How to Be a Good Blogging Neighbor (While Also Helping Your Own Blog)

One of my favorite parts of being a blogger is that competitiveness is relatively low. Instead of fighting for one top spot, multiple bloggers can all be at the top together. In fact, helping each other out can really help yourself along the way. So what’s the downside to being a good blogging neighbor? As far as I can tell, there isn’t one. If you’re looking for ideas to help other bloggers, check out of a few of these:

  1. Write winning comments on others’ blogs. One of a blogger’s many goals is inspiring engagement with his or her audience. When you read a blog post by another blogger, leave a helpful comment. What is a “helpful” comment? One that goes beyond “hey, great post.” Give specific feedback, ask questions, or relate to the post in some personal way. Bonus – writing comments on someone else’s blog helps your blog’s SEO and traffic.
  2. Create tutorial posts with blogging advice. Share your wisdom. Don’t worry about giving away your secrets; in blogging, the attitude you should have is not competing with other bloggers, but learning from them and helping them. Telling other bloggers how you organize your schedule, create graphics, and drive traffic will not decrease your success; it can actually increase it, because you will become a blogging authority.
  3. Follow other bloggers on social media, especially with your blogging accounts. Many bloggers believe it is common courtesy to follow back, so you will be growing your fans at the same time.
  4. Share posts from other bloggers on your social media accounts. Doing this will definitely score you brownie points with other bloggers, but it’s also good social media practice: social media experts suggest sharing 20% of your own content and 80% of outside content on your accounts. Moving beyond self-promotion will make your audience happy, your spotlighted bloggers happy, and, in turn, you happy!
  5. Host link parties, guest bloggers, and blog hops as a way of sharing your audience with other bloggers. All three of those methods help grow the traffic, SEO, and audience of other bloggers (as well as yourself). It will also expand the content on your own blog so that your readers get a little more diversity.
  6. Share content from other bloggers on your blog. You can do this through a simple backlink, or you can create a roundup blog post. This is where you gather all blog posts of a similar topic into one of your blog posts. Make sure you include a hyperlink to each blog post!
  7. Create a directory of your favorite blogs or blogs similar to yours on your sidebar. You can also share your favorite blogs by creating an account and following other blogs on BlogLovin’. Anyone who follows you on BlogLovin’ can see the blogs you follow as well.
  8. Create a blogging community. You can do this through social media groups (on Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn), and you can also gather bloggers in your region to meet up in real life. You can share advice, as well as pass along information for locally-inspired posts or opportunities for local sponsorship.

Bonus: If you host your blog on WordPress, use the CommentLuv plugin. Whenever someone comments on your blog, the title of the last post they wrote on their blog will show up with their comment.

What are some ways you try to be a good blogging neighbor? You can practice here by commenting below!

How I Make My Blogging Goals S.M.A.R.T.

As a blogger, I sometimes have difficulty coming up with meaningful goals to set for myself. I do my best on a daily basis to write interesting and readable blog posts; I try to be organized and complete assignments on time; and I am constantly reading about social media and blogging practices. So what else is there to do?
Of course, I am far from perfect, so it is silly to think that I can’t improve in some way. The problem is how I’ve attempted to frame my goals in the past. For example, my goal can’t be simply to “write better” or “get more readers.” Those goals are too vague and don’t focus on any action I can take to reach them.
To help you set goals that result in meaningful change, try remembering the acronym S.M.A.R.T.

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant
T – Time-bound (or trackable)

Let’s use my goal of “write better” as an example. Following S.M.A.R.T, how can I make “write better” more specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and trackable?
Specific – What exactly does “write better” mean? Does it mean using fancy words? Does it mean cutting out extraneous words? Let’s decide that it means I want my writing to be clearer and more concise so that readers can understand me better.
MeasurableWriting is a difficult thing to measure because “better” can be very subjective. Instead of measuring my results, I can measure my effort getting there. My goal could be to write 500 words daily, or to write 3 different drafts for every blog post. It could also be to read more resources on how to improve my writing.
Attainable – Fortunately, everyone can improve their writing. Even Shakespeare, if he came back from the dead, would try to work on his old craft. But part of creating a specific goal is making it attainable. I could say that I will write 1,000 words every day, but 1,000 is quite a bit to start out with. 500 words is a more realistic goal for any writer beginning to make daily writing a habit.
Relevant – There are millions of resources out there through the Internet, podcasts, books, videos, etc. on how to be a better writer. However, lots of them are very specific: how to write memoirs, how to develop characters, how to be a travel writer, etc. I don’t need to make my writing more concise when describing a person, a fictional character, or a place I’ve visited (unless that’s relevant to my blog post); I need to make my blogging more concise. So my reading materials will be based more on content marketing and writing for an Internet audience.
Time-bound or Trackable – This is also a difficult one to follow with writing. I can’t force my writing to be on par within a month because I have no idea how long it will take me to improve. Nor can I track my improvement – it’s not like I can create a graph for how each piece of writing is improving. However, I can say that I want to write 500 words every day for a month. I could perfect a blog post and plan on publishing it a specific day in the future.
I do not want to use page views or readership as an indication of my success. Unfortunately, good writing isn’t always what attracts an audience to your blog, so I do not think it’s a relevant indication of my improvement in that specific area. Don’t get confused, though – there’s nothing wrong with wanting more page views or making it part of your goals.
What kind of blogging goals have you made in 2014? How do you create your goals and make them S.M.A.R.T.?

Sources:

“Personal Goal Setting.” http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html. (20 Jan. 2014).

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8 Little-Known Factors That Are Turning Visitors Away from Your Blog

We’ve all been on obnoxious websites that make us want to scream. Pop-ups, auto-playing songs or videos, illegible font colors, and constant flashing advertisements make us wonder how websites like that even attract visitors. We may never know a specific answer to that question, but we do know they aren’t attracting as much traffic as they could be with a few minor changes. Blogs are often the same way: a well-meaning blogger might not be aware that the aesthetics of his or her homepage is turning visitors off to their blog. If you have a large exit rate on your homepage, you might be making some of these mistakes:

  1. Your “About Me” page/section is lacking. Bloggers are always hesitant to complete their “about me” page. This isn’t a new phenomenon: as human beings, we have a hard time bragging about ourselves. However, just as you need to learn to toss humility out the window for a job interview, you need to work on thoroughly filling out your “about me” section. The “about me” page is one of the most visited sections of your blog. Why do your readers want to know more about you? Visitors read blogs because they love to relate to other people, to hear familiar stories from someone living across the country from them. Showing just how human you are, while sharing your qualifications, will draw in more readers.
  2. Your website isn’t mobile-friendly. Online marketing experts are stressing harder than ever the importance of having a website that is accessible to mobile devices. With ereaders, tablets, and smart phones on the rise, you can’t afford to not have a mobile-friendly website.
  3. It’s difficult to navigate on your blog. Troubling navigation can turn visitors off of any website. They key to having an easy navigation is to overdo it, to some extent: use tags to categorize blog posts; use archives to organize posts by date; use “best of” lists to show off your best blog posts; have pages at the top of the page; and have a search function within your website. However, even though multiple types of redundant navigation is helpful to the reader, too much will distract and overwhelm them. Have a friend search through your blog to find the right balance.
  4.  Your blog is too busy and distracting. There is such a thing as over-designing. Bloggers can get so swept up in the creative process that they end up cluttering their blog with too much cute. Many are aware of the growing trend towards clean minimalism in design, but can’t help themselves. Your personal blog is, of course, a way to express yourself, and your blog design should reflect that. But if your design is too complicated and too overwhelming, readers will be turned off. Again, have a friend double-check your projects before you post them all over your homepage.
  5. Your blog does not look polished and professional. For many beginning bloggers, this is a difficult problem to solve without paying a professional web designer. However, there are little tweaks here and there that can make your blog look more polished: make the images on your sidebar all the same size; make sure all images and pictures within the blog are appealing and professional; and organize the advertisements on your page so they aren’t cut off anywhere. You may not think that readers will notice the little details, and the truth is, they probably won’t: they will, however, notice differences between two images and other glaring inconsistencies.
  6. Your formatting is unreadable. Small font sizes, large blocks of texts that aren’t broken up into paragraphs, using bold, italics, and caps lock in the same paragraph can make your text extremely difficult to read. And who wants to work to read a blog post? Not your readers.
  7. Your colors are unappealing. Perfect color combinations take a fine eye to create. Amateur designers absolutely can use the resources available to them to create the perfect palette on their own, but they can also choose colors that turn off the reader. Instead of picking your favorite colors, find colors that complement each other. And don’t make multiple colors compete with each other for attention: pick primary and complementary colors.
  8. Your comments section is a mess. This mistake may come down to whatever plugin or programming you’re using on your blog. Comments sections where the comments are difficult to read, are cut off, or overlap with each other do actually turn away readers. Visitors come to your blog to engage, to join in the conversation. Even if they never leave a comment, many of them like to read what others have said. If they can’t do that, they may not come back to your blog. Whatever programs you use to organize your comments, it better look appealing and readable.

What are some of the most obnoxious mistakes that turn you away from a new blog? Share your thoughts in the comments!

How to Start an Email Newsletter for Your Blog

Bloggers who have established themselves and are looking to create more engagement with a loyal fanbase should consider creating an email newsletter. An email newsletter for your blog is an effective email marketing campaign that keeps traffic coming back, as well as encourages them to engage with your blog. Bloggers who have used email newsletters find a huge increase in subscribers, which translates directly into more views per post and more revenue for you.

How do you start an email newsletter?

Unfortunately, any email campaign is going to cost you some money. You cannot send out hundreds of emails from your personal address for a marketing campaign – your visitors’ email services will penalize you as spam, making the whole process ineffective.

The first step is to sign up for an email marketing service or software, such as AWeber or MailChimp. Once you’ve done that, you can create and organize email lists. The next step will be drafting your email newsletters.

What goes into an email newsletter?

Your RSS feed already provides subscribers with notifications of new blog posts and allows them to read the newest post. Your newsletter needs to be more than the RSS feed. Business blogs might pick a theme relevant to their customers and include links based on that theme. Personal bloggers could include links to social media conversations and some of the items that were discussed. Food bloggers sometimes send out exclusive recipes that aren’t posted anywhere else. Overall, your newsletter needs to be informative, interesting, and valuable to the reader.

Some bloggers use premade templates to help format their newsletters. This can aid you in organizing the content that goes into your newsletter, as well as directing where logos, social media buttons, and other pieces of branding should fit in.

How do I get visitors to subscribe to my email newsletter?

Create a visible spot on your website for readers to sign up for an email newsletter. Use calls-to-action and promotional deals to encourage subscriptions. You should also include a few of these items in the subscription process:

  • Your privacy policy and disclaimers
  • A webpage thanking the subscriber after they submit their email address
  • An opt-in email sent immediately after the subscription to confirm that there is a human behind that email address (this is especially important if you are offering something in return for a subscription, such as a free ebook or collection of stock photos)
  • A welcome email before sending regular newsletters

How do I avoid becoming too spammy?

The best way to avoid becoming spam is by always providing authentic, valuable content to your readers. As soon as your objective becomes only to get subscribers and earn revenue, your newsletter will lack authenticity and turn off the reader.

However, even with good intentions, you can get off track with your newsletter. Balance your content with items that pertain to your blog as well as pieces that are from other sources. If you must include advertisements in your newsletter, limit it to one and make it unobtrusive. Be aware of how often you are sending out your newsletter – once a week or once every two weeks is a good amount.

Have you created a newsletter for your blog? What advice do you have?

Here’s 12 Quick Ways to Lower Your Blog’s Bounce Rate

For personal blogs, the objective of your website is to gain more pageviews, as more pageviews lead to more income. For business blogs, the objective of the blogging side of the website is to draw customers in with the hopes that they will travel to other pages and eventually make a purchase. In both cases, having traffic flow to multiple pages is part of the process of making money.

That’s why bounce rate is such an important factor for any type of blogger. “Bounce rate” refers to the number of visitors who leave your blog after viewing only one page. You can find your blog’s bounce rate through Google Analytics. Lowering your bounce rate not only keeps traffic viewing your ads and earning you money, but it can also affect your SEO – Google uses metrics from Google Analytics to determine the usefulness of your site. Website’s with low bounce rates are seen as more useful to the Google user, and so are given more SEO weight.

What steps can I take to lower my blog’s bounce rate?

Keep in mind that every blog is different, so the reasons why your bounce rate might be high will be different – which means the solutions you need to lower your bounce rate are going to be different. Try multiple methods and see what works for you!

Here are a few simple suggestions to start out with:

  1. Inbound links – Set up links within your blog post to other blog posts that relate to your text. WordPress and BlogSpot both have functions that allow you to make the link open in a new page. This allows your visitor to simply close the extra window once they’ve finished instead of back-clicking or closing your blog completely.
  2. Related posts – Share another blog post that is related on the bottom of each blog post.
  3. Popular posts – Many bloggers set up a function in their sidebar that automatically shows the most popular posts. Use a picture to really draw traffic in.
  4. Calls-to-Action – Use CTAs within your post to direct traffic to other posts or webpages within your blog.
  5. Author photo – Use a professional looking picture of yourself and include it in your sidebar. Readers like to see the person behind the blog and it’s a quick way to establish trust.
  6. “About Me” Page – Your “About Me” page is one of your most visited pages. Many readers want to see the person behind the writing after they’ve finished a blog post. Create an “About Me” page that is easy to find.
  7. Navigation – A common reason for a high bounce rate is that your traffic has a hard time finding the pages they want. Make sure your navigation is intuitive and clear.
  8. Speed – Web surfers generally leave a webpage that takes longer than 10 seconds to load. If your website is having difficulties, find a way to speed it up.
  9. Traffic source – Your traffic may leave your blog quickly because you weren’t what they were looking for. Eliminate this problem by only promoting your blog in spaces that are related to your topic.
  10. Clickbait – Another common reason why visitors quickly leave is because promises made by your headline were not kept. If your headline promises “new solutions” or “this amazing video,” make sure your content delivers.
  11. Social media buttons – Having social media buttons on your post has been shown to lower bounce rates.
  12. Tag clouds – Tag all of your posts so that readers who want to explore more about a specific topic or issue can do so easily. Create a cloud or other navigation device and put it in your sidebar.

What methods have worked for you in lowering your bounce rate? Share in the comments!

Sources:

John, Becca. “Blog Tips Tuesday 1: How to reduce your bounce rate.” http://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/blog-tips-how-to-reduce-your-bounce-rate/. (12 March 2014).

Goldberg, Steve. “7 Simple But Effective Tactics To Dramatically Reduce Your Bounce Rate.”http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/7-simple-but-effective-tactics-to-dramatically-reduce-your-bounce-rate-0558038#!zrTWH. (12 March 2014).

Chapman, Cameron. “How I Keep My Bounce Rate Under 2%.” http://blog.kissmetrics.com/2-percent-bounce-rate/. (12 March 2014).

How to Write About Yourself (and Tackle Your Blog’s “About Me” Page Without Sounding Self-obsessed)

In every profession, writing about yourself is one of the most difficult hurdles we all face. Almost everyone has an aversion to piling praise onto themselves. Yet we have to do it in cover letters and interviews – and for bloggers, you have to do it in your “About Me” page.

Your “About Me” page is one of the most visited sections of your blog. Ignoring it would be wasting a terribly important opportunity. Instead, you just need to sit down, eliminate distractions, grit your teeth, and follow these tips for writing a stellar “About Me” page.

Outline the goals of your blog – How you decide to tackle your “About Me” page will depend somewhat on your blog’s objectives. Before you start writing, clearly outline your goals to help determine your direction. Are you trying to sell something? Are you trying to gain more readers? Do you need more pageviews? If you’re trying to sell something, list your credentials; if you want more readers, connect with your audience using a personal story or quirky details about your life.
Don’t change your voice – Many bloggers switch their writing style from their blog posts to their “About Me” page. However, there is no need to become more professional or stiff when you write about yourself. If you’re normally casual in the blog posts you publish, keep it that way.
Talk about your blog – Describe when and why you started your blog. Explain your blog’s unique angle, its name, and the topics you primarily blog about. Once you get started on this subject, it might be hard to stop!
Establish your expertise – Convince your reader of why you are worth listening to. You might explain that you’ve been in your line of work for years, or that you’re a resident of the area you write about. Don’t list your entire resume, but do throw in some key points. Whatever you do, kick your modesty and embarrassment to the curb! It may feel like bragging, but it won’t come across that way to the reader.
Write in the first person – Use “I” and “my” instead of “he/she” and “his/her.” Writing in this style will help you better connect to the reader.
End it with some calls-to-action – Take advantage of the traffic this section of your blog will undoubtedly receive with a call-to-action directing your audience to complete an objective. You can do this by sharing your favorite blog post or a blog series; with social media buttons that ask readers to “like” or follow your accounts; with links to your guest posts or other websites where you have contributed as a writer; or by guiding traffic to products you are selling.
After you’ve finished your first draft, have a friend or other trusted individual read it over. Is it sounding too stiff? If you’re worried that you sound like you’re showing off, your editor can check for that tone too.

For information on how to create your profile for Free Guest Post, read our blog post “How to Optimize Your FGP Profile.”

Sources:

Chartrand, James. “Five Tips (and a Bonus!) on How to Write a Fantastic About Page.” http://writetodone.com/five-tips-and-a-bonus-on-how-to-write-a-fantastic-about-page/. (3 April 2014).

What To Do When Someone Plagiarizes Your Content in 3 Easy Steps

A few months ago, I wrote about plagiarism in the blogging world. I concentrated on how bloggers can properly attribute sources so that they aren’t accidentally plagiarizing, as well as what constitutes plagiarism. I also discussed the consequences of plagiarism: it can ruin your reputation as a valuable website; it can burn bridges with other bloggers; and it can get you in serious trouble with Google.

What kind of trouble with Google? According to their webmaster page on duplicate content, “In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we’ll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.”

If your website no longer appears in the Google search results, you are missing out on 60% of online traffic. That is a huge hit to your ability to generate revenue.

Of course, if you read that post and you’re now reading this one, you’re already convinced that plagiarism is horrible and you should never ever do it. So instead, let’s talk about the people who aren’t convinced, the ones who have plagiarized your content, and what to do about it.

Step 1 – Politely ask the plagiarizing party to take it down. Yes, keeping your cool is the first step. It’s important to remember that many plagiarizers steal content on accident. They may not realize that their actions constitute stealing or they may not know how to properly attribute a source. This isn’t an excuse – plagiarizing is always unethical and illegal, even when done on accident. Some plagiarizers might be aware of what they are doing, but have never suffered any consequences for it in the past. Asking them to take it down with a brief but decisive note may be all you need to do to solve the problem.

Keep in mind that taking action against the thief will result in some serious consequences for them. They could lose their webhost, their advertisers, their ability to post on social media, and be penalized by search engines. All of that is extremely difficult to bounce back from. Someone who knowingly plagiarizes your work deserves all of the consequences of their actions, but someone with more innocent intentions may deserve a second chance.

Of course, in order to send them a message requesting that they take down your content from their website, you first have to find their contact information. Check for “About” and “Contact” pages within the website. If the website has an internal search function, search for “contact.” If an email address is not readily available on the website, you can find the owner of the domain name through http://whois.domaintools.com/. If all else fails, try commenting on the blog post.

Step 2 – Start documenting. Take screenshots of the offending website and of your original work. Make sure to include the date in your picture. You will also need a screenshot of the messages you sent to the thief. Find a Google cached copy of your webpage as well. Print out carbon copies of your evidence as well as save them to your computer.

Find a Google cached webpage
Step 3 – Take action. Give the offender a few days to comply with your request. It’s a good idea to specify in your first message to them how much time you will give them, such as 3-5 days. If they have not responded or taken down the plagiarized content, then you will have a few options of recourse.

Do not seek to take revenge out on the thieving website. Trying to defame, spam, or otherwise hurt the plagiarizer will not help you in any way, and it could actually hurt your reputation and chances of getting help. Instead, keep all of your communication civil and polite.

After you’ve given the thief some time and your content is still on their website, then you need to start seeking some bigger fish. Contact their webhost, advertisers, blogging platform, any social media they are posting the content on, and finally, search engines. If you’ve done thorough documentation proving that the original content belongs to you and the other website stole it without permission, you should be ready to move ahead with this step without a problem. You can also report stolen content through Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Sources:

“What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content.” http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/04/10/what-do-you-do-when-someone-steals-your-content/. (4 April 2014).

6 Ideas for Creating Images for Your Blog Posts (and Websites Where You Can Do it For Free)

One of the biggest struggles any blogger has is coming up with unique, appealing images to put in a blog post. Using rich media in your post has a number of invaluable benefits: it helps with your SEO; it attracts readers to your blog and keeps them reading; and it makes it easier to promote your blog posts on social media. The problem is that creating rich media can cost a lot of money or require a lot of artistic skills that the average person does not have. Fortunately, there are a lot of great resources on the Internet that can help you tap into your creativity and generate unique images. Here are a few ideas for unique images that you can insert into your blog post:

Infographics

Infographics are all the rage these days. It’s a concise way to share important information – and it’s easy on the eyes. Internet users would much rather look at an interesting image that presents facts than solid text.

Websites: Easel.ly, Infogr.am, Visual.ly, and Piktochart

Cartoons

Cartoons are a fun way to express or represent some of your blog content. They don’t necessarily add to the conversation, but they are unique and catchy.

Use cartoons as rich media in your blog post
Websites: Pixton and Bitstrips

Collages

If you’re using multiple pictures, place them in a collage to add some extra appeal.

Websites: PicMonkey, Photovisi, CollageIt, Polyvore

Slide presentations

This is a lot like creating a PowerPoint and then uploading it into your blog. Websites like Forbes use this method a lot; they’ll create an in-depth article, then pull the key points into a simple slideshow presentation. Use this for how-to tutorials or presenting information.

Websites: SlideShare.net and HaikuDeck

Quotes

You can easily create a pretty quote with a number of free, online programs.

Create a quote image for your blog posts
Websites: Pinwords, Quozio, and Pinstamatic

Graphics

Create your own graphics using various photo-editing programs.

Websites: PicMonkey

For tips on how to integrate Instagram pics into your blog, check out our post “Grow Your Blog Following with Instagram.”

Sources:

Cooper, Belle Beth. “14 Great Tools to Create Engaging Infographics and Images for your Social Media Posts.” http://blog.bufferapp.com/14-tools-to-make-engaging-images-for-your-social-media-posts. (11 April 2014).

10 Essential WordPress Plugins for Increasing Social Media Engagement

Gaining online traffic to your blog is simple to do with social media. But after you’ve started your social media accounts and gathered an initial following, you may feel that your engagement is stalling. With these WordPress plugins for social media, you can design a painless process of sharing online while also encouraging your audience to share, like, +1, and follow you!  

  1. Google Analytics – Google Analytics can give you tons of valuable data about your blog and how your audience interacts with it. One important metric is the source of your traffic; this piece of information can help you determine which of your social media platforms is the most effective, and which is the least. If most of your traffic is coming from Pinterest, you know you’re doing something good there, and you might decide to spend most of your efforts driving Pinterest traffic.
  2. Simple Share Buttons – This WordPress app does exactly what the name claims: it adds social share buttons to all of your blog posts. It even gives your audience a share count, which can often influence them to share your content. Making it easy for your readers to share your content will increase your traffic from social media, as well as your engagement on social media.
  3. Sociable – Sociable adds social media buttons to your blog posts. This plugin adds a similar feature as Simple Share Buttons, but the images are social media icons rather than share buttons. Still, the same call-to-action is there, motivating your readers to share your content on their social media accounts.
  4. WP Pinner – Need a little help managing your Pinterest account? This plugin lets you schedule pins, track your Pinterest engagement, and automate pins of your WordPress posts from your admin panel. With this plugin, you can spend less time on Pinterest with the same amount of progress.
  5. Pinterest Image Pinner – Speaking of Pinterest engagement, this plugin will raise yours by adding a simple “Pin It” button to all of your blog post images. When it comes to Pinterest, readers are more inspired by your pictures than your text. You might lose the share if you leave your Pinterest CTA to the bottom of the post. Using this plugin allows your readers to pin your image the second they see it.
  6. Shareaholic – More social media buttons! These ones “float,” meaning that they follow the reader when he or she scrolls up and down on your webpage. Having the social share buttons immediately accessible will influence readers to share on a whim. Shareaholic also makes images shareable, gives the reader recommended and related content from your blog, and has social analytics from which you can glean valuable metrics.
  7. Tweet Old Post – This plugin will automatically tweet links to some of your older blog posts, reviving them and bringing in new traffic. Bringing readers in to some of your old posts with absolutely no effort on your part – what’s not to love?
  8. WordBooker – WordBooker streamlines the process of posting on Facebook. You can post content from your blog, status updates, and more into your Facebook page, any groups, or your own wall.
  9. The Google+ Plugin – Automate your G+ posts with this WordPress plugin. It also adds a +1 button to your blog and makes the process of adding you to a circle much easier for your readers.
  10. WP Instagram Widget – Use this plugin to display your latest Instagram pictures on your blog.  Attaching Instagram to your blog will direct your readers to follow you – giving them a taste of what you post can also be an added incentive.

What WordPress plugins would you recommend for increasing your blog’s social media engagement?

10 Unique Blog Post Ideas for the Holidays

It’s that time of year again! And bloggers are taking advantage of the holidays to help grow their blog. Your audience is suddenly much more interested in Christmas crafts and winter recipes, and they have a lot more downtime during vacations to read your blog. Try some of these blog post ideas to help you write the perfect holiday post!

  1. Write a list of gift ideas for specific people – gifts for husbands, wives, grandparents, vegetarians, outdoors-y types, cat lovers, readers, etc.
  2. Put together a list of DIY gift or decoration tutorials.
  3. Reminisce on some of your favorite Christmas memories. This could be a great #ThrowbackThursday type of post. Include pictures from your childhood.
  4. Talk about how you work to make the holidays more spiritual or meaningful for your family. The commercial parts of Christmas are fun, but lots of people like to spend this time of year giving back to the needy in their community or turning to their religious beliefs.
  5. Create a post on how to stay in a budget this holiday season. It’s easy for us to get carried away with buying expensive gifts for our loved ones; if you have a method for keeping yourself from over-spending, share it!
  6. If you’re going on vacation for the holidays, write a how-to post on how you saved up for the big trip, how to pack for your kids, how to manage children on airplanes or long car drives, the best places to go for the holidays, and more.
  7. Write a post about your local area and how they celebrate the holidays. Include lists of winter activities, like the best places to see Santa or go ice-skating.
  8. Gather a list of your favorite charity organizations to donate to. Lots of people like to give back during the holidays, but are also wary of where they should donate; they worry about how much of each dollar actually goes to the cause they care about, or if the money they give actually makes a difference. If you volunteer during the winter, spotlight that organization to give it a boost.
  9. Tell the readers about your most unique or special traditions.
  10. Give advice on how you manage the holiday season. How do you decide which family members to visit? How do you stay sane if you have family staying at your house? How do you plan your Christmas dinner?

What kind of posts do you write about during the holiday season? Share in the comments below!