Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Blogging Tips That Worked For Me

Oh it's a New Year... and as I was evaluating my first blogging year, I thought of some things I did that worked for me - an ordinary blogging mom who now is earning a little through blogs. I know there are many blogging moms out there who wish their blogs would earn a little too but do not really care to be a ProBlogger, at least not a "real pro problogger" (you know what I mean).... So here's what worked for me:

1. I posted daily. Yes, everyday. That helped a lot on my ranking at Google. I was clueless about SEO and all that stuff and still many of my posts comes out on the first page of Google when people Google some particular topics I wrote on. No I did not hire someone to have any SEO installed or something, my technorati file is not pinging (I can't figure out why) but since I post everyday, my standing is high. At least relatively high ;)

2. I blogged about my passion and things or values that I care about. If you write about it, people will find it. One of my greatest passion is worship. A lot of my first posts are on worship. Guess what? Until this day, the biggest referral I get is through Google Searches of worship songs and they end up in my blog. Like the song Indescribable I posted in my early time of blogging. (Oh my, when I went back there to create the link I realized that at the time I posted it, I didn't even know how to embed YouTube videos) That's my most popular post. Then I posted about how we paid our credit card debts. That too brought a lot of traffic to my blog :)

See my sidebar of FAVS posts for other examples. You see I am not a "writer", I just like writing why i care about issues I care about or things that concern and bothers me that I want to improve on.

3. I enjoyed creating friendships through blogs; and I enjoyed blogging. "Visit other blogs, but don't get too caught up with the commenting part that you ignore writing quality posts. The content of your blog is important. If you have a lot of time to comment, that's great, but if you don't, just keep a circle of blogging friends you like to interact with. Also, join some carnivals like "Works For Me Wednesday", "Wordless Wednesday", "Thankful Thursday", etc..

4. Get a custom lay-out or design. It makes a difference in the "first impression" on your blog. I didn't have money to hire someone before but a bloggy friend kindly volunteered to help out and gave my blog a new look. It was very helpful. For attractive and economical design, I highly recommend Girly Blog Designz. Now that I've made some money blogging, I might as well pay Heather for a beautiful design.

Then when BlogHer announced that they were accepting applications for to join the AD Network, I applied. And since when I applied I had been doing the things I shared about above, then I was accepted. Now I make a little bit of fun money on my blog :)

I know many of these tips are general and common sense but they really worked for me so I thought I'd share :)

For more TIPS that works, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

16 comments:

Phyllis Sommer said...

great list. who made your template?

Lady Why said...

Thanks, Liza! Great tips!

Liza on Maui said...

Lady Why - its JEN from Who Has Time To Scrapbook who helped me. I will link to her on my actual post - thanks for asking :)

Peggie said...

I think this is my first time to your blog. Thanks for posting the great tips!

Kristen said...

Good tips. You're smarter than I am when it comes to blogging.

Hope you have a Happy New Year!

Real Life Sarah said...

Great post! Thanks for the tips. Do you know which three column template your designer used? I just redesigned my blog, but I couldn't find a three column that really worked on Blogspot.

Tiffany said...

Great tips! Thanks for sharing!

orneryswife said...

These are great ideas. I am always surprised at how often google refers to my blog, too. Thanks for sharing!
TM

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

I love this! Thanks!

Sarah @ Ordinary Days said...

Great tips! Sometimes people forget to post about what they know and love and instead try to please "their audience". Don't forget that you got your audience writing about what you love in the first place!

SAHMmy Says said...

Great tips! I've been blogging for several months now and still feel clueless! May I ask how Blogher ads compare to Adsense in your experience? So far I've written nearly one hundred posts and have a readership of about 1000/wk but my Adsense account is only up to $26. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Great tips! I'm really new to blogging (started in Nov. '07), but I'm really interested in becoming better at it. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Off to BlogHer's site! Good ideas! Thank you! :)

tickledpink.nicole said...

Super suggestions. I started my blog in November, and a lot of blogging is still a mystery to me. Thanks for the information!

CurtissAnn said...

Thanks so much Lisa! Your tips help me-- I've just started my first blogging year. Your words help me believe I can do it. And I love worship, too.

CurtissAnn

Musings of a Housewife said...

Great list!!! I totally agree on all counts. :-)