Here are a few great posts from my list of regular reads. Enjoy!
The Importance of Finding Your Blogging Voice - If you’re struggling to find your blogging voice, this guest post on John Chow Dot Com gives some excellent tips.
Project Wonderful Review and Tips - I’ve been curious about the Project Wonderful ad widgets I’ve been seeing lately. After reading this terrific review on Blog About Your Blog, I signed up for an account and will be giving Project Wonderful a try. If you’re looking for additional ways to monetize your blog, be sure to check it out.
50 Creative Ways to Make Your Blog Popular - We can all benefit from this post by Jai of Blog Oh! Blog. I especially like the bumper sticker suggestion!
Make Money Online - Online Money Makers That Work - Aaron Cook discusses the affiliate programs and sites that have performed best for him. This is a great article, but I’m warning you - the photo is more than a little frightening!
Blogging Fatigue - 8 Tips to Get Over Your Blogging Blues - We all suffer from blogging burnout every now and then. This guest post on ProBlogger offers some great recovery options.
A well designed About page is an integral part of connecting with your readers. I’ve gone back to some of the best About pages I’ve seen and compiled a list of their commonalities. If your About page does not include most or all of these components, you should consider making a few revisions to create a more welcoming and rewarding experience for your readers.
- Author bio and photo - Your content can be the best in the world, but without some personal information and a face to tie it all to, it is difficult to develop a community feel for your blog. If you have privacy or safety concerns, consider using an alias. A caricature could be used in place of a photo.
- Blog details - Provide information such as the mission of the blog, its history, significant achievements, and statistics.
- Popular posts - Link your readers to the most visited posts on your blog, as well as to those you consider to be your best work.
- Link to RSS feed - You probably have a link to the feed on your homepage, but adding one to the About page will increase your changes of securing subscribers.
- Information and links to the author’s other blogs - Take the opportunity to promote your other blogs. Readers who enjoy your writing style will be inclined to visit your other sites.
- Links to social networking profiles - Allow readers to easily connect to you through social networking sites such as StumbleUpon, MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, Pownce, and Twitter.
- Further reading - Link to reviews of your blog, interviews you’ve given, or any other relevant information outside your site.
- Contact information - This could include a contact form or link to a Contact page, personal email addresses, or instant messenger IDs.
Here are a few examples of excellent About pages. Check them out for a little inspiration.
Using the tips above, I’ve revised my own About page. This is what the page looked like before.
The new version is now active.
I wish you the best of luck in creating your new About page!
Help me build my RSS readership, and you could win a review of your blog and a 125 x 125 pixel banner ad spot for one month!
All you need to do is subscribe to my feed and leave a comment saying that you’ve done so. If you’re already subscribed, just leave a comment to get your entry.
The contest will run until midnight on February 29th. At that time, I will select a winner through random.org. I will post a review of the winning blog during the first week of March. The winner will also receive a 125 x 125 pixel banner ad spot on this site for the entire month of March.
Even if your blog has already been reviewed on Blogging Gal, you can still enter to win the banner ad spot.
Good luck!
My first contest has come to a close. The winner is Mark of MeAndMyDrum! Congratulations, Mark!
I have already posted a review of MeAndMyDrum, but Mark also receives a 125 x 125 banner ad spot for the entire month of February! Just send me your ad, Mark, and I’ll get it up on the site!
Details on the next contest will be posted momentarily!
