If you want people to read your blog posts you’ve got to have a good title.

How do people find your blog and when they’ve found it, what makes them read your blog posts?

The answer is in the title or the headline.

Think about it. In the first place, your blog gets indexed by the search engines and blog directories. They classify your blog by what they interpret as its subject matter. What’s the most powerful way to tell the bots what your subject matter is? Why, your title. Bots are not that smart. Give them some valuable clues and the chances are that you’ll get indexed how you want to be indexed.

Then, when you’ve got yourself indexed in the right category, how do they list you in the search results? Why, your title. Now we’re talking about humans, not bots. You need to give your potential human visitors something to tempt them in.  An attention-grabbing title will do the job.

Let’s look at an example.

Say you have a gardening blog and you’re writing about dahlias. You could have the title to your post ‘Another Late Summer Plant’. Yeah, well. Not very specific, is it?

So how about ‘Dahlias - Late Summer Glory In Your Garden’. That’s better. An even better title would be ‘Dahlias - Beat The Slugs And Grow A Winning Dahlia’.  In both cases the title begins with the word that your blog post is about and you’re offering a title that tempts them to read more.

An even better title, at least for humans, is to ask a question. Make it short and snappy and impossible to ignore. ‘Dahlias -  How Do I Keep Snails At Bay And Grow Winning Dahlias?’

Whenever you’re writing a blog post, the title comes first. It’s what grabs your reader’s attention in the first few seconds.  And, if your blog displays other fascinating titles on other posts in your blog, it’s what will keep them there.

When you look around at a lot of blogs, one of the things that strikes you (if you can bear to look for long) is that they are very boring.

So what do you do? You click back, or you click away, and you instantly forget where you just were and what you just saw. Boring, boring, boring… 

So how do you get your reader’s attention and keep them on your blog?

1. Say something different, or, if you can’t do that, say something from a different angle. Suppose that you just went to the store and bought a pack of frozen fish. Now, you could report this in all its tedious detail because that’s what you just did, but the chances are that fifty thousand other people did exactly the same thing today - so what? How about ‘one fish’s journey from ocean to ice-box’ or ‘how an unknown fisherman caught my supper’? OK, I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but you get the idea.
2. Ask you reader a question. So, they’ve read all about the storm at sea and the fish market and the teenager at the grocery checkout, but don’t leave it at that. Ask them a question about their similar experiences or opinions and invite them to post a comment. People like to be engaged in a dialogue. They actually might have something very interesting to say. And when people have commented on a blog, the chances are that they’ll come back to see their offering on display.  You just got them hooked!

So, what do you do to get your blog noticed? Feel free to leave me your comments!

Bloggers are sometimes their own worst enemies. Maybe you have a fantastic theme, and a fascinating topic to blog about, and masses of unique content, but there are three big no-nos if you want an amazing blog:

1. Don’t overload your blog with flashing banners, animated widgets and blinking gizmos. If your blog has so much going on that it looks like a fruit machine in a casino then no-one’s going to focus on anything. People will click away from your blog just to save their eyes. If you want to show off some flash and movement, make that gizmo the one stunning centerpiece of the page. Then you will have made your point.
2. Whatever language you are writing in, get your posts spell-checked. You may not think it matters but it does. You want to engage your readers, not irritate them. And it isn’t grown-up to have a lot of exclamation marks (!!!) scattered around your text - you don’t want to sound like a hysterical teenager, even if you are…
3. If you allow other people to comment on your blog, keep an eye on what they post. Yes, it’s great to have comments from readers, and, no, you don’t want to censor free speech, but some comments can be a pain, or offensive, or irrelevant. Remember that it’s your blog and you decide what’s shown. Don’t let others ruin your blog for you.

Bloggers blog because they’ve got something to say. So say it!

1. Who Owns WordPress?

No-one. WordPress is ‘open-source’ which means that all the computer code that drives it is written by volunteer programmers around the world.

One of the founders was Matt Mullenweg, himself a programmer, who couldn’t understand why simple blogging software didn’t exist. He and a group of friends decided to write their own and give it away. This is how WordPress was born.

Now this may sound crazy if you’ve got a name that sounds like Bill Gates, but this is what programmers like to do. They like being creative, writing clever programs and changing the world. People who have mind-numbing day jobs writing programs for mind-numbing big corporations like to spend their spare time writing software for WordPress where they can stretch their imagination, test the limits of the technology and collaborate with like-minded others around the world. And do it for nothing.

The motto you see on a lot of WordPress screens is ‘Code is Poetry’. That says it all.

2. What’s The Difference Between wordpress.com and wordpress.org?

Wordpress.com is a free service where you can have a WordPress blog on computers hosted by WordPress. This free service offers limited capabilities compared to wordpress.org but that can be all that’s needed if you just want a simple, personal blog and you want someone else to provide all the infrastructure.

The main difference, however, is that wordpress.org can be used for e-commerce and for blogs where you want more than the basic functionality of wordpress.com. The wordpress.org software is still free, but you have to install it on your own server (which you can hire from a web hosting company) and hang it on your own domain. This then becomes your ‘property’ - a web-based asset that you own and which you create and maintain independently.

3. What’s The Difference In WordPress Between A Post And A Page?

A post is a chronological entry on your blog, traditionally used to record daily or weekly or occasional news. In a conventional blog design, posts appear on the front page, latest at the top and scrolling down the page to dispay previous posts in the order in which they were posted. The oldest posts eventually disappear off the bottom of the page and get shunted off into the archive.

A page is a static entry which you can use to display something that you want permanently accessible to your visitor. Pages are usually accessed via a link, usually somewhere in the blog’s sidebar. When that page is displayed it’s the only page displayed on the screen.

If you want, a page can be used as a fixed front page of the blog to replace the scrolling series of posts. That’s how this blog is organized.

4. Can I Have A WordPress Blog And A Website On The Same Domain?

Yes. What you would do is to have your website located in the root directory, as normal, exactly as standard, with an index.* file. Then, for the blog, you create a sub-directory (sub-folder) called ‘blog’ (or whatever you like) and you install WordPress in that sub-folder.

Your website URL would then be www.yourdomain.com and your blog URL would be www.yourdomain.com/blog.

But why have a website AND a blog? WordPress is now so powerful that you can use it as a complete content management system. Think about it!

Blogging is simple but it isn’t easy. If you learn a few winning habits it becomes a breeze. So, here are the seven habits of highly effective bloggers:

1. Have something to say
The best blogs are those where the blogger has something attention-grabbing to say, whether it be about potty training a puppy, supporting a baseball team or electing a president. Say it with vim, say it with sentiment and above all say something different.

Make it a habit always to put a novel angle on a topic and you’ll attract readers like flies to a dung heap.

2. Project your personality
It’s about you, stupid. Have an attractive, enticing ‘About’ page.

If you’re going to have a photo of yourself don’t just use a mugshot: you’ll look much more intriguing if it’s a picture of you actually doing something. What you want people to do is talk not just about your blog, but about you.

Get into the habit of being a character.

3. Post regularly
The most booming bloggers have sticky blogs. That means you want regular readers who come back because they need your content. And so you must continually gratify this craving with a constant stream of dazzling content.

One easy trick is to find a big theme that you can break down into a succession of posts. Post as ‘Part 1′, ‘Part 2′ etc (for example ‘20 Tips On Training Your Puppy’). Make the sequence addictive: hold back just enough information to have them howling for more.

If you can get this right, you’ll become their habit.

4. Engage with your readers
Blog with a smile on your face but aspire to be an authority. What you want your readers, and other bloggers, to do is to like you, trust you and give you their esteem.

And don’t be afraid to be contentious: being opinionated will stir up their responses and get them to comment.

Comment generously on other blogs. Give and leave trackbacks. Bond with your blogging community. The idea is to get them hooked. Which is where you want to be.

Be in the habit of being addictive.

5. Optimize with titles, keywords, categories
Every post title should start with the words of explicitly what your post is about. The title of your blog post is what your human readers, and the search engine spiders, see first. ‘My Puppy Peed On The Carpet’ rather than ‘Oh No Not Again’.

Scatter relevant keywords all through your post. Use tags, categories and slugs to explicitly spell out what your post is about.

Optimization doesn’t seem very sexy but it’s a great habit to get into.

6. Harness the power of RSS
Many bloggers are neurotic about design of their blogs and pay little attention to their words. This is a mistake. RSS will syndicate your content around the globe in seconds but what gets displayed in the feed? Words, words, words - not pictures. Words speak louder than pictures.

Be smart with syndication: practice the habit of loving RSS.

7. Keep on blogging
Winning bloggers find their voice and this voice matches their character. When you are comfortable in the skin of your personality it’s not too difficult to find something new to say. So keep on blogging. The most effective, original, expansive bloggers are the most gripping bloggers. Blog every day, or at least three times a week.

Get into the habit of fluency and both you and your blog will thrive.

How do I get people to visit my blog? How can my blog get noticed?

This is the number one question all new bloggers ask, for without visitors you’ll just be sitting there, day after day, blogging to yourself.

Here is my list of 10 things to do that will get your blog noticed. When you first start, you should do all of them. Yes, it’s a slog, but it’s the only way to break through and get people to find you.

1. Post on other blogs

Search on Google Blogs for other blogs in your niche. Add a nice helpful comment that adds something to the post. Don’t just say ‘great post - look at me’ - contribute a genuine comment that the blog owner will approve of. Include your URL in the post if you are allowed to do so.

2. Post on forums

As above - don’t spam, don’t pitch, just add useful, helpful, constructive comment. Include your URL in your signature. If the forum doesn’t allow signatures on posts then don’t bother with that forum.

3. Yahoo Answers

Search for people asking questions about your niche in Yahoo Answers. Provide helpful answers, quoting your appropriate blog post URL in the link box at the bottom of your answer. If you don’t have an appropriate blog post, write one that answers their question first and then post your answer quoting the post you just wrote.

4. PPC

Buy traffic on a pay-per-click basis: Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, etc.

5. Join Blogrush

Blogrush is John Reese’s network of blogs. But don’t join until you have your blog fully set up with at least 5-6 posts/pages. Each blog is manually approved and they might reject you if your blog is too thin.

6. Keep on blogging

Bigger blogs tend to get higher rankings in the search engines. Just keep on adding posts naturally over time with the aim of becoming an authority blog in your niche.

7. Make friends on Facebook

Join Facebook and find friends to network with. Don’t spam, don’t pitch - just be natural.

8. Squidoo lens

Create a Squidoo lens in your niche. Have your blog’s RSS feed on your lens. Contact other lensmasters in your niche, sign their guestbooks and work to get your lens ranked. Squidoo is great for getting indexed fast.

9. Write articles

Write articles about your topic and send them to ezarticles.com, isnare.com, goarticles.com etc. Have your blog URL in your resource box.

10. Blog carnivals

Join in a blog carnival at blogcarnival.com. A great way to plug into other people’s traffic!

Then rinse and repeat. Keep doing this, day after day, and gradually you’ll get traction. Above all, don’t give up!

The main difference between a blog and a website is that websites tend to be mainly static whereas blogs change often - either because the blogger adds another post, or because someone visits the blog and leaves a comment.

There’s nothing the matter with static websites if they serve their purpose. But when you do want to update a website you usually have to employ someone to do it for you. And that can be a real pain. Often the website has been carefully designed to follow a set format and future updates must conform to that format. So when you come up with some changes that don’t fit into the format, you can find that you have a major upgrade on your hands, and that can cost both time and money, not to mention aggravation.

If, on the other hand, you choose to have a blog then updates are no problem because you can actually do it yourself. Sure, you can have a number of static pages where all your standard, unchanging stuff appears - but there’s plenty more you can do that will make your blog look a whole lot more appealing than a traditional website.

If, for example, you run a small business, you can use your blog to have static pages about all your regular goods and services, your company background, contact information, terms of trade etc. But you can also use blog posts to announce news such as new products, special offers, new staff appointments - you name it. And when you do want to update your price list, no sweat - just pull up the pages and change them there and then. No wait, no hassle, no webmaster bills.

Blogs are easy to set up, easy to use and can give you a distinctive web presence without having any of the downside of a website.

Why not get blogging? I’ll show you how!

Look, these days you don’t have to be a self-obsessed, egocentric loner to want to start a blog. Far from it.

In fact, anyone who wants a web presence needs a blog. Why?

Well, a well-designed blog is very often a better way of reaching your desired audience than a conventional website. A static website that looks very much the same from week to week does not encourage surfers to stick around or bookmark you for a return visit. It just sits there, metaphorically speaking, gathering dust.

Blogs, by contrast, are dynamic, interactive and alive. And the beauty of a blog is that, once it is set up, you can update it every day (or even several times a day) and you don’t need to be a techie to add more pages. You don’t have to wait (or pay) for a webmaster to upload stuff for you: if you can use a word processor you can maintain a blog. You just sit down, log into your blog’s admin area, type out your blog post and with one click it’s up there, live on the Internet!

Blogs can be used by individuals, businesses (big and small), voluntary groups, churches, families, clubs and societies, political parties, hobbyists, eBay sellers, schools, colleges, gamers, travelers, musicians, photographers, cooks, retirees, etc, etc - you name it.

Let me show you how you can build your own, good-looking blog, all by yourself, even if you are a complete newbie!