It’s blog boot camp day 4 and today we are talking about accessibility. As in Are YOU ACCESSIBLE via your blog ?
I know many of you blog (and enjoy blogging) anonymously. It’s OK, I am not going to tell you to NOT be anonymous. But I am going to tell you to be AVAILABLE.
If you want me to take you seriously then you should be transparent. Who are you ? Where are you ? Why should I believe you ?And how to I contact you ?
If you aren’t willing to list your email (and really you don’t need to unless you are a business), then at least have a contact form. Using a form instead of listing your email address will also help keep your email off those annoying spam lists.
So today’s task is to get a contact form up on your site.
WordPress.com users – Installing a contact form is as simple as creating a page and inserting a simple contact form tag. Click here for instructions
WordPress.com and Blogger users – can use a variety of FREE blog form services such as:
WordPress users – Check out the Contact 7 form plugin. It’s light and has everything you need.
Until next time,
Have you been wondering how Facebook can help you promote your blog ? If you haven’t submitted your blog to Networked bbogs yet, today is the day to do so.
Simply Log onto FaceBook and go to the Networked Blog Application. And add a new blog, then visit the blog page on Networked Blogs and take ownership of the blog.
Once added, you can configure your blog to publish your blog to your Facebook profile or fan page, and to the stream of your friends and fans.
Before you leave feel free to follow Blog Tips on Networked Blogs AND list your Networked Blog link in the comments so we can follow you!
Have you checked out Mom Audience ? Mom zine is delivered by email each Tuesday and allows you to announce your contest, business, or promotion once for free.
Worth checking out if you are looking for free promotion of your blog, service, or product.
It’s day three of Blog tip’s Blog Boot Camp. Have you read Day one and Day two ? It’s all about taking control of your blog’s content.
For many, creating a blog starts with us sharing our knowledge or passions (the subject matter type not the bedroom passion type- although I am sure there are blogs about that topic out there as well!)
We aren’t always thinking about planning our content and layout when we start blogging which results in a cluttered blog that makes it hard for your visitors to focus on your content and sponsor advertisements.
So far we have covered Blog awards and Blog top sites, today we tackle your Blog Roll. Before you decide how to display your blog roll on your blog, you need to determine WHY you blog roll.
For some, it really is simply a list of their favourite blogs, for some it’s about reciprocal links with very niche blogs such as theirs, or maybe you use your blog roll to list some affiliate links. The term blog roll means;
“A list of other blogs that a blogger might recommend by providing links to them (usually in a sidebar list).” Wikipedia
However as a tool, your blog roll features can be used for a variety of purposes. So you need to decide WHAT you will use your blog roll for and look at what limitations you may have for displaying your blog roll.
I am a firm advocate for having your own hosted WordPress Blog. With WordPress you can find blog roll plugins that will allow you to post your blog roll in a page, by category, random lists, rotating lists and more. My favourite Blog Roll plugin is Advanced Blog Roll.
My suggestions (if possible on your blog platform) are:
- Customize your Blog roll title in your side bar to increase your keyword content (i.e. change from Blog roll to ‘favorite coupon blogs’ if coupon blog is one of your keywords.)
- Limit your sidebar blog roll to list no more then 10 links.
- Create a Link page to display your full blogroll list on your Favourite blogs page. Yes, there are plugins for this such as this one .
- Of course if you REALLY want to give your favourite blogs SEO love, direct links are better then using an automated system. So you could forget the page, rotate up to 10 on your main page and blog about your favourites instead of using a blogroll page.
- I encourage using a follow tag and exchanging links. If you need the links back for SEO, trading with bloggers who have a default no follow on their blog roll won’t help you or them. If you are limiting your outgoing links, having these set to follow should not be a problem.
Customizing and cleaning up your Blog’s blog roll is definitely specific to each bloggers purpose for blog rolling. They keys are to; categorize, keep it small on your template pages (sidebars), and keep it up to date (remove broken links).
Cleaning up your blog roll might take a few minutes or hours depending on the number of links you have. But the organized result is worth it for your visitors and advertisers.
Until Tomorrow,
Don’t forget to check out our contest – win a custom header, banners, and twitter background for your blog.
Looking for places to submit your Mom blog ? We have compiled a list of top mom blog networks and mom blog directories for all you mom bloggers to list your blogs.
- Her Blog Directory: A directory of blogs written by women. Their Vision is to provide the largest directory of blogs written by women.
- Blog Her: Their Vision: ‘To create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community, and economic empowerment.’
- Mom Blog Network:
- Mom Bloggers Club: A NING community for mom bloggers.
- MomLogic
- MomBlogNetwork
- 5MinutesForMom
- Twitter Moms: Virtually all the members are also bloggers.
- MamaPedia
- The Mom Blogs:
Over the next few days we are working on how to polish up your blog and utilize your space (not content which is your writing but space and layout) to help monetize your blog and present a more professional blog or website. Your blog can be fun, and suit your unique style while still ensuring the ads that pay you perform well.
Yesterday I discussed Blog awards, today we are going to cover those’ top blog or top site directories’ and vote for me links and banners.
Just like the awards …. ‘That award Top site banner provides THEM with traffic to their site at the expense of you keeping a visitor on YOUR SITE.’
A few things to consider with Top Sites.
- Make it easier for your visitors to help you. If a visitor is going to take that time to vote for you, having all the links on one page will increase the number of places any one visitor might vote for you. Once created, you can make a habit of asking visitors on your blog posts to take a moment to vote for you and link to the page.
- If a top site requires you to link on your main page, then you need to really look at that particular top site to see if the volume of visitors they will send your way is worth giving them that space. Check the other participants to see how many clicks they are receiving.
- If you decide to put their button or banner on your side bar – look at the banner the blog top site provided. If it does not clearly say ‘click here to vote for me’, use a text link instead.
Today’s Task Create a Vote for me page
This blog page is where you move all of those top blog links, buttons, and banners.
The link for your blog’s vote for me page should NOT be in your header’s navigation bar. Instead, create a button for the page, or list the link under Pages in your side bar.
Pick one or two relative top blog or directory links for your main page – but make sure they are relevant to your content and check to see if they are sending traffic to you. Placing buttons on your page that do not provide you with something in a rather well – questionable decision ;)
It’s like opening a bank account and then just giving them your money. With no return or service provided why would you keep giving them money ? You wouldn’t – you would go to the bank with the higher interest rate and better services right ? Your blog ad inventory space is your money.
Blog top sites are a free way to generate some organic traffic and visitors to your site. I am not suggesting you don’t use them. Just put some planning into how you will display them on your blog.
Good luck !
Don’t forget to check out our contest – win a custom header, banners, and twitter background for your blog.
