Yesterday, I got up earlier than normal and instead of heading into work, I headed out to meet up with Wes Novack at Phoenix WordCamp, a Phoenix gathering of about 400-500 bloggers, for a day of WordPress and general blogging education.
Phoenix isn’t the only city to have a WordCamp. They’re all over and they’re a great way to get a ton of important blogging tips for only about $30 to get in. If you’re a blogger, find your local WordCamp and buy your ticket early because our WordCamp sold out. I learned way too much to post it all here, but I’ve pulled out the most important tips for you below:
Read and Re-read Before Publishing
Originally expressed during the keynote from Lorelle of Lorelle on WordPress, this was reiterated throughout the day by other speakers. Be it text or video, photos or audio, take a look when you’re done and edit as needed. Then read through it again just to be sure. There’s nothing worse than publishing a post only to have someone point out mistakes after most of your readers have already seen it.
Publish With Intent
Whether you’re writing a review, a how-to, or just an editorial piece, do it with intent and know what your intent is going into it. Loreelle reminded us that if you publish with intent, it will show through to your readers.
Don’t Plagiarize
It’s easy on the web to just take good content and share it as your own. Lorelle couldn’t stress enough that this is just unacceptable. Not only can it make you look bad, but you’re also not offering anything original to your readers.
Be Timeless
Yet another top tip from Lorelle is to write timeless content, and I couldn’t agree more. Unlike a newspaper, you want people to find your post for the first time months or years later. When they do, it shouldn’t feel old or outdated.
To Stand Out, Be Outstanding
What a great point made by Dave Moyer, from wordcastpodcast.com. When you look at a blog and it’s just OK, you probably won’t be back. It’s the outstanding blogs that are rewarded with reader loyalty.
Make Use Of Keywords
GoDaddy.com not only sponsored the event, but they threw in their SEO expert, Jim Christian. In addition to a lot of other great SEO tips, Jim reminded us that you should use your target keywords in the post’s title, description, keywords, and any tags. You can’t retain readers if they can’t they find you to begin with.
Engage Your Audience
Writing is only half the job, cautioned Jayson Cote’ from WPCOOP.org. The other half, he says, is engaging your audience, and I agree completely. I don’t always respond to every comment on my blog, but I try to personally respond to most and this theory carries over to your social media as well. Social media is a two-way conversation.
Find Your Unique Voice
Merlin Mann of 43 Folders, the best speaker of the day in my opinion, warns against being average. He says, “It is very hard for someone to become you because of blank. Find out what that blank is.” This will also make it a lot easier for people to remember you. Most of the sites I visit are from memory and not bookmarks.
Give More Than You Get
Merlin could not be more clear about his stance on social media and blogging and how he hates that so many people want to create a selfish, one-sided relationship with their readers. Everyone wants to be successful and help themselves, but the best way to do that is to give first. When you do that, good things will come back to you.
Form = Function
That is to say that neither form nor function is most important. When you design or choose a template for your new blog, be sure to think about design, but make sure you think about usability and function, too. The two should compliment each other.
I hope these tips help you and if you have your own, please leave them in the comments.
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on November 14th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Excellent read! The points on re-reading blog posts and checking for errors is critical when trying to gain readership. I especially like the stance on plagiarism. If you have to steal and/or pirate articles/posts you shouldn’t be blogging (at least those are my feelings).
Great tips
Thanks
on November 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
J. Stanley: Thanks. I hope everyone feels the same way about pirating articles.
on November 19th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I agree – copycat blogging will get you nowhere. And I believe, this goes beyond simple copy paste plagiarism or content.
All the successful bloggers I read have some tangible quality of originality about them that is very obvious when someone tries to copy their style.
on November 24th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Thanks for the shout-out & linkage. Slight misspelling on my last name though, it should be “Novack”. You also have an extra g in blogggers in that first sentence.
I also had a great time at Phoenix Wordcamp, especially the many good conversations with Joe. ;-)
on November 24th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Wes: Sorry I typod your last name. I’ve fixed those typos. We need to get together for lunch or something, too.