11 practices that might be holding your blog back

11 practices that might be holding your blog back

http://subcreation.tumblr.com/post/687964842/11-practices-that-might-be-holding-your-blog-back

1. Removing credit The lifeblood of Tumblr is the shared publicity and mutual respect given by reblogging with credit intact. When you remove credit you damage the relationships with everyone up the chain from you and make your own posts less desirable to reblog to those people who get this. Instead, add credit back in to reblogs which have lost it to improve the quality of your feed and to build better relationships with other Tumblrs.
2. Not tagging It’s a little extra work, but it makes your posts more discoverable through Tumblr search, and also helps Google make sense of your site, increasing the likelihood of being discovered by new people
3. Only reading your dash (not following tags) If you only follow the people you are already following you won’t meet anyone new, and others are less likely to meet you. Perform topical searches and save them to track public posting. It’s a great way to find new content and new people
4. Only filtering or surfacing content from other feeds I can think of several tumblogs which only act as filters for more active and popular feeds. Others may go the other way and only scour less known feeds for undiscovered content. Balancing these two approaches is the best way to grow as a curator, find the best content without too much work, and to grow your own following.
5. Only reblogging, only original, or only found posts While reblogging is a valuable part of the experience, it doesn’t give as much insight into who you are as an original post will. Only posting original content can seem shut off or self-centered. Found posts (those that you bring in from Flickr or other parts of the Internet) is a great way to keep your feed fresh. Striving for balance here makes your blog well rounded and gets more out of each kind of post. People are more likely to reblog your original or found posts if there is a chance that you’ll return the favor. Giving a sense of your personality through your original content also increases the likelihood that people will engage your content.
6. Being too random or too focused Having some common thread in your style of posting gives your audience something to identify with you, so they can feel like they know you. When someone looks over your blog to determine whether or not to follow you they are looking for either a common thread or something else they can relate to. You can accomplish this quality in your posts by developing themes. On the other hand, if you only focus on one idea you are tying all of your potential to the popularity of that topic. Obviously this is appropriate for secondary topical blogs, but for your main or personal blog I recommend balance. Having some degree of focus will help you qualify for placement in the directory. If you have too narrow of a focus it can make your posts feel predictable or stale.
7. Posting more than you read Nobody wants to listen to a loudmouth and the practice results in a flooded dash for your followers. Even though I really like a number of people who do this, its only natural to develop a habit of skimming over them. You want the value of your posts to be at the highest possible ratio to the cost of reading them. The best way to accomplish this is to up your intake and decrease your output. In other words, talk less and listen more.
8. Addressing your posts to individuals instead of your audience This practice can be confusing and annoying to everyone. Your feed is a public broadcast, not an open party chat. Find private modes of communication to do this. Also, this is the only practice listed here that can actually disqualify you from being listed in the directory. If you feel you need to respond to someone’s comments publicly (which is quite different), make sure you are doing it for the benefit of your audience, not just the individual, and that the post is presented in such a way that everyone can understand what you are talking about.
9. Ignoring your audience in favor of “self expression” Self expression happens naturally — you don’t need to focus on it in order to do it. Listening to others and framing your own ideas in a way that takes your audience into consideration is, on the other hand, a rare and difficult skill. If you work at it and develop it, you will naturally stand out from an otherwise self-obsessed and narcisistic throng.
10. Using a common theme instead of customizing While I understand this isn’t something everyone has the skill to do equally well, this is one way you can make your blog stand out. It may seem trivial, but a little polish can go a long way. You don’t have to know everything about design or HTML to do this. Just start by trying to tweak one thing such as the color scheme or a background image.
11. Not bothering with the directory The number one thing that will grow your following is getting listed in the directory. You can do this by getting others to recommend you (which I suggest is best done by example, rather than just asking for it). If you buy a spot in the directory, make sure you’ve really put effort into your blog to justify the expense and to ensure the best return on the investment.