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27/09: How Can I Improve My Blog - Another Meme

I'm sure that for many of us, this is the $64,000 question, but it often takes someone like Dane Morgan to set you thinking about just what you see as weaknesses in your own little online bubble. Dane's Blog Improvement Zone Meme was zapped over to me by Vlad The Affiliate, and, Lucia of BigBucksBlogger fame being slow to read through so many blogs it took me a while to realize I had been "tagged", for which I hope they will both forgive me.

My first thought on seeing this meme, and the accomplished bloggers participating in it was one of "GULP", how can I write something that is going to compare to these luminaries ;-) However, not being one to shy away from a challenge, I thought it was only right and fair to add to the discussion with my own humble 2 cents.

1) Like Vlad I am constantly trying to improve my tech/geek knowledge, along with my limited design abilities. I am one of those bloggers who constantly suffers pangs of envy when I see just how good some blogs look and feel in comparison with my own (at least through my own eyes) and would like be far more competent in that area alone and not so reliant on the generosity and skills of others. It is something that is constantly in the back of my mind when I publish.

2) I need to learn more about the people who read my blog, and exactly why they bother to subscribe or visit me on a regular basis. I think this would certainly help me to focus a lot more on what I actually write about. I am ever mindful that I should not try to blog about matters outside my  experience. It is always tempting, when you read blogs written by people with far more experience, to try and emulate them. This is, I believe, a mistake. I think what I need to remember is, that although I may not be an expert in some areas, my knowledge on certain topics is reasonably strong, and it is those aspects I need to concentrate on. What may seem basic to me, doesn't necessarily make it so, and to share some things, whilst it may not be ground breaking news, might well be extremely useful to a lot of bloggers. I would like to think that bloggers outside of the "blogging  about blogging", marketing etc. fields  would find my level of information helpful and understandable.

With this in mind I will be running quite a few more polls in future in the hope that I can find out more about my readership. I really want to keep those established folks reading, but  I realize that a lot of my posts are not of much interest/use to them. Then again maybe, hopefully, it serves as a reminder of what newer bloggers and less technical folks might be reading up on. If it serves as a bridge to higher things and even greater knowledge that has to be a good thing doesn't it?  

3) One thing I am guilty of is "ranting". This is fine on certain types of blog, but I think I need to curtail it a little on TCH Blog. At the same time, I sometimes feel a little more humor would be a good thing? 

4) I definitely want to improve my off site optimization, and have been working on spreading myself out a lot more through commenting and social blogging networks and one or two forums. The benefits of this are well documented and in my experience have done far more to increase my traffic than any other single tactic. It has also helped my subsriptions and is slowly impacting on comment activity too. I definitely need more comments!!

5) Although I feel that focus is important, the nature of my blog is informational and I do think that sometimes a little human interest can be beneficial. I'm thinking of ways to incorporate a little more of a human face to my blog but it's a tricky one. Perhaps another poll would be a good idea to guage reaction. It's something I am considering.

OK, that's my lot for now. I'd like to invite my chosen five bloggers to let us have their thoughts on this Blog Improvement meme, not because I think they are in need of improvements I hasten to add, and maybe I've aimed a little high with some, but they are all bloggers I have come to respect and enjoy reading:-

Jayne, who among several others runs the excellent About Blogging blog to which I recently subscribed.

Linda, the owner of the 5Star Affiliate Marketing Blog and probably the definitive place for affiliate news.

Rob Watts author of the admirable Yak Yak SEO blog which has become a firm favorite that I only recently discovered

Stephen Cronin of the young but growing quickly More Than Scratch The Surface which I have read since its inception

Chris Lodge at Blog Op because it's another recent discovery for me and talks a lot about Blog Improvement so deserves to be tagged :-)

There could be countless others, but I'm restricted to just five! Thanks again go to Vlad and Lucia for including me in the meme, and remember to take out a subscription if you find any of these blogs as informative and well written as I have.

TCH