Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

You hear it all the time.

“You have to be passionate about blogging.”
“You need to make sure your content is fresh and unique.”

Of course, there are many other tips out there that are re-hashed aplenty.

You might read a lot of repeat material. It can be frustrating, especially if you are really trying to learn something. And no, I am not talking about duplicate content. Everyday there are articles written by various bloggers, and the great thing is that each is written a bit differently and to the blogger’s own experience.

However, how can you make sure that your content is not the same as the next blog?

Easy – Do your research!

If you are writing about a topic that you think has been published over and over, do a search. Read those articles and think about what they are saying and if everything is being covered that should be covered. Sometimes the topic is about an ongoing issue or perhaps, like in web design, there are new techniques. In blogging and social media marketing, there are always new tools and gadgets to help give bloggers and marketers a leg up.

The same advice can be used for guest writers on your own blog. If they are not covering everything, amend the post with the necessary information. While the original author might have taken the time to write a great post, it is your job as the blog owner to make it the best it can be.

A lot of new bloggers are excited about blogging and often get fuel for blog topics from their own peers. Unfortunately, if their peers have not been long in the business, their topics tend to become repeated material. Not good if you are a blogger still in the early stages of building your readership.

In the case you are writing in reference to another blogger’s post, you will probably want to link to the original article, do a summarization of the post, and what your readers can learn from it. This is great for your authority and gives a little link juice to the original author.

Natural knowledge only goes so far. Be resourceful and research. It will definitely help your content is different from the next blog.

What resources do you like to use for your research? Do you like to link back to original articles?

Summer for some of us might mean you have some extra time, especially if your job is only during certain times of the year. However, on the other hand, sometimes it is so hot out, not only does it take your appetite away, but it might even make your brain want to dry up.

Never fear though- here are more than 40 summer blog post ideas for any niche: (please note I have grouped these generally, but they can be used for other blogs too.)

Blog Post Ideas for Fashion Blogs

• Summer Clothing Fashion tips
• Summer Makeup tips
• Tips for what to wear on a summer night out in the town
• Beach fashion
• What the celebrities are wearing during the summer time
• Thrifty summer fashion tips
• Thrifty summer finds that look high fashion
• Product (makeup, clothing… any type of beauty or fashion) reviews

Blog Post Ideas for Blogging About Blogging Blogs

• How to successfully connect with A & B list bloggers
• Interviewing influential bloggers (at least to you- they are influential)
• Advice to attract the extra available crowd to your site during the summer time
• Recapping fellow blogger’s post (linking to original article of course), say why you do or do not disagreeing, or perhaps expand upon any points missed.
• Small or large guest blogging contest
• Invite other bloggers to do a question and answer type interview on Blog Talk Radio and post a recap of the session on your website.

Blog Post Ideas for Business Blogs

• Summer business events
• How to start a business
• Recap on last 6 month recap on your business and how it is doing in comparison to your current goals
• Advice for the newbie business owner on how to get to the next level, especially when they hit their first plateau
• Business Case Studies
• New business marketing tips
• Online tools for business management
• Reviews or comparisons of business products or services
• Interviews with other business owners in same niche on specific topics that your readers have expressed interest in hearing about

Blog Post Ideas for Mommy Blogs

• Summer Recipes to keep the family cool
• Summer dressing tips for your child or children
• Craft tutorials to keep the kiddies busy during the summer
• Summer safety tips for children
• Tips for moms on how to become more efficient at specific house chores/ necessities
• New summer product reviews
• Interviews with other moms or even dads on specific topics your readers are interested in reading about

Blog Post Ideas for Social Media Marketing Blogs

• Social Media Marketing events
• Interviews with influential social media marketers
• Social Media Marketing Case Studies
• New tech tools for social media marketers
• Social media challenge for readers – make a contest

Blog Post Ideas for Web and Graphic Design Blogs

• Summer trends in web design
• Any type of tutorial on creating graphics (especially anything summer related)
• Any type of tutorial on coding (HTML, jquery, CSS, PHP, etc…)
• Feature posts on design work that is awesome
• Roundups on the best of any type of graphics (the cutest, the scariest, the best vector, etc)
• Interviews with web and/or graphic designers on topics that readers are specifically interested in reading
• Web and Graphic design case studies

I hope these help in the case you have run out of ideas. Some of these ideas can be used again and again, especially for interviewing different people. For those reading, feel free to comment and leave more ideas for others.

Many writers publish blog posts quickly, only to realize that their mistakes later – typing errors, broken links, wrong keywords used, and titles which have not been optimized. Obviously, there are many details that need to be checked before pressing the ‘publish’ button. The following are some of the things that you need to check before getting your post published.

Did you read your post after writing?

Though this sounds like common sense, many people fail to read what they have written before publishing it. Unless you read the article as a whole, you can’t really know if the post makes sense, if the sentences and paragraphs are in the proper order, and if the arguments are convincing. Therefore, before doing anything else, read what you have just written from beginning to end.

Is the post complete?

If you want to attract much traffic using backlinks, you need to ensure that your article is complete. When you have read through your post, you will be able to assess if you could add more explanations and sections.

Did you research the keywords?

Keywords are vital for search engines. To generate maximum traffic, you should use the keyword that most people commonly use. This will make your post more understandable. In addition, it will be useful for search engine optimization (SEO).

Is the title appropriate?

The most vital part of your post is the title. Unless the title captures the attention of your visitors, they will not read the post. First, give your title an emotional angle. For instance, you could arouse people’s curiosity by making unconventional statements or get visitors excited by offering a valuable product. Secondly, make sure you use the main keywords in the title. This will be useful for search engine optimization.

Did you proofread the post?

Once you have read through your post and confirmed that the paragraphs are in order and everything makes sense, you need to read it one more time to proofread it. The focus this time will be on identifying spelling and grammar mistakes.

Did you link to your older posts?

Linking to previous posts in your blog is useful for both search bots and human visitors. It enables human visitors explore your archives, thus expanding or complementing on what they have just read. In addition, it enables search bots understand your content and crawl your website more efficiently. Therefore, before publishing a post, find older posts which you can link to.

Did you include an eye-catching image?

Images are a great way of enticing visitors to read your posts. They can also be useful for search engine optimization, and attract some traffic through Google image search.

As I drank my morning coffee and skimmed the news, I read that Courtney Love has settled a lawsuit for $430,000 over a tweet that she had written regarding a fashion designer. Even though $430,000 is not a lot of money for a celebrity like Courtney Love, for most people spending so much money over a tweet is ridiculous and not feasible. Keep in mind that the $430,000 does not cover her attorney’s fee! This got me to thinking about social networking sites and litigation.

We all are aware of the benefits of social networking sites. You get to keep in touch with people, inform others of what you are doing, and overall just use it to be in the “know.” However, communicating in cyberspace also exposes people to many risks. The most common risks known are being prone to scams and identity thefts because your information is out there. However, with updating your social networking profile, there comes another risk—the possibility of being sued.

People often say that you can sue over anything. Well, it sure does seem that way. Especially when you learn that Courtney Love paid $430,000 over a 140 character tweet! In reality though, causes of actions such as defamation can cause people to pay a hefty amount. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter make it easy for people to defame others. With a few key strokes and the resulting words causing harm to the reputation of others, a person can very quickly find themselves a lawyer’s office trying to get out of a lawsuit they never thought they would be in.

The reality is that when people update their Facebook or Twitter statuses with opinionated views, it rarely crosses their mind that they could be sued over their Twitter tweet or Facebook update. What does this tell us? Do social networking sites have a responsibility to educate their users? It is necessary for them to warn their users that they may be sued over an update?

I feel that they do not. Rather, people need to educate themselves on any unfavorable consequence that may result from their online actions. After all, if we are all adult enough to use social networking sites and consent to having our information out there, then we are adult enough to educate ourselves on the dangers of our tweets and Facebook updates. In fact, I believe it is out responsibility to do so. Especially if we want to enjoy our Facebook and Twitter sites, rather than sit in a courtroom dreading the day we joined.

There are many advantages that are associated with guest blogging and should be really beneficial if you are looking for ways to promote your business. In this article we will be having a look at 5 interesting ways on how your business can benefit from guest blogging.

SEO

The first way that you will likely benefit from guest blogging is that it can help you with your SEO task. After the Google Panda update there are some people that believe that article directories are simply devalued and it may be a waste of time trying article submission for SEO purposes. This is where guest blogging can come in handy. By posting regularly on related blogs you will be able to build some really good backlinks to your own site and allow you to get your site up the SERP.

Traffic

Guest blogging can also help you get some interesting traffic towards your own site. Indeed if you post some really useful content people will be really interested to check your site and this can help increase the amount of visitors to your site. However you will need to ensure that your articles are really useful to the readers and that will truly encourage them to click on the link and visit your site.

Reputation Building

By posting quality guest posts on some authority sites you can successfully build your reputation online. Again all will depend on whether your articles are really useful and whether it really adds value for the readers. The more you do so the more credibility you will build online and people will gradually consider you as being an expert in the niche.

New Contacts

Guest blogging can also allow you to make new contacts in your niche. This not limited only to fellow webmasters but also to visitors of the host blog. One benefit of this is that you can get feedback on your blogging quality and hence help you improve your blog. Guest blogging can also provide you with opportunities for joint ventures and hence help you to develop your business.

Subscriber Base

Another interesting advantage of guest blogging is that it can also allow you to build your subscriber base quickly. Rather than just relying on organic traffic to build your list, guest posting on related blogs can help boost your subscriber base radically. However you need to make sure that your landing page is optimized well to ensure that you make the most of the surge in traffic on your blog.

Most people will find something along the way, especially when reading blogs, that they may have an opinion that not always agrees with the author of the post. That is okay.

Blogging is not always suppose to be a feel good kind of gig. Some people may have some harsh views, and others may agree wholeheartedly. It is okay to “agree to disagree.”

Most readers will do a couple things after reading a post:

• Read maybe the first couple lines or the title and then leave the site
• Read the whole article and then leave the site
• Read and leave a comment in general
• Read and leave a comment in favor of the author
• Read and leave a comment not in the favor of the author

Some bloggers get really riled up when another person leaves a comment that seems negative. However, this is not to be taken bad unless it is truly meant to be so. It is an opportunity to open the floor to a civil discussion. Even if the outcome still is an “agree to disagree” situation, it is a worthwhile conversion, and likely to build a respectful relationship between the author of the post and the readers.

Bloggers who believe it best to remove any comments that do not agree are not helping their cause. It shows closed-mindedness, and it really is censorship- letting others know that the blog does not promote a healthy sense of conversation.

Social networks are often bad mouthed because they shut down controversial conversation streams. In blogs, well, it proves to shows how many people are passionate about the topic. The people controlling the moderation is the blog owner or designated moderators, so there is really less bureaucracy to deal with. Both the commenter and the moderator have to have some type of respect for each others’ opinion.

In fact, things that were missed in the article, can easily be covered in blog comments too!

So, it is okay to agree to disagree. Do not be afraid to share your opinion.

Have you commented on a post that was controversial and the conversation got out of hand? Or did you write a controversial post where it was really difficult to take in the responses?
Have you commented on a controversial blog

I have heard a lot on the verdict about anti-spam plugins for WordPress and even after trying a lot of different plugins, I still come to the conclusion – you will see spam get through. Some plugins less than others, but still… there is always a factor that there will be spammers. It does not matter if you put captcha, a math question, or even a check mark, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SPAM.

It is sad, but really, it keeps every blogger on their toes. Even with the best email spam blockers, spam DOES get through eventually.

Personally, I think it is annoying when spam comments on my blog comes in the hundreds. It is without a doubt that unfortunately Askimet for WordPress is not always doing a good job. I hate to say it, but I am not even sure if I can trust how much better paying for Askimet per month can help any blogger, even some of the top pro bloggers out there!

The problem is that there are people out there, just like everyday hackers devious and thinking on how they can reach you. Whether it is your email account, Instant messenger, social network account, or even your blog comments, they try it.

It could be different keywords, or even typing words a certain way. People still get Viagra and Cialis comments like crazy and it is because they are typed differently: spelled incorrectly, typed in l33t spee (upper case, lower case alternating letters), and even grouped with other keywords.

Bloggers literally have to make it part of their routine to block spammers in any sort of manner.

So far, I have heard that the GASP Plugin for WordPress is great for bloggers. Even though it is a plugin that requires your blog commenters to checkmark a box basically asking if they are a real person instead of a spammer, I have heard that a lot of bloggers have given feedback that their moderation queues have greatly reduced.

What is it about spam that is annoying to you? What kind of spam do you often moderate on your blog? What plugin or plugins do you use to try to reduce spam on your blog?

Blogging has evolved a lot from being the narcissistic online diary to become a genuine platform for expressing one’s views and also as a genuine business tool. Due to this exponential growth it is also becoming common to find bloggers that are victims of lawsuits. What can bloggers do in order to avoid this situation? In this article I will be covering 4 common mistakes that are made by a lot of bloggers and that you will better avoid if you want to avoid getting sued.

Copyright infringement

You should not think that everything on the internet is free and can be used whenever you want. Images and videos are all protected by copyrights and should be used on your blog with great care. As much as possible you should make use of images that have been released under the Creative Commons license or better purchase your image from one of the various stock photography site that exist.

In case of text you should also be wary of copyright issues. As far as possible you should link to the original sources to avoid any risk of being sued for copyright infringement.

False statement

Bloggers sometimes erroneously assume that they can say anything and everything on their blog because of free speech rights. Although this may be true to some extent there are cases however where you need to be careful. For instance it is a crime to publish some false statements on some other person. Before publishing something on your blog make sure that you have verified the sources and that you have proof to sustain what you are saying. Remember that it is one thing to know the truth and another thing altogether to prove it.

Publishing sensitive information

Under the law of privacy you can be liable for publishing some statements even if it is true. This is mainly the case when the information that you have published can cause embarrassment for the person. This is especially true if this information is not a matter of public interest.

In the same way you should also be careful when publishing information on a business. Given that these secrets are usually a source of competitive advantage businesses may be ready to take the battle to the courts in order to protect their interest.

Trust in anonymous blogging

Although anonymous blogging may protect you to some extent you should not trust entirely in it. Indeed bloggers can still be vulnerable to subpoenas whereby your hosting provider will be forced to reveal your identity. In this case you might end up being in trouble. This is why it is always important that you remain wary of the issues listed above if you want to protect yourself from lawsuits even if you are doing it anonymously.

These 4 mistakes are perhaps the most common ones that are made by bloggers and you should make everything you can in order to avoid those. This will help protect you from lawsuits that can turn out to be quite costly.