I cannot believe this semester is already coming to an end. It felt just like yesterday that I was starting the semester off and creating a new blog for this course. My blogging skills have definitely gotten better throughout the semester and if I were to give advice to a new blogger this is what I would say:
1. Proofread often. I do not blog a lot but when I would go to a person’s blog and see that every other word was misspelled or their grammar was poor I moved onto someone else’s blog. One advantage of using Word press is that it offers a proofreading section to make sure you do not have a ton of misspelled words on your blog.
2. Be brief when writing posts. The number one thing that turns me away from a blog is when it is too long and boring. Keep you posts short and to the point.
3. Think of topics that you are interested in and write about them. For me one of the hardest things for me was to just get started with a topic. If I was interested in the topic then usually my readers were interested in it as well so it was easy for me to write about it. So when getting started think about what you would be interested in reading and just write about it.
4. Keep you blog lively and make it draw attention. Even if you are not a natural born writer, you can write for your blog. Just write like you’re speaking to your friend or to yourself!
5. Read your comments on your blog. In order to get more people to write on your blog you need to read what they have to say about your posts and respond. This helps to build connections with your avid readers.
6. Comment frequently on other users blogs. Once again the whole purpose of writing a blog is to leave and receive comments. I noticed to more comments I left the more comments I received from my readers.
7. Create a fun an interesting layout. The first thing that drew my attention to other people’s blogs was their layouts. If they had a pretty background or pictures I tend to remember their site and return often. Chose a background that best represents your personality and then start writing!
8. Use clear headlines. The first thing people read are your headlines so if they are not interesting then people may skip over what you have written. Write in bold and keep it short but make sure to make it interesting.
9. Link on your posts often. This helps to builds credibility and positions you as an expert in your field. Linking to other blogs and websites can also help build connections.
10. Update often. If I did not update often it I usually forget what I had written in my previous weeks. Updating often helps to build more readerships and encourage others to comment on your site more often as well.