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Tips for Doing the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge

Posted By Darren Rowse 19th of March 2010 Miscellaneous Blog Tips 0 Comments

A Guest Post by Elle from Couple Money.

I’ve been blogging for a couple years now and I’ve enjoyed it tremendously. Couple Money is not my first blog, but it is the first one I created with a specific goal in mind. I wanted to share how we’re building our net income while creating a mobile income from our passions and create a community of like minded couples.

My other sites started off as personal blogs and haphazardly morphed as I gained readers. Without a particular goal or process, the blogs’ growth tapered off. I wanted to change this with Couple Money and I knew I needed to get it done sooner rather than later.

Tips for Doing the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog ChallengeI’ve been a reader of Problogger and after reading the 31 Day Challenge that Darren presented, I knew this is something I need to improve my site. I completed my Challenge last weekend and I wanted to share some tips I’ve done to maximize the Challenge for my blog.

Promoting Your Blog Post Effectively

One of the first tasks in the challenge is promoting a blog post. I’ve been guilty of promoting my blog posts to the annoyance of other readers and bloggers when I first started a couple of years ago. I had thought the best way was to keep posting updates on new posts. I learned the hard way that method does not work. When I receive constant direct messages on Twitter to promote posts, I feel less inclined to help, even if they’re good posts.

I was happy to see what I could do to promote my posts without seeming spammy. I tend to promote my posts through Twitter and I mixed them up with posts from other bloggers that I’ve found very informative. Since I work during the day, I try to batch my tweets as I review sites in the evening. While that’s great for me and my schedule, it wasn’t too effective.

I found that releasing them around the same time does no one any good. Not too many people clicked to read my posts or other people’s posts because they felt overwhelmed. I decided to make it a win-win situation. I now use Su.pr to schedule my tweets and spread out some community promotion through out the work day.

The Seesmic app is my buddy on my phone to keep in touch. I check replies and messages on my Samsung Moment during breaks and lunch during the day to communicate with my network. I also try and take the time to thank everyone who retweeted my posts. I think that appreciation and gratitude goes a long way with effective promotion.

Interlinking Old Posts Quickly and Easily

Writing posts that can grab readers’ attention is great, but it’s only part of getting a community started. I realized I needed to get my visitors to dig deep and become readers. The best way to help them is presenting them relevant links within the posts they’re interested in enough to read. In addition to helping readers, including relevant links can improve your site’s SEO strategy.

Darren suggests making interlinking a routine part if your blogging activities. To maximize my relevant links and minimize my time doing it, I use CrossLinker and Insight. These two plugins have helped me to quickly create links to my pillar posts and my best content. Crosslinker allows me to focus readers to my pillar posts and choose which keywords to link to it with. Insight is very helpful as I’m writing my post, as I can search for my posts and other blogs for helpful and resourceful links.

I’ve noticed that completing this task has improved my incoming search traffic for certain keywords. I’m starting to get on the first page of results for my relatively young blog. As I continue making interlinking to older posts a habit, I’m hoping to get even more improvement.

Find Some Blog Buddies to Turbo Charge Each Other

If you want to build a community, you have to be a part of one. Day 15’s task was to find a partner to help encourage each other to improve. I checked out some tips on finding blogging buddies and decided to join a small band of bloggers with the Yakezie Challenge. It’s the perfect combination of camaraderie and friendly competition that I needed. As a reader of Financial Samurai, I noticed his challenge to other bloggers to improve their sites by using Alexa as a gauge.

I compare it to someone who’s looking to get in shape by joining a neighbourhood sports team. You’re working hard to improve your game, but the teamwork makes it seem more like fun instead of just fitness.

So if you’re looking at finding a blogging buddy, my suggestion is to look around your niche and find some bloggers who are hungry and have a specific goal you share. Being a part of your niche’s forums is definitely important, but having a competition really focuses you on getting your work done.

Breathe Life Into an Old Post

As I noticed more search traffic for my blog (loving the results of this challenge!), I saw the need to follow Day 21’s task advice on going back and improving my old blog posts. My problem was that I didn’t have a large block of time to research what I needed to do to make it more resourceful and while still keeping up with current posts.

I decided to beef up posts based on my first time reader review (Day 17) and from analytic tools: Google Analytics and WebMaster Tools. My goal was to make sure older posts were providing information that my readers were looking for. I checked several statistics to see what I needed to focus my attention on:

  • Popular Posts: Since time was limited I focused on posts that were already getting some attention and just needed a bit more to help them stand out.
  • Search Terms Used: I wanted to see how readers were finding these posts and if there were any specific questions they were asking. I can either adjust a post with an answer to that question or write a new posts and link to my older posts.
  • Heat Map: On my homepage, I include links to some of my older posts. I look and see which ones are popular and try and figure out why.

I recommend doing this on a monthly basis with your older posts and just focus on what your readers want to read more of. After all, if you’re looking to build a community, it can’t always be about you. Looking at older posts can be a bit easier to see objectively and you can address your readers’ needs more effectively.

What’s The Plan Now?

I have to admit I was really sad to see the challenge over. It was really easy to follow along a daily blogging schedule and having a specific goal to achieve. Having a framework to write and work from helped me to be more productive.

I decided I’m going to use the 31 Day Challenge as my guide for the rest of the year. Instead of going through the guide in the traditional 31 days, I’m going to focus each week on one of the daily tasks. I’ve seen how the guide has improved the quality of my content and the community so I want to really dig deep and focus on all the activities I can do with each task.

How about you? How have you maximized the 31 days to Build a Better Blog Challenge with your site?

Elle has been blogging over at Couple Money on how she and her family handles their finances. To follow Elle you can chat with her on twitter (@Elle_CM) or subscribe to her blog.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Great post Elle. I must admit that I have not personally maximized the information that was provided to me in the 31 day challenge (I fell into the old paralysis by analysis phase). Reading this post though, has inspired me to go back and take action as you have.

    Couple of things. I literally just finished reading about Su.pr last night so, the fact that you mentioned it here, makes me really want to check it out. Also, regarding the interlinking old posts, I think that’s a great idea. Another option would be to use Google. If you use the site: http://www.yoursite.com keyword, you should be able to see which pages on your site you should be linking to.

  2. Great article. I’ve just started going through the 31 days. I’m running 3 blogs, so I’m not doing the steps literally on consecutive days, but I’m finding them extremely helpful. My search engine rank, specifically on the blog in my link above, has already benefited.

  3. Great post, Elle. I particularly liked your point about breathing new life into old posts. I have reviewed several of my most popular posts to find deadlinks, expired affiliate offers, and so on. Yes, having a thriving blog is equal parts creating new great content as well as maintaining older posts. Thanks for your insights!

  4. Making Interlink between previous post was a thing that can be relied upon. I often do this because the sentence is closer to an explanation of a particular source.

  5. I have been following Elle for quite a while now. She is an extremely selfless blogger who promotes and helps others in her niche. During the 31 day challenge, she provided daily challenge updates that allow us to see how her hard work was paying off. She listed the daily vistor count, page views, and subscriber stats. Everyday seemed to bring in better results. I think having the extra accountiability layer help her complete the challenge with great success.

    Great job Elle, your Yakezie friends are very proud of you :-)

  6. Working on old posts is a good idea. Specially on a blog old entries can only gather Search traffic and trying your SEO skills on them once they pass your homepage is a good trick that can boost results.

  7. Way to go, Elle! Great insight and tips to add to the 31 day challenge. I have recently started on Darren’s 31 day challenge and am slowly working through the tasks; some things I’m already doing, but the new things I’m doing do seem to be bringing more traffic! I found a blog buddy prior to doing the challenge, and I also am part of the Yakezie Alexa Challenge.

  8. Elle,
    I was looking to see if iPhone had Seesmic but it seems they don’t. I have never used it on the PC yet but want to check it out. Myself and a few others in Lynn Terry’s elite business group are doing the challenge and we are on Day 8. I am looking forward to using these tips on a consistent basis. I definitely want to build up my weight loss/fitness blog so I just have to stick with the challenge.

    Thanks for all the great links and tips.

  9. I purchased this guide about a month ago and I’m still on day 2.

    Elle, you’ve just provided me with the motivation I need to get back to it.

    Thanks for the reminder and sharing your story.

  10. Interesting – I have a blog and it’s growing slowly – I def think finding the blogging buddies is how you can grow quickly…but it’s real hard to build those connections right off the bat.

  11. Elle, you inspired me.

    Fist of all, I am going through the 31 day challenge – I need to stay more focused on that.

    Secondly, thanks for some great apps and plugins recommendation.

    When I use social media, for instance Twitter, to spread the word about my new posts, I always tweet it with other useful info included (not just my stuff). But I also think that it is to my benefit to tweet in blocks of 3-4 tweets; otherwise, your tweets get lost in the sea of other tweets. Sending a “block” at a time helps you get noticed.

    What do you think?

    Best,
    Ana/YouTube Secret Weapon Review

  12. Hi Elle and thank you. I love the quality of posts here and the comments.

    I recently redesigned my blog and realised that, shifting the tags (way too many and long) to the bottom freed up space on the side. I made a couple of HTML windows of the most popular posts on the topic and that helped. But many of them were posted more than 6 months ago and I recently reposted a few, feeling a little naughty, and they received fresh readers all over again. I was really surprised about the response to those.

    I want to do the challenge on my new blog when we get a decent connection. Right now just getting online is a challenge. Thanks again for great food for thought.

  13. @Shannon O: I’m so happy you’re going to get back in the challenge. I’ve been happy with how much the quality has improved with my blog and the reception I’m getting from readers. Let me know if I can help in anyway.

  14. Cross linking your old posts is a great way to get that PageRank Love between your blog pages.

    There are also GREAT plugins that I mentioned in one of my blog post that you can use to add related posts at the bottom of every post, etc.

    Sounds simple but you’d be surprise how many blogs don’t use these techniques.

  15. Great post. I never thought about having a blogging accountability partner, but that’s a great idea, especially when you’re juggling a bunch of projects every day. Right now I’m working with Kelly as a blogging intern and I’m learning really great habits. The best thing I’ve learned is the need to actually talk to other bloggers through commenting on a regular basis.

  16. Elle I think you do a terrific job of cross promoting on Twitter and seeming spammy. Lately I’ve fallen into that trap of just throwing my new blog post up and hoping everyone would retweet. You’ve got to build a community of people who trust you and they often forget to be “Polite.” Saying thank you is so simple but so important. Great Stuff!

  17. Oh I meant to say not seeming spammy. Hit the submit too quickly, add that as another lesson. Review your comments.

  18. @Paul: Thanks! LOL, I was about to DM you and ask for advice on what I needed to work on, but I see it was a typo. :) By the way I’m always open to productive feedback.

  19. I use the Insight plugin too. Its a pretty nice resource.

    I think its so important to network with fellow bloggers. Its tough going it alone with so many sites out there but like you say, finding some hungry sites in your niche can be just what it takes to propel a site forward!

    Recently I’ve been going through old articles and using Google Adwords Keyword Tool to see if there are better keywords I can be capturing. Its interesting to see what one word in a phrase can mean in CPC.

    Oh, and Elle, Like Paul says, you’ve never come across as spammy.

  20. I also enjoyed the 31DBBB. Having a daily goal kept me focused on a specific task. Three really great things came out of doing it.
    1. I met a wonderful blog buddy, Andi Fisher-http://www.misadventureswithandi.com/. I’ve had the pleasure of being a guest post on her blog and she regularly comments on my blog.

    2. I met several other film blogs on Twitter and we formed a group called “Film Girl Force”. We help each other by commenting and linking to each others blogs.

    3. I actually did become a better blogger.

    I will try to do the 31DBBB again for month this year.

  21. Great post Elle. I appreciate the tips you’ve provided, you’ve inspired me to take the 31 Days challenge too!

  22. @rick and @Aglolink: Interlinking and refreshing older posts has really paid off. I feel like I’m offering readers better posts and I’m also allowing them to check out some more relevant material.

  23. I hadn’t heard of either of those interlinking plugins before, and I’m a regular reader of Problogger. I must have missed it the first time around. Either way, It’s a great post, Elle, and I’m glad to be a part of the Yakezie group with such talent.

  24. This is a great follow-up to the book. I’m about half way through right now and love it. Thanks so much! Ian

  25. @Ana: I think spreading out your tweets is the way to go. Giving your followers time to check out posts seems to be mutually beneficial.

    @Jeff, Craig, and Beating Broke: Thank you for saying those kind words. I really enjoy being a part of the Yakezie Challenge.

  26. I love how you explained the specific steps you took and what did and didn’t work. I’ve been meaning to join the challenge and to do the 31 days, but apparently I really need to go from “meaning to” to actually doing it.

  27. Elle, great article! I like the section about interlinking old posts. I’ll have to check that out.

  28. Great post Elle. I’m running 5 blogs, so I appreciated the tips you’ve provided.

  29. Very nice tips. Any ideas on using Thesis? Should we go that way and purchase it or not? Any thoughts?

  30. Nice thread Elle; I enjoyed reading about your experiences in blogging. Good tips.

  31. I created a new blog a week ago . There are still 3 weeks to answer your challenge. thanks for your tips

  32. Elle, you do a great job with Twitter and it pays off… whenever you (or most people for that matter) retweet my posts, I make a mental note to return the favour.

    Great tips on some plugins I’m not using too, I’ll have to look into them!

  33. Great tip it’s funny how allot of people miss out on the enjoyment of picking a niche before they start blogging…

  34. Congrats Elle! You have made The Yakezie proud! Don’t be sad about the challenge being over…. I know exactly how you feel. We’ve got 3.5 months left in hours.

    Thanks for all your support as well.

    Best,

    Samurai

  35. I appreciate that in addition to providing tips for the 31-day guide, you shared the tools you use in certain tasks. Thanks.

  36. good sharing, elle

    you surely knows how to take benefit from older posts

  37. Great tips Elle!

    I like how it’s so concrete and you gave examples of what worked and what didn’t for you.

    Thanks!

    Fellow Yakezie, Y&T

  38. I have created a blog few days ago and I am thinking, I will take the challenge. Thanks

  39. It is the essential concepts each day to improve blogging and its good to see that he has now come up with the same tutorials with workbook and even that for a reasonable price.

  40. Thanks for the great post. Specific tools you mention to build your links and boost your posts are especially helpful.

  41. Su.pr? Never heard of it! Signing up to it right now! Thanks so much for that tip, I like the sound of it.

    I agree about the blog buddy. I have a few and it’s been one of the most rewarding aspects of having this blog.

  42. Excellent post Ellie… The interlink plugins will be priceless for many of my blogs I think…. As for splitting the blogging challenges into weeks this is something I plan on doing soon. I have not followed the 31 days to a better blog but I may benefit from doing so for sure.

    Yakezie is nothing short of awesome…. we are a great team.

  43. Thanks for sharing those links on how to interlink quickly. I am going to try that out.

    I also purchased this e-book and I am so glad I did. It helps so much to give you the foundation your blog needs to grow strong. I would be floundering aimlessly in the blogosphere is I did not use the tools in this book.

    Just checked out your site and it is awesome. Love it!

  44. I also used su.pr but they were stealing my pageviews. Now I use tweet-u-later.com

    just a tip.

    thanks

  45. Thank you for the insightful post, Elle. I like what you said about breathing life into older posts; it’s worthwhile to polish old stuff, because if the post remains popular for a long period of time, it ought to be kept up-to-date.

    Another effective strategy is to write (but not rehash) posts on the same topic. So check what’s popular, and produce stuff that people want to read more of. It will provide a lot more value to your subscribers.

  46. Great job! I’ve been trying to work on mine as well following the 31dbb challenge, and now you’ve given me new motivation and reminded me I haven’t finished reading! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.

    C

  47. Darren,
    Nice to see again about 31 DBBB Challenge post. I am still following your tips which were mentioned in 31 DBBB . So nice to see great tips here.

  48. Great post Elle~

    I especially luv the crosslinker and insight plugins that you provided for interlinking previous posts. Very nice. :-)

    There are a good number of plugins we use on our twitterwatchdog.com blog and crosslinker and insight look to be be great additions to save us tons of time.

    Thank you~

    Al Ferretti

  49. Thanks guys for your support! For those getting started on the challenge, I wish you the best. It’s an awesome way to develop a system that can grow your blog and community.

  50. Just a Heads-Up for you and your readers that the CrossLinker plugin you refer to the “Interlinking Old Posts…” section is no longer supported by the author. Jan Hvizdak does not want the responsibility of updating it for compatibility with WordPress and other Plugins.

    He publicly states, “I gave up development of the Cross-Linker plugin for WordPress as well as the Captcha Godfather plugin for WordPress because people are experiencing problems with compatibility.”

    He goes on to say, “I deeply hate WordPress.” So I guess he as a problem feeling good about creating and maintaining a plugin for a platform that is constantly evolving.

    Don’t install this plugin is the message here. I found this info on a quick research mission after reading the recommendation above. The last thing I want to install on my blog are problems due to a disgruntled plugin author.

    The reference URL for this info is: http://services-seo.net/blog/ .

    Perhaps investigate Kb Linker instead, for a similar function.

    Cheers,
    John

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