Blogging Tips for 2014

Start your New Year out with some blogging tips!

ithinkthereforeiblog

In just a few months, I will have been blogging with this website for ten years. Kinda crazy! But that isn’t when I started blogging. I was blogging before there were blogs. I used to create webpages from scratch before any of the blogging platforms existed and would email friends a link to my post, like when I went to Alaska or flying with my dad. So when I started blogging, the Internet was a bit of a lonely place for blogs… but now there are well over 100 kidmin blogs worthy of reading! Over the years my blog has gone from in the Top 5 to now down in the mid-thirties on the “Top 100” list – and I celebrate this decline! It means that there are many people contributing weekly to what has always been my driving passion – to equip and encourage those in children’s ministry. While much of my kidmin writing ends up on Kidology.org instead of my blog, I have enjoyed seeing the amount of help for kids ministers growing steadily every year, even if that means my blogs “ranking” goes down some. It’s a team effort!

But with ten years of blogging, I think I know a thing or two about how to do this. I’ve blogged some advice in the past on how to blog:

But as we head into 2014 and many folks are making New Year’s Resolutions regarding their blogs, I thought I’d share some TOP TIPS on how to make your blog successful and read.

Here are my “Ten Commandments of Blogging.” (Google that for many others out there on the web.)

Ten Commandments

  1. Blog often – if you neglect your blog, you will lose readers.
  2. Blog well – provide something helpful, insightful or enjoyable to read.
  3. Blog original content – don’t copy from others. If you are inspired by someone else, give credit. No one likes a content thief.
  4. Blog with a personal touch – share stories, pictures, videos and insights that are yours alone. A blog post that no one else could have written is the best. If it is just generic advice or “10 steps of this or that” the web has enough of that already. Be original!
  5. Promote your Posts – put a link to your blog posts on Facebook and Twitter, it will gain you readership.
  6. Blog concisely – if you are too wordy, you’ll lose readers. Keep posts short. If you have a lot to say, do a series of posts.
  7. Invite interaction and feedback – ask questions, invite comments, and be relational. Respond to comments you get!
  8. Blog wisely – don’t get obsessed with tracking and SEO, but learn to use it to learn the impact and reach of your blog so you can improve.
  9. Edit Your Blog! Typos and awkward sentence turn away readers who won’t take you seriously. Ask for help if this is a weak area, often we can not see our own “misteaks.”
  10. Read Blogs – one of the best ways to improve as a blogger is to be reading others. Don’t be an island on the Internet, interact with others.

I look forward to more blogging in 2014, and if you have a blog, post it below in comments so I can be sure to read yours too!

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