Even if your blog has great content, there are usually a few things missing that can make a difference in your traffic, returning visitors and overall effectiveness. I recently critiqued a blog where posts would receive tons of Facebook likes, but had no option to retweet. I’ve said this a million times, but make it easy for people to share your content. Remember that Facebook and Twitter audiences are different entities and should be treated that way.

Below is a checklist I give clients. I’ve found those who already have blogs get the most out of this as it highlights the little things you’re not doing that can really make your site more effective, attractive and engaging:

Marian’s Blog Checklist

RSS Feed - I can’t think of one blog that doesn’t give  a subscribe option, but do a double check. Is it obvious place? Does the link actually work? Do readers have the option to get those updates delivered by email or just Reader? Having a clear and functional subscription button is one of the most important parts of your blog as it encourages repeat visits. If you don’t have a button yet, you’re seriously missing out, so get on it now before I throw a tantrum.

Contact Info - Before you start whining about all the spam you’ll get if you post your email address, I don’t want to hear it. Combat spam by posting your email address as username (at) email (dot) com or by simply linking to your email account. I don’t recommend comment forms because you WANT people to have your actual email address. You want to be visible. You want it to be easy for people to contact you. If you want more LinkedIn connections you need to advertise your address or else people can’t send an invitation. Encourage email engagement and more opportunities come your way. Trust me.

About page - I hopefully don’t have to remind you that you NEED an About page, as any blogger will tell you theirs is the most visited page. People want to know what your blog is about and who the hell you are. Utilize this page to highlight what you’re trying to achieve. Trying to get a job? Say it! Want clients or new friends or writing assignments? Use your About page to ask for those things and as a space where readers can get to know you better.

• Extra resource: How Horrible Is Your About Page?

Obvious social media buttons - This is something I didn’t have for a long time because I was too lazy to figure out how to do it. Remember that if you want people to follow you on Twitter, join your Facebook page, etc, you need to make it obvious. You use a Twitter bird with your latest tweet, or just make the buttons conspicuous enough to draw attention.

Respond to comments - One of the biggest mistakes I made as a new blogger was trying to accumulate comments without actually responding to any of them. Unless a comment is brief and/or lame, I  recommend responding to every comment you get. As soon as I started doing that my numbers tripled. When you respond to people it illustrates there’s someone there reading and responding, which encourages them even more. It also means your readers will come back to the site, which is always a plus.

Ability to respond to comments - Speaking of, make sure people have the ability to respond to comments! Many bloggers will reply to a comment assuming their readers will return on their own to check. This is a BIG mistake. How much easier is it to read threaded comments? How much easier is it when you get an email saying that so-and-so has responded to you?  A MILLION BILLION TIMES EASIER. You are seriously deterring engagement by neglecting to offer a “reply” button. I highly recommend Disqus, but many other plugins offer the ability to tick a box saying, “Subscribe to replies.”

Comment encouragement – This isn’t a necessity, but using a plugin like Top Commentators or CommentLuv encourages people to comment by offering some sort of reward. This is awesome for us Comment Whores because people become “regulars” rather than simply stopping by once and a while.

• Extra resource: I Love You, Commenters

Outbound links - I recently posted about this so I won’t harp on about how important outbound links are, so try to include at least two links to different sites and resources in each post. This is useful for both your readers and the site itself. You might get a link on that site depending on their trackback policy. It also might be good for SEO, but apparently the jury is still out.

• Extra resource: Get Over Your Issues With Outbound Links

Links within - Apparently also good for SEO, linking to your own posts keeps readers on your site longer. I try and link to at least one of my own posts (as long as it’s relevant) and have a plugin installed that produces related links at the end of each post. If you’re interested, LinkWithin is another good plugin.

Subheadings - Keep us from drifting off, break up your text so it’s easier to read.

Tags/Categories - Make sure you’re tagging articles correctly so it’s easy for people to find what they’re looking for. A disorganized blog is a failed blog, IMHO. Try and think like your readers and what they might search for. I doubt anyone on my site is going to search for a specific book review, but they might search for “book reviews” as a whole. Make sense? You may know specifics, but your readers probably don’t.

Images - Again, this is something I’ve already gone on about so just remember we’re visual people and it’s smart to draw us in by posting a pretty picture.

• Extra resource: 6 Steps to a Prettier Blog (sans designer)

Facebook “like” button/Retweet button - Make it easy for us to share. Simple as that. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a blog and think, “Hey! This is awesome, Ima retweet this right now…. Oh…. wait. No.” This is how my brain works. I have 50 billion tabs open at once and the last thing I want to do is open up Twitter, then bit.ly, then cut and paste your title, shorten your link and find your Twitter handle so I can then promote you. Want people to share you content? Take 10 minutes to setup a good plugin and do the heavy lifting for us.

Search form - The search box doesn’t need to be in a super obvious place, but it’s important for people to quickly find something if they’re looking for it. Also, certain plugins (like LinkWithin) can help you pinpoint what it is exactly that people are looking for.

Personal stories - I could write an entire blog post about this (oh wait, I have!), but make sure you’re not just blogging about meaningless stuff – relate it back to you or your readers. Even if you’re giving us some awesome advice, make sure to post the occasional photo of your life, tell us a story, make us engaged in someway. This is the best way for us to get to know you and, even better, come back for more.

• Extra resource: Why blogging about life rather than anything relevant is good for business

Download the Checklist

If you want an actual copy of the checklist – a clean PDF version you can print out with little boxes to tick and everything (!)- I’m testing out “Pay with a Tweet”…

So get your PDF checklist by tweeting this now.

Also — am I missing anything? How many of you actually do all these things – are you pretty much up to speed?

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