Blogging Advice

James F. McGrath has pointers on how to know if you have a blogging problem, and how to know if you are a responsible blog owner.

Prescient points for all of us bloggers.

Painting

I'll be away from the computer for a while.....which is probably a good thing because I have been too OCD about blogging and reading blogs this past week.

If I don't respond to comments, it's because I'm not here.

Have a great weekend!

Forgetful

Sometimes I forget that actual people read what I write here. My blog readership is small and always has been. I like to think that I have quality readers instead of a large quantity of readers.

My average daily visits run anywhere from 20-35 people...and many of those are random hits looking for naked pictures. Reminder to self....never use the phrase "naked pictures", even jokingly, in a blog title. Google sends the wrong kind of traffic here as a result.

Yesterday, after linking to a CNN article, CNN linked back to my blog, sending about 500 people from all over the country to my tiny, little corner of cyberspace. I appreciate the love from CNN, but it's always a little overwhelming when things like that happen unexpectedly.

It reminds me that I need to be thoughtful about the things I write and what I put out into the internet.

I'm a personal blogger. While I will occasionally blog on politics, religion, or other "big" themes, even those posts are from my personal perspective and experiences. I realized a long time ago that the only opinion I can truly represent is my own. I have no notions of trying to influence, or argue people into agreeing with me. I enjoy discussions, but I'm not a crusader.

As a result, when my traffic spikes or my comment threads become involved and long, I often withdraw, because I'm not used to my "voice" reaching quite so far.

I'll try to get over that.

Blogging Slowdown

Today's the first day with no school for the boys.  

That means my blogging will probably slow down or become even more superficial....because I can't really think clearly with kung-fu sound effects ringing in my ears as my children use their ninja super-powers while fighting the imagined bad guys that lurk behind every corner of our house.

Plus...I'm going to try and actually have a productive summer, which means not taking advantage of the ability to sleep in until 8 or 9 in the morning.  Whenever I sleep in it always seems to completely mess up my momentum.

If I haven't answered your comments...it isn't because I'm ignoring you....really...I promise!

I just haven't gotten to it yet...plus I'm prone to procrastination.

Blog Envy

Have you ever visited a blog and wondered why it's so popular? Every post will have dozens of comments, the hit counter will display hundreds of thousands of visits, and there will be hundreds of links to it, yet you scratch your head and wonder...."What's so special about this blog?"

It might not be horrible. It might have good posts from time to time. But, the popularity seems greater than the sum of the blog's parts.

I used to feel bad about that. I would wonder why no one would comment on my posts. Was I doing something wrong? Was I so boring that merely glancing at my blog induced a coma in my potential readership? Was I a legend in my own mind?

Feeling like the high school freshman not invited to the party, I would suck it up and remind myself that I didn't really care about whether or not I was popular. That was fine for a while, though I still wondered about my viability as a blogger. Some bloggers seemed to have a knack for building traffic. They were incredible writers and very skilled at getting their points across and "branding" themselves. I definitely didn't view myself as being on the same plane. But what about those other bloggers?

I realized a few things.

Some blogs with lots of comments are relying on the visits of family and friends. After a few posts, it becomes obvious that many of the comments are back and forth conversations between old friends...not that there's anything wrong with that. It did, however, change my perspective about the numerical count of comments. Take away previous friendships and how many commenters would that particular blog have?

Other blogs rely on the tried and true method of the controversial post. If it's a mommy blog the title will read, "Are Working Mothers The Devil's Spawn?" Political blogs--"Bush's Hot Air Contributes to Global Warming!" Religious blogs--"Why Jesus Hates Those Other People." Crackpots, trolls and anyone with an axe to grind will be sure to show up to comment vociferously on these topics, which in turn will lead others to try and reason with them. Bingo! That post will have at least 50 comments.

Of course, an easy way to get comments is to stay slightly superficial and post things that everybody agrees with. "Hitler Was A Pig!", "Injustice Blows!", "Abusing Animals Is Sick!"; posts like these lead to the inevitable "great post!" comment. Everyone falls all over themselves to say how incredible you are for addressing such a timely topic.

The most valid way to have a prominent blog is to craft a very specialized, focused topic. Post after post about underwater basket weaving, or sumo wrestling, will build your relevant search results transforming your blog into the first stop for many web surfers.

After realizing that 80% of popular blogs fall into these categories, I don't feel quite as bad when my stats are low and my commenters are nonexistent. I know that I haven't stooped to posting articles about Britney Spears just to steer a few wayward surfers my way. I know that I don't want to resort to mud-slinging just to get a conversation going. I know that at least I can count on my husband to comment...he's a captive audience.

Don't feel bad if your blog isn't "successful". I still have a long way to go with mine and am hoping to one day have the time to improve on it and draw commenters who want to stop by.

I've had a few this week, and let me just say--Thank You!