[Note: This is the fourth post in the "How to Start a Blog" series. The first three entries can be found here, here, and here.]
So you’ve done your homework. You’ve read hundreds of blogs and decided what type of blog you want to have. You’ve registered a domain name, chose a hosting service, a template, and a publishing platform. You’ve got your blog up and running and a polished a few posts to perfection. Now all you need is for the rest of the world to recognize that your fledgling blog exists.
Welcome to blogosphere. You are blog #5,401,708.
Catching the attention of other bloggers is a formidable task. You're competing for attention in a crowded field that is squeezing in new members every day. But you can find an audience if you recognize that there is not only an art to marketing your blog but a set of unwritten rules of etiquette that apply to the process. Learn them and you will be on your way to success:
Don’t Bother Glenn – Out of the 18,000 bloggers listed in the TTLB Ecosystem, only 242 have more than 1000 hits a day. Glenn Reynolds blog Instapundit is ranked #2 for traffic with an average of 118,000 hits a day. Every day. That means that even on Sunday, Reynolds gets at a minimum 118 times more traffic than almost anyone else in the blogsphere. Traffic like that makes a link on Instapundit as valuable to a blogger as free advertising space in New York’s Times Square.
So when you write an incredible piece of analysis and want to ensure it gets the recognition it deserves you send it to Glenn, right? Before you hit “Send” ask yourself how many times a day he receives similarly worthy “Must Read!” posts. I’m not saying that you absolutely should not send him an email (I'm guilty of doing it myself), just don’t be surprised when it gets lost in his slush pile of unsolicited submissions.
How do you get linked to Instapundit? I wouldn’t know. I’ve been Instasnubbed but not Instalaunched. And while I’m not a member of the blogging elite, I’ve managed to climb to #37 in the TTLB. Instapundit is a great blog and the prime real estate in the blogosphere. But I made it without gaining Glenn’s attention. You can too. (Update: Since he linked to this post I guess that statement is no longer true.)
Don’t Abuse Trackback – If you want to earn the scorn of a blogger, send his post a Trackback, have them follow it back to your site, and then let them scour your post only to discover that the post you pinged isn’t mentioned. You rudeness will not go unnoticed.
Do Let People Know Your Blog Exist – There is nothing wrong with informing other bloggers that you have moved into the neighborhood. But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Be personal. If you invite someone to visit your blog send them a personal by-name invitation. Let them know that you read their blog (and if you don’t read their blog then don’t expect them to read yours) and tell them why they might be interested in your new venture. Don’t be overly aggressive, but don’t be shy either. No one is as interested in seeing you build an audience as you are.
Don’t Send Mass Emails – If you can’t take the time to send a personal email then don’t expect to receive individual attention in return. Sending a bulk email to a few bloggers at the same time is acceptable if they know each other already. But sending mass emails that looks as if you picked names at random is counter-productive. No one likes spam, even when it’s sent with the best of intentions.
Do Link Freely – If you include a link to another blog in your post then you’ve guaranteed yourself at least one reader. Few bloggers can resist finding what others are saying about their blog so they are likely to follow the trackback to your post. Make it a habit to include links to other blogs as often as possible. If you can’t work them into the post, consider adding a “Related” or “See Also” section at the bottom listing links to similar posts on the subject by other bloggers. Your readers will appreciate the chance to read other views and you’ll generate goodwill in the process.
Do Link Freely – This one is so important that it needs to be said twice.
Do Chase the Tail – Social networks like the blogosphere can often be represented by a power law distribution. A power law applies to a system when large is rare and small is common. With blogs, a large number of inbound links is a rare phenomenon while relatively few links is the norm. Using the top 100 most linked to weblogs on Technorati as a data set (from 1/24/03), Jason Kottke produced the following graph:
Most bloggers spend all of their time trying to get the attention of those on the left side of the graph – the “A”-List bloggers – while tending to ignore the “tail”, the long string of blogs that receive few links. Add an “A”-lister to your blogroll and they will likely never notice. Add a member of the “tail” and they will not only notice, but will be extremely grateful.
The TLLB currently lists over 3000 blogs that do not have even one inbound link. Many of these blogs have probably been abandoned and many others probably should be closed down. But there is still a vast untapped market of underappreciated bloggers out there who are grateful for the attention of a “successful” blogger who gets 100 hits a day.
Finding and connecting with these micro-blogs requires an extensive amount of time and effort. But the results could prove to be a catalyst for your own success. By cultivating the “tail” you could accumulate enough links and hits to carry you to the top of the “A”-List.
Do Return the Favor – If someone adds you to their blogroll, add them to yours. I maintain a reciprocal blogroll that includes over 800 blogs that have linked to me. I obsessively check my referral logs and Technorati and add them whenever I find they’ve linked to EO. These bloggers took the time to add me to their blogrolls; the least I can do is return the favor.
But adding them to the reciprocal list is more than just a way to say “thank you.” It provides me with an invaluable Rolodex of bloggers who share similar interest as me. This is my social network in one concise visual reference. I wouldn’t trade those links for their equivalent in dollars. They are far more valuable. If you don’t have a reciprocal blogroll you are only hurting yourself. So it might clutter your blog a bit. Who cares. Successful bloggers are more concerned about building a network than with maintaining a minimalist blog layout. These blogs are your network. Cherish them. Your blogging success depends on these people.
Coming next: Owning a Micro-Niche
Related:
1
Joe,
For the next topic, you may want to consider a post on blog style. You've covered substance well, which is of course the most important. Do you have any style tips or have referrals to sites that do?
Mark
posted on 01.03.2005 2:00 AM2
As a little pisher on the blogosphere, I remember the thrill of seeing that you reciprocally linked me. Few other blogs of your size/calibre have ever done that and I'll be eternally grateful for the magnanimous gesture. Your success is well deserved.
posted on 01.03.2005 9:31 AM3
Could you possibly discuss what makes a good post and the different kinds of possible posts one could write -- news, opinion, etc?
posted on 01.03.2005 9:45 AM4
I wouldn’t trade those links for their equivalent in dollars. They are far more valuable.
By standard economic definition, anything must be identical in value to its "equivalent in dollars". That's what dollars are - an index of value. If you wouldn't trade your blogroll for a given number of dollars, then you just haven't been offered enough dollars. Presumably there is some number of dollars that you would trade it for - unless it's literally priceless, which would be taking blogging to a whole new level.
Keep up the good work, Joe. This series is great.
I'd echo the requests for a piece on style or "type" of post. What makes a blog worth reading? Everybody's got an opinion on Iraq, or taxes, or whatever - why start a blog, or read a blog, that consists of one more person's opinions on politics? On the other hand, why start a blog that just consists of links to other blogs, or news stories? How do you find the focus point that makes a blog interesting, influential, and worthwhile? (As you point out, talent and content are not the answer - there's too much of that around already.) You've crafted a really compelling mix here at EO. How do you see your own strategy on that issue?
posted on 01.03.2005 10:56 AM5
Dear Joe, Thank you!
For a relatively new blogger, this has been interesting and helpful. I've sent these pieces on to several friends who are either new bloggers or contemplating a blog.
For Coyote, above, Mr. Standfast's categories (http://misterstandfast.blogspot.com/) and his explanation of them here: (http://misterstandfast.blogspot.com/2004/12/blogroll-update.html) is one person's take on the variety of blog types.
posted on 01.03.2005 11:03 AM6
I'd add one more piece of advice: make contributions to other blogs via comments, when available. Almost all the comment facilities let you include your own email and URL; use them, and you'll be surprised who follows them back to you and your blog.
Commenting is a vital part of networking. It's akin to circulating around a cocktail party, joining different conversation groups, and adding your input. You can meet a lot of interesting people, and hear a lot different opinions, without having to expend a lot of time or energy -- but do put some thought into those comments, and pay attention to grammar, spelling, etc! The impression you make in a comment thread can be just as long-lasting as one you make at a party, and just as valuable.
One last additional tip: if you participate in any online forums that actively discuss the topic of your blog, it's perfectly acceptable for you to include a link to your blog in your signature block. Many forums ban outright advertising, so a post announcing, "I just started a blog!" would be against the terms of service. But a discreet link in your signature block or on your user profile is usually OK. Many forums encourage them. People who already know you in one context are highly likely to click through and who knows, they may become regulars.
Thanks for this excellent series. BTW, I found it via a link from Captain's Quarters, where Mr. Morrissey is still blushing over your coining the term "Morrissey Method." CQ was the very first blog that became a must-read-multiple-times-daily requirement for me... the beginning of a long and fruitful experience in the blogosphere.
posted on 01.03.2005 3:31 PM7
This is an excellent post looking at why the power law doesn't quite work.
How to Cook a Weblog
http://itkitchen.info/2004/10/25/weblog-speck-law/
8
I have come to read your blog daily and enjoy both the faith perspective as well as the learning that can be gleaned. You mention the 'long tail' and some of your readers may not be familiar with the long tail concept that was written about in relationship to the music business in wired magazine at the following link: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail_pr.html or just search on long tail concept. There is much to be learned and this concept is an area of good learning. livingthedream
posted on 01.03.2005 7:34 PM9
Wow, I've had 2.5 Instalinks, and I've only been at it since late August. The .5 Instalink is from an InstaPundit link to a comment I left on Roger Simon's site, so I can't count it as a complete Instalink.
10
Wow, Reynolds is quite modest. Actually, Insta-links are to be had for the asking! Just ask Wonkette (or more appropriately, her sugar daddy Nick Denton).
All you have to do is cover a few car payments, and Instapundit will run full color banner ads and mercilessly plug your site...no matter how bad it is or how brainless you are!
posted on 01.04.2005 2:31 PM11
Listen to this guy, folks. I knew Joe when he was just a baby-blogger, and now, he's left me behind, and soared to the rare air of the blogosphere's upper reaches.
Anyone who can do what he's done in the (relatively) short time he's been blogging has earned a listen.
Excellent work, Joe. It's been a blast to watch your Icarus-like ascent (without the whole wings melting-thing, natch).
posted on 01.04.2005 4:43 PM12
Thanks for the tips! My new years resolution is to increase my blog's readership. One of my goals is to find more people in my field. I am a graduate student doing biomedical research. I can't find any blogs in this field, or science research in general. So maybe this a type of 'microniche'.
posted on 01.04.2005 6:25 PM13
Of course, it usually helps to spell correctly, particularly when referencing The Truth Laid Bear -- TTLB, vice your TLLB.
Two T's, one L. Not 1 T, two L's.
/good-naturedly
posted on 01.04.2005 8:17 PM14
First of all, my referral log is clear proof of the value of commenting. A couple of mine have been producing a couple hits a month for a year. All of these are likely to be new readers.
Another good way to generate traffic is to participate in the Carnivals. I get over 100 hits a week from the recipe carnival, on top of the pleasure of sharing my wee wifey and my creative cookery. Hosting one should be even better; it looks like a near guarantee of links at the upper levels.
posted on 01.05.2005 12:39 AM15
(I accidentally posted this in part V so if you're reading it twice, I apologize)
I enjoyed this part and thought that it was applicable to me:
"The TLLB currently lists over 3000 blogs that do not have even one inbound link. Many of these blogs have probably been abandoned and many other probably should be closed down. But there is still a vast untapped market of underappreciated bloggers out there who are grateful for the attention of a “successful” blogger who gets 100 hits a day.
I'm 17 years old and just started a new blog. I'm mostly focusing on major news stories, but I also focus on some that don't get as much attention, such as the situation in Columbia between the government, FARC, and ELN. If anyone wants to check out my blog, the site is http://www.theminefield.blogspot.com
Thanks.
16
Joe, I'm really enjoying this series.
As one of the lower-tier bloggers, I've found commenting on other blogs to be a valuable way to stay connected to the blogosphere, not to mention driving traffic to my own blog as a side effect.
I have tangible evidence of the power of commenting on other blogs in driving traffic to your blog. I don't know if other blogs have this, but I wrote my own blog code, so I have an advantage in experimentation. Sometime back, I implemented a "comment referral log" feature on my blog. Every comment or trackback I leave on another blog (including this one!) has a ?ref=foo in the URL, where foo is an abbreviation of the blog name along with a date code, which my blog code logs to a text file, along with the time and date of the visit.
That way, I know when lots of people clicked on my URL and came over to my blog from, say, EO. Many of the best "mini-lanches" I've gotten have come from comments/trackbacks from the following blogs (in decending order of traffic):
Captain's Quarters (by far the most)
Michelle Malkin
Power Line
Brothers Judd
Evangelical Outpost
Blogs For Bush
... and others too numerous to mention here. They key thing is, you know where it's important to take time to comment, and where it's less likely to help you traffic. Of course, sometimes I comment just because I want to, and not to drive traffic!
Steve Bragg
DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS