Just shut down the other blog. It had grown, well, kind of wearisome. My heart was no longer in it and it probably showed. There seemed little point in wasting my time, much less that of [potential] readers and followers.
That got me to thinking about “staleness”—a musty, fusty blog isn’t much better than hard and crusty bread past its prime. And that, in turn, gave me—woo-hoo!—an idea for the mid-week post. Freshness!
There are many awesome-looking blogs out there, which is great . . . but not so great if said blogs don’t have the posts or content to keep people coming back (kind of like my former one). <LOL>
If you’re posting regularly and your heart’s truly in it, make sure what you’re providing readers/followers is interesting, informative, and/or entertaining: think, yup, f-r-e-s-h.
There are many ways to keep blogs appealing [attracting], which could easily make for a five-part post. Worry not followers and fellow bloggers—I’ve hung up the teacher’s cap for a wee while. We’ll keep it short and sweet, and review a smattering of vital tactics.
See what others are writing to get a notion of what’s popular. And here’s where “fresh” comes into play, again—if you’re going to follow suit, make certain you’re adding something new and noteworthy. Regale, my friends, regale!
Change it up. Consider adding interviews, facts and stats and charts, studies and analysis, photos and videos . . . have followers, friends and colleagues contribute . . . use bullets and numbered lists . . . the sky’s the limit. Have at it!
Don’t be afraid to ask your readers and followers what they’d like to see. Request suggestions. Then, deliver!
Do some “spring cleaning”. Free space. Get rid of old posts that no longer have any value add. The information may be out-dated or the writing not as crisp (we do hone skills over time). On the flips side, some old posts may [still] be of worth. Maybe they’ve been shared across many miles, literally, or they’re traffic drivers even now. If you’re particularly fond of certain ones, rewrite them with new . . . fresh . . . spins. Change or add visuals.
And when all that awesome freshness has been applied, [continue to] do this: keep generating [more and more] traffic. Metadata (keywords and meta-tags) will net high search numbers, which could translate into [more] followers/subscribers. Remember SEO or Search Engine Optimization? It’s not as daunting as it sounds. Simply put, SEO is boosting blog (or website) content so search engines show it as a top result for searches of a particular keyword. We want to make it super easy for people to find us. Do a little due diligence to obtain guidance—maybe start with checking out Google’s Keyword Planner.
Some [fresh] food for thought, I hope. Happy [continued] blogging.
The Writer's Grab-Bag 