Understand RSS
This video is the best short explanation of RSS that I know of.
RSS is also sometimes called a “feed,” so don’t get confused by those who use the terms interchangeably.
This video is the best short explanation of RSS that I know of.
RSS is also sometimes called a “feed,” so don’t get confused by those who use the terms interchangeably.
Your username on Twitter is more important than on many services. Not only is it part of the URL that people will go to in order to see your profile (the format is http://twitter.com/username), but when people address you directly, they’ll use your username, and their followers will see it. This gives you the opportunity to make a good first impression.
The first question you have to answer is whether you want to build your personal brand or the brand of your blog.
I’d recommend going with personal if:
On the other hand, you might want to focus around your blog if:
If you’d like feedback on which way to go, share your details in the comments and we’ll weigh in!
Regardless of whether you’re promoting a single blog or your personal brand, it’s a good idea to make your username as memorable and descriptive as possible. If you happen to have a memorable name already (either personally or for your blog), you can use that. Otherwise, you might need to brainstorm a little.
Ideally, your username should communicate at a glance that you’re relevant to your Ideal Reader. Remember, they may just see it fly by in someone else’s tweet, and it could be completely out of context, so the goal is that it would catch their eye and pique their interest enough to click on it and see what else you have to say.
When people come across your profile (however they find you), your username is one of the primary clues they have about whether you’re interesting to them. A descriptive username instantly tells the visitor what you’re about. It helps them know what to expect and can make the difference between “reading on” and “moving on.”
For instance, consider these usernames. They’re all tax professionals who are using Twitter:
I can’t say for sure who each of their Ideal Readers are (or even that they’re all blogging… but presumably they’re on Twitter to attract some kind of attention). But if you were interested in learning more about taxes or getting a tax professional, which of those usernames would catch your eye?
For me, it would be taxgirl, TaxGeek, and HRBlock—the first two because of the word “tax,” and the last one because it’s a well-known brand name that I associate with tax preparation.
First, Twitter differentiates between your name and your username.
Your username is shown at the top of your profile, front and center, and is also what people use when they respond to you directly in a tweet. It’s also part of your profile URL, as described at the top.
Your name, on the other hand, is shown on the right-hand side of your profile, along with your location, web address, and bio, among other details. It’s completely separate from your username, and can be changed easily with no consequences.
Speaking of changes and consequences, Twitter allows you to change your username, too. However, I don’t recommend changing your username unless you have an extremely good reason.
Why not? Because people get used to seeing your username, and when you change it, they might not realize it’s you. Additionally, all links to your old username will break, effectively cutting off people who come across them.
If you’ve just started your Twitter account, and you’ve realized based on this lesson that you could have a much better username, you can get away with changing yours if you don’t have many followers yet (say, less than 100). You’re better off doing it now than regretting not doing it down the road when you have 1000 followers and are basically locked in.
Once you’ve done a little brainstorming, go to Twitter and start the sign-up process. They have a handy instant-feedback form that will tell you quickly if the name you put in is available, or if someone’s already using it.
Use uppercase and lowercase to separate words when possible (for instance, TaxGeek is slightly more readable than taxgeek, and both are shorter and look nicer than tax_geek or tax-geek). Easy-to-spell is also a bonus.
If a version is taken that’s very close to what you want, consider going with something else—if your username is too close to another one, people will probably end up guessing and getting the wrong one by accident.
If you get stuck, leave a comment telling us about your blog and your Ideal Reader, and we’ll try to help out.
Twitter is an kind of an odd service because most people don’t understand until they’ve used it for a while. Explain the premise to someone and usually you’ll get a blank look, followed by, “And why would I want to do that?!”
If you’ve considered Twitter before and that’s your reaction, suspend your skepticism for a little while—Twitter will help you get more traffic to your blog if you do it right, and you’ll probably enjoy the process.
Twitter is what’s known as a micro-blogging service. As you can guess from the name, it has some aspects in common with “regular” blogging, but it’s also a bit different. It also has a lot in common with instant messaging.
The basic idea of Twitter is that you create an account, log in, and answer the question, “What are you doing?” People who are interested in your answer to that question can “follow” you and receive your answer every time you post one.
This short video (less than two-and-a-half minutes) explains the concept a little further.
While the video emphasizes the value to friends and family members, Twitter is useful for creating and maintaining relationships with just about anyone… including your Ideal Reader!
Twitter is kind of like blogging in that it’s just a tool to communicate.
It used to be when the topic of blogging came up, many people would say, “Blogging? Isn’t that just like keeping a diary? Isn’t that for 14-year-old girls?” Now enough people have read blogs that most of them understand that there are different kinds of blogs, including business blogs.
In the same way, you can fill your Twitter account with updates (called tweets) about your cat, what you ate for dinner, etc. or you can use it as another medium that offers value to your Ideal Reader and attracts them to your blog.
If you’re looking for an easy, relatively low-effort way to find and connect with your Ideal Reader, Twitter fits the bill. It offers several unique features that make it worth using.
Beyond those “standard benefits,” Twitter is especially useful for bloggers:
In the next few lessons, we’ll talk about how to choose a good Twitter username, set up a compelling profile that will drive clicks to your blog, and find people to follow without alienating them.
There will also be ongoing lessons/tasks that help you get (and stay) active on Twitter.
Right now, you can mark this task complete, and you’ll get the next lesson.
When you ask an easy question, you’re giving other Twitter users the opportunity to interact with you with a minimum of effort… and that makes it much more likely that they’ll respond!
Think about it: do most people prefer essay questions or multiple-choice quizzes? A multiple-choice question is the ultimate easy question. Answering it requires almost no thought, so people will often reply to you very quickly.
You don’t have to go as easy as multiple-choice (though you can); just think of a question that’s interesting to your ideal reader (or use this to do quick research for a post you’re writing!) and throw it out there.
Here are some examples of easy questions.
Which web host do you use? Are you satisfied with its service? keshav
Just signed up on Zip.ca (Just like Netflix). Which movies do I add to my list? FGagnon
Bloggers: what’s the biggest blogging challenge you run into on a regular basis? Time? Coming up with new ideas? Technology? Something else? bookchiq
Sometimes it’s hard to distance yourself from your blog enough to know if there’s something wrong with it. It also doesn’t help that “something wrong” is a completely subjective concept in many cases.
The problem is that visitors will rarely tell you if there’s something about your blog that they find difficult—they just won’t come back.
What kinds of things could be wrong with your blog? This is not a complete list, of course, but some things I often see that make blogs difficult to use:
The difficulty is that most of these items will be difficult for you to spot on your own—some because you’re used to the way things are and kind of “blind” to how others might see it, and some because your computer set-up isn’t the same as all of your visitors.
The cheapest way to find obvious problems is to ask your contacts to criticize your blog.
This can be a little ego-bruising (because they probably won’t limit criticism to the layout!) and it might be more or less effective depending on who you ask (your mom may have a hard time being objective), but it’s a quick and easy way to get some feedback.
Who you ask is up to you. If you are already using a tool like Twitter, you can post a message there asking for feedback. You can email your friends and family, and ideally, some folks who are your ideal readers.
How you ask is also important. It’s best to be specific about what kind of feedback you want.
You can say something as simple as, “I’m wondering what your first impression is, and if you can tell what my expertise is. Also, if you have any difficulty reading anything or something doesn’t work like it should, please let me know so I can fix it.”
This helps your helpers know what to look for, and makes it more likely they’ll respond. With a vague request, most people feel a little “out of their element” and might opt to not respond at all rather than potentially feel dumb.
Your contacts will probably help a good deal, but there’s nothing like a fresh pair of objective eyes to help clarify any issues.
You can create a survey using a tool like SurveyGizmo, but honestly, most of your visitors will completely ignore it. The ones who actually take it are more likely to be web-savvy than your average visitor, so the results might overlook problems that the less-experienced folks struggle with.
I’ve received very good feedback using the services of UserTesting.com. It’s not free (right now, it’s $19 per “test”), but for the money you get a video with a real person talking you through their actions as they explore your blog. You can choose the experience level of your tester(s), and you wouldn’t believe the “aha” moments you can have while watching someone struggle with something you thought was obvious.
Again, it’s not free, so you might want to start with your contacts, make whatever improvements you can, and then “graduate” to user tests. It’s up to you, but anything you can do to make your blog easier to use will result in more readers over time.
If you don’t already have a Google Account, you should get one—it will come in very handy for future tasks (like using Google Analytics to track your blog visitors).
It’s easy to forget that you didn’t always know the things you know now. Fortunately for you, this knowledge can help you write popular blog posts.
Instructional posts are basically your standard “how-to” posts. It can be as simple as thinking of something you know that your ideal reader would like to know, and writing a post that explains it. The result is a post that’s helpful to both your existing readers, and to people who will search for the answer in the future.
Using good formatting helps make your instructional post readable. Consider making lists and using bold formatting to draw attention to the most important parts, and help readers quickly assess the content.
Some examples of instructional posts (from a wide variety of topics!):