Tag: blog

Blog Explosion

Aside Nick Momrik1 Comment

Blog Explosion: Explode your blog traffic! Seems like the latest thing in blogging… Will it survive? I doubt it! If it brings a few people to the site and they end up coming back because they like what they see, then I guess it’s worth it.

Lack Of Posts

Nick Momrik8 Comments

I know I haven’t been posting much lately, but I haven’t felt the creativity or had any big inspirations. I’ve been busy cleaning the house, biking, hanging out with friends, golfing, and of course working. Today I had my oil changed and found out that I need new front tires. This weekend I’m heading up to Rogers City for the long weekend (we have the 5th off). The big plans are to go up to the casino in St. Ignace to play some poker, celebrate Jere’s new job, eat some of Dad’s deep-fried turkey, go biking, and check out the poker table Isaac is building so that I can give him specs on what I want mine like. I’m looking forward to the visit home because it’s been quite some time since my last journey north.

I’d like to have some suggestions on topics to write about. I like doing posts that fall into the Thoughts category, so I’d like your (Yes, all 5 of you!) help. What would you like to read? Maybe my thoughts on space exploration, recycling, fashion… It’s up in the air. Let’s get those creative juices flooding.

What I Look For In A Blog

Nick Momrik10 Comments

How does a site make it into my Weblogs I Read link list?

Friends

This is the easiest way because I’m definitely going to read up on what my friends have to say. At the same time though, my friends can’t have a garbage site and expect me to visit often.

Design

You must have a good design. I don’t want to see 20 different colors of text. I don’t want red Xs for broken images. I don’t want to see yellow text on a white background. Your design doesn’t have to knock my socks off, but it must be easy on the eyes.

Regular Updates

You should update on a regular basis. I don’t want to come to your site and find that you haven’t posted in weeks. How boring is that?!? Everyone has something to say, especially those of us with blogs. Your audience is waiting, so just say it. I may from time to time frequent a site that doesn’t update regularly, but for this to happen, is has to be worth my time (see next item).

Content

The most important part of a blog is the content. I don’t visit a site just to look at all the pretty colors. I click on your link for something to read. What I read better keep my interest or your site doesn’t have a chance. What keeps my interest? Well…I generally like blogs that mix it up a bit. Sometimes I visit a site simply because it has a single focus, like technology or sports, but I prefer a little more. I like to read things that interest me combined with personal posts about the author’s life. I’d like to get to know the writer behind the words. A simple About Me won’t cut it, because those pages are not frequently updated. I want to read about your day at work/school once in awhile. I want to know where you went on vacation and what you did. If I don’t learn anything about you as an author, your site is just another page on the web. It feels more like a community when I can refer to a blog’s author by name.

I just cleaned up my list, so I’m looking for some new content to read. If you think you have what it takes or know a site that might, leave a comment and I’ll check it out.

What's In A Post Title?

Nick Momrik1 Comment

The title of a post can be very important. A good title may catch a visitor’s eye and spark their interest to read the post. That reader may like what they read and become a regular visitor. A title relating to the post will rank highly with search engines because the post title is used as the page title and as an H1 HTML tag. If a post ranks high with search engines, it will attract visitors who may be searching for information on a particular topic. This may also lead to an increase in regular readers.

I’m not trying to say that increasing the reader base is the goal, but it is always a plus. As most people with a blog or personal site would agree, we don’t do it to become popular or gain readers. We blog because it gives us a unique place to voice our opinions or work out our thoughts. At the same time, these opinions or thoughts are public information via the web and therefore can stimulate discussion or help someone.

With that said, I’m curious as to how others create the titles for their posts.

Do you create titles that are “Google-friendly”? What I mean by that is the post will turn up when people search for common things. By creating a misleading title, it could cause the opposite of what I discussed above. A post could be ranked higher than it should be. Many people will end up visiting the site just to see what their search turned up. This situation is bad for the Internet.

Should a post title be the first thing that comes to mind or something that has some quality thought? I think that both strategies can be important in different situations. There are many times when a first thought is the best thought, but times when a post deserves a great title.

Do you create a post title before writing the post or after? If you create the post title first, you may try to model the post to match the title, straying from the original intent. A title added after the post is writen should be a better fit.

I usually try to create a catchy title relating to what I write about in the post. My goal is not to rank highly with Google, but I won’t complain if I do rank up there. For some reason the majority of my titles are the first thing I fill in on the post form, but I think I’ll try to change that in the future. I also try to create a title that is a play on words, which is always fun to come up with.

What’s your strategy for creating post titles?