My blog has changed its theme. I really liked the old Dynablue theme, but I felt it was time for a change for three reasons:
I was looking for something more clean and up to date. I felt that the old blue theme was looking a bit dated. I needed a change
Websites have moved on quite a bit since I set up Creative Writer and I Needed to move on too
I was bored!
Changing the theme is reasonably easy in WordPress; you just find a theme you would like to use, check it out as a sample, then click and use. Some of themes can be customised to suit your tastes as needed.
Every so often, it’s helpful to run a ‘best of’ blog post particularly once you have picked up your blogging rate. Here are the top five blog posts on The Creative Writer in March in my humble opinion. Feel free to share any posts that have helped you this month.
OK, going to break my own rules here – this wasn’t strictly published in March but on 28th February, but Google Algorithm Change Rocks Content Websites was a blog post about a big change on Google. The effects of this change, known as Panda is still being assessed, but it affected some pretty big sites such as Suite101 and Hubpages, making those organisations take steps to improve the quality of their publishing. Some people are still concerned about the effects of this change, but I think it will all even out eventually and that great content is still king.
How to design a successful leaflet began life as a sample for a company, but turned into an interesting blog post. I have had a hand in designing leaflets, but as part of a committee and that can be a difficult thing to do, with everyone having their own opinion on how it should look. Some useful tips here.
Regular blogging can make a difference. I have noticed it on my own website: my stats are still steadily rising since I started making a commitment to blog three times a week. Try it and it could work for you.
Writing compelling copy offers an insight into the copywriter’s mind which is a dark and murky place… just kidding! Actually this suggests an idea that might help your company write copy that can help convert visitors into customers. Try it and let me know how you get on.
Form alliances with your fellow freelances is a great suggestion which can lead to more work for both of you. Find people that you can work with and get alongside them to the benefit of you both.
So these are some of my better blog posts this month that I think contained real value to the people reading them. Let me know what you think and please ask any questions that you would like to know the answer to.
OK, time to get back to a regular service after all that chocolatey goodness!
When you start a blog, you post a few times and sit back and wait for the visitors to come.
You can wait a very long time.
Bringing organic traffic to your blog without using backlinks or article submission websites can prove very frustrating. The golden grail of getting to the top of Google can prove insurmountable for some people. I have tripled the traffic to this blog using one simple strategy which I will share in a minute.
First of all, check that your website has a sitemap and that you have submitted it to Google. This ensures that your website will be indexed more quickly. If you have a WordPress website, then you can use a plug-in to create your sitemap. Submitting it to Google involves signing up for a Google account and posting a bit of code on one of your webpages. This enables Google to check that your website is genuine and being maintained by a real person.
You are also best to have a privacy policy if you have a comments section or intend to run a mailing list. If you intend to monetise your blog with Adsense, then you definitely need a privacy policy. You can find lots of examples of privacy policies out there on the internet if you search for them.
Your website is now well set up: you have a sitemap and Google knows you are there. You have a privacy policy which ensures that visitors to your site know that you are not going to run offer and sell their email details to the first company that asks.
Now for my strategy:
I decided that I would start to blog regularly.
For me that was three times a week.
That’s it. Simple, isn’t it? I taught myself to schedule posts and try to write them in advance. I scour business forums and faqs for ideas for posts and I have managed to keep it going (with occasional hiccups) thus far. It is working. Choosing to blog so regularly is bringing traffic to my website and I am pretty pleased with it.
What about you? Would you like more traffic to your website? Do you think you need to blog more regularly?
How often you choose to blog is entirely up to you. Some people prefer to blog five times a week, others every day. Some people prefer to blog once a week. The more often that content is added to a website, the more Google will like it. However as long as content is added regularly then visitors will increase.
Of course, article submissions, forum and blog comments and backlinks all help too. But it has amazed me how such a simple strategy as making a resolve to blog regularly and consistently could bring such results.
