Top 10 Blogging Tips - Intermediate Edition

New? Start with the basics from my first post.

1. Back up your blog. Start here: Here. Complete all of the steps. Then go to My Computer, Recently Changed, and drag both your Template and Blog into My Documents and then the appropriate folder. This is only one of the ways available but it was free and only took a few minutes so I'm sticking with it for now. Do this at least monthly. 
2. Google Analytics. Check out The Website and click sign in at the top right hand corner. This feature is vital if you have any interest in advertising because advertisers will wanna know your statistics. Understand that it will take at least 24 hours to process and record data from your site. 
3. Build a Community. More than just a blog following, I want to build relationships with my readers and listen to what they have to say. Adding a poll to your side bar works, including social media links  works too. Take it a step further by commenting on blogs you are interested in and leaving a link to your blog. If you moved to a new state and wanted to make new friends you would put yourself out there, introduce yourself, and strike up a conversation.. Same goes for blogs. 
4. Stick to What You are Good at: Good at writing but terrible at design? Hire a blog designer or purchase graphics. Don't feel like you have to do everything on your own.
5. Schedule Your Pins. Pingraphy is similar to the Pin It Button that you add to your toolbar/bookmarks to pin images except with the former you can schedule your pins by time and day. For example, I know that 8pm is a more popular time to surf Pinterest. If I pin at that time I can get more traffic to my blog however The Housewives of Beverly Hills is on at that time and I will be away from my computer so I will schedule my pins instead. 
6. Keep the Conversation Going: Disqus is a great tool to replace your current comments section with one that sends emails to the your commenters when a new comment is posted. It also allows commenterers to strike up a conversation and keep it going. I liked how simple it was to add to my blog and it is easy to respond to comments directly from my inbox. 
7. Get Out of Your Pajamas: If a full time blogging career is what you are after it has been proven that waking up at the same time everyday and getting dressed for a work day is more productive than just rolling out of bed and working in your PJs. Read more Here.
8. Unsubscribe:  In the interest of productivity, take that extra 2 minutes to click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of that e-mail, call that number on the back of the catalog company, ask to be removed from the calling list. If you don't love it, remove it from your life. 
9. Be PR Friendly: Include an about me page so that potential advertisers can get to know you. A contact page is also vital if you want to them to reach out to you. Read more here.
10. Tweet Better: Time of day, length of tweet, and keywords to delivering a more click-worthy tweet. Check out the Infographic.

What have you learned about blogging recently?