15 Blogging Tips For 2007

I wish you all a great blogging year for 2007. I pray God will speak words of life and peace and health through you and I pray those who need to hear those words will FIND them.

I am receiving a lot of emails over this new year regarding blogging. The 2 most common questions I am asked are regarding

(1) which blogging platform and

(2) Google ranking and what influences it.

Here some thoughts for 2007 directed at those of us committed to the high calling of blogging. 15 of them to be exact.

PLATFORMS

1. Keep Your Old Blog

Start another blog if you must but don’t kill your old one. There must be a million people out there planning to migrate from Blogger to a better platform. WordPress is probably the best. I use Typepad for this blog and have no complaints. There are others out there also. But I think you should probably keep your current blog and start another to cover a different area of your life or interests. Nothing wrong with having a few blogs. And if you have built up some links and ranking authority through having some history, it would be a shame to lose it all when you start over. I know this because I deserted my original blogspot blog in favor of Typepad and lost everything. I wouldn’t make the same mistake today.

2. Buy a Blog Editor

If you buy a blog editor, you could put up with your lame and pedestrian platform for much longer. Maybe forever. I use Ecto and I love it. I can write and manage my blog posts offline and I dont have to mess with the interfaces.   And yes, I could easily blog straight from my browser (Flock is cool for this) or other programs but I just like my Ecto and am not changing. Not yet.

3. Your Long Domain Name is OK.

No one remembers URLs anyway. Having a "wordpress" or "inknoise" or "vox" or "blogspot" is perfectly ok and is not a sign of immaturity or cheapness. Aslo, domain mapping is great if you do it when you start your blog. Otherwise it is not worth losing your existing links and authority. If you are tempted to map your existing blog to your particular domain name, then read my drama before you do anything stupid.

Now the other thing .  .

Technorati Tags: ,

GOOGLE RANKING or "search engine optimization" to use the correct term and to acknowledge the many non-google search engines [God bless them all and deliver us from the monolithic power that Google is coming to exert in this new Cyber-Babylon of ours]

Don’t believe anyone who tells you the world is flat. There are new kinds of hierarchies that must be understood. The dynamic aggregation of our blogs in the search engines determines much of our daily traffic [one third of mine] and even more in the long tail of our blog posts.

Before I say anything, a quick story. Two months ago I spent a morning at a Benedictine monastery called Burford Priory. We had lunch with the brothers and sisters in total silence while we listened to a lecture read by one of the brothers. This apparently is their tradition. The lecture [they probably call it something more spiritual but i cant remember] was from another Benedictine monastery and it dealt with the taking of monastic vows by the next generation. It discussed the new forms of internet community (bebo and myspace were mentioned) but my ears really pricked up when it mentioned search engines and ranking. Apparently the particular Benedictine monastery had managed to tweak their web site enough to get a high ranking for key searches made by those enquiring after taking vows. They did not say exactly WHAT they did to their site to get such favor from Google, just the fact they they did [bad monk . .  no mead!] but the fact that they had figured it out and were using it to their advantage was interesting. And if monks are tinkering with their sites to boost their search engine authority, you can bet that there are thousands and thousands of pastors, theologians [and theoBlogians], missionaries and denominational executives who are also praying heartfelt prayers for the success of their posts and experimenting with ways to get their sites found.

Actually, I can guess what these Benedictines probably did and could suggest a few more tweaks to pump up their ranking. If, indeed, they were interested in such worldly pursuits. I hope that all spiritual people, not just monks, would see blogging as a godly, prophetic ministry and not as mere journalism or ego-boosting. For a quick primer, see what i taught on The Spirituality of Blogging. And recognize that if God is showing you favor, it is probably not to help you make a name for yourself in a new Babylon, but rather because He trusts you to speak out for Him and His purposes. OK . .  sorry for preaching ..   now to the SEO stuff . .

Behold, I show you a mystery . .  ahem  . ..

Now in all honesty, no one really knows for sure what goes into the criteria for selection and aggregation. Some say there are up to 200 factors relating to your site, and your page and your actual post. And these factors change regularly which makes it hard for people to know exactly what the eye of Google sees when it goes to and fro, throughout the whole earth, seeking out those blogs to support and recommend. On top of that, there are actual people who hand-code some of the results and there is no fooling them. Well, not for long, anyway.

And I am guessing that you have discovered a few things also and like Achan’s gold, you are keeping those secrets well hidden. Fair enough. But here is the stuff I have figured out, after noticing that dozens of my posts are ranked Number One, and watching them ascend and descend on Google’s ladder. Of course I might be wrong on some of them and much of this advice may only be good for 2007. But here goes.

4. Getting Found is better than Getting Noticed

Ranking matters, because the world is not flat. Your blog might win all kinds of awards and make Top100 for this and that. Whoop-dy-do! Most of these are based on daily hits or permanent links or the opinion of a well known blogger who gets traffic from your site, which is all very nice and a great way to pat ourselves on the back as we watch our heads swell. But in all actuality, it doesn’t count for much. What really counts is having the right people find the stuff you publish, whether it is your theological manifesto or a photo of how your cat looks like Charlie Chaplin. Which mine does. It might be 5 people or 5 thousand. It might be the Queen or it might be your grandmother. If the right people find what you have posted for them on your blog then you are successful. Thats why your strategy must focus on post findability and authority instead of hype and self-pimping and why you shouldn’t get discouraged by the dwindling amount of daily visitors. 

5. Great Posts are Better than a Great Site

Your individual blog posts may get found even though your blog site sucks. This is good news if you are a new blogger or if your blog site ranks poorly. This is why I suggested awarding the best blog POSTS in 2006 as well as the best blog sites. If you want to make a splash in 2007, then make your individual blog posts perform on the search engines. Write them with searches in mind. Use key words in the title of your blog post and use these words in the post. Link widely to people who agree and disagree with you. Open up for comments because those comments are more links. Do what you need to get those posts found.

6. Build on your Successes.

Find out what your highest ranking posts are by reading what people type into the search engine to get to your site. Typepad makes this info available in the stats area of the control panel. If you find a few posts of yours that make the Top 5 ranking, then go back and give them an upgrade. Make sure all the links work, and add a few more. The search engines are impressed when you make edits on your old post. It tells them your post is still alive and being updated. What i often do is add the word "Update" to the new section and "Original" to the old.

7. Be Clear Which Post is King.

When it comes to search engine ranking, you are often competing with yourself. Sometimes one single killer post on your site is better than ten small posts. A multitude of posts actually confuses the search engines which are looking for one decent post to put forward. And there is another problem: you may have a post in a series that ranks Number One but it is the wrong post, or worse, it is one of the lamest posts out of your selection. If this is the case,  you need to educate Google and get it pointing to where it should. Internal linking will help this process. If you are doing a series, give thought to which post will be king. If Google still cant figure it out, start with the highest ranking post and flesh it out to make it king. Its a bit cumbersome to do it this way but it works. Its kinda like when the prophet Samuel selected little David and not his big brothers. Sometimes you just have to go with the one who has already been chosen.

Also, If the search engines find a number of well performing posts, they will sometimes give you two placings on the chart, one post immediately under the other. I call this a "double whammy". It rocks when this happens. I would rather have a double whammy of Number 2 and Number 3 instead of a single Number 1. People dont always pick the top ranking post. They will often glance at the top 5 or 6 before making a decision. And if you are placed twice while everyone else only has one, then you have a good chance of getting picked. So when you find one, keep it happy.

Still reading? Great. Congratulations on your perseverance. Here we go . .

8. Blast From the Past.

We faith bloggers are called to be a new kind of scribe, teachers of God’s law who pull out treasures from our storehouse both old and new. There are times when i pull an old high-ranking post out of retirement and bring it into the present by adjusting the date. It already has the links, and the ranking, and the search engines are familiar with it so it kicks butt. I keep it honest by saying when it was first published. I am not sure if Google still treats it as an old post and awards it kudos for history or if it sees the modified date and thinks it is new. Tell me if you know.

9. Two Step.

I believe the title of your blog post is one of the key factors in search engine ranking. If you dont believe me, take a look at what blog posts rank higher than yours and look for the key words in their title. Here is a little trick that I have discovered and haven’t really told anyone. Until now . . that is. I often name my blog posts twice. I call it the "Two Step". My first naming gives it the permanent URL in which i try to include the key words someone will use in a search. Typepad only allows me 15 characters including spaces so I will count them out carefully before publishing my post and getting my fixed URL. When that is done, I bring the post back to edit mode and give it a catchier title or something I find more fun and appealing.

BTW – I have requested Typepad to allow more characters and they are looking into it.

10. Smarten Up Your Inbound Links.

If you give out your URL, try writing out the full address of the post you want that person to read. If you comment often on other people’s blogs, which of course you should do, you might want to consider leaving a smart URL that leads to your related post, rather than another generic URL to the main page of your site. The link you leave will give your post more kudos.

12. Post it and Then Pad it.

Its often age before beauty in the rankings and history counts. When a story breaks, and you have something to say, then write something short and publish it straight away. It may take Google a day or two to find your post and by that time, you would have edited it a few times, added the necessary links and perhaps have one or two inbound links that will boost your post by the time the eye of Google arrives. The search engines look for history and who was there earliest. Might as well be you if you have something to say. Jumping in soon can often pay dividends.

13. A Scholarly Post Should Look Scholarly.

Not every post needs to be scholarly but sometimes you want to say something that is. The search engines will look at its form and shape. Its a bit like dressing up in a suit and tie for a special occasion. Dress up your blog post with bullet points, correct spelling, proper paragraphs, quotes from experts and links to other scholarly articles.

14. Avoid the Appearance of Spam.

Spam is the enemy. Spam is evil. You have to watch the company you keep.  Google does not want to be embarrassed by introducing spammers to its page of recommended sites, nor the associates of spammers and not even sites that look like spam sites. Anything you do to distance yourself from spam will help you in the search engine ranking. So do not walk with spammers or sit down with spammers or lie down with spammers. Dont link to spam sites. Don’t mention them by name. Don’t allow spam-comments or spam-trackbacks to stay on your site, lest Google thinks your blog is related to them. If the spamosphere continues to threaten the blogosphere in the near future, then having a paid blogging service (like Typepad) rather than a free one will pay off because spam-blogs usually choose the free platforms and the cheap domain names (.info).

15. Don’t Love To Be First.

Coming first in the Google race can be an idol and it can also be inappropriate if someone else should be there. Sometimes its good NOT to be number one. There is a place for getting your post found and perhaps your post deserves that waterfront location on the search engine results BUT there is also a place for allowing others to be first or in control of their own story. I hope that you will find yourself on top of the hill during 2007 to say the things God has put on your heart. But I also hope you have the wisdom and constraint to bow out of the rankings and push others up above yourself. You don’t always have to be first. Don’t be like Diotrephes, who loved to be first (3 John 1:19) but rather mimic John the Baptist who decided to decrease so that Christ might increase.

Or in the words of George Whitefield, "May the name of Whitefield perish, but Christ be glorified."

Have a great 2007. Enjoy yourself. Take pleasure in your blogging and remember to take a blog-fast sometime this year to break your blog-addiction. God bless you.

PAY ME BACK?  Here’s how. When you try out some of these things and get a number one ranking, come back here to this post and leave a link. That way we can go and take a look, and cheer you on.

RELATED:

Blogging for the Long Tail

The Spirituality of Blogging

The Spirituality of Not Blogging

old site: The Blogger’s Prayer (2002)

Tips from Bloggers Who Know What They’re Talking About:

Darren at ProBlogger

Andrew

Andrew Jones launched his first internet space in 1997 and has been teaching on related issues for the past 20 years. He travels all the time but lives between Wellington, San Francisco and a hobbit home in Prague.

75 Comments

  • graham says:

    Great tips, Andrew.
    I don’t completely agree in the long URL thing. I suspect that more people remember addresses than you suggest. However, I think the issue is probably that you can get away with a long URL if your blog has a memorable title.

  • i cant remember short ones. i use the search engines for finding almost every website

  • Dave says:

    Great list Andrew, though I remain a blog editor unbeliever. You blog editor evangelists will have to come up with something pretty innovative to convert me. Perhaps a 10 week course with dinner included might be a good first step.

  • linda says:

    this is really helpful and interesting – thanks

  • tony says:

    thanks andrew. your deep knowledge born of practice is very helpful.
    and your diligence in the quality of your post is a good example.

  • Andrew – thanks for the thoughts. I JUST moved my blog from Typepad over to WordPress (pomomusings.com) and was going to delete my Typepad one. But now I’m not sure…trying to figure out if it’s worth it $$$-wise to keep the old one around. I’ve ported all my old posts over to WordPress…but…you’re right. I had a 12,000 Technorati rank on the Typepad blog, and I’m currently at 230,000 for the new one.
    I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.

  • typepad and wordpress both allow exporting your entire blog so thats a cool feature. lots of people wish blogger would allow that.
    i would keep the old typepad blog and keep it alive. why not give the new one a different flavor?
    either that or let pomomusings.com be the entry point for these two blogs and any others you choose to add in the future.

  • drew moser says:

    Andrew–I stumbled upon another potential way to boost your Google rating. (I promise this is not a paid advertisement). Have you checked out Ziki (www.ziki.com)? It’s a social networking startup that promises a year’s worth of sponsored links/increased page ratings on all the top search engines to the first 10,000 people that sign up. It appears to be a new sort of online digital resume/social networking thingy. . . May be another way to boost things.

  • chad says:

    Andrew,
    great post. I am starting to teach people over here at Asbury about blogging and I was hoping to find something like this to give people when they are getting started.
    Thanks for thinking all this through, but also thinking it through in mind of Christ.

  • Patrick says:

    Andrew —
    fantastic post, very insightful.
    The spiritual aspects you mentioned in your older post were new to me, although I somewhat grasped them intuitively I guess. Thanks for those.
    I still have not fully overcome some psychological obstacles to blogging – namely, the feeling of inadequacy and not knowing how much of myself I should reveal. This directly affects the posting frequency and to some extent the quality.
    Special kudos for including #15 – that puts things in balance.

  • Rod says:

    Andrew,
    Thanks for taking the time to write and publish this. I found it very helpful. Some of what you said reinforced ideas that I knew but needed to be reminded of.
    But some of what you said was counter-intuitive. I found especially helpful your comments about the importance of Google page ranking over Technorati blog rating.
    I also appreciate the reminder to consider why we blog.
    Keep up the good work,
    Rod

  • Scott Morgan says:

    Thanks, Andrew. As a newbie in the blogosphere, I appreciate your wise counsel. God bless you and yours in the New Year!

  • Victor says:

    Along with the advice from Jesuscreed.org, this will be helpful for me as I get my blog started. Muchas gracias.

  • jason allen says:

    thanks for the thoughts, very helpful for this novice blogger. Quick question, I have heard a lot about rankings and whatnot but for someone not using typepad how do you find this out about your site/posts? I don’t even know where posts rank to even know how I’m doing with certain posts.

  • billy says:

    Wow Andrew. Thanks for these pointers. Thanks for stooping down to help others be great!

  • emma says:

    Thanks for some great advice Andrew, have to try some out!

  • Tips For Blogging in 2007

    Andrew Jones has 15 Tips for Blogging in 2007. Great advice, you might want to read it if you are interested in discovering how to raise your readership (not for the purpose of ego but because you have something important to say – he does a great job …

  • tony sheng says:

    Hi Andrew,
    I also appreciated your post – especially item #15. At one point I was pretty close to being the top for ‘mission support letters’. But then the guy who was #1 is such a great resource for all kinds of missions related topics and he’s a missions prof and mentors all kinds of people, etc. So he really deserves it. And your post is a great reminder of that kind of thing.

  • Fajita says:

    Skinny. Thanks for the stuff. really skinny stuff there.

  • Hi Andrew – I’m almost a complete amateur in blogging – but…I’ve started blogging about life…for what it’s worth.
    I was interested in your comments about a blog editor. I’ve just started with blogger and am trying to get to grips with it…so could I download flock and have it work with what I’ve got…

  • Bill says:

    Dear fellow-blogger,
    Hopefully, your 2007 is getting off to a fantastic start. My prayer is that you will be blessed by God with many opportunities for fruitful service in the Lord’s kingdom in the new year.
    I wanted to let you know that I’ve listed your blog on my blogroll at The Spiritual Oasis’ web site. If you have additional blogs that you would like to see listed or would like to recommend others, please send word to:
    contactus[at]thespiritualoasis.org.
    To view The Spiritual Oasis’ blogroll click the following link:
    The Spiritual Oasis Blogroll

  • ally simpson says:

    great info andrew, cheers for taking the time to post this

  • ed . .. flock is ok for blogging and is actually quite adept at images with its flickr.com integration
    but honestly . .. and Dave – this is where i convert you . . . a blog editor like ecto (£15 or so) gives you incredible power over images, movies, posts, edits, tags and more
    i can throw an image and tell it to be a thumbnail, or embedded, and i can reduce the size of the jpg
    and i can do the same with movies.
    i can also control its alignment and space between the text in a few seconds.
    really . . . why not download ecto as a free trial and see if i am right on this???

  • Jon says:

    Andrew, I tried ecto in Sept 2005 because you wrote about it. It has made my blogging much faster and more fun. I’ve used it to blog offline while flying!
    I will certainly give the TypePad Two-Step a try.
    p.s. Glad to see you will be at the Celtic Soliton Sessions. I won’t be there, but look for the couple from San Jose; they are dear friends.

  • Lon says:

    thanks for the great post dude.

  • Andrew, interesting post… I intentionally have ignored all of your points over the years because for me, Google and Technorati rank have been far less important to me than just a space to share and talk and write and if people find it compelling to read or subscribe to, then that is cool. Since Technorati has entered the mainstream, far less discussion seems to be on self-expression than on what ones rank is which I think is kind of wrong (as your point 15 makes). Community is replaced by heirarchy even in the blogosphere. Along that thinking, I am not a big fan of points 4-7.
    As for your point on a blogging tool, I enjoy the old Qumana editor. It’s free. The new version isn’t so hot and seems to have problems with formatting and is slow. ECTO for Windows isn’t the greatest either.

  • Tom Allen says:

    Interested in your thoughts Andrew.
    1.I got rid on my old blogger site 12 months after I had switched to Typepad and it made a noticeable negative difference – so leave old sites in place.
    2. Re domain links Typepad is quite fussy about “domain suppliers” and we have spent some four months trying to resolve problems with a 1+1 domain. Whenever anyone tried to post a comment via the link it took the blog down. I have now switched to Godaddy which is the recommended Typepad domain provider and everything is much easier and it works and retains all existing links.
    3. In terms of increasing traffic then the subject headings of each post seem to particularly significant within Google – so go for topical headings rather than complicated clever ones – my peak ones of the year happened to include ” Hamas” and “Newsnight” and “Howies”. The two step idea is interesting.
    4. There seems to be some real significance in repeat visits and cross topic blogs – so resist the temptation to split your interests on to seperate blogs.I have refused to have seperate theological blogs and music blogs (what is interesting is that the pressure for a single track blog comes from the theological readers (they want tidy boundaries?)- but the ones that have admitted reading the “other stuff” are the musicians which is kind of missional)
    5. I have changed to M’soft Live Writer Beta as a blog editor and it is much better than my previous ones Ecto and Performancing including all the usual Word formatting.

  • Phil Wyman says:

    Wow, Thanks Andrew. Great info for a newbiee to logland like me.

  • Andrew,
    Thanks for the great post. As a relatively new blogger I enjoyed reading your valuable insight. I had a blog for about 2 years, but due to a lack of low readership I became frustrated and did little with it last year. Of course the low readership can be attributed to my not telling anyone about the blog and for only lurking on sites like yours. I missed the “forced” opportunity to write so I started a new blog a few days ago…I should have read your step 1 first! Being both a self-professed lurker and a relative newbie I must say that I look forward to trying a few of your suggestions.
    Thanks for both your great blog and for stooping to help the little man.
    I hope you don’t mind but I linked to your post…
    Keep up the great work! I truly enjoy your blog!

  • jordon – thanks, i forgot that some people use windows and ecto may not be the best choice for them
    as for ranking and points 4-7, i feel it depends on how the post is for and why we are writing it. some posts are not for everyone – including this particular one which i do not want everyone to read.
    but then there are some posts, like my recent post on New Aetheism, that i want to compete with the others and get wide readership. that post on aetheism made number 3 for many weeks before coming down to number 7 or so. i have had a lot of people read it and and there are not many christan bloggers who have spoken out on it on that level. just 2 of us in that google aggregation – me and al mohler . and i notice that al has just crept above me in the ranking and thats cool.
    moments like these – i really do want to get my post in the top 5 and let people read God’s message through me.

  • Joe says:

    Hey Andrew,
    I’m one of those ghost readers or whatever you call people who read blogs and don’t comment. Actually, there are only two blogs that I ever look at and both were found by “accident”.
    I found your blog two years ago when I read Generous Orthodoxy and googled BM. I usually visit a couple times a week.
    I just wanted to let you know I appreciate it and will continue my search for your other sites.
    Also, I wanted to congratulate you on getting ads. Atleast I think they are new. Maybe I just pay attention to the posts and haven’t seen them before.
    thanks, MD, USA

  • thanks. the ads come and go. i put them up there recently again during a rush of non-regular visitors but i might take them down, being in two minds about them.

  • Kester says:

    Interesting post… and I’m pondering Jordon’s thoughts about community and hierarchy. I think I tend to agree with him that community comes above hierarchy for me.
    At the end of the day, if everyone followed the same points and pushed hard to maximise their rank then we’d be back to square one: you read what you trust, from those you’ve met and find interesting. Listening to the loudest voice, and trying to shout loudest seemed to be a tactic Jesus wasn’t that interested in.
    Of course, we want people to be able to find good stuff, but I think that’s about accurate tagging and intelligent searching than other maximisers.
    I think Will Sampson is on the money with his resolution – something I think we’ll see in 07: blog less, but better.
    http://willzhead.typepad.com/willzhead/2007/01/new_years_direc.html

  • Kester says:

    Sorry, try this link for Will’s post.

  • speaking of Jordon . . . I notice that a google search for your new book “Signs of Emergence” lists Jordon at number one and two (a double whammy) and you come in at number 3 and 4.
    I am glad those things do not concern you, since community is more important than hierarchy.
    and besides, jordon probably likes the book and will no doubt be a worthy gateway for those that want to know about your book.
    if you put into practice my blogging tips, you would probably be the leading post, especially the tip about using “signs of emergence” in your post title, rather than “coming soon” which adds nothing to your google placement.
    But Kester, there are people out there who will not appreciate your book as much as Jordon and quite possibly they will talk to your customers before you do. this is like absolom at the gate giving bad words about David to those looking for David.
    Are you OK with that?
    the other thing is this – if your post is performing badly, a high ranking blogger will feel obliged to handicap their post about your book lest they overtake you because they are committed to community over hierarchy and will want to give you the best spot.
    And as for blogging less, but better, i think that is excellent advice and i recommend we all do it.
    i said it a bit different a year ago when i said “blog less and live more” but the thought is the same.

  • Congratulations!! You’ve been ‘spitboxed’. Check out your post at:
    http://www.spitboxmedia.com
    God Bless!!

  • Kester says:

    No, I’m not worried about Jordon ranking more highly than me about the book. And of course higher-ranking bloggers will blow my posts out of the water – they shouldn’t try not to and it’d be silly to try to hold back.
    My signs blog has only just started, and I wouldn’t expect it to out-rank Jordon’s. Give it a while though, and may be that won’t be the case as I’ll be talking more regularly about it, and others may just give it a single mention?
    As a wider point, I do think blogging can cause people to get trapped in the tyanny of numbers. And what I think Jordon was talking about was that a more conversational medium is becoming ‘stressed’ – check out the spitbox and spiritual oasis ‘ads’ in these comments. That’s the less pleasant side for me – seems to be a desperate race for hits, a sort of cyber attention-seeking.
    The David and Absolom point is a good one. But I’m not sure that’s something that’s always in our control. The accusers always shout louder.
    I guess Jesus found that, so I’ll have to try to be OK with it.

  • Thanks for the blog-editor-evangelism…but…
    I tried ecto, which seemed to be going ok, until I tried to upload photos…and it simply wouldn’t happen.
    Flock was ok – but I really don’t want to have another browser.
    i also tried performancing from firefox – but again uploading photos was hopeless.
    i want a blog editor that is simply and straightforward – intuitive…
    I want to be able to ‘browse’ for photos and then with a single click upload them.
    I may be sticking with basic blogger for now…

  • Tom Powell says:

    Andrew,
    Thanks for posting this. I’ve been struggling to post, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of superior conversation to be found elsewhere. Your willingness to just be a humble voice of experience is greatly appreciated.
    Peace,
    -Tom
    BTW, I’m trying ecto and loving it.

  • Kester – good reformed answer.
    i would not worry about Jordon ranking higher. I might worry if Ingrid from SOL ranked higher.
    And yes, hits and attention can be an evil and idolatrous thing. i have to watch myself. once i entered my blog on the Christian Top 100 but had to take it off when i found myself going there EVERY DAY to see how i ranked and who was beating me. and then to see cheesy sites like Jerrys Haven absolutely KILL my site.
    edward, i only know ecto for mac but i dont even have to browse for images. i just grab one from my desktop and throw it on my blog post. I can resize it by grabbing the corner and pulling it outwards. if that is not intuitive i dont know what is.
    does anyone know – is it really that different for PC?

  • I’m on a MacBook right now…but I still can’t import photos?
    Am I stupid? (don’t answer that!!)
    duh!

  • Kester says:

    What’s SOL? I had a bash at google, and appeared to be top, so hey – we’re all winning!
    On the Ecto thing:
    1. I love it. Great app.
    2. For images click the little black rectangle/gray circle bottom left. It might help Ed if you create a ‘preset’ for images – helps a lot if you basically want to do the same sort of image in posts: margin, alignment etc.
    3. The delicious feature when you create links isn’t working, according to Ecto-guy. Will be in the next release. That said, has anyone had any luck getting it to work?

  • chad says:

    Andrew,
    Any idea’s about how and when you blog maybe effect reader’s. Since we are living in a more Global World, and I get alot of hits through updated RSS feeds on portal type sites (emergingchurchblogs.info, the updated typepad bar..etc..etc.), I have started to look at when I post to allow for the best time for people to see my updates.

  • Tom Allen says:

    Edward
    Ecto crashed all the time in Windows and was a pain with graphics – it also so many features that I would never use.
    If you can stomach Microsoft then for Windows and need a simple straight forward blog editor it has to be m’soft Live Writer beta – it is stable and just like Word to use including WYSIWYG – the only thing I miss is being able to post-date posts – but that is coming in the full version. Graphics are drag and drop and fully resiable etc

  • -drm- says:

    Good post. Thanks.

  • kester, SOL is http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com which is a anti everything but fundementalism weblog that hates everything and everyone in the emerging church.
    Andrew, I see your point, I guess I have never seen Google as my target audience.

  • Thanks Jordon for joining the conversation. We are not talking about our daily visitors here but rather those who find us through the search engines. Google and the search engines are the matchmakers for our relationship with readers but not the audience. Sometimes I write a post for a new audience and want it to be found
    [like i did with “new atheism]

  • erik says:

    Thanks Andrew. This was very helpful for me.

  • Jordon says:

    Andrew, I get where you are coming from now. Seeing the blog or some posts as publication pieces that are a part of the permanent record of a topic online. I also get that you are aren’t talking about all blog posts being like that which I agree with Kester, if we all did that, we would be back at ground zero like what happened with meta tags and spamming of Altavista back in the pre-Google days.
    As far as Kester being below my blog right now, that should be a temporary thing as more people link to Kester’s blog (as I did), Google should get that his is the “Signs of Emergence” and not me.
    Also, if you have time and access to a Windows machine, the Windows Live blog editor is free and is amazing. I installed it last night and was really impressed with it on WordPress, MT, and Blogger blogs.

  • yes jordon. if i had PC [thanks be to God i do NOT] then i would consider Live.
    and as for Kesters book, i took another look and behold, the Google Passover Angel had swept over our blogs once more, looking for those key signs on the doorposts of our blogs, and had decided that your blog should be demoted and Kesters become king.
    which, as you say, is right and good.
    and kester is also right when he recognizes that your blog ranks higher because you have been loading up info since the nineties.
    happy new year jordon!!!

  • Someday when you are in Chicago, I will pay you to “do all this stuff” on my computer. I’m clueless, and that begins with blog editors and google rankings.

  • Gill Poole says:

    Blessings for 2007 Andrew.
    After the conversations in December on web.2 et al, and presence in the blogosphere, you might be interested in the new development coming from Jimmy Wales (Wikimedia), reported on BBC Web News on 29 December. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6216619.stm
    Will he provide the answer to deliverance from Google’s “monolithic power”, or will it mess up your potential to be heard?

  • Andrew, the god of the PC (we call him BillG) has looked down on me and not been happy. He crahsed my XP install and I am making the switch Ubuntu. Here is the ultimate test for your readers, find me a good Linux blog editor 🙂

  • linux???? where the heck is Nate????

  • Nate says:

    Jordon,
    Welcome to the brave new world. I use two linux blog editors on Ubuntu:
    gnome-blog – It sits in your panel and is great for assembling those random thoughts/links as you go through the day. The interface is dead simple, but it does not support tags. So I just come back and edit those in when I need to.
    drivel – Drivel was originally a LiveJournal client, but it supports almost all the apis out there. I use it for longer posts and offline editing.
    Other people I know like BloGTK and flock/preformancing work great on linux too.
    Hope that helps, welcome to the Ubuntu community 🙂
    Nate

  • Mike says:

    Great post. I’d ask that other bloggers make sure that their site can be read in as many browsers as possible. Dedicated Firefox users can testify to having to scrunch up our faces interpreting strange characters that IE users have no problem with.
    Thanks again.

  • thanks Nate. Long live Linux!!
    If I did not have ecto, I might consider using Performancing inside my Firefox 2.0 browser. Its there anyway – i just never use it.

  • Jim Martin says:

    Thanks Andrew! Outstanding post! This one helped me a great deal. Thanks.

  • Jordon says:

    Thanks Nathan, that helps a lot.

  • Blogging, SPAM, and SNAP previews

    One of the best things about blogging as an internet platform is the interaction of trackback and comments, but the darker side of this revolution of the internet is Spammers, first they mis-used email, and until fairly recently as far as I was con…

  • Liam says:

    Apologies TSK, I have a trackback on this post from thw wrong post, please dont mark me as spam!

  • Good Blogging Guide: Tips from the Veterans – TallskinnyKiwi

    A few bloggers have been talking about blogging and have been pretty insightful about it over the last few weeks, so I decided to feature some of their Tips and give my own thoughts on the subject of blogging in a good blogging guide series:
    To …

  • Liam says:

    Ive trackbacked with the right post now so, its here http://liambyrnes.co.uk/2007/01/09/good-blogging-guide-tips-from-the-veterans-tallskinnykiwi/ Sorry to inadvertantly spam your trackback!
    Blessings and thanks for a great post, you’ve sparked a good blogging guide series for me!

  • Some great advice on blogging

    TallSkinnyKiwi recently offered these “15 Blogging Tips for 2007”. What I love about Andrew is that he stands apart from the “look at me! look at me!” mentalitly that has taken over the blogosphere as of late. He rightfully points

  • Ched says:

    This was very helpful.

  • Nate says:

    TSK,
    I think this blog post by Rick Burridge has a great set of scripts for finding and cleaning up dead/broken links on your blog:
    http://blogs.sun.com/richb/entry/find_broken_links_in_your
    I have found that cleaning up broken links is a good way to move blog posts from good to great.
    Nate

  • Yeah google is a strange animal. I used to be ranked like 30 something for a keyword, now I’m no where to be found. It happened over night. My pages are still indexed, but no ranking for my keywords. If anyone an tell me how to resolve this issue, please tell me! Sometimes I think Google is the beast with 10 heads from the sea!

  • Melatonin says:

    Blogging forbegyndere

    TallSkinnyKiwi har postet 15 Blogging Tips For 2007 – og jeg har læst dem alle 15. Nu kan min blog kun blive en succes! I hvert fald hvis jeg husker at gøre som han siger og det gør jeg traditionelt set ikke. Men tanken er god nok!
    Men i øv…

  • Simon says:

    Hi Andrew,
    I’m a complete novice to this blogging thing, but really enjoy visiting your blog and I can really see the potential. This post helps me get my head around it all, so thanks!

  • andrew says:

    hey baptist church web site minister . . . i think you will have to earn your stripes again – you could post another on the same topic and link to the previous post. maybe googles memory will be jogged.
    or you could go back and soup up the original and then wait to see what google does when it passes over again.
    ahhhhhhhh . .. . waiting for google . now theres a name for a book . . .

  • Hi and thank you for your post, I translated a part of it in to Persian with a reference.
    take care

  • Mike says:

    Great tips. I am pretty new to this blogging this page will come in handy.

  • blogekle says:

    Thanks for some great advice Andrew, have to try some out!

  • Jason says:

    I think we bloggers got to focus not only in content but in design, for example, with videos in our own blogs.
    I’ve found a web called Vismo Media, where you can find videos uploaded by people such as me or you, not necessarily pro’s. I believe people want not only to read information, but to see, so maybe we can put some videos from there in our blog, and we can also make extra money from Vismo Media, at least that’s what they explain in an interactive pie. Take a look
    http://www.vismomedia.com

  • Google ranking is a good way to get traffic from SE, thanks for explanation of it.

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