New Rules For Your Blog
In the style of Bill Maher, I’d like to lay down some new rules. Only these aren’t for politics or pop culture. These are new rules for your blog.
NEW RULE: Forget everything you learned about SEO.
It’s good to be educated about SEO best practices, but don’t let these tactics run your blog. I say the best SEO comes through natural, passionate writing, which in turn attracts readers, re-tweets, and quality incoming links.
NEW RULE: Don’t post for the sake of keeping a steady post frequency.
Yes, it’s good SEO practice. But it results in less quality, more quantity, which doesn’t satisfy audiences who are hungry for substance every time.
NEW RULE: Don’t intentionally keyword stuff your posts.
Readers will notice, and it makes for an awkward reading experience. You’re better off letting those keywords work for themselves through producing quality, thought-provoking content.
NEW RULE: Don’t regurgitate topics you find in your RSS / Twitter feed.
If it’s been said, don’t say it again. Post a quote (with a link), then write your reaction or expansion of that topic.
NEW RULE: Forget about earning serious money from blogging alone.
Of course, there are many world famous blogs who do. Guess what: Yours won’t. A much more realistic (and lucrative) goal for your blog is to let it support your business. If you’re selling products or services, let your blog be your voice to prove credibility and display your natural passion for your business/subject matter.
Over to you…
Would you add or change any of these rules?
Weekly or periodically themed posts. I think if you want to get people to come back on a consistent basis, it’s good to have one or two signature posts a week. Put a little plug and a link at the beginning of the post to let people know this is an ongoing subject that is discussed on certain days every week. It can and should be fun. One I’m working on right now is the Smoker’s Guide To Quitting. There’s a million different ways to approach quitting, or not quitting but thinking very hard about it. A common picture that is funny or eye catching can help people associate that image with the subject.
@John – good idea. A series of related posts is always a good. My personal approach on this would be to keep them related (interlinked) but post them when the inspiration strikes, not on a specified weekly date. That way you will pack as much quality information / writing into your post because you’re really in your inspired writing mode.
On quitting smoking – I did it a few years ago by going cold turkey. It’s tough for the first week, but quickly gets easier.
Yeah, but that would totally kill my post idea!
Perhaps… but I’d also add that I took about 100 tries of my cold turkey approach before it truly worked! : P