Hi! I’m Melanie Nelson from Blogging Basics 101. I write tips and instructions for beginning bloggers. Laurie asked me to stop by and impart my knowledge about what I think the top tips for bloggers are. This subject could get out of hand fairly quickly because everyone has an opinion. Blogging tips also change depending on where you are in your blogging game. If you’ve been blogging for a few years, you know your way around the block and your needs are different than someone just starting out. This article is for those of you just starting out. These are my ideas of what new bloggers need to consider and learn in their first year of blogging (even in the first months!).
- Do not use auto-loading music. I know you love music and you have great stuff to share. We all do. Our iPods sing with the coolest, hippest tunes around. Let’s keep it on the iPods and out of the blogosphere, OK? Seriously, though, consider your readers in this instance. What if they are at work or next to a sleeping baby? They click over to your site and BOOM! Instant music and it’s very loud because they weren’t expecting it and their speakers are turned up. Don’t forget that auto-loading music also takes up a lot of bandwidth and will make your blog load much slower. Every blogger I’ve spoken with says they immediately click away from blogs and web sites with auto-loading music. As with everything, there may be an exception to this, but I haven’t found it yet.
- Try to make sure your blog name and URL match. When you’re first starting out, it’s hard to pick a name that matches the generic URL you’re given at Blogger or Typepad (yourblogname.blogspot.com or yourblogname.typepad.com). Everything seems to be taken. Here is the solution: Buy the domain name for your blog’s title. If at all possible, buy the .com. If that isn’t possible, buy the .net or the .org. A domain name is generally about $10/year, easy to install, helps your readers remember your URL easier, and is supported by all mainstream blog platforms (including Blogger).
- Find out what a permalink is and how to use it properly. Blogging Basics 101 has an article explaining permalinks and why they are so important. Have you ever wanted to be part of or host a ? Or link directly to a specific post that ‘s already published? You’ll need permalinks for that.
- Find out what RSS is and use it. Don’t forget to offer the option to subscribe via e-mail. I use Feedburner and love it. You can learn more about inserting the orange feed button (and the link to your feed) in the article How can I add the orange RSS button to my blog so people can subscribe to my feed?. Make sure you read the comments on that post as well because there is some excellent information there. Also, believe it or not, there are some people who do not use feed readers to keep track of their blogs. It will increase your subscriber number if you offer your readers the ability to receive your updates via e-mail (Feedburner offers this option). You can still offer full or partial feeds depending on your preference; the e-mail with your feed will show up the same as it will in a feed reader. Additional reading:
- Remember that online reading is different than traditional paper reading. It’s harder on our eyes to read online. Keep your posts short and chunk your information. In other words, keep your paragraphs short, use graphics to break up text, and use bulleted or numbered lists where applicable. The white space around the short paragraphs, graphics, and lists will help draw your readers’ eyes to the information and make it easier to scan your content.
I hope these tips will benefit you in some way. If you have any other questions, please visit Blogging Basics 101.
Thank you, Laurie, for inviting me to guest post! I hope you are resting and feeling better.
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Comments
Great post! I do have some questions though… off to check out the blog.
Well, here’s my question and I hope someone can answer….
Why is it that I seem to lose my paragraphs? I try to write in paragraphs (like you said it’s easier to read). However, every time I import photos the text below the photos ends up in one giant paragraph instead of separated. When I try to edit it everything looks fine. Why?
Amen to your first point! Auto music is SUCH a turn off for me. I love to hear what other people are listening too though, so just set your playlist to not auto play and we’re cool.
Astrid, you may need to go into the html editing option and add
< P > before your paragraphs and < /P > after them (only without spaces, I had to add them here so they would show up).
I LOATHE auto play music.
Carol
Extreme Cards and Papercrafting
http://extremecards.blogspot.com
Great tips! And thanks for so politely telling people how annoying their auto play music is!!!
Good point about buying the domain name. I should just buy mine.I have thought about it but i never realized it was so cheap!
thanks! i’ll give that a try!
woo hoo! that worked!
Thanks for the tips and information. I am a pretty new blogger and am still trying to figure everything out. I love this whole blogging world and am so happy I found it!!!
Thanks!
Jen
Oh how I agree with number one…
Blogging Basics 101 is such a helpful site. I try to visit each day as there is always something to learn.
Oh la la…. a celebrity; right here on Tip Junkie!
Great! I think that commenting etiquette is very important too. It drives me bonkers when people comment back: Thank you for visiting MY blog. I love blogging and I have so much to say. Be sure to come back and visit MY blog sonn! ahhhh!
The timing for me couldn’t be better. Just starting to blog, and this has really helped me focus my ideas. I hope soon that you might comment on my blog! best, Nancy
Great tips and info!
Autoplay music drives me nuts! I know a lot of others agree because I’ve seen plenty of rants on it… Still surprised though by how many people still do it.
Music is OK, just not autoplay!
Thanks for the article, very helpful, and I’m loving Blogging Basics 101.
Thanks for the tips…I’m always looking for new ways to improve my blogging.
Definite yes to the music. There is nothing worse than getting blasted with music b/c my husband puts the speakers up as loud as they will go.
I love the music tip!!! I HATE music on blogs. I keep my computer at home on silent just because of blogs and I hate it at work when I’m blog-hopping. The sound system that plays music through our whole building is hooked to my computer. Which means when a blog has random music blaring, it plays through our entire building until I can find the stop or pause button.
thanks a ton for the tips!
I’m sorry if the links no longer work. I wanted to let you know that I’m going to try to fix those (just as soon as I e-mail TipJunkie). In the mean time, you can still view the links by clicking on them, then changing the .html to / . So, if you want to see the permalink post you’ll click on the link and see this in your address bar:
http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2008/11/what-is-a-permalink.html
Change that last .html to / and it will look like this:
http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2008/11/what-is-a-permalink/
Then hit Enter and you’ll be taken to the correct article. Sorry for the confusion! My migration to WordPress was less than stellar because Typepad doesn’t play nice with them.
Melanie
ok, the feed is done, the music mmmm i could turn off the music, I love the music!!! well, i make a survey in blog to decide if i take it off or if i leave it.
tks for sharing, dear, love dalys