10 Secrets to Your Successful Blogging

This is a motivational post to 'keep you trucking'. Think of it as a 'hump day' reminder that the weekend is near. Only, this is a reminder to keep on working and perfecting your blog.


Here are 10 Secrets to keeping your motivation.

1. Set goals for the day, the month and the future. For the day may be to post about a specific topic. For the month could be to increase traffic by 10%. For the future can be to have 500 posts in a year.
   
   
2. Have a specific time of day in your schedule to post daily. I use first thing after I've run my 5 miles and showered. I sit down at my computer, check my e-mail and do my blogging. I don't even think about it because it's something I do daily.
   
   
3. Don't be too critical of yourself. If you feel as if you've messed up or slacked off, consider two things; most likely nobody else even noticed, and, you have a new opportunity with the new day that awaits you.
   
   
4. Use variety of post topics all related to your theme. Today I'm posting about motivation. Yesterday I posted about Search Engines versus Directories.
   
   
5. Use guest bloggers. I love having the input from the contributors to this site. They have their own views and knowledge plus, they have their own following, which they gladly share with me.
   
   
6. Do your research. What are similar bloggers blogging about? Often, we can help one another by expanding upon an idea.
   
   
7. Keep up with the news. I enjoy keeping up with the news that concerns my topic. For instance, contributor Shakespere contributed yesterday about the release of Google Chrome. He will blog next week on a review of Chrome.
   
   
8. Subscribe to newsletters and updates. I subscribe to many newsletters. Some are from similar blogging 'experts' . I also subscribe to a daily Google search alert on my topic.
   
   
9. Take an overall look at your blog once a month. Kind of like a check up with the doctor. Make sure that everything looks okay, your gadgets are functioning correctly, and your links work. This is a good time to evealuate the overall look and whether or not is is inline with your direction.
   
   
10. Lastly, keep notes. Like a sketchbook, write down ideas when they come to mind. Many people carry these around with them to jot down ideas when they come to mind. This can serve as an excellent resource when you need it.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is ready to take over your computer screen.
The free browser, is supposed to be available for downloading today according to Google.
Google said it's still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.'s Mac computer and the Linux operating system, however, Microsoft is compatible.

Google says they designed the browser window to be streamlined and simple.

Under the hood, Google says they were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today's complex web applications much better.

By keeping each tab in an isolated "sandbox", we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers.

Google Chrome is being released in beta for Windows. Chrome will include more tools for Web surfers to cloak their online preferences, creating a shield that could make it more difficult for Google and other marketing networks to figure out which ads are most likely to appeal to which individuals.

To some, Google had been trying to undermine Internet Explorer by supporting Firefox. Firefox ranks as the second most popular browser, with a market share of more than 10 percent. Google recently extended its advertising alliance with Firefox through 2011.

Search Engine Versus Directory

It can be easy to confuse the terms Search Engine and Directory because to the average person, both are a listing of website. To the website developer , they are two different things, both important in their own way.

The Search Engine
As you may have heard, a search engine is program that conducts internet searches based on specified keywords. The search result is a list of the sites where the keywords were found.

As a website designer or blogger, your goal is to have the keywords that the searcher is looking for. Finding this out is a lot of work and can cost some money to do.

Most search engines work by using "spiders" that crawl the web. An indexer, will use these results to creat a list or an index based on the words contained in each webpage. Search engines such as Google use an algorithm to create its indices to help rank the highest appearing results- ie where you want to be.

Directories

The main difference between a search engine and a directory is that the directory is compiled by a real person. You, as the site owner ,will submit your URL to the directory compiler to be considered for inclusion.
Directories can be divided into categories that you are able to choose from. There is little science or mathematics invlolved. However, some directories may charge a fee or you may want to pay someone to list you to many directories. Whether or not someone will actuall use the directory may not be as likely as a search engine.

How to capture all of those great ideas.

When we start our blog often we go into it with a wealth of ideas. Often there are so many ideas that it is hard to bottle them all up and get them posted as meaningful posts that make sense to our readers.

Having a wealth of information to blog about seems like a good thing. It can be motivating because it gives us a sense of blog fertility. But, what happens when all of a sudden you can't remember all of those great ideas and you have nothing to post? AKA hitting the brick wall. This is the point where you may ask yourself is it worth keeping the blog going?

I have some tips on capturing those great ideas to use during dry spells.

• Keep some sort of a journal. Many professional artists and graphic designers swear by their sketch books. They carry a sketch book with them where ever they go. The sketch book becomes a wealth of inspirations and thoughts.

• Keep a collection of magazine and newspaper articles that inspire you in some way. Even if you don't use the specific article or topic you will be inspired by leads that you can get from a simple web address listed or organization profiled.

• Have you ever received some kid of junk mail or an advertisement that is absolutely inspiring to the eye? Hold on to it. This collection may provide your mind with the creative inspiration you have overlooked.
  

• And finally, use your bookmarks. Keep a bookmark of websites that you may want to visit again in the future for information. While a bookmark may not be today's inspiration, it may serve as tomorrow's topic.

I am so happy to be able to contribute to Successfulblogging. Thanks so much for your following.

Harrietb