There are times when you are blogging when you realize that you need a certain something to get your blog to the next level. Especially when you have a social networking blog, some things would just seem to make sense. But, alas they do not always make sense. So, when you finally add that little extra touch you realize to yourself how it easy it was, and why you did not just stop hitting yourself with a dumb stick for not doing it earlier to my social networking blog.
Social Networking Blog Duh List 10 Times Over
1. Google Sitemap
I could not for the world figure out how to connect the sitemap to Google Search Console. It just sat there for about 6 months, and I said to myself, “Self! I really do not need a sitemap do I?” The answer is yes!
2. SEO
Have you even swore off traffic from a site that has over 150 million people going to it on a monthly basis? I never expected to get a lot of search engine traffic when I started a social networking blog. Unsurprisingly I did not get more than a dozen hits from Google on my site until May 2010. I started my blog in January 2010. According to Google Analytics, 37.47% of my traffic over the last 30 days was from search. 90% of that was Google. Duh!
3. TSA
This is a new duh to add to my list. I knew about the Tribe Syndication Alliance last year, and still decided that it would be better for me to start up my own group (which never took off). I got an email from a Facebook friend reminding me about the site (Alexander if you are reading this Thank You!). Actually, this list came from a conversation with a TSA member as well (Shari Weiss). Note 4/10/13: I have started using Triberr instead of TSA, because of time constraints.
4. Revive Old Post
I had been looking for something like this for over a year. Then I got mentioned in an old Tweet from someone I do not keep in touch with anymore. My first reaction was what the? My next reaction was why did I not find you earlier, my dear, dear friend? (Note 4/10/13: I have not used Tweet Old Post in some time now. Note 9/23/19- I now use the Revive Old Post plugin to share content to my Facebook and Twitter page.)
5. Conversion is key
I sort of, kinda, maybe forgot to concentrate on conversion until I started getting traffic. I had the basics there, but no real plan. If you forever stop reading this blog right now, I forgive you. Go in peace! For those of you who want to learn from the master of disaster schedule a free 30 minute Skype consultation with me.
6. Fan Page
I did not understand the benefits of Fan pages until 20% of my traffic started coming from my Andy Nathan and Smart At The Start fan page. Surprise they work! Oh by the way! Please sign up for my fan page. 🙂
7. Facebook Comments
I was so excited when I first started blogging and got all these comments saying how great my blog was, and that I was doing a great job. Naturally, I agreed with them, until I discovered they were robots. You are so smart I could just eat you up for additional intelligence! (Note: 4/10/13 I much prefer GrowMap Anti-Spam Bot after the Comment System debacle of 2011. Note: 9/23/19- I started using Facebook comments a few years ago because each new comment now goes to peoples Facebook news feed as well. That means potential social traffic with each comment. Plus, it turned comment spam into a crawl.)
8. RSS Feed
My RSS feed did not work until July 2010. I could not figure out how to set up Feedburner and was too embarrassed to ask anyone. People were actually commenting on my blog asking for me to get them signed up, and I just dropped the ball. I sat at that Starbucks for 1 hour figuring it out, because the shared disaster of this not working had become too much for me. High Five! (Note: 4/10/13 Feedburner is being phased out by Google.)
9. Active Campaign
This goes along with conversion. I have had my Aweber form up pretty much since I started my blog. The challenge has been that I had not really created a great offer until the last few months. (Note: 9/23/19- I switched to Active Campaign in 2017. They have a more dynamic automation system and integrate with a lot of different marketing tools. I am also an affiliate of the email automation software I believe in it so much).
10. Do it yourself
Blogging for me started out as a way to learn about social networking, and possibly add business. I thought that all bloggers were people who developed huge followings by themselves and that I did not need anyone else to help me with this. Partner up with people. Whether it is a joint venture or full out partnership.
Update: 8-19-2013: Let’s add to this list having your backup go straight into your website database for two years without you knowing it. Fortunately, I did export my content to my computer every month or two over that period. However, not knowing that the content might be gone if the website disappeared. Kind of a Duh Moment! Downloading your site via FTP and finding out it is 12 GB of data, definitely a duh moment!
Final Thoughts on Social Networking Blog Duh List
So why would I sit here and tell you all the things that I did wrong? Is it encouragement? No, I can do a rah-rah blog if you really want it. The fact is that learning how to blog is a learning experience. Do not feel embarrassed to ask, do not be ashamed that something does not work, and most of all feel good because I am sure that I erred before you ever did. If you ever need help with your social networking blog, or any type of blog let me know?
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Andy!
LOL! What a great post!! I love it. Can;t tell you how many times I have gone. DUH! What took me so long. TSA has been the best for me. I’m a little slow at the social networking but I’m learning and posts like yours helps! Thanks!
Hi Andy,
what a great list of information!
Yes the TSA is definitely a great community supporting each other through sharing. I have learned so much by being part of it. Without it I would probably not read your great post!
I also love the Tweet old post plugin, it just ticks over automatically.
Thank you so much for sharing!
To Your success!
Yorinda
Fantastic post! And so spot on! Thanks for the Retweet Old Posts. I’ve been thinking about trying to set it up in Hootsuite. This is wayyyy easier!
Hi Andy
I realy but REALY love reading your blog.
I love it when people talk out of what they learn ,
like ben there done that sit with the TShirt but
now helping people not the get the same T-Shirt.
I am going to Book mark your blog and learn from
you. I would also love to connect with you on
Skype for that 30 min call.
my skype name : thewisdomman
Love to hear from you.
Regards
Theund
Hey there Andy! Thanks so much for putting what you’ve learned into a post. Your story sounds very much like mine. I just sort of started blogging to help me on a journey not really thinking out the process. Now I’m having so much fun, learning, growing and sharing I can’t imagine not sharing my new found knowledge with those who can benefit from it.
Never ever heard of the Tweet Old Post plugin…I’m heading over to put in in right now. Plus …..you’ve just reminded me I need to get my Feed Burner done.
This is my first week with TSA. Without it, I would have never read this post and learned today.
Thanks – Debi
Thanks so much for the great tips.
You are right.
In order to have your Blog exposed and build realtionships you need different arenas where you connect.
Thanks for sharing
Great info there Andy! I actually had never heard of tip number 4: “Tweet Old Post”. I will have to look further into this. As for the rest of your excellent article, I pretty much have started this blog the same way you have and am noticing the same trends.
I have to say I don’t much like them captcha’s, however necessary they might be. I don’t what it is, it takes many trials sometimes before I manage to get it right.
Stevie
Andy there is no doubt that you have echoed the way I have felt and still do at times. Some of those points are like gold dust and I shall apply them to my blog right away.
It does not matter how much we think we know we can always learn something new. One thing that frustrates me is the Captcha test. I understand why it is necessary but I can never seem to get it right. Then someone introduced me to Growmap plugin. It makes life so much easier for me when I find it on a site.
What a great list. I’m going to use it like a checklist. There are some things I need to work on like the FB fan page and maybe partnering with other people. Of course, I need help in conversion too. Doing all these little, little things can really make a difference. How I wish making money through blogs was easy. It is a lot of work and I’ve learned you’ve got to do all those little, little things coz’ in the end, it adds up to something bigger. My new thing is learning how to do social networking. Well, thanks for sharing your experience. This list will help many people.
I as well am new to blogging, it’s great that there is so much information out there so I don’t miss a thing!
Thanks for the info Andy!
Andy, these are great tips – when you first start out blogging, there are so many little things that make a huge difference. And, it’s a challenge for new people to “believe” which ones work and which ones don’t. Your tips are an honest list that new bloggers will be able to learn from. Great job in summarizing all of them and for taking action!
Have a terrific day! Julieanne
We are all learning from our mistakes every day! Thanks so much for sharing yours 🙂 Being able to laugh it them is important too! I am definitely going to have to check out the Tweet Old Post plugin 🙂 Thanks for all the great info and the smile 🙂
Hey Andy,
Thanks for sharing these great tips. I love the fact that you have admitted what most people wouldn’t about your learning curves and are sharing the knowledge you have gained to help make the journey easier for your readers.
I just installed the “Tweet Old Post” plugin…great advice.
You never know where you are going to learn your next life lesson or social media lesson !!
It is so much easier to have success when you don’t try to do it all yourself. It is so important to have a team approach to achieving success and to leverage the talents of others.
The TSA Community allows us to do that in a very beneficial way..
Keep the great tips and lessons coming,
Marc
Hi Andy,
I hadn’t heard of Tweet Old Posts either, but it sounds like a great idea. I’ve just installed and activated it on my blog.
I don’t like captchas at all. But too many bots were getting through despite Akismet, so I compromised. I have a conditional captcha, where someone has to be approved by me only the first time he or she comments. After that, no captcha.
Willena Flewelling
Hi Andy,
yeah TSA has opened up a whole new ball game for me in the arena of social media,sharing and caring for others out there like yourself.
I have learned so much awesome stuff.
This is a great blog you have written with several gems in it for me to hook into.
Thanks great job.
Cheers
Caryn Potter
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the tips and reminders!
Creating our own blog from scratch has certainly taught us a lot. We discovered that many times in order to find the answer to our question we only needed to “google it”!
And as we enjoy building blogs so much we’ve decided to offer our services to those who find building their own a challenge. It’s such a pleasure to find a “nugget” of a plugin that does exactly what you were looking for!
And of course, we agree: being part of a community or “tribe” that has the same interests and that you can interact with is a great way to connect with people.
We look forward to your next posts!
Caryn,
I agree with you that TSA has definitely opened some doors. It is an amazing organization.
Glad that you enjoyed the gems!
Andy
Hi Andy
Those are all great things to keep in mind. There definitely is a systematic approach to starting with the domain name, hosting, getting wordpress installed and your blog built. After those steps its just a matter of getting some of what you mentioned into place. It can be daunting for a brand spanking new blogger to get going especially if they have no idea what the next step is.
I can relate all to well with your RSS feed and Feedburner. I had a blog a few years ago and had the same problem as yourself, I ended up abandoning the blog but not because of the RSS problem though.
CJ,
I completely agree with you that for a new blogger it can definitely be daunting for a new blogger to get started. I have abandoned blogs as well for various reasons over the years, and it really is about understanding how to use WordPress and the tools that the system offers correctly!
Andy