Well it’s almost been a month already since I’ve started MyInkBlog. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster, but ultimately the experience has been very worthwhile. It’s like anything else I’ve learned along the way in web and graphic design; although painful and difficult at first, new things become more exciting, easier and tend to feed off of one another. It’s very much worth it!

Here’s a list of what I’ve learned so far! I can’t wait to see what next month has in store…

1. People Love Lists…

   That includes me (as evidenced by this post). It’s rational that people love consolidated content that is organized and informative. Making a concise list, simplifies things, and provides readers with an opportunity glance through only the most important points. In a society that is information-driven, it is no wonder that lists are very popular.

2. Socialize…

   What a tangled web we weave… It’s amazing how many social sites exist right now. The social site phenomenon is at an all time high, and as a blogger it is wise to hop on board. You add the social site craze with glossy buttons, icons and nav bars and you have what many in the industry have deemed web 2.0. Although I knew of about many of these social sites, I really hadn’t explored much of the trend, that is not until I ventured into the blogging world. Although it is fun and addicting, the main reason for a blogger to get involved, is to plug into the vast opportunities to get your site seen. I post almost all of my articles at sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, DesignFloat, and innumerable more. This is a great way to drive traffic to your site!

3. Optimize…

   Ultimately, it’s all about getting more traffic to your blog. In my month long travels, I’ve learned a couple of more tricks. One of which is diving deeper into Search Engine Optimization. Their are three basic ways that people come to your site. The first is direct traffic, which is when people know about the site and type the URL directly into their web browser (hopefully Firefox :)). The second is referral traffic, which is other sites linking to you, either by finding out about you and posting a link or encouraging other sites to exchange links (which we’ll get into more later). And the last way, is through search engines like Google and Yahoo. The study of Search Engine Optimization is extensive and somewhat exhausting. Some great resources on the subject can be found in articles like, Web Designers Wall’s article SEO Guide for Designers and Smashing Magazine’s Complete List of SEO Tools. Finding ways to get your site higher on search lists, will do you worlds of good.

4. Talk to People in the Same Genre as you…

   Generally speaking people in a similar position as you have a great understanding of what you are going through and what you can expect. A support group of like minded bloggers can go a long way to helping you get through down times and encouraging you to look forward to better times. Not only is it a great way to pick someone’s brain that is already ventured into what you are doing, but it’s also a way to network and drive more referral traffic to your site. Many like-minded bloggers will be more than willing to exchange links with you in a mutual-beneficial arrangement to try to drive more traffic to each other’s site. Even if it’s only a couple of people a day, it is still more than you had the day before!

5. Blogging is Time Consuming…

   It’s not going to be all peaches and cream, so enjoy what you are writing about, because you will be spending a lot of time doing it. You will end up spending countless hours writing, optimizing, and contemplating. Although it is time consuming, getting encouraging comments and emails is very rewarding. For me, it’s about trying to give back some of what has been given to me. Without many of the excellent resources available, I would not have been able to learn half of what I’ve learned in the past 5 years or so.

6. Be Patient…

   This goes hand-in-hand with the last item. Success won’t happen overnight. Blogging is a lot like developing personal relationships, in that you have to gain people’s trust consistently over time. Also it takes a good deal of time to develop enough quality content and traffic for your site to improve in SEO and referrals, which are two very key sources of traffic.

7. Keep Track of What Works and What Doesn’t…

   This sounds simple, but it’s good to keep in mind. You don’t need to be writing on topics that waste your time, and are not going to be viewed by anyone. Write on things that interest you, but will also interest others. Then, keep track of what works and what doesn’t. Keeping tabs can easily be done with a ton of different apps that keep track of user statistics. Most of the time your hosting company has a place in their control panel to check out your site’s stats. GetClicky and Google Analytics are two of the industry standards that you can use. Lastly if you are using WordPress check out plugins like wordpress.com stats and statpress.

9. Worpress Rocks…

   Although their are many alternatives available like blogger, blogspot and many more, wordpress seems to be the best and most popular option. And for good reason… WordPress is infinitely customizable being that it’s open-source. And it’s trusted by so many people, it’s constantly being tweaked, fixed and improved. Not to mention the add-ons are incredible and plentiful. Check out my 5 favorite.