9 Things Every Blogger Should Understand

I have blogged off and on for about four years now. Here’s some things I’ve learned (in no particular order)… both new and veteran bloggers would be wise to keep these in mind:

1. Every reader has an opinion… and they’re all correct in their own mind. Don’t be thin-skinned. Realize that folks are going to agree with you, and folks are going to disagree with you. Let them have their own opinion, and encourage conversation.
2. Posting the same things as everyone else will render you invisible. Why would someone bother to read your content if they can see the same things elsewhere?
3. The corrolary to the previous item: posting unique content is the way to get noticed. Read this. Say it out loud. The only way you’ll become notable is to post something interesting and unique. Perhaps you offer information that nobody else has posted. Perhaps you offer opinions which haven’t been already aired elsewhere. Perhaps you bring together information into a usable format. Whatever you do, make it unique and notable.
4. It is better to have your controversial posts read by folks who disagree with you than those who are on your side. “Me too” is boring. Provoke folks. Get them thinking. Emotion elicits response.
5. Only a very small percentage of your readers will leave comments. If you’re doing this to hear folks respond and praise you, you’re doing it for the wrong reason. Some posts will simply sit there, uncommented. Over at Metroblogging Portland we get tens of thousands of unique visitors every month, and maybe 50 unique commenters.
6. It will likely be the same folks leaving comments over and over again. That’s not a bad thing. That means you’re generating repeat visitors.
7. A hit counter is useless in and of itself. The fact that one has had 14,872 page loads means nothing. Single-page hit counters reek of the web circa 1997. Nobody cares that X number of people viewed your homepage.
8. Don’t bitch about traffic (or lack thereof) unless you’ve taken the time to analyze your web logs with a decent stats package. Learn to understand your traffic. I use a commercial stats package called Mint. W3Counter is a free alternative. There’s lots of others as well. Find one and learn how to use the stats.
9. Not having your blog hosted on your own domain is setting yourself up for failure when you need to move it or your web host (goes away / is no longer free / changes its policies / pick your own fate). A hosted service such as Wordpress.com, Livejournal, or Blogger is a great way to get started, but what happens when there’s a problem? What happens if their export utility breaks? What happens when they get bought? These questions, as well as the ones that haven’t been asked, should be in your mind. Domain names are cheap. Decent blog hosting is cheap. If you value your content, own it.

None of these things is difficult, yet every day I see blogs from folks who haven’t considered these factors when setting up and maintaining their blog. Spend a few extra minutes and think about the details, and you’ll see positive results.