Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Therese Shechter on July 27, 2009 at 12:04pm

Elizabeth - You're marvelous. I'm going to enjoy your blog now...

Elizabeth Patch said:

Hi Creative Ladies!
Some geeky-girl advice (my day gig includes teaching web design)
1. Register your blogs
Technorati, is the biggest, most respected list of blogs online. Once you are approved, then make sure you log in and "ping" your blog every time you make a new post. (A ping is simply a notification that your blog has been updated) You can also set it up so your blog is pinged automatically.
Technorati "authority" and ranking is only against other Technorati blogs, so don't worry too much about their ranking.idea: if you become a Technorati member, we can exchange “favorite” votes & help each other move up the charts!
ALEXA is another biggie for ranking webpages. You will need to register and then add a bit of code into the HTML of your blog/site, for it to track your site. IF that's too much geekiness for you, simply adding the ALEXA toolbar to your Firefox browser will let you see how other websites are ranked. This is very useful to know: the sage advice is to try to hook up with popular sites...(nobody wants to dance with you until you are already out on the dance floor)
Again, don’t let the numbers keep you up at night…eventually they will get better!
http://www.blogarama.com/ is free
http://www.blogsbywomen.org/charges $5.00 to be listed.
I will post others as I find them.
BTW, just be careful if you join a network…you don’t want to give away rights to your own content (such as registering with BlogHer, which sounded like such fun until I read the fine print)

2. Track your blog visitors and find out what’s working
Go get the SiteMeter widget. Add a piece of code to your site to track visits: how long they stayed, what time, where from, what pages they exited from, what was downloaded, and how they found you. You can also have "traffic reports" emailed to you. Save them and compare from week to week.
The free version only keeps data on the last 100 visitors, but its fine if you check it regularly. Its been very eye-opening to find out what my favorite pages are and where people visited from (hello Twitter!)
(newbie alert: turn off the number count. nobody really wants to know that they are only the 73rd visitor...ever!)

This tracking site is very easy & fun to use: you put in a long link, it automatically shortens it, and then will give you a page to bookmark to see how many times its been clicked. Cool!

3. Public Bookmarks!
Register for Delicious and StumbleUpon.
These 2 sites post public bookmarks, so other people can find & share.
Bookmark your own sites! Bookmark individual posts! Get your Mom & your BFF to bookmark your stuff! Hey, get the SheWrites community to bookmark your stuff...
(OOPS: Don't bookmark just your own sites all at once, or you might be considered a spammer...give the thumbs up to your other fav sites too, and sprinkle your stuff inbetween.)

4. Stay on Topic: What are your Blog KeyWords?
We all lead complex, multifaceted lives, but your blog should be focused. What few things do you want to be known for? These are your keywords! Every time you use your keywords in your posts/post titles, it makes it easier for Google to find you. I'm just a one-woman show. The gigantic Fox network is launching a reality show coming out next week with the exact same name as my little POD book! My More to Love website is still at the top of the page in a Google search for “More to Love”, because I have been diligent about the do-it-yourself "search engine optimization" (SEO) since launching my book last February.
Keywords are part of SEO, which is not a very exciting topic to study, but even knowing a little bit can help. Google "SEO" and be prepared to spend more than a few hours away from your writing...! and look out for spammer companies that promise to give you great rankings. NOT!

Here is a great post on boosting web traffic to get you started.

Guess what, participating in forums like SheWrites is also a great way to find new readers!
I am just now making an effort not to "lurk" (reading without commenting).
If we all take the time to leave comments on each others blogs (even just a line!) the rising tide of mutual links will lift all our boats.

That’s enough for now!
Smiles,
elizabeth

ps: heres myblog, where I write/draw about the topics of body image and self-esteem.
Leave a comment and a link back to your site, and I'll do the same (see how easy this is!)

Permalink Reply by brea grant on July 27, 2009 at 4:30pm

i agree - if you aren't posting regularly, people won't check regularly. this was pointed out to me very early and i think it's the most important in gaining and maintaining readership.

also - cross promotion is big. guest blogging has always gotten me more readers.



Diane Lockward said:

Someone on the listserv I belong to (Wompos) puts out a weekly newsletter listing blog entries for those who care to submit, so I post on that. On the day the newsletter comes out I get a big bump. I also have my site networked at Facebook so that each time I post FB pulls it in. That has at least doubled my traffic. I also cross-post at Red Room. I haven't tried Twitter yet. If I do, I can see that I'll have to learn a whole new vocabulary with words like "hashtag." I think it's important to post on a fairly regular basis. I try for two posts per week. If you post sporadically, people stop coming. Keep a blogroll and let people know you've added them. Most will then add you to theirs. I've noticed that readership drops during the summer. Also, adding an active link here on your Profile Page might get you some visitors. It's easier and more tempting for people to click the link than to copy and paste it into the browser. Trying to add a link here to see if it works.

Blogalicious

Permalink Reply by Karen Stephenson on July 28, 2009 at 6:43am

I just added you to my Twitter....I am Aankara at Twitter if you want to follow me back!!!
Karen

Maryn McKenna said:

I've done/benefitted from a couple of things; they're not original but they worked for me. Basically they are Twitter, and cross-linkage, which I think are possible for anyone to do no matter your topic. My particular topic is scary diseases — seriously, my newsroom colleagues used to call me Germ Girl — and my new book is narrative history/disease detection about drug-resistant staph, usually called MRSA.

So, one strategy was that I got a separate Twitter address just for the blog (my main identity on Twitter is @marynmck - friend me!! - but the blog addy is @MRSA_blog), and I sent a short tweet with every post, with the hashtag #MRSA. That roughly doubled my traffic.
- Second, I also write for a disease-news website that has a blog following, and I got very fortunate in that some of those bloggers got interested in my blog and would write posts recommending that people go and read my stuff. I would comment or recommend back and we'd get some cross-linkage going. I owe them for starting it, though.

I also got recruited by a global news website to allow my content to be mirrored there. I have mixed emotions about this, because they take the whole post, so I'm rarely getting the click-through; on the other hand, it's getting my name out there, which I guess increases my name/brand identity.

Permalink Reply by charlotte gordon on July 30, 2009 at 7:31am

this discussion is very helpful. Thanks for starting it. I think the most useful thing is exchanging links. But posting to facebook etc is crucial, too.
I like your blog! I am going to put a link to your blog on mine if that's ok! My URL is http://www.charlottegordonbooks.com

Permalink Reply by Therese Shechter on July 30, 2009 at 1:32pm

Does anyone know if you can migrate all your Blogger blog content to WordPress? I posted the query earlier but I don't think I've seen this answer on this thread yet.

Permalink Reply by Therese Shechter on July 30, 2009 at 2:42pm

I mean change my platform so that WordPress becomes my new blog host and all my old posts are intact on the new site.


Monique Fields said:

By migrate, do you mean can you move it from something like blogger to wordpress? I think some of that depends on your host. Maybe you can check with them. But it seems these days that almost anything is possible. It may be a matter of how much trouble it's going to cause you to do that.

Monique

Therese Shechter said:

Does anyone know if you can migrate all your Blogger blog content to WordPress? I posted the query earlier but I don't think I've seen this answer on this thread yet.

Permalink Reply by Kelley Harrell on July 30, 2009 at 4:17pm

I also suggest setting up a feed so that anyone who wants to can pick up your blog--something such as Feedburner.com. Also, a service like Twittiness.com allows you to crosspost from Twitter to FaceBook and Live Journal. It Xposts to others, too, but those are the only two I Xpost to. Those kinds of time savers are great for getting any word out.

on Twitter I am copperdryad, if anyone wishes to follow.

Hope you're well!

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Patch on July 30, 2009 at 6:49pm

OK, here is the most up-to-date post that I found on the topic of migrating from blogger to wordpress
its a bit of a process! but possible. for now I'm sticking w/blogger as I already have a website, and just link the website to blogger.

Monique Fields said:

Ah, out of my newbie league. I do hope that someone chimes in.

Monique


Therese Shechter said:

I mean change my platform so that WordPress becomes my new blog host and all my old posts are intact on the new site.


Monique Fields said:

By migrate, do you mean can you move it from something like blogger to wordpress? I think some of that depends on your host. Maybe you can check with them. But it seems these days that almost anything is possible. It may be a matter of how much trouble it's going to cause you to do that.

Monique

Therese Shechter said:

Does anyone know if you can migrate all your Blogger blog content to WordPress? I posted the query earlier but I don't think I've seen this answer on this thread yet.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Patch on July 30, 2009 at 7:41pm

Thanks Charlotte!! but I noticed that your site was just typed and not actually linked, which won't help you at all.
On SheWrites there is a simple chain icon that creates hyperlinks, but if the icon is not there its very easy to do it yourself with HTML.
HTML (hypertext markup language) is simply a series of that tell the browser how to handle text.

so when you exchange links make sure its actually linked, otherwise the browser will read it as just plain text.

charlotte gordon said:

this discussion is very helpful. Thanks for starting it. I think the most useful thing is exchanging links. But posting to facebook etc is crucial, too.
I like your blog! I am going to put a link to your blog on mine if that's ok! My URL is http://www.charlottegordonbooks.com

Permalink Reply by Therese Shechter on July 30, 2009 at 9:31pm

Elizabeth - Your awesomeness continues. You're right that it's a bit of a process but I see it as a challenge. Thanks!

Elizabeth Patch said:

OK, here is the most up-to-date post that I found on the topic of migrating from blogger to wordpress
its a bit of a process! but possible. for now I'm sticking w/blogger as I already have a website, and just link the website to blogger.

Monique Fields said:

Ah, out of my newbie league. I do hope that someone chimes in.

Monique


Therese Shechter said:

I mean change my platform so that WordPress becomes my new blog host and all my old posts are intact on the new site.


Monique Fields said:

By migrate, do you mean can you move it from something like blogger to wordpress? I think some of that depends on your host. Maybe you can check with them. But it seems these days that almost anything is possible. It may be a matter of how much trouble it's going to cause you to do that.

Monique

Therese Shechter said:

Does anyone know if you can migrate all your Blogger blog content to WordPress? I posted the query earlier but I don't think I've seen this answer on this thread yet.

Permalink Reply by Ella Backhart on July 31, 2009 at 9:08am

Hi I am new and I always follow the comments I receive on my blog. A handy tip is to add the 'U comment I follow' pic, which I have on mine. Then people who understand that should leave a comment knowing the favour will be returned.

My blog is fairly new, too. However, I always make it a policy to follow anyone who follows me (on my other blogs) and this is what I will start to do with this new one. So, if you can follow by google, please do, and I will add you, too. It's a great promo tool because it works -- people are nosy :) they click on your followers. So the more blogs you follow the more chance you have of having your name / icon seen and clicked on!

My blog if you are interested: http://ellablackhart.blogspot.com/
Don't forget to check out the pic - (u comment I follow) you can copy it from there if you wish to.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Patch on August 1, 2009 at 4:19am

Hi
More stuff you can try out and/or add to your blog:

Linking Community of Women BloggersThe Secret is in the Sauce It works by featuring a member blogger's 3 links, you comment on her links on her featured day, and eventually you get featured too. Mostly casual, personal blogs, but they are all women and may possibly be interested in your topic. Thanks to Norine Dworkin-McDaniel for posting this earlier!

Another place to register your blog: Blog Top Sites
Its free and you get a little button to add to your blog's sidebar

Put a poll on your blog:BlogPolls.com
its also free, and generates code that you just copy/paste into your blog post

Please check out the poll I just made at my latest blog post and vote or leave a comment!"More to Love vs. More to Love"
My first book has the exact same title as the new Fox reality dating show! And if you've seen the show, there's lots to comment on...

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