I have a fairly new blog, peopleareparked.com and need some helpful opinions on a few things. - I have 10 posts showing on the first page. How many is optimal? - I'm trying to build my traffic and thereby generate new comments, but for now have a few here and there. Should I comment out the orange comment box until the numbers are higher? - Any other comments on how to improve my blog are appreciated.
It depends on how often you post. If you post infrequently, then I'd list more posts on the front page. 10 is on the high side though. It may take some time for the numbers to get higher. Leave the box and work like hell to generate interest in your site.
Doesn't it also depend on how long our articles are? I'm guessing for blogs with long articles that it's best to have fewer posts displayed.
That's a variable too. I use the excerpt on my front page, so the length of article is immaterial to me though. Another variable is whether images are used extensively in the post or even what theme is used ...
If you get into a creative streak, be sure to set some items aside as "drafts" so that you can keep the blog updating on a regular schedule. Hit up pingoat.com and when you submit your site bookmark the resulting page. Every time you post a new item visit your bookmark. Make sure you are submitting your items to places like Digg, del.icio.us and so on, when appropriate. Don't spam them, but when you have something decent, toss it out there where people might see it. In the beginning it can help to join some blogging forums or even some blog traffic exchanges. Blog explosion was good once, but it seems the new owners have been driving it into the ground. If you find one with happy real users, instead of just zombie viewers, they can help you get comments. Also, it's hard to be the first person to make a comment... especially if none of your posts have comments. It makes the reader feel they have driven down a dead-end street. If you have to, create a couple of different accounts, and then a day or two after you publish a post, add a comment. By the time a day or two goes by you might think of something to "suggest" that could have been included. Basically, leave a helpful comment which improves your resource for the reader, perhaps linking to some good external site. When you aren't working on something else, find other bloggers in your topic area, and then go and leave constructive and helpful comments on their posts. Don't be rude and blast your link, but have good comments and come back from time to time. Instead of getting a link in their comments, you are trying to get the author to visit your blog, see that you provide value to your readers, and get a link in their blogroll. Of course, don't go for the hugely successful sites, they don't have any reason to mess with small fish like us. Just some ideas.
On my dog training articles site me and the wife write if you look at the link in my signature i removed all the dates and comments boxes so that it looks less like a blog and more just like a strictly article site and also the nice thing is no one knows when the last post you made was so basically these articles can be found from google years from know and they will look like they just been written. But still keep writing atleast couple articles a week to keep google coming and interested as we do.
for me. 5 to 10 posts is good enough. don't put more than that because it might will slow down your website to load. no need to remove the orange box. it is good because it attracts visitors to give comment. just focus on your content and ask readers to give their thoughts as well. ask them in your post. just do more marketing and ask your friends and bloggers to visit your blog. and you also must visit and give comments to others website/blogs too. good luck! -cypher.
Don't go too far with posts on the firs page. One would be enough...it makes the blog more attractive and comfortable to look through...
Yea on my blog i have only 3 posts showing at one time since most of my articles are long and each article has a thin google ad on it and you cant have more than so many google ads on one page.