Blog Blahs
They happen to everyone. Lord knows, I’ve had my share of times when I find myself navel-gazing and wondering what on earth compels me to blog when I could be, oh, watching inane TV shows or trimming my toenails. I’ve seen it happen in my friends, too.
Sometimes the blog blahs are simply the result of burnout. Too many posts, too few hours in a day… that sort of thing. Other times, it’s the asswipes who cause it — the comment spammers or idiots who don’t know the difference between polite disagreement and rude ad hominem attacks. When their comments begin outnumbering the interesting, thought-provoking ones, it’s usually followed by the blogger taking a hiatus.
But other times, bloggers give up because they get discouraged. Traffic is low. Incoming links are, too. Blogging in a vacuum is much like talking to yourself: it kills time, but why bother?
That’s what’s happening with El Cid right now. (Go show him some love, folks.)
My advice? Don’t give up. Get active.
1. Make sure your software pings the big indexes every time you update. You can ping them all at the same time at Ping-o-matic.
2. Develop a good blogroll. If you use Blogrolling, the blogs to which you link will learn you’re linking them. At least 80% of the time, that results in return links, and that means additional traffic. You can also check Technorati, to find out who’s linking you. Shanti Braford just launched a new site, Who Links To Me which reportedly does the same thing, although I haven’t been able to get it to work yet.
3. Leave comments at other sites. Be polite, even if you disagree with the other blogger’s views. Regular blog readers and fellow bloggers often look through the comments to find new places to visit. (Other bloggers, myself included, will strip URLs and names left by rude “traffic whoring” bloggers, so don’t waste time trying to increase your hits by being an ass.)
4. Link other blogs regularly in your blog entries and be sure to send Trackbacks to the other bloggers’ entries so they know you’ve linked them. Just as you want other sites to share their traffic with you, you need to make it a point to share yours with others. If your software can’t send Trackbacks, use Wizbang’s Standalone Trackback form or scripted Standalone Trackback tool from MovableType. (You don’t have to use MT to use their tool.)
And above all….
5. Don’t let anything or anyone kill your joy in blogging. Just take a breather when you need it. We’ll be waiting for you to return.
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*never tease someone who is dieting* *never tease someone who is dieting* *never tease...
Kate -
Who Links To Me is back up & running now. Should be all good to go. Had some database issues there for a little while.
Btw – just clicked through from your site & your stats are impressive!!!
shanti
Pooh, I still haven’t been able to see them!
Heh – I like to talk to much to give up blogging… but then there are weeks like this one where I just don’t have time to get around to reading (much less blogging and linking) some of my favorite bloggers. Lately I seem to have a lot of weeks like that! Oh well, this too shall pass. Now I’m off to visit El Cid – who I haven’t had a chance to visit before
I am SO there right now. Your post is very timely.
Thanks for the Advice.
Really unexpected and completely appreciated. Kate continually increases in my view as a nice lady ( I know she attempts to avoid that moniker). Thanks for not dumping my site during my absence….when I get back to the States and have full access to all of my stuff I will settle up with you for the access time I owe you….anyone looking to host a blog or a site really ought to consider Venom Hosting – http://www.venompages.com/
I have so much to say based on things I see here in Iraq and the thoughts these things generate. I wish I only had the time to articulate these thoughts.
Thank you for the kind words, advice and encouragement.
Cid, your account is current thru December. Thought I’d point that out before anyone starts thinking I’m in the habit of giving away free hosting. Don’t wanna spoil my reputation, yannow.
Great tips Kate! Thank you!
I never knew of Ping-O-Matic – thanks for the tip!
Hope you had a great weekend!
number 3 never works for me. I quite often comment politely on blogs that do not share my political opinions in an attempt to spark a lively yet respectful debate and the majority of the time, the outcome is the same: tarred and feathered. a discenting opinion in the blogosphere is fuel for every single one of a blog author’s followers to foam at the mouth and make baseless personal attacks. I hardly even bother anymore.
Hey Girl, you’re on my blogroll because I’d seen you commenting here so often. (You made it on there before ‘Blogroll Survivor’, even!)
woohoo. go me.
although, we don’t have differing political opinions, so commenting here doesn’t leave me with a bad taste in my mouth like many other places. 
Blog blahs
Venomous Kate voices some of what I was feeling in early October: "Sometimes the blog blahs are simply the result of burnout. Too many posts, too few hours in a day? that sort of thing. Other times, it?s the [derriere]wipes who cause it ? the co
Blog blahs
Venomous Kate voices some of what I was feeling in early October: "Sometimes the blog blahs are simply the result of burnout. Too many posts, too few hours in a day? that sort of thing. Other times, it?s the [derriere]wipes who cause it ? the co
Blog blahs
Venomous Kate voices some of what I was feeling in early October: "Sometimes the blog blahs are simply the result of burnout. Too many posts, too few hours in a day? that sort of thing. Other times, it?s the [derriere]wipes who cause it ? the co
Blog blahs
Venomous Kate voices some of what I was feeling in early October: "Sometimes the blog blahs are simply the result of burnout. Too many posts, too few hours in a day? that sort of thing. Other times, it?s the [derriere]wipes who cause it ? the co
Blog blahs
Venomous Kate voices some of what I was feeling in early October: "Sometimes the blog blahs are simply the result of burnout. Too many posts, too few hours in a day? that sort of thing. Other times, it?s the [derriere]wipes who cause it ? the co
Blog blahs
Venomous Kate voices some of what I was feeling in early October: "Sometimes the blog blahs are simply the result of burnout. Too many posts, too few hours in a day? that sort of thing. Other times, it?s the [derriere]wipes who cause it ? the co