Four Little-Known Factors that Could Destroy Your Blog’s Chances of Success
Are you frustrated because your blog has plateaued?
Maybe you took part in a class or joined Triberr, saw a jump in stats, but now things have leveled out again, and you can’t figure out why you’re not growing the audience that other bloggers seem to be. Or maybe you know your content is well-written, but you’re not getting the attention that less well-written blogs are.
You might be making one of these major, but easily fixable, mistakes.
(1) Your Blog Posts Aren’t Focused on a Single Topic
You can talk about a wide variety of things on your blog, but when you write a post, it needs to be laser focused on one topic. Even if you do a list post like my What Groundhog Day Can Teach Us About Contentment (or like this post for that matter), you still have a single topic. Contentment lessons from a particular movie. Things that might be hurting your blog.
If you throw multiple unrelated topics, or loosely related topics into one blog post, not only will your reader feel overwhelmed but they’ll feel confused about what you’re trying to say. Your post won’t stick with them as well as it would if you focused, and if it doesn’t stick with them, they won’t be as likely to share it and talk about it.
Multiple topics also don’t give you the room to properly expand any of them. Your readers will go away feeling like you made them a promise and didn’t fulfill it.
(2) Your Titles Stink
I hate to be so blunt, but it’s the truth. Have you wondered why your carefully crafted blog posts aren’t getting many click throughs from Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites? The problem might be your title.
With 500,000 new blog posts published per day on WordPress.com sites alone, we can’t afford to use vague or boring titles if we want our blog to stand out in tweets or in someone’s Google reader. Worse, if you’ve written a bad blog title, any shares you get from Triberr or from the social media buttons at the bottom of your post will be wasted. Both tools use the title you’ve given to your post unless those sharing it know to fix it. Most don’t or won’t take the time.
What counts as a boring or vague blog title (and tweet)? Here are a few I pulled from my Google reader, email inbox, and Twitter stream.
New blog post!
Raise your hand if you can identify with this post
A short list and 10 great links
This may be a random thought
ROW 80 Update
(There were others, but I tried to pick ones that couldn’t be easily identified so that I didn’t hurt anyone.)
(3) You’re Focusing Your Social Media Time on the Wrong Sites
We can’t be on every social media site without burning out or becoming an automated spam bot. We need to carefully choose the two or three sites that work best for us. But how are you making your decision about where to focus?
If you’re only looking at hits, you’re doing it wrong.
In March, StumbleUpon ranked fifth on the list of top referring sites for my blog. My first thought was “I should learn how to use StumbleUpon. If I’m getting this many hits without being actively involved, imagine what would happen if I started focusing on it.”
But hits don’t mean everything.
When I looked at my site analytics, I found that people coming from StumbleUpon stayed less than 45 seconds (not long enough to carefully read my post, read any of the comments, share, look at other pages, or comment themselves). In other words, they weren’t engaging. They weren’t the kind of traffic I’m looking for. If I focused my attention there, I’d be wasting my time.
For those of you who are investing time into Pinterest, are the people engaging or are they empty hits? People who don’t engage also don’t share and don’t return.
(4) You Aren’t Focused on Others
This goes beyond just making relationships with other bloggers through talking to them on social media, sharing their content, and commenting on their blogs (all of which are important).
What’s the take-away value of every post you write for the person reading it? If you hadn’t written it, would you care enough to read it?
For example, if you build a deck over the weekend, don’t just tell people you built a deck and share pictures of the progress. Unless they’re your family or best friends, they won’t care (sometimes even those people won’t really care and will only read the post to be nice). However, if you use your story about building your deck to give your readers the five biggest mistakes to avoid when building their own deck, you’ve made it both personal and valuable.
The take-away doesn’t always need to be practical in a physical sense. Sometimes it can be emotional, psychological, or spiritual. Sometimes it can be entertainment. The point is, the post is focused on them, not on you.
What’s your biggest blogging struggle? Which of the above points (if any) would you like me to turn into a full blog post?
Interested in more ways to improve your writing? Point of View in Fiction is now available. (You also might want to check out Internal Dialogue or Showing and Telling in Fiction.) All are available in both print and ebook.
May 09, 2012 @ 08:46:57
I’m guilty of boring titles, Marcy. gosh they’re hard to come up with. thanks for a good list. I’ll be referring to it as I go forward
May 09, 2012 @ 11:11:22
Thanks 🙂 It sounds like titles are particularly hard for many people.
May 09, 2012 @ 09:01:06
Is it ok to say I would love to see full posts on each of the areas? I think at times I am guilty of them all. The ones that get me the most, though, are probably the social media one and making sure it’s for other people. I think being the judge of our own work can be tough, and some days we can’t judge it just by the number of comments or hits. And sometimes I feel like the engagement everywhere online is dying down. Is that just me?
May 09, 2012 @ 11:10:41
It’s not just you. I’ve noticed that too. I find that the hits I’m getting on my blog are staying fairly solid, but Twitter especially seems to be oddly quiet. I’m sure there are a lot of factors contributing to that like the rise of Triberr making Twitter link heavy and Pinterest taking such of people’s “free” time. It’s a waiting game now to see what happens next. It also always gets quieter online when the warm weather comes.
I think the “making sure it’s for other people” must have clicked for you lately though because your posts have had really good takeaway value.
May 09, 2012 @ 09:37:20
LOL. I built a deck over the weekend! Well, my husband and father-in-law did. You make a lot of great points with this post, Marcy. I try to always have engaging titles, and the influx of bloggers is part of why I’m cutting down to just one major post a week – Thriller Thursday. I will say I get frustrated at times when I get a ton of hits and not that many comments, but I’m not sure what else to do other than what I’m doing. I feel like supporting others is a big key, and I enjoy it.
May 09, 2012 @ 11:17:47
Haha – that’s a weird coincidence!
Your Thriller Thursday posts are great because they appeal to your target audience, and they provide that entertainment value for people who enjoy true crime and thrillers.
As for getting more hits than comments, I also think that’s a normal step in the life cycle of a blog as you get more readers who aren’t also bloggers. The average person will read a blog but won’t comment unless it really hits a nerve, either good or bad. They don’t feel as comfortable doing it. I know that I almost never commented on a blog before I started blogging myself and realized how important it is to the blogger.
May 09, 2012 @ 09:46:13
Totally guilty of boring blog titles. I KNOW that it’s something I need to work on, but this was a good reminder. 🙂
May 09, 2012 @ 12:12:19
Some days, I’ll admit, I just run out of energy to come up with a good title. That’s one of the reasons I’m trying to build up a blog cushion. If I have a little cushion, I’m more likely to put the work into my titles.
May 11, 2012 @ 16:54:10
So not true! Your titles are fab! Just sayin’!
May 09, 2012 @ 09:53:02
Fab post, and great advice! You’re right about the hits – it’s really hard to judge what they mean. How do you find out about how long someone stays on your site? I never knew about that. 😀
May 09, 2012 @ 11:24:55
I just clicked over and checked your site. It looks like you’re self-hosted on a WordPress.org, so all you need to do is connect Google Analytics. It’s free, and gives you detailed information on how long people are staying based on where they come from (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and even how long people who searched for a specific keyword stayed. You can also see in site navigation. So, for example, I know that of the people who landed on my homepage today, 40% clicked on my blog tab at the top and 60% clicked on the title of this post in the footer box. If I was considering getting rid of my footer box, I now know not to! (I wasn’t but it works as an example.) I can also see where people go next on my site (if anywhere) from this post.
May 09, 2012 @ 09:59:48
Good advice here, Marcy. Like many of the other commenters, I find titles the hardest thing because I want them to do so much. Not just grab the reader (that’s a given), and be sharable (also a given), but to help SEO and build my brand as an author and blogger, too. Many of the “how to write grabbing headlines” articles I’ve read focus mostly on the grabbing and not on the other goals. Any suggestions? Or places for further study?
May 09, 2012 @ 11:37:52
As fiction writers, the challenge is a little different for us. I’m going to have to do a whole post on that point (and maybe something on SEO for fiction writers as well).
A lot of title writing for fiction bloggers is trial and error, and Twitter actually gives us a good testing ground. You can tweet your post 2-3 times using a different variation on the title each time and see what happens.
In terms of trying to do everything at once, most titles can’t. For example, titles only build brand in a general sense. If your brand isn’t funny, don’t use a funny title. If your brand isn’t risky, don’t use a risky title. For titles, the tone you use is the best way to build brand.
Does that help a little until I get to write a post on titles?
May 09, 2012 @ 10:14:23
Fantastic points, Marcy. I agree with you across the board, especially about getting quality connections (over massive numbers of hits) and giving something valuable to readers.
I’d also add choosing topics we care about—the whole “be authentic” thing :). It can be easy to choose topics we expect to be popular, but if it doesn’t come from an authentic place, it’ll show. Some of my most viewed and shared posts and thoughtful comments from readers come from posts I didn’t expect many people to dig.
May 09, 2012 @ 11:52:52
I couldn’t agree more about authenticity. I won’t write something just to chase hits. I try to write about what excites me because if I’m not excited writing it, I can’t imagine anyone else will be about reading it. There are also things I’ve considered writing about, though, that I haven’t. As much as I liked the topic, it didn’t seem to fit this blog even though it was authentic to me. Everyone’s line on that will be different, and I think knowing our lines and sticking to them is also part of authenticity 🙂
May 09, 2012 @ 10:26:52
Very timely for me! I am stepping back a bit from social media after a book launch, blog tour, promo craze and the A to Z. I am in middle of figuring out what I want to say on my blog going forward. I find the posts that get the most hits and comments are ones that are either funny or touch people – and keep it short! Some blog posts are so darn long I skim and then skip outta there. I dont want to be one of those! Thanks for the tips here!
May 09, 2012 @ 13:51:26
I’m a fan of shorter posts. If I find I’m going over about 700 words, I take a look at whether what I really have is two or more posts. Some people can write really long posts, and readers love it, but for me, if a post is too long, I need to be sure I’m going to get something from it before I commit to spending that much time reading it. It’s a much tougher sell, and I’ll admit, I skim too.
May 09, 2012 @ 11:03:27
Stellar post and fab advice!
May 09, 2012 @ 12:11:23
Thanks 🙂
May 09, 2012 @ 11:16:22
I know I’ve been guilty of 1, 2, & 4. Attention-getting titles are a challenge to come up with, and while I try to keep my blogs focused on one topic, a second one will often sneak in. Usually they’re connected, but maybe not as well as I think. And #4… we’re taught to blog about our passions, but I’m afraid some of mine (local history) is a passion that’s not shared by very many others, which is why I’m dialing back on that topic. Yet when I mentioned doing so, I did get some push back, so not getting rid of it completely.
Thanks for the good advice and reminders!
May 09, 2012 @ 13:55:02
We should definitely blog about our passions, but I think we need to take a look at where our passions connect with our readers’ passions. That common ground allows us to be authentic while still providing value.
Local history will be a bit more difficult to interest a large group of people in because the takeaway is limited unless the piece of history is particularly fascinating or people already live in the area we’re talking about. But if you love writing about it, and you’ve found a core audience who loves reading it, then it’s definitely worth keeping!
May 09, 2012 @ 11:29:26
Excellent post, Marcy. I agree that things have been slowing down lately. I think people are figuring out that they need time to write and they can’t do it all. That’s my take. I am also considering pulling back on my blogging schedule. As for the points you brought up, maybe I may find it easier to come up with better material if I am blogging less often – maybe not. Guess we’ll find out. I, too, am guilty of the title issue. I see I’m not alone in that one.
May 09, 2012 @ 12:09:41
There’s no harm in writing one less blog post a week to see how it goes. Part of it is knowing your readership too I think. How many times a week are people happy to have you post? Personally, I’d rather a blogger posted 1-2 times a week and wrote something that went on my “cannot miss reading” list than wrote something 3-4 times a week that didn’t interest me enough to read every one. (As an aside, I love your Immortal Mondays. Those are one of the posts I try to never miss.)
And your personal comfort level comes in to it to. Three days a week works for me right now, but I have some ideas floating around in my brain that might necessitate a cut back to two. We shall see.
May 09, 2012 @ 11:52:46
Really great post, Marcy! I need to look into that Google Analytics. Sounds like a great tool. I know something I’ve fallen into is getting comfortable in a little niche, like my WritersButt. I love it and hope that it’s helping people. That said, I don’t want that to be the ‘only’ thing I blog. So I’ve challenged myself to really stretch and blog at least 1 other time during the week about something else universal and fun.
And yes, titles are hard!
May 09, 2012 @ 11:56:10
Unfortunately, you’ll need to self-host before you can connect Google Analytics. It can’t be hooked up to a wordpress.com blog, which is one of the big advantages in moving to a wordpress.org.
Sounds like you’re on the right track with the WritersButt posts. People come to expect those on Wednesdays and they are helpful, but if you don’t want your blog to be 100% about “healthy living for writers” then adding at least one additional post helps the blog be a Ginger blog instead. (Just like Kristen says 🙂 )
May 09, 2012 @ 15:13:57
That was my thought too — need to make sure I’m still Ginger Calem and not solely WritersButt, as fun as that is! 🙂
Hhmm… self hosting. I’m going to have to look into that. I’m almost afraid to mess with anything since it’s working.
May 09, 2012 @ 15:27:28
My blog here is a WordPress.org, and in the day to day functioning, it’s no different than the Girls With Pens wordpress.com site I shared with Lisa Wilson. But having a self-hosted site gives me a lot of customization options, and I can connect things like Google Analytics. I can also decide what program I want to use to deliver my posts. Right now I’m using Feedburner, but I’m seriously considering switching to either Mail Chimp or Aweber. In this case, more options are good.
May 09, 2012 @ 11:56:41
I’ve noticed a weekly increase in hits, but a plateau on subscribers. Also I don’t know if the stats are right, but I don’t see many from twitter or triberr. But I only belong to one tribe, does that make a difference? Also I’d been doing the SEO thing wrong and just recently started figuring it out. But then just because I get hits doesn’t always mean they are staying like you said. I’m not sure what else to do, I feel spread pretty thin right now. I spend a lot of time brainstorming and writing my posts–so not sure if I can even keep up with my current aim of 2 a week (it was once 3). I feel like I have to sing Dory’s mantra (from finding nemo) “just keep swimming” 🙂 Thanks for these tips Marcy–you always have great info!
May 09, 2012 @ 15:38:26
A couple things to keep in mind when it comes to looking at your traffic sources. First, Twitter won’t always show up as Twiiter. It might show up as t.co (which is TweetDeck) or as Hootsuite. Both are hits from “Twitter” but they record differently because of the different tools so to see how hits actually come from Twitter, you end up needing to add three numbers together.
The more tribes you belong to on Triberr, the more traffic it will tend to generate. In terms of people actually coming through to read your post from Triberr, the average seems to be about a third to half of your tribemates will click through per week (not per post).
The subscriber plateau generally means that your audience is sharing with people who are already in your audience. In other words, you’ll need to find ways to draw more “outsiders” in. There are a couple ways to do that, but that’s a post in itself (I feel like I should put a coming soon sign here because I’ll need to do a whole post about that as well.)
May 09, 2012 @ 20:33:16
Thanks Marcy! 🙂
May 09, 2012 @ 13:27:19
My biggest blogging struggle is not blogging enough. I only blog once a month because that’s the amount of time I can honestly commit to doing it. I don’t want to promise something that I can’t deliver. I’m going to try to up that next year but I don’t want to feel like I’m pressured into doing something, Then it’s not fun.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
May 09, 2012 @ 15:45:57
It has to stay fun. As soon as it stops being fun, that comes across to the reader. And I’m a big believer in consistency whatever your posting schedule is. So if once a month is what you can do consistently, then you’re much better not to increase only to be sporadic about it.
May 09, 2012 @ 13:46:42
Great advice, Marcy! Thanks for sharing!
May 09, 2012 @ 15:44:27
Thanks 🙂 I’m glad you liked it.
May 09, 2012 @ 16:16:41
You just hit me where I live, Marcy. I don’t know why, but in December I found myself completely burned out. Then, after the first of the year, I finished the first draft of Enza, followed by editing, editing, and MORE editing, and then the blog tour.
My blog posts have suffered because of it (still thinking there’s a bit of burn out going on). Of course Debra is correct in that some of us are cutting back because it’s too hard to do everything we learned from the workshop…and still write.
As for titles…I’m hit and miss there. However- I did find that if you can work ‘naked’ into your title, your hits will increase dramatically. 🙂
May 12, 2012 @ 23:21:01
I’m not surprised that you’re feeling burned out after finishing up Enza and doing a big blog tour and launch.
And thanks for the chuckle 🙂 I’m sure putting “naked” in the title would attract more hits!
May 09, 2012 @ 19:14:51
I’ve been struggling with blogging, Marcy, mainly because of lack of focus. I haven’t found my passion for blogging yet. So right now, I’m making a concentrated effort to just blog and once I find a niche, then perhaps I can start to grow an audience.
Until then, I love the focus of your posts and learn so much when I come here! 🙂
May 12, 2012 @ 23:29:03
Sometimes staying the course is all you can do. It’s much better to figure out what you want the focus of your blog to be before trying to build an audience. Because of how much time we have to devote to making blogging work, I really do believe that we have to feel comfortable and excited about it.
May 09, 2012 @ 19:46:43
Great advice, Marcy. I’d love to see blog posts from you about all 4 topics. But for me the hardest part is writing focused posts. I tend to ramble and cover the topic too broadly so it’s just skimming the surface.
I also suck at timing my Tweets even though TweetDeck could help me to schedule Tweets in advance. I also need to finally join Triberr.
May 12, 2012 @ 23:31:50
You’re in a different timezone from the majority of Twitter users, so timing your tweets becomes a bit trickier than for most.
Triberr is a great tool for helping streamline your social media time. I use it almost like a multi-tool because it keeps me updated with a lot of blogs, I can click through to comment, and then I can share to key social media sites.
May 09, 2012 @ 22:45:29
Ha, clock me up for all of the above! Good advice which I shall have to learn to take. Thanks, Marcy.
Cheers!
May 12, 2012 @ 23:32:23
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. It sounds like I’ll have to turn this into a series talking about each of the points in more depth.
May 09, 2012 @ 23:22:44
I am in absolute agreement with you, Marcy! I think the hardest part about blogging is discovering what your passion is, and forging ahead to share it with others. I took a month off to figure that out. I think I’m close enough to the truth to start blogging again.
May 12, 2012 @ 23:34:02
Taking that break is a good tip for people struggling to figure out what they’re passionate enough about to blog on regularly. Thank you for sharing, and I’m glad you’ve now found your focus and are ready to return to blogging.
May 09, 2012 @ 23:58:44
I really liked how you remind us to make a clear point and write on one topic. I have a tendency to meander in my blog posts, but my titles rock (wry grin). And yes, focusing on others is key–albeit not always easy.
May 12, 2012 @ 23:52:32
At least you know where your strength is and where you still need work 😉
May 10, 2012 @ 00:03:30
Marcy –
I really enjoyed this post and passed it along to every place I thought would benefit, including a Facebook group I have joined. We all met on Robert Lee Brewer’s “My Name Is Not Bob” April Writer’s Platform Challenge (which was easy, intense, fun, annoying – but the people I met were incredible).
I keep hearing about Triberr, but have not joined (yet?). At one point, a person needed an invitation. Is that still true? I also don’t know much about it so I will have to do some research.
Thanks for this succinct, clear post that is useful to me and ALL bloggers (even the experienced ones – for a reminder!)
Monique
May 12, 2012 @ 23:54:30
Thank you for sharing my post! I really appreciate it when people take the time to do so.
Triberr is no longer invitation only. If you wanted to, you could join, start a tribe, and invite the people you met in the platform challenge to it.
May 10, 2012 @ 00:46:00
I think I am one drawn here because Monique spread the word. I clicked in from Google plus, and didn’t really notice who had linked to your post. Just liked the title…
Very useful post overall. But it seems we all blog for one another. How does this connect with a target sudience for fiction? I like the blogging, and am getting the hang of it, I hope. But I wonder if anyone other than writers even reads blogs.
May 12, 2012 @ 23:51:56
Sounds like my title did it’s job 🙂
I think it’s inevitable to have a large percentage of writers in our audience in the beginning, which is why I offer these Wednesday posts. (My Monday and Friday posts are geared towards my target fiction audience so that might give you a better idea of how to reach out to a target fiction audience.)
Non-writers do read blogs, but they’re extremely selective about it (unlike writers who read dozens, sometimes hundreds of different blogs). Too many writers give up before their blog gains enough traction to actually start reaching their target fiction audience.
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May 10, 2012 @ 11:46:18
What an excellent and helpful post, Marcy. I never would have guessed you’ve been blogging less than a year. You were a pro from the get-go! You covered some very important points for bloggers. Thank you!
May 12, 2012 @ 23:42:09
It’s been a little longer than a year. I’ve been here since November 2011, but before that Lisa Hall-Wilson and I shared a blog on a different site. I posted there once or twice every other week. I think my learning curve happened there 🙂
May 10, 2012 @ 12:27:20
Marcy, those are all GREAT points, and I think all of us are guilty of one or more from time to time. Thanks for this kick in the rear.
I’d like you to expand #3, if possible. I’m not getting much hits, but lots of comments–which I love. It’s bliss when the blog becomes a lively party 🙂
May 12, 2012 @ 23:35:45
I love an active comment section too. Part of what makes this so worthwhile is the conversation that happens after the post 🙂
May 10, 2012 @ 15:45:59
Perfect. You covered all the topics that I’ve assumed but haven’t been able to confirm.
Another factor I’ve noticed is the spam effect. If you tweet 12 times an hour about a blog post you just made, people are less likely to check it out because you’ve just annoyed them. Relying on re-tweets isn’t great for those just starting out (like me!), but that’s why social media is a platform and not a door mat.
Thank you so much for this helpful blog post!
May 12, 2012 @ 15:07:42
Very true! Finding the balance in how often to tweet links to your posts can be difficult especially when you’re starting out and don’t have the established network that people who’ve been blogging longer have. My advice in that situation would be to focus on building relationships rather than on heavily promoting your posts.
May 10, 2012 @ 16:49:53
Great post, Marcy.
Is it easy to transfer content from wordpress.com to wordpress.org?
And if so, do your followers automatically follow?
I often think I’m wasting my time blogging. I know I don’t focus on a particular topic which doesn’t help. I’ve been blogging once a week, but my other writing is suffering, so I’m cutting back to every other week.
Looking forward to future posts on this subject.
Thanks
Tracy
May 12, 2012 @ 15:03:17
How easy (or not) the transfer is depends on how comfortable you are with technology and the backside of websites.
Unfortunately, your followers won’t go with you, so it’s much better to make the changed sooner rather than later.
May 10, 2012 @ 20:26:23
Thank you for the tips Marcy! I’ve not been as active on social media because getting the biz up has been a beast! So looking forward to getting back on more 🙂
May 12, 2012 @ 15:03:44
I’m looking forward to the big reveal. I’m sure there will be a lot of excited writers.
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May 12, 2012 @ 11:30:31
Thanks, Marcy. As a new blogger, I am struggling to build an audience. Your advice is much appreciated.
May 12, 2012 @ 15:04:28
I’m glad it helped. If you have any specific questions, be sure to leave them in the comments. If I know what people are interested in knowing, it helps direct what I write about on Wednesdays.
May 12, 2012 @ 11:31:31
I think the last point is hard for me. I like to think I’m focused on making it interesting for my readers, but I’m not so good at giving a practical kind of take-away point. I’m used to writing fiction, in which the point is kept deliberately opaque and couched in symbols and metaphors, otherwise it comes across as too obvious. But I think in blogging you have to be more obvious, because people read in a different way and are looking for different things. I will take this away as my point to work on 🙂
May 12, 2012 @ 15:06:19
Blogging is a different creature, and it can be particularly challenging for those of us who are fiction writers. People also read differently online than they do from a paper book or an e-reader.
Glad I could help 🙂
May 12, 2012 @ 18:40:43
Thanks for all of this excellent information and food for thought. I’ve been thinking of moving to Wp.org and this post is convincing me it is the right thing to do. I agree with the others you are surprised you have only been blogging for a year. You write like a seasoned pro!
May 12, 2012 @ 23:44:41
Thanks! I’ve tried both a wordpress.com and a wordpress.org, and I’m very happy with being settled on the wordpress.org. I think for any of us who are serious about blogging as part of our platform and about using our website to promote our books, wordpress.org is the way to go. The .com side is a nice place to learn because it’s free, but there’s just so much you can’t do without a .org.
May 13, 2012 @ 08:25:03
Late to the party, Marcy, but I have to comment.
I belong to several Triberr links and think I may have put The Worst title out there for tribe member tweets. It began DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK.
I thought it was a fun title, because I
alwaysgenerally do what I’m told not to do. But, when tweeted, it read as if my TWEEPS were telling their followers, “Stay Away! Not worth your time!”I’m rebranding my site, and I’m excited about the new look. I know you’ve visited. You’ve commented (thank you!). The new look, theme, tagline better match my voice.
My plan is to reduce my posts to one regularly scheduled day per week. I want to make sure the snark comes through no matter the topic. I want to be sure followers know they’re in for a Snark Attack when they visit. Is that enough? In the past, I’ve let my brain topic hop. Not a good plan. Great advice on staying on ONE topic.
May 18, 2012 @ 20:16:26
I remember that title. I was actually confused about whether you were telling us as your tribemates not to bother reading it because it was a test post or something.
I think doing one really strong post a week is better than posting multiple times a week and not being happy with what you’re producing. This is especially true if you’re in the midst of re-branding because it gives people a chance to get used to things.
That said, you’ll likely see a drop in hits when you’re putting up less material. Be prepared for that. The hits you do get, though, will likely be more engaged, which is much better than a lot of hits with no engagement.
Monday Mentions: Blogs, Pet Food & Summer Colds « Amy Shojai's Blog
May 14, 2012 @ 10:59:25
[…] Blogging Tips for Writers–FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS! […]
The Bodacious Blogger’s Essential Ingredients | August McLaughlin's Blog
May 21, 2012 @ 09:03:59
[…] 5. Effective Titles. Would you have read this post if I titled it, Random Stuff? ”With 500,000 new blog posts published per day on WordPress.com sites alone, we can’t afford to use vague or boring titles if we want our blog to stand out in tweets or in someone’s Google reader,” Marcy Kennedy, one of my favorite bloggers, wisely said. For more of her insight, read Four Little-Known Factors that Could Destroy Your Blog’s Chances of Success. […]
The power of social media blows my mind – Natalie Hartford
May 31, 2012 @ 13:34:55
[…] Kennedy does a FAB post on factors that could hamper your blog’s chances of success. Definitely worth a read. Share this:TwitterFacebookStumbleUponPinterestEmailTumblrLike […]