When people start their first blog, they read. A lot. Blogs, websites, advice, news… looking for tips and inspiration. This is one habit the newbie blogger should strive to maintain.

Read More Than You Write. This is the blogging equivalent of the old saying “Listen more than you talk.” My granny used to say “This is why God gave you two ears, but one mouth.”

Read More Than You Write. More blogs. More articles. More comments. Visit others. Add to the community.

Do this, and you will not regret it.

If You Like This, Show Some Love:

Back as far as 2005, people were already asking if blogrolls were still relevant .

But at the Blogherald.com, they note that “A blogroll began as a place to recommend your favorite bloggers to others. Understanding the relationship the blogroll plays on your blog, the new Google Blog PageRank Patent puts more emphasis on blogrolls than ever before in determining your PageRank.”

But as pointed on in this conversation on Bloggst : Blogrolls often aren’t helpful, because they don’t really tell you what the site is about. Just a name. So you’re taking your chances, and often don’t get what you thought you would.

One critic (And I’m gutted that I can’t now find the link) said that very little traffic comes from blogrolls anyway, so his conclusion was that it isn’t worth cluttering up your sidebar with one. So in thinking about both sides of the argument I decided to see if my links on OTHER people’s blogrolls actually brings me any traffic.

So without further ado:

Please keep in mind this covers both Bitter Women and this blog, as they’re on the same domain, hence the humor-blogs.com listing.

I was surprised by a couple of things here.

#1 StumbleUpon kicks all other asses as far as my sites are concerned. This is very likely because since Bitter Women is a humor blog, it has the type of content people like to stumble. (I’ve noticed #s of diggs going up since I’ve added this blog.)

#2 Leaving comments IS worthwhile.

#3 Either Technorati sucks, or I have no clue how to use it effectively. (Every time I’ve tried to search for tips on Technorati, I just run into link train recommendations.)

My conclusion, you might think, is to say that if I only get 8.7% of 10% from being on other people’s blogrolls, it isn’t worth it to practice the blogroll love.

But… could it be that those people that have me on their blogrolls very possibly account for quite a few of that 51.7 direct address number?

My conclusion from this little stat delving excersize is that in terms of click-thrus, it’s not worth it, but in terms of building a community, it really is. Those blogrollers are often the ones that comment. Would they comment if they weren’t on my blogroll? Probably. But if it makes them feel more a part of my blogs, then it’s worth it to me.

In short: Stats don’t tell the whole story.

If You Like This, Show Some Love:

All bloggers seem to like to share… their words, their posts, and great finds on the internet. Well it just got a whole lot easier with the Shareaholics Plugin for Firefox 2.0

Not using Firefox ? Then you should be. I made the final switch when I discovered that the StumbleUpon toolbar was making IE7 crash (and Windows Explorer too, which is a nightmare), just as the Google Toolbar had done! With Firefox I don’t have those problems, and I don’t even need a whole big toolbar to check PageRank… one plugin gives this to me in a tiny little bottom corner. Not to mention that if you’re trying to promote… well, anything on the web, you want to be a part of StumbleUpon!

So how does this Shareaholics Plugin work? It adds a small button by your navigation window like so:

Also notice how it gives you LIVE data on how many diggs and del.icio.us submissions a page already has, which is good for checking up on your own articles as well.

If you want your own articles submitted more, I firmly believe the key is being a part of the community of people who submit articles from all over. This plugin makes it easy.

If You Like This, Show Some Love:

What is a Link Train? A link train is a list of links to other blogs in the form of a blog post “chain letter” where someone posts on their blog and then asks that other blogs copy that original list and add their own site at the bottom. Once you’ve copied the list and added your own link to the bottom, you would ask others to do the same. So what you end up with is a blog post that is essentially a long list of links to other blogs.
Why would someone do it? If you’ve been blogging for any time at all, it’s easy: lots of links, and possibly lots of traffic. Also the idea of raising their “authority” on Technorati and Google Page Rank is very appealing, although tthe truth seems to be that Google may consider such posts “link farms” and those who participate could be penalised, rather than benefiting from the scheme.

Ia of Blog Tutorials lists a few reasons why Link Trains can be appealing to bloggers, including the plain fact that they can be rewarding. He says “You are helping other bloggers and they help you.” True. He wisely goes on, I should point out, to note the downsides as well, including the biggie: “Link trains can even be considered as spam or even link farms-and can therefore be penalized by Google!”

If you want to read a truly compelling argument not to participate in Link Trains, read this insightful article by Andrew at alleba.com . When talking about Alexa Link Trains, he says “…it becomes viral because, who doesn’t want links? Every struggling blogger would jump at any chance to get links, right? That’s why it’s so easy to ask them to join. In the end, the originator gets all the link love while the rest are placed in a link farm.”

Another thought by swapw : “Not only does it abuse the blogosphere of its reputations of organic rankings, it’s just another way to cheat the system.”

Summary:

Spam works. We know this, because otherwise our inboxes wouldn’t be full of offers to enhance our sex lives and sell us prescription drugs “fer cheep”!

Link Trains are spam. They add nothing to the blog who posts them or its readers, and are simply a way to try to “cheat” your way to the top. And sadly, they are more beneficial to the person who starts them than to those who participate.

Effective? Possibly, although I can guarantee you that for every cheat method, google, alexa, and others have people working full time to figure out a way to stop it? Why, because when their results are skewed by cheating, it renders their product ineffective.

Last Thought:

By participating in Link Trains, you may actually hurt your reputation. In addition to losing out on Pagerank benefits and possibly being labled as a link-farm spammer, anyone who bothers to look will be put off when they see.

Example: I saw a highly “authoritative” blog on Technorati… something over 1000+. I went to her site, and it was nothing special. It looked like a million other newbie blogs, and it wasn’t that interesting. Why, I wondered, would so many hundreds upon hundreds of people be linking to her? I did a quick peek at her ‘authority’ and saw that it all came from link farms. Ugh. I felt cheated by this “fake” ranking.

Tempting? Yes. Worth it? No.

If You Like This, Show Some Love:

We all want our blog visitors to return to our site, but what can you do to improve your blog to make sure that happens?

Here are 10 things I’ve learned that will keep your visitors returning.

1. Be consistent. Decide up front how often you want to update your blog, and do it regularly. I would suggest at least five times a week, as blog addicts (and most of us bloggers are exactly that!) like to come back every day! If your reader comes and sees you haven’t posted in a week, they’re less likely to bother coming back to check again the next day. If you’re going away, be sure you post a brief announcement post telling people so, so your blog doesn’t look deserted. This is especially important if your blog is young.
2. Be interactive. Allow comments from any source. I don’t return to sites I can’t comment on, such as ones that require a Google ID to leave a comment. Reply to comments, and visit the sites of your vistitors! Blog Catalog and MyBlogLog’s widgets are great for seeing who has been viewing your site. Go visit them in return, even if they didn’t leave a comment! Befriend them in one of these communities, and they’ll likely keep coming back! I once got a welcome email from a site where I had left a comment. The author had obviously been to my site, and she told me what she liked about it. This made me feel really welcome and a part of her online community.
3. Don’t make your posts too long. So many bloggers love to go on and on and on. I’d say this rule applies doubly if you’re writing a personal/humor/rant blog rather than a technical or niche subject blog. If you have a lot to say, considering breaking this up into a series of posts.
4. Good Writing. This can be a tough one, because people who can do it, will. But put the effort in and don’t let yourself get lazy, or even a good writer can produce some unworthy posts, driving people away.
5. Do it for love. Write about what interests you or makes you laugh, or moves you, depending on the subject of your blog. Write about things you can’t help but write about. You’ll lose interest quickly if you aren’t passionate about the subject.
6. Controversy. Don’t be afraid to state your opinion. Not everyone will agree, but it will give your blog some personality and spice!
7. Clear, inviting layout. Style does matter. Put some thought and effort into choosing an appropriate theme, and customise it as you go along. It doesn’t have to be perfect the first day, as it’s normal for a site to evolve, but do put the effort in! I find myself passing over Blogspot blogs, for example, that use that ever-common ‘dots’ theme. Experiment, and feel free to change the theme occassionally to see what people respond to. Choose one appropriate for your subject! A personal blog can be spicy, warm, and even zany. A professional blog can have some flair without being too boring! Check out blogs you like, and analyze their design and what you like about it.
8. RSS Feeds: Promote them. RSS feeds are a great way for people to keep track of new posts you make without having to visit. It may sound like a downer for the author, but in fact it’s a huge plus. This is a fantastic way to net in people who wouldn’t ordinarily come back.
9. Stick To Your Purpose. If it’s a humor blog, keep it funny, and don’t lapse into talking about your best friend’s tragic loss and how it’s affecting you. If you write a business blog, don’t talk about your pregnancy. If you want loyal readers, you need to remember why they come back, and give them what they want.
10. Analyze Your Traffic. Sometimes the search keyphrases people use to find you won’t tell you all that much, particularly if you are writing a personal blog. However, what is useful is to see what pages get the most hits, and what posts get the most comments. Over on Bitter Women, I found I got a huge boost in comments and additions to a social network like StumbleUpon if I talked about sex and gender issues. Whereas posts about funny things in the news don’t get as many hits, probably because the same articles often get written about by many many blog authors, and it’s harder to make something fresh that way.

If You Like This, Show Some Love: