Tips for Keeping Your Blog Up to Date

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Keeping a blog up to date is one of the most important aspects of blogging. This is so important because regular blog visitors expect new postings on a regular basis.

 

Not all visitors expect to see a new post as often as once a day but most blog readers expect the content on the blog to be updated on a regular basis. In most cases visitors expect new content on at least a weekly basis. However, depending on the subject matter the visitors may expect updates on a basis which is either more frequent.

 

Similarly visitors may not be interested in receiving this type of information more than a few times a year. Blog owners should be aware of the frequency of which readers expect new posts and should make an effort to oblige the readers with updates this often.

 

This article will discuss methods for keeping a blog up to date including scheduling a regular time to post blogs, using publishing tools wisely and hiring guest bloggers when necessary. 

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Finding Time to Post Daily

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One way to help to ensure a blog remains up to date is to schedule time to post blogs on a daily basis. This is especially important when blog readers expect new posts on a daily basis or at least several times per week.

 

Bloggers who allot a specific block of time each day to researching, writing and publishing blogs are more likely to have a blog which is up to date than bloggers who plan on accomplishing tasks when they find time to do so.

 

There may still be days in which the blogger is unable to publish a new post on the blog but these days will be less frequent than if the blogger does not have a block of time strictly dedicated to keeping the blog up to date. 

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On days in which the blog is unable to devote time to blogging, the blogger may wish to at least publish a short message explaining why it was not possible to post a new blog entry.

 

This will let readers know you are aware of their desire to read more information but are simply unable to publish a new blog post.

 

As long as this does not become a regular occurrence, blog visitors are not likely to stop viewing a blog simply because the blogger skips a day or two.

 

Taking Advantage of Publishing Tools

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Some blog publishing tools enable bloggers to write blog posts ahead of time and specify when each post should be published. This is an excellent feature for bloggers who want to publish new posts daily but are unable to dedicate time each day to writing blog posts.

 

This way the blogger can dedicate a block of time each week to write blog posts and have the posts published throughout the week. This is often an easier method for many bloggers because they are able to be more efficient this way. 

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Hiring Guest Bloggers

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Bloggers may also want to consider hiring guest bloggers to assist them in keeping a blog up to date. This can be a worthwhile method for bloggers who are not only having difficulty keeping their blog up to date but are also interested in providing readers with a little variety.

 

However, blog owners who opt for this message of keeping their blog up to date should carefully consider how the dedicated blog readers will react to this change. This is important because some readers may not be interested in reading blogs written by a guest blogger.

 

Therefore the use of a guest blogger can actually be more detrimental to the blog than not updating the blog regularly. Bloggers can gauge reader reaction to the use of guest bloggers in a couple of different ways.

 

The simplest and most straight forward method is to poll the readers about the use of guest bloggers. This can be done by asking readers to comment on the issue and tabulating the comments received.

 

Another method to gauge reader reaction is to introduce a guest blogger and compare the traffic the guest blogger receives to the traffic the blog owner receives. 

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When Others Do Not Approve of Your Blog

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Regardless of the topic of a blog, all bloggers face the potential for situations in which others do not approve of their blog. Although this type of reaction is popular with blogs focused on political or controversial issues, bloggers who maintain a personal blog may also face disapproval from those who do not approve of the bloggers choices in life.

 

This article will discuss subjects such as dealing with negative comments on a blog, dealing with criticism from friends and family members and will touch upon situations in which blogging can cause legal problems for the blogger. 

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Dealing with Negative Comments on Your Blog

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Negative comments posted on a blog are one of the most common forms of disapproval a blog may receive. These comments may be posted in response to a specific blog posting or may be posted as an objection to the blog in general.

 

These negative comments may be very troubling to the blogger but fortunately there are some methods for dealing with these comments. 

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Bloggers who are concerned that negative comments may influence other blog readers have a few options for dealing with these negative comments. One way to do this is to set the blog to not allow comments.

 

This will effectively eliminate the comments but it will also eliminate comments from supporters of the blog as well. Another option a blogger has is to simply delete the negative comments as he finds them.

 

This is not a very effective method because other readers may have time to read the comments before they are deleted. Bloggers who are online often and are not concerned about negative comments appearing on the blog for a short period of time may utilize this method.

 

Another method of dealing with negative comments includes rebutting these comments on the blog. Finally, bloggers often have the opportunity to ban visitors who are leaving negative comments from making future comments.

 

Dealing with Criticism from Friends and Family Members

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Bloggers may also face criticism from friends and family members for the content of their blogs. Friends and family members may not use the comment section to express their disapproval but may express their concerns directly to the blogger in person, via telephone or via email.

 

This can be a difficult situation for bloggers because they may be torn between maintaining the blog according to their vision and keeping their friends and family happy. In many cases friends and family members may object to a blog because they believe it can be potentially harmful to the blogger or because they are concerned about how the blog will reflect on them.

 

In these delicate situations the blogger has the option to either delete or modify the blog or to speak to the friends and family members to explain his feelings without making changes to the blog. 

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When Blogging can Cause Legal Problems

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Bloggers should be aware there are some situations in which their blog can cause legal problems. Making statements about another person which are untrue and defamatory can result in the subject of the blog seeking retribution for libel.

 

Other blog postings can also be found to be illegal for a wide variety of other reasons. Bloggers may assume freedom of speech laws protect them fully but there may be situations in which the statements in a blog are not protected under freedom of speech

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laws and the blogger faces legal ramifications for his postings. Blogging which violates the copyright laws of another can also cause legal problems. 

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Optimizing Your Blog for Search Engines

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Bloggers who are interested in building high traffic to their blog and maintaining a successful blog should pay particular attention to search engine optimization techniques which can help to improve the search engine rankings of their blogs.

 

Search engines all employ some type of ranking algorithm which is used to determine the order in which websites are returned when an Internet user searches for information on a particular topic. However, not all search engines use the same algorithm for this purpose.

 

As a result there is no simple solution to optimizing a blog for high rankings on all search engines. There are a few tips though which can be useful with most search engines. These tips include using relevant keywords, generating back links to your blogs and using image tags in a beneficial way. 

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The Importance of Keywords

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The use of relevant keywords in blog posts is one of the most common and also one of the simplest ways to optimize search engine rankings. However, not all bloggers agree on the best ways to use relevant keywords to optimize search engine rankings.

 

Some bloggers believe keywords must be used often to create high keyword densities while others believe using keywords at lower densities of 1%-3% and paying attention to placement of the keywords is the most worthwhile strategy. Still other bloggers argue that simply using relevant keywords as they come naturally in the flow of the blog posts is sufficient to ensure search engines understand the content of the blog.

 

Regardless of the keyword strategy a blogger opts to employ all bloggers can benefit from researching relevant keywords. They may have a blog which pertains to a general subject such as gardening but may not be aware of the search terms typically used by Internet users when researching this subject.

 

Fortunately there are many programs available which generate related keywords for a particular time which provides the blogger with other keywords they should consider incorporating into the blog. For the example of a blog pertaining to gardening the blogger may want to use additional keywords such as container gardening or home gardening to attract more interest from search engine users. 

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Generating Favorable Back Links

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Back links are also another common factor used in search engine ranking algorithms. Many search engines consider the number of back links pointing to a website as well as the quality of the websites which provide these back links.

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This means the search engine rankings of the website which points to your blog could influence the amount of weight the back link contributes to your own rankings. This is because some search engines consider higher ranking websites to be more valuable than other websites which do not rank well and therefore reward websites receiving back links from these high ranking websites quite favorably. 

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Some search engine algorithms also consider whether or not the back links are reciprocated or not reciprocated. In these cases non reciprocal links are usually considered to be more valuable than reciprocal links. Also, back links which come from link exchanges or link farms are typically not considered to be very influential to search engine rankings. 

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How Images Can Improve Search Engine Rankings

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Bloggers should also be aware that any pictures used on their blog can be used to improve search engine rankings with some search engines. This aspect of search engine optimization is often overlooked because many bloggers believe the pictures are not viewed by search engines. While this is true the search engines do crawl the code of the blog in addition to the content on the blog.

 

This means the search engine will view the information provided in the image tags. Bloggers can take advantage of this by using the image tags to provide relevant keywords which can bolster search engine rankings.

 

However, care should be taken to ensure the keywords used in these tags also accurately describe the image because blog visitors will often see the text included in these tags when they scroll over a picture on the blog. 

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Improving the Search Engine Rankings of Your Blog

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Bloggers who are interested in reaching a large audience with their blog should consider paying special attention to search engine optimization of their blog.

 

Reaching a large audience may be a priority for a number of different reasons. One of the obvious reasons to attempt to generate increased traffic to a blog is to generate a profit.

 

Bloggers who rely on high blog traffic for their revenue are obviously interested in increasing traffic. However, bloggers who create their blog to promote a cause may also be interested in increasing traffic simply to allow their message to reach a larger audience.

 

Regardless of the reason to want to increase traffic, one of the best ways to do this is by optimizing the blog for search engines. This article will discuss the importance of search engine rankings and offer tips for optimizing a blog. 

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Why Search Engine Rankings are Important

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The importance of high search engine rankings is they can contribute to increased Internet traffic to the blog.

 

This is because Internet users who use search engines to find information on a particular topic are much more likely to visit websites which appear on the first page of the search results than they are to visit websites which appear on subsequent pages of the search results.

 

The websites appearing on the first page of the results are likely to get the most traffic. However, Internet users are not likely to search through more than a page or two of the search results when looking for more information on a particular subject.

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High search engine rankings essentially act as free

advertisement for a blog or website. This is because many website users rely on popular search engines to assist them in finding useful information on the Internet.

 

The search engines apply complex algorithms to evaluate websites and rank them accordingly for specific search terms. As a result Internet users put a great deal of value on the search results produced and trust these results to lead them to the best available websites relevant to the keywords they specified in the search. 

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Tips for Optimizing a Blog for Search Engines

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One of the most common ways to optimize a blog or website for search engines is through the use of relevant keywords. Specifically the practice of applying specific keyword densities to the content of the blog is a common search engine optimization tactic employed.

 

Blog owners and others who attempt to optimize their websites do not always agree on the optimal density for keywords but many believe a percentage of approximately 2%-3% is appropriate. 

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Another method for optimizing a search engine optimization is to place relevant keywords into the code of the website.

 

This includes the title tags and META tags. This is important because search engines often consider the prominence of keywords when evaluating a website. This refers to the location in which the keywords first appear.

 

Placing keywords early in the content of the website is helpful but it is important to note the search engines view the code first so keywords appearing before the body of the blog will be crawled first by the search engines. 

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Blog owners can also help to increase their search engine rankings by generating back links to their blog. This can be accomplished in a number of different ways.

 

One way to do this is to find other websites willing to place a link to the blog on their website. This is beneficial because many search engines factor the number of links to a website into their ranking algorithm because these links are considered to be one website vouching for the validity of another website.

 

Some website owners may be willing to do this in return for a link to their website on your blog. This is known as reciprocal linking and some search engines may not value this link as highly as a link which is not reciprocated.

 

There are also some link exchange programs but these links may not be beneficial because many search engines consider the rank of the website linking to your blog.

 

Therefore, if the website linking to your blog does not rank well, the back link will not improve search engine rankings significantly. 

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Dealing with Comments on Your Blog

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Most blogs allow visitors to the blog to post comments on any of the blog posts. These comments may pertain to the blog posting or may be completely unrelated. The comments may also be positive or negative in nature.

 

Regardless of the type of comment left by a visitor the blogger may choose to deal with these comments in a number of different ways. The blogger may answer these comments, block individual visitors from leaving comments in the future or use administrative features to delete comments or set the blog to require approval of the comments before they are posted on the blog.

 

This article will discuss each of these options for dealing with comments on a blog in greater detail. 

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Answering Comments on Your Blog

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Bloggers who receive comments on their blog may wish to answer these comments. Most blogging programs allow the blogger to post comments on his own blog which enables the blogger to answer comments directly.

 

With this feature a blogger can deal with a number of different situations including negative comments, positive comments and questions. Bloggers who receive negative comments on their blog may opt to answer these comments directly with a rebuttal to the negative comments.

 

This allows the blogger to recognize the criticism and defend his original post. Bloggers who receive positive comments may also wish to answer these comments to thank the visitors for the praise. Still other bloggers may receive comments which ask a question about the blog post or the blogger himself.

 

Bloggers may opt to answer these questions to develop a better relationship with the blog visitors. 

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Blocking Comments from Individual Visitors

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Another option for dealing with blog comments which are negative in nature is to block comments from individual blog visitors. In most cases bloggers will have the ability to blog a particular user from leaving comments on the blog.

 

The blogger may wish to use this option in situations where the comments from the blog visitor are extremely mean spirited. The blogger may also wish to ban individual blog visitors from making comments if he has previously attempted to explain his point to the visitor but the visitor continues to post negative comments.

 

A blogger may also wish to ban an individual blog visitor from making comments if he believes the comments are being left as spam. 

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Using Administrative Features

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Still another option for dealing with comments on a blog includes using administrative features to delete comments or modify the settings to not allow comments to be displayed until the blogger approves them.

 

Blog owners typically have the ability to delete a comment left by a blog visitor. Deleting these comments is usually a quite simple process. However, it is not a completely effective method because other blog visitors may have the opportunity to read these comments before they are deleted.

 

 

Therefore, deleting the comment may prevent some visitors from reading the comment but will not ensure the comment is not seen by any blog visitors.

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However, there is a way for bloggers to make sure visitors do not read negative comments. Most types of blogging software have options which require the blogger to approve all comments before they become available to the public.

 

This gives the blogger the ability to delete a comment before it is read by any of the blog visitors. The blogger can simply delete any comments they do not wish others to read before the comments are published.