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Day 6 of The 100 Days To Webpage Excellence Guide

One of the things that many new bloggers struggle with is what they should write about.  In fact many successful bloggers will tell you that one of the most frequent questions they are asked is “Where do you get your ideas?“  In fact it isn’t too difficult to come up with ideas for your blog, if your goal is to write one post a day you should easily be able to generate that many ideas once you understand how it is done.  In fact, once you get the hang of it you will be able to write tons of content on your blog everyday, if you so desire.

Here are some tips on where to get your ideas

1) Think why you started the blog in the first place.  What is the number one reason that you started a blog?   Now discard that reason and think of the number one reason you started a blog that doesn’t have to do with making money online.  There is sure to be some reason that you chose the topic that you did to write about.  Think about what you like about that topic, or what you hate about it.  There are a couple of posts right there.

2) Write a post for beginners - If you are an expert in your blogging field then you will know a lot of tips and tricks that other people want.  Write a post on getting starting doing …. your niche.  Write a post on the top things that you have learned and that you wish you knew when you first got started.  If you are blogging about poker, write a post about wishing you knew how to read tells.  If your website is about cats, write a post about some tricks on keeping your cat from climbing your drapes.

3) Read other blogs - Set up a feed to bloglines or Google reader.  Put in some of the top bloggers in your field.  Use them to help you come up with ideas.  You can write about how much you liked or hated whatever your favorite blogger wrote about.  You can create a list of your favorite recent posts or your most hated bloggers.

4) Write a Dummy’s guide -  You are sure to have spent a lot of time learning various things in your field.  Other people probably want to know the same information, but don’t have the time to chase it all down.  So right yourself a “Dummy’s Guide to …. ” about whatever it is that took you forever to learn.  Dummy’s guides are great because they are easy to write, easy to read, and easy to link to.

5) Remember your ideas - Get in the habit of remembering your ideas whenever you have them.  Carry a pen and little notebook with you and jot down your ideas as you get them.  Before I did this I would frequently see something throughout the the which would inspire a blog idea in me, but I would forget it before I could get home and sit down to right.   You’ll find that by saving your ideas, you will no longer have to wonder “What will I write,”  You can just open the notebook and pick the first thing that interests you that day.

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A Morning Routine Can Guarantee You Get Everything Done You Need To Each Day

I have recently noticed that I often get as much done on my blog on the weekdays as I do on the weekends.  I just realized that, when purely looking at post count, I can manage to write as much in 2 hours after work each day as in 8 hours when I have all weekend and no other plans.

So what am I doing wrong on the weekends?  The weekends should be a time when I am cranking out the content and getting tons of stuff done.  But I am much less productive on the weekends than the weekdays.  Why is that?

Here are some of the reasons that I have found weekends to be less productive for me.

1) I don’t have a morning routine - During the weekdays I have a set routine.  I know when I’ll be going to work, when I’ll be coming home, when I’ll be working out, and when I’ll be blogging.  During the weekends I don’t have anything like that.  I can often get up and waste half the morning thinking that I will get things done later in the day.

2) On The Weekdays I have A Limited Time - On the weekdays I have a very limited amount of time that I can work on my blog.  And I know that.  Which means whenever I am working on the weekdays, I am working hard and trying to get as much done as I can.  The weekends feel much more lackadaisical to me.  Because I don’t feel that I have a limited time to work, I take the time that I am working less seriously.  I check e-mail, check my stats more frequently, and generally put my lower priority, but more fun, tasks first.

3) On the weekends I have other chores - Because I tend to put off doing various household chores during the week, the pile up on me on the weekends when I have to get them done.  If I learn to make better use of my time during the weekdays, and get some of the chores done then, it will free up more time on the weekends for me to accomplish productive tasks.

4) On the weekends I think I deserve a break - Additionally I have found that on the weekends I have more trouble sitting down at my computer and getting to work than I do on the weekdays.  This is because on the weekends I have more of an attitude that I worked hard all week, and now deserve a break.  This slows me down in the beginning, and causes me to take more breaks than I otherwise would have.

Those are the biggest things which disrupt my work on the weekends.  Luckily, now that I have identified them, I can hopefully improve on them.

So how about yourself?  Do you tend to get more accomplished on the weekends or less?  Why is that?

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If Your Write Long Lasting Content, Your Blog Will Grow With Time

One of the easiest tricks to making a lot of money online with your blog is to write a blog which naturally grows with time.  Although you may not make very much money in your first 6 months, in your next 6 months you will make a lot more.  The year following you will make even more.  Soon enough your blog earnings may look like this.

However the only way your blog can grow with time, is if you write timeless content.  If you write most of your posts about topics which are only important right now, i.e. politics, current events, gadgets to a lesser degree, who will be coming back a year from now to look at those posts?  Not that many people.  Those posts will drop off the search engine rankings and be replaced by newer posts.

If you write timeless content, it will stick around on Google forever.  If you write most of your posts about topics which won’t change much in the next five years, the chances are that pages which will ranks well today will rank equally well 5 years from now.  That will ensure that your posts have a very long lifespan, and can make money for you over that entire time.

If you write posts which last longer you can make a lot more money off of them.  If, for instance, your average posts have a lifespan of 1 year and in that time get 5000 visitors, each worth 1 cent, that means your post is worth $50.   That’s not too bad, unless you compare it to how much it could be worth.  If instead of writing posts which stay around for 1 year, you write posts which stay around for 5 years and still attract 5000 visitors a year, you now have a post worth $250.  That is a 5 fold increase in the amount of money your post can be worth simply by changing your writing style or topic.

So what kind of posts have longevity?  I have found that the posts which have the greatest longevity tend to be “How To” Posts.  If you write a post which answers a readers common question about how to do something it will tend to stick around.  People 5 or even 10 years in the future will likely have the same questions.  Posts which are least likely to stick around are those about current technology or current events.  Both of those things are changing every day.  Any article you on current technology will be dated in 6 months, and will be obsolete in 5 years, and will be laughable in 10 years.  Think to yourself how likely are you to go to and read a 1997 post about the joys of a 56K modem?  Not likely

 The bottom line is that by tailoring your writing to make sure that it will last on the internet you can attract more visitors to your blog and make more money over the long term.  You should keep that in mind next time you are writing a post or thinking of an idea for a new blog to create.

 So what do you consider when you try to write a post?  Do you try to make it timeless?  Or Topical?

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Get A Jump Start On Your Competition And Get The Most Traffic

In the blogging world, it is important to keep on top of the news.   Although “how to” posts are timeless, it is also important to post the latest news.  No matter what your industry is, there is always some breaking news that your readers will be interested in.

So what’s the best way to keep on top of the news?  Is to constantly check the news sites?  Is it to search other blogs and try to rewrite any of their breaking news?  No!  You can stay on top of the news with Google Alerts.    If you use Google alerts, it will e-mail you the top developing stories in your industry. Google alerts allows you to

• Easily monitor a developing news stories
• Keep current on your competitors
• Keep tabs on any of the lastest sporting events

Some tips on how to use Google Alerts

• Google Alerts FAQS
• Google Alerts Tutorial

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Writing Content Isn’t That Hard To Do, It Just Takes A Few Tricks

Sometimes bloggers can experience writers block.  They sit down at their computer and want to write a post, but they just can’t figure out what feels good.  They can’t figure come up with a good idea for a post.    Well here are a few basic ideas and tips to help you out.  Maybe it will even get you a post or two.

1. Debunk a Myth - In every industry there are myths.  There have to be a few in yours as well.  Write about celebrities?  Debunk the myth that one of them is sleeping with another one.  Write about gambling?  Debunk the myth that this hand is superior to that hand.   I tend to write about adsense and monetization, so I tried to debunk the myth that Adsense is dead.
2. Write a Post For Beginners -  All websites want to develop new sources of traffic.  What is a better source than people who are beginners on the topic!   Write a beginners post or a “Dummy’s” post on a given topic in order to draw new people to your site.  Hopefully with your expertise they will become adept in no time.
3. Summarize Your Best Posts - If you have been blogging for a while, chances are you have developed new readers who haven’t taken the time to read all the posts in your archives.  Do them a favor, and revitalize some of your old content, by taking the time to create a list of 20 or so of your best posts over the last year.  
4. Post A FAQS - Do you have a lot of little ideas that won’t make good posts by themselves?  Do you hear the same simple questions over and over again?  Create a FAQs post.   That will be good for a day, and you can make it a stable on your site, adding to it as you think of more.
5. Post A Pros/Cons Post - Pick a topic and give it a thorough hashing with a pros of an cons of post.  By the end of it your readers will feel they are experts on the topic, and that you are an expert in general.

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Here Are Some Must Do Tips To Improve Your Posts

1. Make sure you write intriguing headlines
2. Prioritize your posts - Make sure that you make your best and most important points at the beginning of your post.  As the newspaper industry has learned over the years, the farther down an article you go, the less people are reading.
3. Vary your content - Don’t post the same thing everyday.  Vary your content to keep your readers interested.  On some days go pure text, others include images, others include a poll or a quiz.  The point is your readers won’t get bored with your posts.
4. Make your content scannable- The internet isn’t a book.  People won’t read your posts.  They will scan over them, quickly absorbing the information.  Your job is to make sure they absorb as much as possible
5. Summarize your readings for your visitors - You probably spend a lot of time reading up on your industry.  Summarize the best points for your readers.  They will appreciate the time you save them.
6. Ruthlessly edit your spelling and grammar - Nothing turns people off like a site filled with spelling and grammar errors.  (This is especially true if your target audience is librarians)
7. Write like you are talking - Always make sure that you keep your reader in mind when you are writing your content.  One method of doing this is to pretend like you are having a conversation with them and are explaining your topic.
8. Write about your passions - If you write about something that you are interested in, it will come through to your readers.  Not only will you make the subject come alive to them, it will ensure that your blogging doesn’t become a dull routine to you.
9. Create Lists in Your Posts - Lists are like God’s gifts to bloggers.  The are easy to write, easy to read, easy to link to, and the best part is if you can’t think of anything else to say, you can always stop wherever you are at and simply edit the number in your title.
10. Write a post series - A post series will keep your readers coming back for more.  As an added bonus, it is usually easier to write about a single topic in greater detail than to try to come up with several different topics to write about in less detail

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Lists Of Links Are Easy To Create, But Are They Useful?

Many bloggers, myself included, like to put out posts every now and then when contain only a list of links to other sites.  Although these posts can be helpful, if done improperly they can be very annoying to readers.   As such it is very important to follow a couple of simple guidelines when you are creating a Links post

1) Give All the links descriptions- Take the time to give all of the links a sentence or two description.  Just creating a list doesn’t help anybody.  We could get more information than that off of Google.   Give a short summary of what is on the page the help people decide if they want to visit or not.

2) Don’t Link To Other Lists - Have you ever decided to follow some links only to be taken around in a virtual circle?  Every now and then you can find link posts which just link to other link posts and go 5 or more deep.  If you are going to create a post of links, be sure to not link to too many else of the same.  Sooner or later your reader should be able to get to the heart of the content.

3) Use Unique Titles - Try and use unique titles for your list.   Too often people use the same titles over and over again.  For instance, I submitted an article to Probloggers Group Writing Project and found that almost all of the sites that linked to each other used the same titles for all their links. This is bad because it can cause duplicate content penalties in Google and the other search engines

4) Don’t Parrot Other Lists - If you are creating a list of the best of something, be sure not to just parrot another list.  Go out and find some new content to add to your best of.  Remove some of the content from their best of list which you think doesn’t belong.   Give your readers some reason to browse your site instead of just going to the original list

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You Never Know When You’ll Need It

One of the things that bloggers read over and over again is that in order to keep readership, They need to post everyday!   However this can be extremely hard to do.  My schedule fluctuates wildly, as I’m sure yours does as well.  Some days I might have a couple hours to knock out half a dozen well though out posts.  Other days I might only have 10 minutes… or less.

So how can anyone post everyday?  If you are having an erratic schedule, and you can’t make the posts everyday, try putting some in the bank whenever you have time.   You don’t really need to have the time to write 1 post a day, you just need the time to write 7 posts a week, or for that matter 30 posts a month.

I find that the easiest thing to keep my post frequency up is to set a weekly target.  By setting a weekly target, and spreading those posts out over the course of the week I can ensure that my post frequency remains constant.  My readers know that there will be new content up everyday when they come back.

So save a post for a rainy day, or at least save one for a day when you are too busy to post.

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Make It Scannable Or Lose Your Readers

I was recently reading the blogs and my bloglines and noticed that they all had one thing in common.  All the posts were scannable.  I could quickly read and pick out the best points!  This is one of the reasons I put them in my blog lines.

That is, All The Blogs were Scanable except one.  When I went to blog-herald in my bloglines, I realize that they tended to have huge chunks of content. With nothing breaking it up.  They didn’t use paragraphs much, lists, bold, underline or even links!  In fact I couldn’t even read the whole article.  It could have been a great article for all I know, however I wasn’t able to give it my full attention, and since it wasn’t scannable it lost me as a reader.

What does this mean for you?  You should always make your content scannable.  The internet isn’t a book.  You can’t expect people to read your information if you don’t make it easy for them.  Make it easy for people and they will stay.  Otherwise they will leave.  In fact, making your content scannable is first on my list of 10 Ways To Make A Great Site

So how can you make your content scannable

1) Use Paragraphs - Break your thoughts down into paragraphs.  Nice short paragraphs of 3-5 sentence are best.  Make the first sentence a summary for the rest of the paragraph

2) Use Lists - Use lists whenever possible.  They are easy to write, easy to link to, and especially easy to scan

3) Use Bold - Good use of bold in your posts will make it easy for readers to pick out the best points, and to decide if they want to read the rest of the article

4) Use Good Anchor Text - Good use of anchor text will let your users quickly determine if they want to follow a link or not.  It is also essential for good search engine rankings.

So how bout yourself?  Any tips you can think of that you use to make your posts easy to read?  Let me know in the comments.

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