Val Nelson» Blogging

7 Common Questions About Blogging

Val Nelson — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:36:18 +0000

(Image created at Wordle.net)

I frequently hear these questions from bloggers and people considering blogging. Here are my responses to each one:

What are your blogging questions?

You can post them in the comments section at the bottom of any page on this site.

Anything posted in the comments box will be made public. You can use a fake name if you prefer, but I recommend taking the opportunity to get a link back to your website and tell us who you are!

Private questions can be sent via the contact page.

Thank you!

Should I Put Ads on My Blog?

Val Nelson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:31:53 +0000

Google Adsense Interface (CC 2.0)

Here’s a simple question to help you decide if and when putting ads on your blog is worth it.

Are you blogging as part of promoting your service or product?

If YES, don’t put ads.
No reason to compete with yourself. You will lose money by distracting your audience. A new customer is worth far more than an ad.
If NO, maybe ads will be worth it.
But only if your website visitor numbers are very high (maybe 10,000 visitors per month or more).

Can You Really Make Money with Ads?

The typical ad payment system is based on pay-per-click, meaning you get paid if someone clicks on the ad. Yes, people do click on ads.

Assuming you’re considering pay-per-click ads like Google Adsense, the revenue won’t be that high unless you have tons of website visitors.

Some quick tips:

Wait until your visitor numbers are high before embedding any ads. You’ll build more website followers while there are no ads.
If your numbers are not high yet but you somehow already have a willing sponsor and it won’t detract from your blog, then try it out.
Don’t expect to make money right away. It requires monitoring and adjusting. Follow the suggestions provided by your ad service.
Don’t leave ads up if they aren’t making enough money. Monitor progress; adjust ad placements as necessary; then abandon them if it’s not worth it.
Experiment with other ways to monetize your blog (such as selling your own info products).

What About Affiliate Ads Like Amazon?

Besides pay-per-click ads, affiliate ads are another option, where you typically get paid only if someone buys something you linked to, such as with Amazon Associates ads.

I’ve worked with very high traffic websites that experimented with Amazon Associates and the income was miniscule. I would hesitate to devote any ad space to it again.

On the other hand, I know people who use affiliate ads with huge income success. It’s a matter of choosing ads that meet your audience’s needs and choosing the programs with the best income returns. It’s an art to get it right.

No matter what, you will only make money on ads if you have high visitor rates.

Two Musts for Placing Ads

Always use an ad disclaimer.
When you place any ads, always have an ad disclaimer available near the ad. Consumers appreciate the transparency and search engines retain trust in your website.
Never place “text ads” without following Google’s guidelines for paid links.
If you don’t follow their instructions, you risk being penalized and dropped out of Google listings.

Do Ads Make Sense for Your Blog?

Please leave comments or questions below.

It’s Blog Action Day!

Val Nelson — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:18:40 +0000

[Click to view the embedded video.]

That’s when bloggers across the world all talk about the same important global topic. This year, it’s Climate Change!

Join the fun:

Blog about climate change and register your blog at blogactionday.org.
Talk about it on Twitter (using #BAD09 hashtag) or on Facebook.
Check out other Blog Action Day posts.
Join the conversation by leaving comments on the blog posts you read.
Think about what you’re doing to prevent global warming and talk about it.

What Are You Doing Today for the Earth?

Despite the chilly air outside in New England today, I’m hopping on my bike to run errands this morning. Brrr. Serious bundling up to do.

And later I have to drive a couple hours to give a blog writing training. I’m going to leave early so I can drive slower and use less gas. Ha, what a concept for me to leave early. Wish me luck.

Also, I’m resisting turning on the heat this year until it’s unreasonably cold or the plants start complaining. We could all stand to wear more layers indoors.

And you?

Should I Blog on My Website or a New Location?

Val Nelson — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:55:53 +0000

Website with blog built in.

Businesses and organizations often ask this question, or seem to think that it doesn’t matter.

It definitely matters and the answer is nearly always to blog on your main website. Here are the details and why.

I recently checked my answer against numerous experts on blogging, web marketing, and search engine optimization. There is a clear agreement that blogging on your main website is the best way to go.

Exact Setup for Your Blog

These are good setup options for your business or organization blog:

www.yourmainwebsite.com/blog/
www.yourmainwebsite.com/news/

DON’T have an address (URL) for your blog that looks like this:

blog.yourmainwebsite.com (This is at least better than the next two options but still not ideal.)
yourname.blogspot.com
yourname.wordpress.com

Why It Matters

Search engines will like you better.
Search engines love frequently updated content, such as happens on blogs. Therefore, when you blog on your main website domain, all that search engine love (higher search rankings) will go to your main website! This benefit will be mostly lost if you use one of the above “Don’ts.”
People will see it as more legitimate.
Using your main domain for your blog is seen as more legitimate — by people and search engines. Does a blogspot.com domain look as legitimate to you?

Yeh, But… No Excuses

“But I can build it on Blogger and embed it on my website and it will look the same to the outside world.”

Search engines will know the difference. You won’t have the same benefits as if you use the same domain name as the primary location. Technical setup matters.

“But my website doesn’t currently have blogging capability so I have to start it somewhere else unless I redo the whole website.”

You can still use a blog platform like WordPress.org even if the rest of your website is built with something else. Your web developer should know how to make it work.

“But what if I don’t want the blog to be easily found by my main website visitors?”

Then you can bury the link to it in the footer or somewhere obscure. But I hope there’s a really good reason to not want the same people to go there.

Alright, One Exception

Ha, isn’t there always at least one exception to the rule?

The one exception for building your blog at a separate location is if you plan to leave the business or organization behind and take your blog with you. Pretty rare for that to make sense anyway.

Questions, disagreements? Please leave comments in the box below.

16 Practical Reasons Why I Blog

Val Nelson — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:00:59 +0000

Image by Kristina B via Flickr

Blogging isn’t for everyone but it can be far more useful for businesses, organizations, and individuals than most people think.

Here are the practical reasons why I choose to blog despite all the other things demanding my attention.

Practical Reasons Why I Blog

Blogging sharpens my skills at expressing myself in my field of expertise.
It forces me to check up on my knowledge and opinions before hitting “publish.”
It keeps me alert for and learning about new trends in my field.
It’s an easy place to refer people when I want to explain more of my thoughts.
It gives me better attention from search engines. Search engines love fresh content and often reward it with higher ranks.
It creates opportunities for conversations with people interested in the same topics.
It shows I care when I give away free information. (Good marketers give first.)
It’s an easy place to store my thoughts and information.
It provides an easy format for people to leave comments and interact. (Scroll down to comment on this post.)
It provides an easy and common way for people to subscribe to my updates (via RSS or email), so we can stay in touch.
It provides regular writing practice. We could all benefit from improved writing skills.
It sharpens my web writing skills.
It sharpens my visual presentation skills.
It’s a sample for prospective clients of my knowledge and approach.
It’s a writing sample for people seeking help with blogging or writing for the web.
It sharpens my knowledge of blogging which better prepares me to help clients with blogging.

And that’s just the practical reasons! I also blog because it’s fun!

In fact, blogging is more effective if you can have fun with it. Oh man, I just turned having fun into a practical thing. Lest we (I) forget, fun is a good thing by itself! Enjoy!