Whether it’s the coming of a new year, the first signs of spring, or the beginning of the school year, a change in season always makes me want to do some housecleaning—on my blog, that is. The rules of SEO are always changing, and I’m constantly learning more about content creation and optimization. So right…
For the past ten years, the publishing industry has been changing almost as fast as the world of social media. It’s gone from authors asking, “What is a blog?” to publishers demanding, “How big is your blogging platform?” back to authors asking, “Do I have to blog?” And as fast-paced as the industry is, the formula that worked last week or last year may not work tomorrow.
There are no hard and fast answers to the question “Should Authors Blog?” It varies for each author. Every author should be online. But not every author should blog.
Dear Weary Blogger, I see you there on the other side of the screen. You’re sitting there staring at a blinking cursor. And when no words come, you go back to checking your stats. You return to Facebook only to see that .0001% of your fan base even saw your last post. You don’t know…
The first time you read about duplicate content, your heart sank. You’ve been duplicating your own posts on your own blog for years. What can you do now? I’ve been there. My ministry blog was in that boat. We had an annual feature dedicated to re-posting the best of our archives! And that required a…
If you’ve been blogging for a few years, you probably have some gems buried in the archives that your current readers have never seen. Too often, bloggers simply copy, paste, and re-post old posts, creating the potential for duplicate content penalties. But there are better ways to revive your archives. Here are tips and best…
Ever read a “new” post someone has just shared and realize it sounds familiar? Often, once you get to the bottom, it’s noted that the post is “Edited from the Archives” or “A Re-Post.” Bloggers everywhere are re-posting their old posts. Often the re-posted version gets more attention and interaction, presumably since they now have…
In October I joined 1,575 other bloggers around the world in blogging for 31 days. I survived! But in the process, I learned some lessons about writing, blogging, and community. And since I’ve had 10 days to recover from blogging every day, I’ve been itching to get back. Here are 13 lessons I learned from…
If these 31 days “inside” WordPress have left you with more questions than answers, then you’ve come to the right place. I’ve compiled some of your most FAQ in this post. And when you have more? Just comment and ask! I’ll do my best to answer them. Social Media & Blogging What’s the best way…
You don’t have to be a social media ninja to be a successful blogger. In fact, your blog posts can go viral without you ever having to share them on Facebook or Twitter. All you have to do is make your posts shareable. (And have quality, compelling content worth sharing, of course.) Here are ten ways…
Your tech-savvy blog readers can subscribe to your blog using an RSS feed reader like Feedly or Bloglovin’, but the rest of them might not even know what that little RSS symbol stands for, let alone how to use it. (Don’t miss the 5 Minute Guide to RSS Feeds in WordPress.) The key to getting…
What is an RSS feed? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. An RSS feed is the latest content of a blog surrounded by special code that makes it available for “syndication” across the world wide web. Using a popular feed reader like Bloglovin’ or Feedly, or any number of other apps or programs, your visitors…
A cache plugin creates a “cached” or pre-loaded version of your WordPress site’s pages that can be quickly accessed without checking the host files and database to see if there is newer information. Or, in the more technical terms of a WPMU blogger, “Caching is reusing data from previous requests to speed up subsequent requests.” By…
The End.
The End.
