Advice and guidance for a newbie.

eddfriz · Jun 8, 2016

Hi all, my name is Ed and I have recently started writing a blog again after setting it up a couple of years ago and then promptly forgetting about it. I’m wanting to use it as a creative outlet to talk about one of my main passions, music and also my record collection.

It’s still early days and I’m hoping to get better at writing (and more engaging too.) At the moment I’m really enjoying it and finding writing as a pleasant way of spending a few hours of an evening.

If anyone has any tips or recommendations they would be most welcome. Out of interest, how often do people think you should be posting new entries? To begin with I’m thinking that as often as possible is a good idea but I don’t want to over do it.

If anyone fancies taking a look, it can be found at – http://experiencerecordsrichmond.blogspot.co.uk/

Cheers all,

Ed

CathleenT · Jun 9, 2016

Welcome to AW, Ed! :partyguy:

When I started, I posted daily. I had a lot to say, and few reciprocal visits to make.

Over time, though, reciprocating likes and comments becomes so time consuming that I'm down to twice a week. YMMV, but a lot of other bloggers have mentioned a similar pattern.

Southpaw · Jun 9, 2016

Hi ya Ed!

When I started, I posted three times a week (MWF). Now it's once a week and I take every fourth month off from blogging.

Posting daily, is a lot of work, but if that's your go to thing, that's okay. But personally I have gotten burned out on people who post daily--though I'm sure they just didn't do justice to their posts as I'm sure Cathleen did

.

People like to follow blogs and daily posting fills up the reader and other people get lost in the feeds, so I end up unfollowing them. That's my word of caution.

For starting out and getting your blog pick up by others and getting the ranking up, you should start with at least one post a week. This encourages search engines. Also the commenting on other blogs encourages people to visit and comment on yours (increasing visibility). Reply when it makes sense to the comments too (also good for visibility and return visits, people like to see their comments are being read).

...Just a quick note about your blog, add a RSS follow button, more people follow that way so their email account doesn't overflow with posts (though some do follow via email).

eddfriz · Jun 9, 2016

Hi both, thanks for your replies.

I think posting daily would be a bit much for me to maintain in all truth. My aim is to do at least one post a week but will do more when the time allows. At the moment I'm really enjoying writing on an evening when I get back from work - it's a really good way to de-stress isn't it?! I'm still trying to find my feet (and voice) as a writer as I've not really written for the sake of writing before but I'm certainly seeing the appeal.

Southpaw, when you say commenting on other blogs encourages people to visit yours - how does that work? Do you include a link to your blog within your comments so people know where to find you? Also, thanks for the tip re RSS - It's something I wouldn't have thought of but I've added this evening.

CathleenT · Jun 9, 2016

Hey, Ed, I just got on to tell you that I had a lot to say at first about the craft of writing. So I wasn't digging around for content--it's like it was ready to explode out of me. And I had a lot of author friends on AW to interview. It only lasted a month and a half.

Southpaw may want to weigh in on this, too, but in general, DON'T include links in your comments. Unless you've been around that blog a lot and it's highly relevant to the convo, it's seen as self-serving. To comment on a Wordpress blog, you have to enter your name, email, and URL anyway. This isn't posted publicly, but the blog administrator has access to it.

In general, if people don't comment on or like my blog posts, I don't visit theirs. I just don't have the time. Whenever someone likes my post, Wordpress sends me an email with some of their recent popular posts. That way, it's easy to reciprocate.

eddfriz · Jun 9, 2016

Hi Cathleen. That's what I was thinking about re putting links in comments, as you say it would be too self serving and more likely to put people off. I've not used Wordpress as I'm currently using Blogger and whilst I've read a lot of blogs I've never really left any comments on them - more sort of 'hit and run' as it were.

Southpaw · Jun 10, 2016

Cathleen is right, don't leave an in-comment link. Blogger, Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org sites all will link to your site automatically via your name. Leaving a link will actually deter visits to your site.

Most people will automatically return a visit. It's considered a courtesy. Also if you leave an interesting comment, others commenters will click through to see your site. I've found a lot of great blogs that way myself.

I use WordPress.org, but have a WordPress.com and Blogger account -- and a Gravatar (part of WordPress.com) account. You don't need them all, but I did a lot of experiments with all the places. I recommend getting a Gravatar account though. All it does is associate your avatar with your email account. It makes you recognizable when you start commenting. It can be used at both Wordpress.com and .org site and various other places around the net.

Advice and guidance for a newbie.

eddfriz

CathleenT

I write

Southpaw

The squirrel apocalypse is coming!

eddfriz

CathleenT

I write

eddfriz

Southpaw

The squirrel apocalypse is coming!