Three - count 'em - THREE tips for your political blog

Tips for Political BLoggers

It's been awhile since I've written a Tips For Political Bloggers post, so to make up for lost time I have three, yes, THREE tips for you today.

All together now:

"Ooooohhhhhhh."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh."

1) Make your blog's theme/template look as politically "neutral" as possible

The "Bush Countdown Clock" or the "Cross-eyed Hitlery Clintoon" jpeg might be funny to people who already agree with you; but if you want your blog to go up in the rankings, avoid turning off readers before they've had a chance to read your work.

There used to be large "Drinking Liberally" and "Carnival of the Liberals" banners in the side-bars of this blog. On a whim, last month I removed them to see how it would affect traffic.

Since I made those minor changes to the template, I've noticed that visitors are now more likely to leave comments, link to Brainshrub on their own blogs even if they disagree, submit my articles to social networks like Reddit, Digg and StumbleUpon, and, people tend to spend more time searching this site.

I'm not suggesting that you try to fool people into believing you're something you're not. It's just that first-impressions are important, and folks are more likely to dismiss what you've written as quackery if you wear an ideology on your sleeve.

2) Respond to Comments.

One of my sins through most of 2006 was that I didn't usually respond to comments. It wasn't that I didn't value reader's opinions, but I mistakenly assumed that it was a more productive use of my time to write new material, rather than respond to comments in old posts.

A month ago I started responding as promptly as I could, and I've already noticed more "community" feel on this site than ever before. If you want a popular blog with good traffic: Content may be king, but "community" is queen.

Also, when a blogger leaves a comment, you should immediately go to that person's site and reciprocate with a comment of your own. It doesn't have to be detailed, just something relevant. This simple habit will make your blog's community grow exponentially.

3) A good way to get boosts in traffic is to be linked on the front-page of an A-list blog. This is not as difficult as it sounds if you know who to send links to. Here is a partial list of people I email a material to about once a week. DO NOT SPAM THESE PEOPLE WITH CLICHE ARTICLES. Only send links that provide new information about a relevant topic.

Delila Boyd of DemocraticUnderground's "BlogBox". Delila is one of the sweetest people I've ever meet on the blogosphere. She encourages people to make suggestions for the BlogBox, but don't be pushy that she mentions you. If she does, you'll get about 200 - 500 unique visitors that day.
Mike Finnigan of Crooks and Liars "Mike's Blog Roundup." If Mike mentions you, you are going to get about 2000-2500 unique visitors. These visitors are also more likely to leave comments. (ON EDIT: Your experience with comments from C&L may vary, but I've found them to be generous.) Again, do not be pushy with Mike.
BlueGal of Bgalrstate.blogspot.com. BlueGal does not have an A-list blog (yet), but she is practically on a first-name basis with many of the biggies. If she thinks what you wrote is worthwhile, she'll quietly forward it to the appropriate channels. Did I mention that you shouldn't be pushy with any of these people?
Jurassic Pork of "Welcome to Pottersville". I've never had the pleasure of being linked by Jurassic Pork, but I've heard through the grape-vine that blogs he mentions tend to get aggregated rather quickly by larger blogs. I'm not going to warn you not to be pushy with JP because he's a blog-ninja, and can take care of himself. :)
Submitt your work to The Carnival of the Liberls. (CotL) This is a particularly important link for people just starting out in blogging. It may not generate a whole lot of traffic, but the visitors you do get are serious bloggers who are good to network with.

I apologise to my conservative readers that I don't have list for you. Since Brainshrub is a leftyish-blog, these are the people I've naturally developed relationships with. However, please share your lists in the comments.

So there you go; three suggestions to tide you over to the next Tips for Political Bloggers post.

Tags: Blogging - Community - three - Tips