I hate it when bloggers don’t understand simple concepts, like who’s content is it and a fast blog is is better.

So, here are some pointers:

 

1. Fix your blog tech issues

This scares a lot of people, but being scared of it is not going to fix anything. Really. Check speed, usability, photo optimizations, google indexation and all that matters. Learn it or pay someone to do it for you.

Most of this stuff, important stuff, can be done once and check on it every 6 months or so. Not doing it is really stupid. It is. Imagine trying to build a house on a land you did not check for holes or stability. Blogs bring all sorts of rewards (money, employment, sex), it’s stupid not to have it running very good.

I have paid people for custom plugins, custom themes and basic functions that help me concentrate on my writing. My images optimize automatically, a featured thumb is assigned automatically, other stuff runs in the background for Google and Facebook, all done one time.

 

2. Keep your stuff on your server

Every little thing. Comments. Images. Posts. Everything.

Don’t use image buckets, don’t use OneDrive or Photobucket, nothing. Buy bigger hosting if you need it, optimize your images if you need it, but don’t ever upload your images to other servers. In 5 years, you will notice a steady stream of clicks on those images from Google Image Search. That is your traffic, not PhotoBucket’s.

Don’t use comment platforms. The comments are yours. Your content. Keep them on your server. If Disqus goes belly up tomorrow, they will take your blog comments with them.

Also, read fun stuff about Poton.

 

3. Do basic SEO

A few years back I started reading about Search Engine Optimization and I had some good people convince me I do need it, not for quick hits, but for the long run. So I did some basic optimizations, I installed a plugin that generates valid sitemaps, I enlisted those into Google Webmasters Tools, I run Broken Link Checker twice a year and I am golden.

Golden!

I don’t write too much about current events, so no traffic spikes for me, but I get 25% of my daily traffic because of these tiny changes I did some years ago. It’s not bad to have my content discovered all the time.

 

 

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