Step Outside of the Blogosphere, Don't market in a blog bubble.

[Harold Mansfield]

When you start a blog, there are seemingly hundreds of blog directories, catalogs, review sites, etc for bloggers to list their blogs with the hopes of getting people to look at them.

It is really easy to spend a lot of time and effort on them, but you need to understand that these sites primarily attract other bloggers who are grasping for the same thing as you...traffic that will click an ad, or by a product. so while you will get "look-e-lou's" checking you out to see what you have done, they are not good for a source of the targeted traffic that you need. The exception would be, of course, if you are blogging about blog and webmaster issues.

I do recommend that you create an account on the various blogging networks, they certainly can't hurt, but instead of wasting time trying to get other bloggers to visit your site, target the ones that do reviews. There are plenty of blogs about "blogging" and many of their authors routinely "showcase" other blogs and bloggers. If you are going to waste anytime networking on these sites, network with these people.

A review of your blog from another blogger can help zero in on more targeted traffic, provide a decent back link (no matter the PR of the blog, because it's a natural link), and draw the attention of their readers, no matter how low the numbers, and provides another place where your blog is listed in the serps.

The other thing is...Do not market your blog like it's some kind of second class citizen, and only worthy of techniques specific to blogs only.

Your blog is a website just like any other, and should be treated like one. You have the best of both worlds. Don't limit how you market it. I see networks that don't accept static websites ( rare) , but I have never seen one that doesn't accept blogs.

Any marketing, and advertising that you can do for website, you can do with a blog. It's basically the same thing.

My point....
1. Don't market your blog in some kind of blogs only vacuum.
2. Treat it like a business just like you would a static website.
3. Networking with other bloggers is good for an exchange of ideas, but for the most part, they are not costumers, or regular readers.

[vangogh]

Good points. I would say that the idea for networking with other bloggers isn't so much for picking up new clients, but rather to gain more exposure for your blog. Bloggers are more likely to write about you and link to you than the typical website owner so they are a good group to get to know.

I'm not sure you have to limit yourself to getting to know bloggers who do reviews. Some may still mention you even if not in a formal review and it's always good to have the ear of someone with a lot of readers for that time when you ask them to mention something you're promoting.

[KristineS]

Very good points. You have to get your blog out to as many venues as possible. If you neglect the more "traditional" Internet venues, you will be missing out.

I do have to agree with Steve, though, as I also think that cultivating a community of bloggers can be a big benefit. I've done that with an organization I run, and other bloggers Tweet about the posts I write, Digg and Stumble them and just help me spread the word. That's all great publicity and it doesn't cost me anything but a little time.

[phanio]

Great advice - just wish I had more hours in the day to follow it. Hard enough building my site - marketing my site - dealing with customers - then having to write blogs and articles. Wish there was an easier way.

[vangogh]

I know how you feel. Ideally we could all either write proficiently or hire others to write our content. However, know that you don't need to write all the time. Even one article every other week can still be effective. It's more about quality than quantity.

[KristineS]

Great advice - just wish I had more hours in the day to follow it. Hard enough building my site - marketing my site - dealing with customers - then having to write blogs and articles. Wish there was an easier way.

I know exactly how you feel. There is a lot involved, but I have to believe it will be worth it.

[Harold Mansfield]

Great advice - just wish I had more hours in the day to follow it. Hard enough building my site - marketing my site - dealing with customers - then having to write blogs and articles. Wish there was an easier way.

Like Steve said, you don't necessarily have to write everyday. It's best to post when you really have something to say, but a schedule of at least once a week (say every Sunday) will at least keep regulars visiting.

I agree, it's a lot of work, and the tedious tasks...for lack of a better term, suck.

If you don't update regularly, sometimes having the date of your last post sitting there can act like some kind of judgmental pressure to put something up with the current date, so you don't look like you are neglecting your blog.

Best way to do that, so your blog doesn't look neglected is to remove the date display in the single.php, post.php, and index.php files (either one or all)
You can usually find it just after this code:


<div class="post clearfix" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
<h1><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="<?php _e("bookmark"); ?>" title="<?php _e("Permanent Link to"); ?> <?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>
<p class="postinfo"><?php the_author_posts_link(); ?>

That way your blog doesn't look neglected if you don't update for a few days.
Bad thing is, without the date of your last post as a reminder of how long it's been, you can go weeks in between updates, because there is no pressure.

[vangogh]

As a reader I actually prefer to see the date even if it is an old one. Especially when I'm reading about topics that change frequently like seo. When you see advice that's several years old that date is really important. It even bugs me when I see a month and day, but no year. Often I won't link to something just because I can't verify the date.

But I understand the idea behind removing the date. I know there are many who do remove it. Don't forget to remove it from your comments too.

[Harold Mansfield]

As a reader I actually prefer to see the date even if it is an old one. Especially when I'm reading about topics that change frequently like seo. When you see advice that's several years old that date is really important. It even bugs me when I see a month and day, but no year. Often I won't link to something just because I can't verify the date.

But I understand the idea behind removing the date. I know there are many who do remove it. Don't forget to remove it from your comments too.

Yeah, true. That's only going to work with information that is not constantly changing. I was thinking more for people using a blog platform as a business site, or blogs that provide additional information about a business.

[KristineS]

Personally, and this is just me, I like to see dates, even if it is a business site and the information isn't terribly time sensitive. In my opinion a blog is supposed to be about timeliness. I also like to know how relevant and recent the information is. I suppose if you're talking about general stuff it doesn't matter as much, but I still like to know.

[Harold Mansfield]

Personally, and this is just me, I like to see dates, even if it is a business site and the information isn't terribly time sensitive. In my opinion a blog is supposed to be about timeliness. I also like to know how relevant and recent the information is. I suppose if you're talking about general stuff it doesn't matter as much, but I still like to know.

Don't you draw an immediate opinion about a website or blog if you see that the last update was 3 weeks, or even 3 months ago ? Doesn't it give you the feeling that the information may be out dated, and the site owner or company is not on top of their game ?

Now, do you get that same from websites that do not have each block of information dated ?

Most websites don't have the date of when the page was written displayed, and if you are using a blog as a static website, my opinion is that you need to take away any characteristics that give off the impression that you are not active.

Of course that is just my personal choice.

[vangogh]

It depends on the site and the nature of the content. I don't expect or need to see a date on your sales copy for example. Maybe you have a timeless sort of tutorial. If you're writing a history of the Roman Empire you don't need to date that.

With blogs though I do want to see a date. I understand what you mean about seeing a blog that hasn't been updated for a few months and how that can turn someone off. However if I've subscribed to your blog I don't need to see dates on posts to know how frequently you write new ones. Not showing the date only temporarily hides your infrequent posting.

When the content is specifically on a blog and I see no date I still make the assumption the content is old so the lack of a date doesn't really help. The real answer is if you have a blog you should update it. It's not a big deal if a few weeks go by without a post. But if you can only update once every few months you probably don't need a blog in the first place.

[KristineS]

If it's a static web site I don't expect to see dates. Those are informational and aren't necessarily supposed to be updated on a regular basis. I guess I differentiate between what a blog is supposed to do and what a web site is supposed to do. A web site informs, and it doesn't necessarily need to be timely. It supplies basic information about a company or service or person. A blog is meant to be updated. It's a recent record of events or thoughts or whatever. So that should be timely. If it's not, then what's the point?

Of course, that's just my opinion.

[Harold Mansfield]

It's not a big deal if a few weeks go by without a post. But if you can only update once every few months you probably don't need a blog in the first place.

I guess that is probably a better point.