Wednesday
How to revamp your old posts
Instead of sharing the same information over and over (I mean how many times can you write about Fibro Fatigue) I suggest breathing some new life into your ancient posts, if like me you have been blogging for a while. This will get readers into your valuable articles that they may not have seen that are still relevant to them today.
Firstly I look through my blog's archives and decide which ones I will revamp. There is no correct way to do this, it is completely up to the individual. Some people choose their most popular post and some people choose their most unpopular articles with the least visits.
I choose content that can be considered timeless or evergreen and by this I mean that the topic is relevant, was relevant and will continue to be relevant to a group of people e.g. What is Fibromyalgia?
I choose content that can be considered timeless or evergreen and by this I mean that the topic is relevant, was relevant and will continue to be relevant to a group of people e.g. What is Fibromyalgia?
Timeless content is not the latest news or the latest trends, it can be How To do something e.g. How To Fight a Fibro Flare; Tips such as 10 Tips to using Aromatherapy to Reduce Pain.
Here's a How To List that I use when reworking my old posts:
Here's a How To List that I use when reworking my old posts:
1. READ IT: Spend some time re-reading your old post. Look at it like a first time visitor to your site. Imagine this is the very first post of yours they have ever read. Is it clear? Does it provide valuable information to the reader. Is it simple and specific or does it wander all over the place (like some of my earlier posts). Does it stay on topic or could it be divided up into two posts?
3. SPELLING: Are there spelling or grammar errors? Check now. Maybe you missed them originally.
4. VALUE: Is there anything you can add to make it more useful to your readers? e.g. an infographic or graph; links to other relevant sites; is it too short and requires more content?
5. IMAGES: Can you add or change an image to make it more appealing or more shareable? or more PINNABLE?
a) Consider where you would usually share your posts or like your posts to be shared e.g. PINTEREST, facebook, twitter, Instagram etc and size your image to suit that social medium.
Different sizes have been shown to perform better on each of the different social media platforms e.g long verticals with words in them work best on PINTEREST. Here is a list of the best sizes for sharing images on social media from buffer that may help:
PINTEREST is now preferring even longer PINS and they suggest 1,000 by 1,5000 for maximum affect. (See how I did that! I updated the information. it would be even better if I redid the graphic with the updated info, don't you think?)
a) Consider where you would usually share your posts or like your posts to be shared e.g. PINTEREST, facebook, twitter, Instagram etc and size your image to suit that social medium.
Different sizes have been shown to perform better on each of the different social media platforms e.g long verticals with words in them work best on PINTEREST. Here is a list of the best sizes for sharing images on social media from buffer that may help:
b) Have you thought of branding your photos? By that I mean putting your logo on each photo so that when it is copied and shared it is easily recognisable as yours and continues to promote you and your blog.
c) Don't forget to add the keyword, alt tag and file name behind the scenes to make the image more searchable. This is how I get many views to my blog as having these done properly, behind the scenes, means my images come up in a google image search. I have built a blog up to thousands of viewers very quickly by using images.
6. LINKS: Check all your links to make sure they are not dead. Remove/change dead links.
Link the article, you are revamping, to a relevant other article of yours to keep the reader delving into your posts. One or two of these internal links in each post is enough... and only if relevant.
Link the article, you are revamping, to a relevant other article of yours to keep the reader delving into your posts. One or two of these internal links in each post is enough... and only if relevant.
7. READABILITY: Make it easier to read. Does it need a larger font? Most people find 16 an easily readable font size but it does depend on the font you are using as some are naturally larger.
Does it need smaller paragraphs and more white space? People find it easier to read sort paragraphs rather than long blocks of text.
8. TITLE: Does the title need changing? Can you make it a better one so that it has a keyword or phrase that might be used by someone searching for information OR can you make it more intriguing a title to be shared on social media to get people's interest and make them click over?
9. Include ONE call to action at the end of your post, examples could be:
- invite a comment about your post: Be very pointed about asking for comments - ask for peoples opinion ask for an example of things.
- ask readers to share your post.
- ask readers to sign up to your email list.
- ask readers to visit and join one of your social media sites.
10. COMMENTS: Check out your comments section. Are there some you need to respond to? Are there some spammy ones you can delete?
11. SHARE: Share your revamped post on all your social media now. Schedule it to re-run on your social media.
12. YOU CAN SHARE THIS OLD POST AT FIBRO FRIDAY(if it is about fibromyalgia). This is a great way to get more visitors to your valuable and often hidden posts.
13. EMAIL: Send an email to your subscribers and let them know about your post.
Have I forgotten anything? Have you been revamping any of your old posts? i would love to hear about it.
Tuesday
The Weekly Blogging Challenge - week 1
WELCOME to the first Weekly Blogging Challenge.
This week's Blogging Prompt is EXERCISE.
WHAT IS A BLOGGING PROMPT? It is a suggestion for you to blog about if you are looking for ideas. It may give you an idea to get you started on a blog post. It may spark ideas to get you past a block.
So this week it is anything to do with exercise and fibromyalgia - if you exercise, why you exercise, why you don't exercise, what exercise does for you, what exercises you have tried, what works and what does not work, why you couldn't possibly live without exercise, why you just can't ever exercise, what exercise you use to do before fibromyalgia, how fibro has affected your fitness, yoga, dancing, walking, running, gym, etc, what you need others to understand about Fibro and exercise, your specific exercise program, why you will never exercise again, what exercise does to you.....
JOIN UP for this free challenge, get bonus places to post and more.
To find out more about these blogging prompts and the weekly blogging challenge, please go here.
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