Postcards from the Funny Farm

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Here in this post you find series links to 5 aspects of a valuable blog. I gave the blogosphere this post because the others sites and books I ran across failed to define. I also give you examples to make the abstract aspects apply a little more. This short series I have published over a few days will pack a powerful punch for your blog’s value and what will that mean for you? well … 1) Greater traffic, 2) longer bounce rate (people will stay longer to read your work), 3) More fans/readers, 4) Possibly higher rank and authority on the web. Let’s review what we’ve covered up to now and then I will close the series by discussing the last letter: “E.”

1. “V” stands for visceral
2. “A” stands for aphoristic
3. “L” stands for linkage
4. “U” stands for ubiquitous
5. “E” stands for extracurricular

Sometimes you have to walk away from your little world that is your blog. While away you will find out all kinds of new matierial for posts as well as a new appreciation for other types of blogging. A couple great places to “get away” are:

BlogCatalog.com

Chawlk.com

Twitter

Search out forums and social networks. These are great places that will add value to your post and your blog.

I’m closing this series but for me this concept is never ending. I am always asking myself: “What makes my blog valuable?” I hope I hit some of these ideas, but these are just what I do. My advice? Ignore what Google Page Rank and Technorati say is a valuable blog. Find your own purpose and goals and then measure your own “rank” based on what you set out to do. I feel like in the future, arbitrary measurements of a blog’s worth are going to fall by the wayside. In some people, they already have.

Okay, so I covered the first two letters of value: “V” for visceral and “A” for aphoristic. Now the third: “L” for linkage! Link love is the #1 way to make friends and influence people (namely bloggers you link to on the web. After you’ve written your visceral post of around 200 words and given it a catchy and creative title, it is important before you press the “publish” button to add 3 deeplinks (links to other posts on your blog) and 3 linkloves (links to other blogs). This can become a standard practice and you will find it easy then. IT IS VERY CUMBERSOME AT FIRST. You need to try and automate the process however you can. It should be like brushing your teeth every morning. Just to give you some of my tips:

1. For backlinks I have a shortcut to my most popular posts page. I open it in a new tab and getting relevant backlinks that are my most popular is as easy as copy/paste. This helps with rank and authrity. It also links your best stuff for people who are interested in it. REMEMBER: The best way to include links is within the context of your writing. Just inserting them random looks like spam and worse than that, it turns off your readers. You can automatically insert links in your blog (I recommend for a 200 word post 3 backlinks and 3 linkloves) and have it enhance your content.
2. For linklove: I use WordPress. As I add new faves to my blogroll, I can go to Manage / links in the admin section an choose the “blank” window feature. Then when I want to get a link open to check out or copy, all I need to do is click. I try to consistently link to my favorite blogs and I notice they really appreciate it. ONE NOTE: Chelle reminded me that the anchor text that the url is assigned to is important to rank, so choose appropriate words. For example: I really like this guy, if guy is the anchor text, then they only get juice for the word guy. If I says: “This guy knows music!” Then you link more effectively to his site about pop culture, music, and being a D.J..

Linkage of external sites along with the 2 types listed above is the third letter in blog value. Coming up tomorrow: The mysterious “U.” Keep following these guidelines and who knows, maybe you’ll be lookin’ into those las vegas hotels

Google PR is a joke. Bad blogs get high PR all the time. Let’s discuss value and how you can get it on your blog.

It seems the trend these days to get “quick fixes” to long term issues. For example, today I saw a popup ad that said colon cleanser could solve your weight loss woes. Is it possible? Maybe. As far as blogs go, the same amazing claims are out there for traffic and PR. I even asked my wife for a $25 program for my birthday Monday that claimed to improve backlinks. Thank God she said no. It was a momentary lapse of reason.

I’ve been at the task of improving Google PR for over a year now and not much has helped. The stuff that has been worth my time doing however has been stuff that increases the VALUE of my posts and blog. This stuff increases my traffic and decreases the bounce rate: SO … having said all that, I am starting a series to discuss the things that I have found useful in bringing more value to my blog. In the end, after Google PR is a distant memory (which it will become if it doesn’t reflect value) blogs of value will remain standing. I will examine a letter from the word VALUE in each post in this series. I’d encourage you to subscribe so you don’t miss anything. Let’s start with what you can do to create more value for your blog: V.A.L.U.E. V=visceral

1. Be visceral with a target of 200 words

If you are like me, you have to look up visceral to know what it truly means. I knew it meant to be “of feeling” but check out the other definitions:
Visceral \Vis”cer*al\, a. [Cf. F. visc['e]ral, LL. visceralis.]
1. (Anat.) Of, pertaining to, or affecting the viscera;
splanchnic.
[1913 Webster]

2. Fig.: Having deep sensibility. [R.] –Bp. Reynolds.
[1913 Webster]

3. proceeding from emotion or instinct rather than from
intellect; deeply emotional; — as, a visceral reaction.
[PJC]

4. dealing with coarse or base emotions; — as, a visceral
literary style. –[RHUD]
[PJC] (source)

Doesn’t that say it all for a valuable blog post? Write from a place of inspiration. That will vary from writer to writer, but many things never change. There is a new site out there dedicated to talking about writing and blogging called “Wriging.” Check that one out for sure. I chose 200 words as my target because shorter that that is often considered spam by the search engines and more than that often makes me click away. Let’s face it, who has time in their bloghop to read more than 200 words. Oh and guess what else? IT’S EASY TO WRITE 200 words! Everybody likes stuff that’s easy. Sometimes longer posts are okay when they contain excellent research. Andy Beard’s Niche Marketing is an excellent example of how long posts can be okay. USUALLY however, less is more folks. This one is, many apologies, 402 words (eek I am such a hypocrite). I hope you see my point.

Write 200 visceral words is the first part of adding value to a post/blog. Next time: “I”. If you can’t wait, send me an email, I will reveal it to you privately for $25 (LOL. j/k … maybe). Derek’s price will be slightly higher.