Wednesday, April 16

Go say hi to a new blogger.
And here's some unsolicited advice, too.

Go say hi to Rehctaw (watcher backwards) over at Rawrahs. He's been a brilliant commenter at some other blogs and has finally been convinced (ahem) to blog his own self for real.

I'm going to repeat some stuff I wrote back in 2006 (!) on what a new blogger might want to consider. Please add your best advice in comments. Thanks.

Dear fellow blogger,

I can tell you are interested in driving up traffic to your blog, which is great. You're a good writer and your traffic will increase as you keep blogging (daily, if possible). The other things you can do are:

Leave comments all over the place. Find a nice long blogroll (mine is over there but there are others) start going down it and leave a comment everywhere you see something you like. My blog went from zero to 70 hits a day from just doing that and then I was on my way.

And don't leave a "visit my blog" comment. They'll visit anyway.

Only leave on-topic comments or sincere compliments. Nobody likes trolls or self-pimping***. Make the compliment TRUE, and specific where possible. Only praise posts you really do like. And link to them where possible, too.

We're all human, and we bloggers are more narcissistic than even the average American. And most of us work very hard on our blogs with little thanks. Every comment matters.

Also, use Google Blog Search and Technorati to find out who else is blogging about the same topic or link you are. That can lead you to new ideas and some very good bloggers who have similar interests.

I have personal likes and dislikes but if I follow the rule of "only say something if it's nice" I really like Shakespeare's Sister and Crooks and Liars. The other big blogs I can take or leave, and I leave'em. Those two have nice people attached to them: people who care about small blogs, the blogosphere, and are not puffed up with their own importance. We all need to emulate those qualities. Don't forget it.

Do you have comment moderation at your site? Get rid of it, for the time being, until somebody bothers you. As a Blogger user, I've found word verification works very well to keep out the spam. Better at the beginning not to put too many barriers between you and commenters. You can always hand-delete those comments you don't like, if you're lucky enough to have that many comments.

Keep blogging and keep the faith.

***Big exception: DO pimp your blog when Shakespeare's Sister has a blogwhoring day, usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

12 comments:

  1. You are too good to me, BG. I loves ya. I really do.

    (((hug)))

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  2. Where would we be without our Denmother who helps us poor rookies out?
    Yer a gem darlin'.

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  3. Very good advice.

    Sincerely.

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  4. Wowzers. I'm a little light-headed...


    How does it feel to be a well of wisdom?
    I promise to read and heed.
    Well, except for the whoring. Maybe I'll grow into that, but for now I'll just stumble around on the dancefloor. If a pole frees up I may even take a twirl of two.

    For now I'm just deeply thankful for the gentle nudge into the deep end.

    I also promise, most sincerely, to strive each post to make Gilly a proud grandpa.

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  5. This is great advice BG. I wish I had seen it earlier, well maybe I have, but it makes more sense this time or something. I do want to add one more thing though, don't get discouraged, just keep blogging, the commenters will come in time.

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  6. Visit my blog!

    Too much?

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  7. No. Not enough, Splotchy. Try ALL CAPS! ;)

    Not.

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  8. Great stuff, BG. I hadn't seen this before. Thanks for re-posting.

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  9. Blue Gal,
    I had not seen these insightful suggestions either, so thanks for reposting them.
    I have done as you recommend and re-enable comments (without moderation.) Although I confess I do not have much patience for the reich-wing comments it attracts whenever I do.
    As I have mentioned before, your site is fantastic. Thanks for all you do, here and on Crooks and Liars.
    Richard Power
    http://words-of-power.blogspot.com

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  10. Thanks!! Good stuff =)
    Max
    maxmarginal.blogspot.com (taking yr advice)

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  11. I wish I had read this post when I first strted blogging. I had to slowly figure out all of this on my own.

    Thanks for all the work you did on the Blog Against Theocracy and your participation in the blogswarm against the Iraq War.

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I really look forward to hearing what you have to say. I do moderate comments, but non-spam comments will take less than 24 hours to appear... Thanks!