I get a number of e-mails from people who are interested in starting a blog and asking for advice, so I thought I’d throw a few general tips out here. I hope you guys will add to this list in the comments.
In no particular order…
- Find a domain/URL that isn’t too long or hard to spell.
- Don’t use the name of your blogging software in your URL. Lots of people moving frmom Moveable Type to WordPress are now having to move their sites from example.com/mt to example.com/wp. Using example.com/blog or example.com/journal is a lot more future-proof.
- Write what you know/like and your audience will find you. Don’t jump on hot topics unless they really interest you and you have thoughts of your own to add. If you aren’t true to your interests, your content will ring empty.
- Become active in the blogosphere: read and add comments to posts that interest you on other sites, write your own posts to trackback other people’s posts, etc. No successful blog is an island.
- Don’t just spew out links to other posts/stories as the majority of the content for your blog. If you do want your blog to be primarily links to other sites/posts/stories, add your thoughts or explain what you find interesting about the post you’re linking to.
- Remember that anything you put on the internet is permanent. Think twice before you post.
- Find your own voice/design/look and make your site your own. Take the time to make your site work the way you want it to. Think about learning a little about the language your blogging software is written in, it will open up all kinds of options for you.
- Have a syndication feed, you’ll reach a larger audience.
- Don’t apologise if you skip posting over a period of time. I guess this is probably just one of my pet peeves, but to me it smacks of self-importance.
- Don’t e-mail random people you’ve never corresponded with and ask for links. People that know you will link you when they want to.
That’s a start… I look forward to seeing what you all contribute to the list.
If I recall you used to be /b2/ for your blog 😉
Then migrated on to WordPress.
I kindove like having mine remain /b2/, it shows the roots of my blog a little. Might be confusing to some, but thats ok.
I could always put up a redirect for /blog/
Nope, it has always been /blog/.
Alex King’s Tips for Bloggers
Alex King has put together some good tips for starting bloggers… I’m guilty of not following a few, like apologizing for not posting, not that I was feeling self-important, but more like feeling guilty for having a blog and not having any posts on …
Connection
Reading Alex King’s blog and his piece for new bloggers really made me feel like he has hit the nail on the head. I am guilty of some of the things he wrote, but guess it happens to most.
Personally, i started out from blogstudio, introduced to the…
Hey,
Really thanks for this cool advice. I have started a DiaryBlog for Pets http://www.diarydot.com. And these advice really helps.
Tips for new bloggers
Alex King has a pretty good set of tips for new bloggers which should also be used as ground rules for existing bloggers. I’m breaking several by posting this (linking and offering little opinion)! To help rectify the issue, I’ve added a couple o…
Re: #9: I understand why you write that, but the advice to post regularly does have some merit if building an audience is your responsibility. Of course, that’s important only to people whose audience is still so Web-averse as to not use an aggregator or something else clever to not have to repeatedly check bookmarks to follow a site.
I guess I just feel that actions speak louder than words. You can start posting again, talk about things that kept you busy, etc.; but I see way too many blogs that consist almost entirely of “sorry I haven’t posted lately” posts.
Alex King offers some tips for new bloggers
His Tips for New Bloggers” href=”https://alexking.org/blog/2004/05/30/tips-for-new-bloggers/”>Tips for New Bloggers are spot on, however, I would add one thing: Click on the links that you post. That way, people will see your blog in their logs a…
These are great tips Alex. I have a question about #2 though. Would you recommend installing a blog in your public_html directory, so your blog would be at myhome.com rather than myhome.com/blog? Would there be any disadvantages of doing it this way?
Thanks!
PS Thanks also for providing some great themes for wp! 🙂
If the blog is the main content of your site, installing in the root directory of your domain certainly makes sense to me.
How exactly is “anything you put on the internet is permanent?” This “Tips for Bloggers” article loses all of its credibility with that one.
Search engines and web site archiving services save page content. You may take something off your site, but that doesn’t mean it disappears.
There have been a number of cases where people have found information that had been taken off a web site.
Your comment loses all of its credibility since you didn’t acknowledge this. 😉
Another rule that we may want to add:
– Do not mix topics. Create separate directories or even separate blogs. It just doesn’t make sense to have a blog focused on business and technology and then you start posting (even occasional) messages about your dog (or whatever). While we may be interested to read about your thoughts on business or technology, a discussion of your pets doesn’t fit there.
This is a personal site, I write about whatever interests me. That’s why there are all those different categories listed on the site.
Taking Off
I’ve been pondering how best to gain some ground with this blog. In the process, I stumbled across Alex King’s Tips for New Bloggers. I found it quite helpful, but I’m torn about whether or not I want to limit this blog to politics. I’m fairly temp…
Blog Questions
I got this e-mail last night:
Hi Alex,
I’m interested in getting a blog started but I don’t know much about them, their capabilities, etc. Is there a primer you could recommend? What are the benefits of a blog over an official site? I plan …
[…] Fixing What’s Not Broken if only Steven had read my tips for new bloggers. […]
[…] Tips for New Bloggers (tags: tips blog blogging new) […]
“While we may be interested to read about your thoughts on business or technology, a discussion of your pets doesn’t fit there.”
Who’s “we”?
I for one enjoy the random non-technical posts in a technical blog. It adds a human element to the blog, making me feel like the writer is more well-rounded and real, with more interests than just in technology. 🙂
*bumps a dormant thread*
In the spirit of “No blog is an island,” I’m adding my own comment. Thanks to Alex for making this handy list of tips.
Right now, I feel kinda goofy writing about my current topic of expertise/passion, which is job hunting. I think the resistance I feel is primarily due to the fact that as Alex pointed out, it’s permanent. Hopefully, I’ll find a gracious and forgiving group of bloggers who like my subject matter and I’ll be approving more comments to my blog than I’ll be rejecting. And secondly, I’m presenting the material as myself, not an online player name that grants me anonymity. And that’s still a bit unnerving still. What’s more, in real life, you can usually see your audience and address questions or problems before they arise. Here, you broadcast your message to cyberspace and hope it turns out well. I know in time, I’ll adjust, and probably sooner than I think. But those first few steps identifying yourself and your opinion to the world can feel a bit daring.
Again, thank you, Alex. I hope my blog starts off on the right foot with your advice.
-Misti
I happened to come across your blog while searching and glad I found it. I’m a new blogger and learning my way around. I found your tips to be enlightening and will certainly be putting them into practice. I find the “Debugging XSS Attacks” particulary interesting and will be getting indepth with it to learn how to protect myself, and I’ve got much to learn it appears. My thing is building websites using Photoshop. Blogging is much different, but I’m having fun learning it.
Thanks for the insightful information you offer here. I will be a regular visitor.
-Barb
Thanks you for information.It is very useful to new guys.These are very useful tips in blog writing. Again thanking you.