What a fantastic book with which to kick off 2017! I picked this up on a whim during an Amazon sale, and I’m really glad that I did.
I recommend this book to everyone who has a blogged or is thinking about starting a blog. This is a wealth of information. This book was like taking a 101 college class about blogging.
The book suggests thinking about what makes your blog special. It asks if this is your hobby, outlet, or possible career, and then offers tips for each of those choices.
I learned that some of the types of posts I most enjoy making are “Updates: In addition to seeing your newest work, readers often like to see pieces that didn’t make the cut,” and “Updates Similar: behind-the-scenes details from the building of your (novel), special discounts for blog readers,” and Reviews.
It defines Trackbacks, Categories, and Tags. (I knew about Tags, but I never considered using “Google’s Keyword Tool or Wordtracker to find the optimal words or phrasing to use.”) It explains, in detail, how to write your Bio and the function of having one. It mentions trademarking your blog’s name. (Which I never thought about spending money on before.) It talks about a blog’s bounce rate, which I had never heard of before.
The made me wonder if I give enough of myself, if I have enough of a “real person” angle to inspire people.
To me, that part of the book reminded me of the #AtoZChallenge. That feels like the very definition of what we do in April.
I have not read this book or a book by this author before.
You are doing awesome so far. I might have to pick up that book as a blogger I am always wondering if I need to be doing something more. I hope you accomplish all of your goals that you set out to do.
Oh yes. I agree with that final quote. Very important, I think.
Yeah, I’ve read up on most of that stuff and ignore more of it than I should, but hey, part of blogging is loving what you do and just sharing that love, eh? When we get to technical or market focused, the joy tends to dissipate.