Dec
2007
Blogging Goals For 2008
I’m taking part in the Group Writing Project over at Daily Blog Tips, and I’m going to publicly state my blogging goals for 2008. Some of you may remember a similar project awhile back when I did a post about 3 Ways To Get Me To Not Visit Your Blog Again.
This feels a bit like setting New Year’s Resolutions for my blog, and like those very same goals we all set for ourselves, it is unlikely I will succeed at all of them. I hope I’m wrong, but one never knows with something as mercurial as the world of the Internet what will change over the next year, or what might even shit in my own life.
As was stated in the initial post about this project, you need to set measurable goals for yourself and your blog, other wise how will you ever know you succeeded? That being said… I have at least a couple of goals that are not really measurable. heh
Measurable
Daily Page Views - Daily page views have more than doubled over this same time last year, but considering how low the numbers were back then, that’s not saying much. I would like to see another increase of around 50% (I know that sounds huge… it’s not) by this same time next year. To accomplish this I am hoping to improve my SEO skills, which in turn should improve my search engine placement. I’ve learned a lot about more effective blog marketing this year from working for other blogs, and I am hopeful to apply some of these tips and tricks to myself in the coming year.
Google Pagerank - Somewhat of a mystery to everyone it seems, but I want to study up on it some more to lift my rank. I am currently a PR4, I would love to be a PR5 by this time next year.
RSS Subscribers - Depending on how Feedburner is feeling on any given day, I have around 30 subscribers. I would like to hit 54 by the end of next December. I feel a 2-per-month quota is doable. As to how I plan to go about this:
- Post at least every other month about the benefits of RSS in easing your daily blog reading, including a link to my feed.
- Look into including an RSS subscription button in each post via a plugin, or CSS hack.
Social Bookmarking - This is an area I really have fallen down in. Though I have included links at the bottom of each post to ease a user’s job of bookmarking me to sites such as StumbleUpon and Digg, I need to be more proactive in writing content that people will actually want to save for later reference.
Immeasurable
Finding my niche - For too long I have meandered hither and from with my content. The idea that I could write about whatever was on mind my day that was just too enticing, and I gave in to it far too many times. So the time to settle in to just a couple of subjects has probably come, but picking those categories will be the tough part. I think my biggest problem is that everything I am passionate about (movies, music, tech, etc) are already extremely well serviced markets. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t still room for another well focused blog, it’s just a matter of buckling down.
Improving my personal skills - Let’s face it, I am merely a passable writer. If I’m ever going to get anywhere with blogging, I need to improve my game. To this end I have purchased several books on grammar, by far my weakest area, and hope to get through those early this coming year.
New design - I have hired a designer to come up with a new theme for this blog. I haven’t seen any test shots yet, but the basic brief from me to her was “I like what I have, I just want it to be different”. It will still be 3-columns, but the overall look will be getting a new coat of paint in the near future. Hopefully a unique theme, and some freshness will entire more visitors and RSS subscriptions.
Hopefully I will be able to achieve these goals. They seem modest and doable, but one never knows what the future holds for them. If you’re a blogger, what are your plans for the new year?
Blogging Goals For 2008 | ok | December 19th, 2007 at 6:33 pm #
[...] Original post by Sean P Aune [...]
Shari | December 19th, 2007 at 8:45 pm #
I think that it’s hard to find any niche which isn’t well-covered. To me, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. The writer’s voice and character are where he sets himself apart.
As for your writing, the one piece of advice I give anyone wanting to write well is to write, wait, re-read, refine, and re-read. As part of refining, you should fix mistakes, consider how you can turn a phrase in a more interesting fashion, use interesting vocabulary (and don’t repeat the same words again and again) and delete anything which doesn’t add qualitatively to your content. The latter is always the hardest part for people but it really does make a difference in how well you write. Tight writing is always better than rambling, but rushed writing to bang out something is worse. Note: I don’t always follow my own advice 100% of the time but I generally do so.
Personally, I have no goals in regards to my blog. I think having goals for it makes it like a job. I just want to enjoy writing and write as well as I can. It’s something I’ve always done in various ways (and believe I do quite well) and a blog is just a different format for a writer.
Jo's Cafe | December 22nd, 2007 at 5:23 am #
WeekEND Wrap Up…
The week that was in the Cafe and around the blogosphere.
……
Bilingual Blogger | December 23rd, 2007 at 2:11 am #
Much luck to you in 2008 reaching your blogging goals. If I can offer one bit of advice, it would be to run your own race and don’t compare yourself to other blogs. Create and develop the blog that YOU would want to read, be consistent and be active, and you will find an audience. At least, that’s my own personal philosophy. :)
Shawn | December 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 am #
Shawn, I think you’ve got a solid list of goals there. As far as adding a link to your feed on each individual post, it’s really quite easy with a couple lines of code. If you run into any problems trying to get that implemented, let me know and I’ll be happy to help! Good luck in ‘08!
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