogger are two other great blogs to check out that break down the art/science of blogging.
Kudos to you for another great post. I admit I was delighted after seeing that there is a new entry here from you at SEOmoz - which are all the time very useful!
Thanks for the kind words.
Nice post Neel..
Thank you - you opend my eyes. I will use my windows calendar to remind me every month on the 15th and 30th to post a new article in my 2 blogs and I will not ignore it.
Consistency is really important. John Chow, who makes a living from blogging always talks about how consistency is the most important element of growing your readership.
Come on, success belongs to the persevering
Excellent tips and guide for blogging which gave me renewed impetus to overhaul mine. I enjoyed reading it this morning, thanks.
Good blog post.
Agree that title writting is one of the most important things.
I also think it really helps to be passionate about your subject, as you have to keep it up. The "two years to take off" timeframe can't be sustained for most people (myself included) without a real passion.
That said my SEO blog only tends to get updated once a fortnight, and I know I should be aiming for 3 times a week. There aren't enough hours in the day!
Passion is very important. Not just with blogging, but with everything in life. If you don't love what you are doing, you are going to get burned out. Plus you won't put in the time and effort into it if you aren't passionate about it.
I found this article very useful. Thanks for the comprehensive and detailed information and print screen images you have included here.
Great post niel, some good best practices for blogging. Another thing with the Facebook titles and descriptions you can add in Facebook MEta OG data.
I saw a great example recently of the Target Research article where one site broke the story yet another site picked up the story and used a better title, the site with the more effective title had around 500k shares.
This happens a lot with the big news sites. In many cases sites like Business Insider can take your content and get more social love because they are better at coming up with attractive titles.
Hi Neil,
great post and good tips. I'll try to remember them next time.
Maye it's just me and I am reading some of this post wrong. You say never link out to old posts or other blogs then you go right into saying why it is good. I stopped reading after that point because you where saying to not do one thing then telling me why it's good? Guess I'm just a bit confused. Also isn't linking out to other resourses and blog good for your SEO vale?
Hi Jake,
I think you're just reading it wrong. The title is things that will kill your blog post, so each of the points is something to NOT do, then Neil goes and explains what you should do.
Great post...
It's the being consistent part I have a problem with and yes...All in one SEO is an awesome plugin.
I must say, I'm a bit stunned at the actual amount of strategic work that goes into a good blog post - stunned that I didn't learn this earlier, that is.
I have forever made the statement to clients that writing (press releases, media alerts, etc.) isn't as simple as just sitting down and cranking out some copy. Not everyone can be an effective writer just because they can type. Blogging takes this to an even higher level of purpose. It might seem great to see a blog post each week, but it's counterproductive to spend time doing it, only to skip most of the valuable points you mentioned. At some point, someone will have to answer for the blog's ineffectiveness, and all that (paid) time wasted.
Thanks for such a succinct and informative post. I'm printing it out and giving it a special section in my PR playbook. Clearly, content is nothing without strategy.
Great article!! Thanks so much for sharing. I often forget to fill my SEO descriptions and have been thinking about using short URLs but have been too lazy. I will make these changes ASAP.
Hi Neil, your points are all really helpful but I'm wondering is it intentional that the links in your post all take you off your blog or is it accidental? I find it very easy to get absorbed in another blog when I follow a link that takes me to it and may not come back to the origial blog.
Also I had followed a ref in Seth G's blog here and saved the page to read when I was less busy, this took me 3 days and when I tried to comment I find that the registeration process required me to go into my email to wait for the activation link, once I read my emails in the morning I try not to get sucked into going in again till in the evening as it's again very easy to get sucked into doing unplanned for things. So my point is would making commenting easier not be a good thing for a blog.
PS I am not trying to teach you how to suck eggs :-)
Very good post! Thank you for the infos
Thanks for expanding my knowledge about blogging! Good job!
As far as headlines, how do you feel about making them perfectly SEO optimized like 2/3 the time and then choosing a more creative headline the other 1/3? I just feel like if ALL the post have the exact keyword everytime it can get repetitive.
Great post. Some really good tips I have not thought about in a long time.Building out your Blog does take time and commitment.I think it is important to keep a Blogging schedule and stick to it.Thanks again for some awesome tips.
Awesome post! I think the headline is the number one important part of the blog post as that will determine whether or not people will click through to even read your post!
I really take the time to get the right images for a post and the better the image the longer people stay on the page. I do write on the Business of being an artist so my audience are higly visual people I should add.
Hello; sometimes, its great just to hear from an expert that you are doing the things that should bring success. I was worried that posting only once a week for the last few weeks might be really hirting my blog. I know I need to step it up, but at least you calmed my fears some. and pictures are important. So are video links if you have them. I recently wrote a blog post just to update a listing with the addition of video and was surprised by the response. It lead to a major sale that just closed. thanks again for letting me know I'm on the right track. take care, Max
Good job writing such a post. Though all this information is not new for many bloggers but it opens everyone's eyes again and reminds that blogging is not an easy thing as it might seem. It obviously requires a lot of time and effort to become successful blogger.
It seems to me that if you are going to define "a successful" blog post you should talk first about what it means to have a successful post. Many of your observations are based on the number of page views of a post, and do not relate at all to the deeper issue of a blog as a tool to promote conversation.
How would you define a blog that promote conversation or shallow metrics?
Neil, it's really informative...helpful about my blogging. Thanks a lot.
Thanks for a great post and a really useful lists of reminders. Check lists of all the things a blogger should do, prior to clicking "Publish" are always sooo welcome. I particularly related to the importance of using 'short paragraphs and simple words', because it's all too easy to drift into purple prose and long personal narratives. Easy reading is hard writing. Linking to old posts is also a great tip. I've been using a Wordpress plugin ... nRelate Related Content ... which works well for me. Can anyone suggest a good Twitter Feed plugin to use on Wordpress? I'm struggling.
Thanks for sharing. It's great post.
Crafty little write up, very basic things to remember but very needed. When blogging it's always important to consider your readers as well. Whats you take on pushing your posts through social media?
My focus is about plagiarism.
If you want to opdate your post and add an article from article network, please aware and check it out with copyspace. Are Your articles pass the filtering system from plagiarism?
thanks
Very interesting article. It can be taken as a checklist to do. I have started my blogrecently www.stocktipsinvestment.blogspot.com. I'm in the process include tools that allow me to increase traffic to my blog. I see there are some issues that I have toincorporate.
Yeah mate thats a spot on article. Glad to put some ticks next to my blog posts. or most of them.... But an excellent reminder so thanks.
Great Article, thanks for sharing! I think as well that regularity and perhaps even a editor's calendar (if you are more than one editor for a blog) are a must-have for a successful blog.
How about ading a Youtube Video if you can, so that you get more personable
An awesome read and useful post. Looks like you haven't forgot to do the things that are liveblood of a blog :p. Though most of the points are common sense but its clearly a guideline to move one step ahead with a blog.
I want to say about my 19 years marriage, my husband was addicted to drugs and women. I have been coping with this kind of marriage and bearing everything hopping that he will change. I have 3 kids for him, i could not bear it anymore. I prayed to God and also seek for other advice from marriage counselor but things were still the same. I later got an information from a friend that a spell caster can really save my marriage, i have never believed spell casting but my friend convinced me to contact Priest Ajigar and i really contacted him, after everything was done to my surprise he was gradually changing for good in just 5 days after he finished everything in his temple. He has change finally now and he is now a very responsible husband. Here is Priest Ajigars email: [email protected] Its great to have my husband back on this Xmas season, he can spend so much time with his family. If you are facing problems in your marriage or having difficulties in getting your partner back after breakup.
I don't blog. I don't tweet. I do not "friend" anyone, +1, or "like" anyone. The only reason I even read this particular blog: It showed up on Google news. Why am I commenting if I don't do any of the above. Not really sure - my time is my most valuable commodity. But to make my point, I have spent 15 minutes registering, activating and now writing. Maybe I'll start a club.
I only read the section titles of the above post ...and stopped after "clunky URLs". I'm sure it is good advice if you blog. My own feeling is that if you have a compelling topic and write well, people will read your work ...clunky URLs notwithstanding.
Computers, websites (clunky URLs and all), social networking, etc. - most are a waste of time. Oh, if you enjoy it and you derive some satisfaction from blogging, then by all means do it. I used to waste a tremendous amount of time, energy and money "investing" in the latest website design, the latest software package, the latest ...fill in the blank. My business did well. Until one day I decided not to upgrade ... and the world did not come to a crashing halt. I closed more business that week because I had the time to focus on my customer's needs. Two years later, the result is more money in my pocket and more time to do things like spending time with my family and friends. I also do not stress over which software package is better, or will it be compatible, or any of the related crap that goes along with it. Give me a business card, a cell phone and a $300 laptop and I can do business.
So if you want people to read your blog, there is probably good advice above. If you want to enjoy your life, I suggest turning off the computer and go talk with your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, kids, friends, business partners, customers, etc.
I am not a Luddite. I use technology everyday. I use it as long as it makes my life easier (the iPhone is a perfect example this), I don't have to spend time fixing, upgrading every six months, or wondering about my next blog post. It is no wonder my customers often comment that I'm the only one that actually talks to them.
I've spent enough time on this. My best to you all - in whatever you choose to do. My girlfriend and surfboard are calling me.
Hi guys!! This is actually interesting post, from every point of view it is really outstanding.If you people love to play games you should visit once… fifacoinvip.co to buy fifa coins games buyfifacoin4u.com
Great post and comments. Thanks.
Very straight forward information, good stuff nonetheless.
Hi Neil,
I've been reading your posts on quicksprout and it goes without saying, your experience has helped me jump-start my blogging career.
Regarding this post, I concur with you about the 12 factors that could easily kill or destroy a blog/blogger. In my view, I find that point #12 is a key factor that many wannabe bloggers encounter. Most bloggers will give up after 8 to 10 months probably because they have no interest about what they have been blogging about, and it never goes well until you are able to understand your passion. I am a victim of an abandoned blog because I did not have the passion to write remarkable content on the topic I had picked. But if you need to succeed, I would ask you to follow Neil's tip #12, simply because it is the one factor that lies between you and success.
I know this post is a bit old, but I couldn't stop myself from reading and commenting on it, mostly because it caught my eye and is valuable.
Thanks!
Nice article.
Good, actionale post Neil - thanks for sharing.