Image by bplanet

In the last post we talked about commenting on blogs and we discuss this topic further in this post covering moderation, policy and deleting comments.

Comment Moderation

Most bloggers agree that it’s when they start receiving their first trickle of comments that’s when they begin to get hooked on blogging. Don’t panic if you have no comments yet – with more and more blogs out there it is harder to generate comments than it was in the past.

It’s your choice whether to let readers do the commenting or whether you want to respond to every comment or dip in when you have something to add. Either choice is fine, most bloggers will dip in at least occasionally. A response to a comment can encourage further debate or discussion and it’s a nice feeling for a reader to think they’re being valued and listened to.

Don’t make readers jump through hoops to comment on your blog. It’s important to keep out spam comments (these are usually in the form of senseless words and phrases that link to pornographic sites or ones that are trying to make money) but you don’t want to drive your valued readers away. Techniques like having to register and word verification are ways to keep spammers at bay but may also make readers feel it’s not worth the bother…

That being said you must keep the spammers out either by using one or all of the techniques available or by deleting them manually. Spam comments are unsightly and may put people off reading your blog.

Comment Policy

Some bloggers decide, if not in the beginning but once they are getting a lot of comments, to establish a comment policy. This may take the form of a static page and will describe what they will and won’t accept in the comments area. The following points may be covered;

• Flaming
• Linking within comments
• HTML in comments
• Rules when debating or discussing controversial topics
• Acceptable language
• Clarifying which comments will be deleted
It’s entirely up to you if you want to develop a comment policy for your blog. I have never felt the need thus far, that’s not to say I won’t one day.

Deleting Comments

For now I think when to delete a comment is your main concern and I would say that where possible do not delete comments, comments are important.

Having said that always delete a comment that is clearly spam or a comment that equates to flaming.

If you don’t like bad language perhaps you could edit the comment and say that you’ve removed the bad language, same with links (if you’re adverse).

Never delete a comment because you merely disagree with their point of view, you may lose respect if readers feel they can’t have their say.

When all is said and done though it is your blog and you are free to delete comments as you wish, I just feel these are some good guidelines.

Image by Stuart Miles

You want your blog to rank as high as it can in search engines and knowing a bit about SEO (search engine optimisation) is essential to help you achieve this. You don’t need to know all there is about SEO but using these 3 tips I am about to share with you will help your blog rank higher and more people find you.

Before we go any further please use these tips carefully as I am not telling you to change the way you write just so your blog ranks better on Google, people read your blog because they like what you have to say and how you say it. Use them alongside your writing style where possible.

1. Use Google Key Words Tool. This great free tool is a great way to help you chose which key words you should be using in your posts to attract the right audience to your blog. It shows you which words are highly search and how many other sites, blogs and websites, are using these key words. You can then use these in your title, alternative image tags or in the first 100 characters of your posts.
2. If you use WordPress, install a SEO plugin to automatically optimise your site. There are many great plugins available so how a browse on WordPress.org to see which one suits you., this site currently uses All in One SEO plugin.
3. Utilise social media and bookmarking websites. Create profiles on each and actively use them, remembering on Twitter to hash tag (#) key words and on Google+ and Facebook use appropriate images to entice new readers. Share you blogs content on all and if you think a post will be of interest to the larger community, ask others to share your post too.

There are many more ways to improve your blogs SEO, these are just a few simple yet important ideas on how to improve any new readers ability to find your blog.

Image by bplanet

Commenting

Commenting is hugely important, it’s the difference between a website and a blog.  A website is a one way communication, to provide you with information.  A blog is interactive, the blogger writes a post and the readers will comment.  There is a function in blogger and wordpress to turn off comments, never do this unless you have a very good reason to do so.  Commenting is an integral part of blogging and you may alienate followers if you choose never to have comments turned on.

Here are some points on commenting on blogs;

•  Comment often, but never comment if you have nothing to add to the conversation.  You need to say more than ‘good post’.
• Don’t go around leaving angry comments everywhere: this is called flaming and will probably see you ostracised.
• Consider your comment before publishing it, in the same way as email and texts it’s easy to be misconstrued.
• Not every comment needs to be in full agreement, some posts call for a discussion and as such there should be opposing views, stick to the topic and don’t let it get personal.  It’s about the topic/issue not the person.  Accept that sometimes people will have different opinions.
• Don’t leave links back to your blog within comments.  It’s not the place to do this, if you leave an interesting or thought provoking comment people can get to your blog through your name which acts as a link, so there’s really no need.  If you’re desperate for someone to notice your blog email them and politely ask them to check out your blog when they get a minute.

Tip!  Rule of thumb, if your comment is longer than five lines write your own blog post instead

Look out for the next part of this post to find out about comment moderation, comment policy and deleting comments.

There have been many changes on Facebook over the past months with the new timeline and now in the coming weeks being able to schedule posts. So here is a step by step guide to setting up a Facebook page for your blog.

1. When on a Facebook page there is a button in the top right of the screen saying “Create a page” click on this and it will take you to the create a page area.
2. Once on this page you have 6 options to choose from, you may choose either Small business/place or Brand/product to use for your blog. Once you have chosen one of these you will then have to choose a category and enter some other details.
3. You are then taken to a page asking for an image, this is the profile picture. You can choose one from off of you computer or take one using your webcam. The image needs to be 180 x 180 px. This can contain contact info for your blog if you want to use a logo etc.
4. Next you will be prompted to enter your ‘about’ information. This is really important as this is where everyone will click to find out more about you and your blog. Include what your blog is about, your web address and any other relevant information, such as Twitter address, etc.
5. It will then take you to your admin page and wall where you are asked to be the first like on your page. Facebook also takes you through the other stages to help you share your page with friends and email contacts.
6. You will also want to add a cover image to your page, this cannot in any way include any calls to action, such as your web address, email or twitter profile. You can write what your blog is about or simply use a picture which ties in with your blog. Simply click on the “add cover” button at the top of your page and use an image from your computer. This image needs to be 851 x 315 px.

You now have your Facebook page ready to share your posts and relevant information to your likers.

1. List headline. These types of headlines are great for creating quick posts that show your reader the top points or tips on the subject you are writing. Be careful not to use this type of headline too often as your readers will get bored of it. Using numbers such as 3,5,7 or 10 seem to work the best and you also need to us powerful words along with the numbers, as with this posts headline.
2. ‘How to’ headlines. People are always looking for answers on the internet and writing a how to post will definitely bring in new readers to your blog, especially if it is in line with your blogs theme. ‘How to’ posts tend to list step by step instructions on how to carry out a certain activity. Through the use of bullet points your reader will be able to scan the post initially to asses if the post is what they are looking for and then carry on reading in depth to seek their answer
3. Open Loop Headlines. These type of headlines ask questions such as Where, Why, How, What and Is. By using these words to start your headline, you are asking your reader a question and they will then read the post for the answer. They are also a great way of getting your readers to comment and interact with your blog, improving your relationship with your readers.

Have a go and see which of these types of headlines works best with your blog and let us know which works best for you!

How to Prepare a Photo for your Blog

Sometimes a photo is too small, too large, out of focus or features blemishes such as red eye.  Before uploading a photo to my blog I use Picasa to make corrections.  Picasa is free and easy to use.

Uploading a Photo to your Blog

Photos are great for illustrating your posts, they break up the text and can entice readers in to read a whole post.

1.  In your dashboard locate the upload image button, click on it and you’ll be asked to ‘browse’.  Click this and find the photo on your computer (most people keep a dedicated file).  If you have used Picasa it may appear in a folder called ‘picasa’ or ‘picasa exports’.

2.  Once you’ve found the photo double click and you’ll be taken back to the original box.  Click ‘upload’

3.  You will then have a chance to create a title, caption and decide where the photo should go ‘left’, ‘centre’ or ‘right’. Make your choices and click ‘insert into post’ or ‘upload image’ and hey presto your post should now feature your photo.

Finding Photos To Use That Are Not Your Own

Occasionally you may wish to illustrate a post with a picture that is not your own.  There are two main types of post where this will happen.

The first is a post like this – Christmas Gift Ideas.  This is a post of my own where I shared a few Christmas gift ideas.  I wanted to bring this post to life with some product images.  If you’re promoting products I’d say these images are fair game and you should just click on them where they appear and save the image to your computer and upload as above.  Always give credit by linking to the website or shop where possible.

The second scenario is demonstrated in this post – Seven Things I’ll Never Do Again.  Notice the picture of haggis, that’s not my own.  Here’s how you can find photos of almost anything and use them for free.

1.  Go to Flickr and create a free account.

2.   On the front page, in the right hand corner click on ‘search’, then click on ‘advanced search’.

3.  Insert a keyword or two, in this case I used ‘haggis’.  Scroll down and check the box that says “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content”.  Then click ‘search’

4.  Once you’ve found a picture, click on ‘all sizes’ which is just above it.  Choose a size and save to your computer

5.  Give credit at the foot of your post.  I usually put ‘Photo by Flickr user (name)’ and link the name directly to the photo in flickr.  Take a look at the haggis post to see th credit at the bottom.

6.  I also like to leave a comment on flickr beneath the post thanking them for the photo and leaving a link where I used it.  I think this is good manners, and many people have contacted me and thanked me for using their photo.

Simply putting words in a post that you think your readers want to read just isn’t going to cut it. You need to be writing blog posts that mean something to you and that your readers can connect with and make them want to find out more. This doesn’t have to mean you share your most intimate secrets, it just means you need to find a subject that you feeling strongly about and you need to get that emotion over in the posts.

Being a mummy blogger doesn’t mean you just simply write about your experiences as a mum, these posts are all part of the bigger picture and if they are integrated into other posts on topics you really care about then this is what will give you a really strong blog and will bring in more readers.

Passion sells regardless of the area it is used in so why not try writing a post that you are really passionate about and see what response you get.

Pinterest has been tipped to be the next big thing in social media and you will already know that social media is an important part of raising your blogs profile and attracting new readers and followers.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual bookmarking website which provides great links back to your site. This happens if someone has pinned a picture from off of your blog or you have and then someone else clicks on the image, they are then given the option to follow the image back to its original site. This then takes them back to the post the image was taken from, giving you new traffic.

Why use Pinterest for your blog?

Do you use lots of images on your blog posts or has your blog got a crafty, arty or even baking theme to it? By pinning your images from your posts you are showcasing your posts through their visual aspect, which is a great alternative to a simple link on other social media sites.

Another great way to use Pinterest is to gather great ideas for your blog, therefore using the site as not only a promotional tool but also a place to bookmark and research ideas.

You do need to be invited to join the site but it is well worth it as not only can you pin images, if you have taken the step into vlogging, you can also pin videos to your boards too!

What do you have to do to enter?

1. On your blog, post your own Lean on Turkey recipe. Whether it’s a traditional family favourite or low fat healthy option, it doesn’t matter – your recipes just have to contain fresh turkey. Make sure you specify on your post that this is your entry for the BritMums Lean on Turkey competition, sponsored by www.leanonturkey.co.uk
2. Add the link to your post on the Lean on Turkey Linky below by 17:00 GMT on 11th June 2012.
3. Soon after that, we’ll pick six winners for the £250 prize and masterclass with Marco Pierre White.

To find out more about this great competition and the terms and conditions visit Britmums.

1. Blog Etiquette – It’s important to give credit to a blog if you talk about something they’ve written.

2. Share Websites/Blogs – To share all the great blogs you’ve been reading or a funny/interesting website you’ve found, or perhaps to share this e-course with would be bloggers!

3. To Illustrate a Point – to provide the reader with further information on the topic you’re discussing.

There are many more reasons, these are just a few that you may come across in the first weeks of blogging.

How to Link

1. Highlight the words you wish to use as the link, try and use the blog title or words that describe where the link will take the reader (we’ll discuss why that’s important in a later lesson).

2. Click the ‘link’ button, this should be just above the blank page part of the post. It may be depicted by a small world icon with a chain.

3. A pop up box will appear, paste the URL (web address) into this space.

4. Those words should now appear highlighted and should link to the website when you click on them.

Tip! Always check your links before publishing. I do this by clicking ‘preview’ and having a look at what my post looks like, I then check every link is working and leads to where it should. ‘Bad’ links can be irritating and if it’s a business blog then a bit unprofessional.