How often do you click on the reblog sharing button?
Are you somebody who reblogs every day or, like me, no longer uses the reblog button?
Are you still reblogging?
When I first started blogging in 2014, I was amazed by how many bloggers used the reblog button. Fast forward to today, and I see little use for it.
It’s one of the reasons why I removed the reblog button from my blog. Not only have I seen a sharp decline in the reblogging of my posts, but I’ve seen the same in the reblogging of the posts of other bloggers.
Looking Back
I remember the first time one of my blog posts got reblogged. It was one of the highlights of my blogging journey. Funnily, it marked the beginning of my believing I’d become a successful blogger.
For years, my blog posts got reblogged almost weekly. It helped put me and my blog in front of new readers and did wonders for the number of followers my blog gained.
When Followers Are Not Followers
Of course, not all followers are followers.
I soon learned that people followed my blog but never returned to it.
I knew that some unfollowed my blog as soon as I followed them back.
I couldn’t figure out why anyone would unfollow my blog as soon as I followed them, but a couple of years into my blogging journey, I discovered that some bloggers are more interested in numbers than content. They don’t hang around in the blogging world for long.
What’s The Most Significant Risk In Reblogging?
When I first heard of bloggers receiving fines for reblogging material that included copyrighted material, my love of reblogging began to dwindle. Seriously? Are bloggers fined for reblogging? Yes, it’s true, and that may be one of many reasons why many bloggers no longer use the reblog button.
When author and blogger Deborah Jay wrote a guest post for me, she shared her story of how a simple reblog ended up with her being threatened with legal action and a fine. Click here to read the post.
But it’s not only Deborah who has faced legal action and a fine for reblogging another blogger’s blog post. Several bloggers have been fined for reblogging blog posts that included copyrighted photos or images.
Don’t think it can’t happen to you. It can happen to anyone who shares copyrighted material on their blog.
Removed The Reblog Button From Your Blog? Your Posts Can Still Be Reblogged!
Did you know that just because I have removed the reblog button from my blog posts doesn’t mean nobody can no longer reblog them?
One of the few flaws of WordPress that annoys me is that readers can still reblog any of my posts from the WordPress Reader. That doesn’t make sense to me when I’ve removed the reblog button from my blog.
Fortunately, it hasn’t happened to any of my blog posts since I removed the reblog button.
However, I am still delighted when somebody shares my blog posts via a ‘pingback‘ the ‘Press This‘ marketing (not sharing) button or on social media.
Feel free to share this post via one of those methods.
How Do I Remove The Reblog Button From My Blog?
If you decide you would rather not offer the option to reblog your posts, you can disable the button by navigating to My Sites → Tools → Marketing. Then click on the Sharing Buttons tab.Disable ‘Show reblog button’ under Reblog & Like, and the Reblog button will no longer appear on your blog posts.
How to disable the reblog button on WordPress
Did You Know This?
Blogs that are full of reblogged posts are known as ‘Reblogging Farms.’ Is your blog a reblogging farm?
Do you still use the reblog button? If so, what do you reblog?
Follow Hugh On Social Media. Click on the buttons below.
SPAM! It’s something every blogger dislikes and something every blogger will have to deal with.
I’ve seen bloggers close comments off all their posts because of spam.
I’ve seen bloggers telling readers that they only accept email comments because of spam.
I’ve even witnessed bloggers telling readers only to leave comments on social media platforms because of spam.
In all these cases, spam triumphed.
Don’t allow spam to stop your readers from leaving comments
When another blogger told me, ‘Closing comments off on your blog is like slamming the door in your readers’ faces,’ I had to rethink how to tackle handling spam.
What was I doing? I was closing comments off posts that attracted lots of spam but still attracted genuine comments.
It reminded me of another blogger who told her readers that she tackled spam by closing off comments on all her posts 14 days after publication because of spam. She told her readers that 14 days was enough time for them to read and comment on all her posts. I shook my head in disbelief.
Many bloggers close comments on blog posts that attract lots of spam. But there are ways of dealing with spam without closing comments off.
1. Reschedule the post
Rescheduling an existing blog post gives it a new lease of life, but it also provides the post with a new URL address, thus fooling the spammers.
How to reschedule a blog post on WordPress
Open the post you want to reschedule in ‘edit’ mode.
In the settings box of the post, click on the date and time link that the post was initially published.
Rescheduling a blog post
A calendar will open. Choose the new date and time you want the post to reschedule.
Choose a new date and time for rescheduling
Click the ‘Update’ button.
The Update Button
Your post will now republish on the date and time you chose.
Here are a few essential things to think about when rescheduling blog posts.
Your post will show up on the WordPress Reader list of your followers when it republishes.
WordPress does not send out a new email notification when a rescheduled post is published.
You won’t lose all the existing comments and ‘likes’ on a post that has been rescheduled.
Any links, pingbacks and trackbacks to the original post will become invalid, as will any previous shares of the post on social media. I recommend, therefore, that you only reschedule posts that are at least a year old.
Tip: Rescheduling a post is also an excellent chance to update it and fix any broken pingbacks before rescheduling it.
2. Rewrite the post and republish it as a new post.
If the post is over a year old and requires lots of updating, consider rewriting and publishing it as a new post.
You can do the same with posts that you have published on other blogging platforms but which you now want to publish on WordPress.
Here are a few essential things to consider.
All existing likes and comments will be lost.
All reblog links, pingbacks and links to the post will become invalid.
All links and shares on social media will become invalid.
Some readers may dislike reading duplicated content they have read on your blog before, so do consider how long ago the post was initially published.
Consider informing readers that it is a rewritten version of a previous post at the beginning of your post.
Remember to delete the post attracting too much spam once you’ve published the new post.
Give the new post a slightly different title. SEOs rank posts and blogs lower that contain too many duplicated blog post titles.
3. Delete the post
Every blogger should be excellent at keeping their blog up to date. Blog housekeeping is as important as writing and publishing new blog posts.
If you have blog posts attracting lots of spam, consider deleting them if the content is outdated and no longer worth keeping. That will put pay to the spambots attacking the post and causing you stress.
However, do remember that deleting a post will also mean that any likes, comments and shares will also be lost.
Final thoughts on spam
Don’t slam the door in the faces of visitors to your blog by allowing spam to stop them from leaving comments and joining discussions and conversations on any of your blog posts.
Remember that search engines will send visitors to your blog posts for as long as the post is live. If they find they can’t leave comments and join a discussion, they may not return.
Don’t ask visitors to leave comments they couldn’t leave on your other blog posts where comments remain open. That will only confuse visitors reading the comments sections.
Get into the habit of checking your WordPress spam folder every time you log into your blog.
Delete the spam, and mark any genuine comments as ‘Not Spam.’ You can do this by changing the view setting of the comments page of your blog’s dashboard to ‘Classic view.’ My blog post, ‘New: WordPress Screen Options Button – Where, Why And How To Use It,‘ gives more details.
Spam can also be ‘bulk’ deleted when in the ‘Default view’ setting.
Spam comments rarely have an image or photo in the gravatar area of the comment (see image below).
Spam messages often contain no Gravatar image.
Bulk delete comments that do not contain an image or photo on the gravatar.
If you’re not sure a comment is spam, look at the web address of where the comment has come from. If it doesn’t look right, it’s spam.
If the website address of a comment doesn’t look right, it’s spam!
Don’t allow spam to win!
How do you deal with too many spam comments on your blog?
Have you ever spent hours researching and writing a blog post for it to then get very few (if any) reads or comments?
Disheartening, isn’t it?
Have you ever been deflated when all your hard work and time put into writing a post ends up giving back little if any reward?
Heartbreaking, isn’t it?
Struggling to get your blog posts read?
Over the years I’ve been blogging, I’ve used seven methods that have not only helped me get my blog posts noticed but have helped get readers to leave comments and follow my blog.
Try them out and see if they work for you.
1. Blog Post Titles
I can’t express enough how important the titles of blog posts are. They are like the shop window to your blog.
The title of your blog post can make or break whether it gets any attention. It’s the most critical element in whether somebody will read your post or move on to another blog.
I’ll be honest and tell you that in the past, I’ve given some of my blog posts terrible titles. No wonder they weren’t getting any attention, or any new visitors leaving comments on them. All they did was make my blog posts flop.
If the title isn’t eye-catching or enticing enough to get visitors to click on the ‘read more’ link, then you’ll be losing hundreds of potential new readers and followers.
But first things first! Always ensure your blog post has a title before hitting the ‘publish’ button.
That may seem like common sense, but I often see blog posts without a title, resulting in WordPress giving the post a random number as the title. It not only looks strange, but it looks unprofessional.
Of course, it’s easily fixed, but too many blog posts without titles can put readers off from reading any new material from you.
At the very least, you should be previewing all your posts before publishing them, so make sure the preview shows a blog post title.
If you’re stuck for a good blog post title, ask yourself what title would make you want to click the link to read the post. It can sometimes be as simple as that.
Once you have your title, try inserting it into a headline analyser and see what score it gets. The higher the score, the more likely your blog post title will attract search engines and readers. I use CoSchedule for this. Click here to try it out for free.
And finally, do not use blog post titles you or other bloggers have used before. Why? Because search engines rank blogs that use duplicated titles lower than those with original titles.
2. Add An Excerpt To Your Post
For those followers who get an email notification of your new blog posts, adding a captivating excerpt can also entice readers to then click through to read the post.
If you don’t add your own excerpt, WordPress will use the first 55 words from your blog post as the excerpt. This can often make the post sound confusing, or give no incentive for readers to want to click the ‘read more’ link, especially if the excerpt cuts off midway in a sentence.
Where possible, I always ask a question when writing an excerpt. For this post, I’ve used –
‘Having trouble getting visitors to your blog or to read and leave comments on your posts? Here are 7 methods I use that have resulted in thousands of readers reading my posts and leaving comments.‘
The more you make an excerpt intriguing, the more readers your post will get.
The excerpt box can be found under ‘Featured Image‘ in the settings menu that appears on the righthand-side of your screen when composing a post.
Creating enticing excerpts for your blog posts will make visitors want to read your posts.
3. Opening Line/Paragraph
Just as the excerpt to your post should be enticing, so should the opening line or paragraph. If your opening line or paragraph is not engaging and appealing, then readers are more likely to move on or skip over the post without leaving a comment.
I often begin my blog posts by asking a question. If you ask a question that poses a problem, readers will want to find out more because you’ll likely be helping solve the problem. Your post then has a greater chance of getting read.
Again, ask yourself what opening line or paragraph would make you want to read more and comment on the post you’ve written.
4. Images
Like many others, I believe that blog posts that include photos and images look far more inviting to read.
Did you know that blog posts containing images are over 70% more likely to get clicked on and read than those that do not include any images?
Adding images or photos help break the post up and creates white space, which all help to make the reading experience more comfortable.
However, be careful when adding any images or photos. Large images can slow down the speed at which your blog post opens. If your blog takes too long to open, many readers will move on rather than wait for everything to download.
Always reduce the size of any images or photos before adding them to your media library.
I use an iMac and am able to reduce photo and image sizes by clicking on ‘Tools – Adjust Size’ on the toolbar of my computer.
5. Be Kind To The Eyes
You may have a brilliant blog post title and great excerpt to entice readers, but if the body of the post isn’t kind to your readers’ eyes, or not attractive to look at, many will move on quickly.
A few things to consider about the body of your posts –
Is the font the right size so that your readers do not have to squint or enlarge the page to read it?
Can the font be seen clearly? Black font on a white background is the safest combination to use.
Is the background colour of your blog gentle on the eyes?
Are paragraphs too long, thus making them blocky. Keep paragraphs to no more than four sentences long. This helps creates white space on the post.
Is the spacing between each paragraph correct?
Does any of the text run into any of the images you’ve inserted on the post, resulting in paragraphs breaking up in the wrong place?
Have you lined up images correctly, so they are in line with the correct text?
Is there anything in the post or on the page (such as a gif) that can distract from reading the post? If so, consider removing it.
As I mentioned in the above points, I’ve found that a good rule to apply to a paragraph is to never have more than four sentences in it. This helps break up a post nicely and makes reading it a comfortable and pleasant experience.
Finally (and this is something you should always be doing), always preview your post before publishing it so you can correct any issues.
6. Add Sub-Headings
Inserting sub-headings, especially in long posts, break up a post nicely, giving readers a more enjoyable and comfortable read. They’ll be more likely to keep coming back if they’ve found reading your posts a pleasant experience.
As you’ll see from this post, I’ve changed the colour and the size of the font to the sub-headings I’ve added. This helps make the post look inviting and friendly to read.
7. When To Publish Your Posts
As you publish more and more posts and visit more and more blogs, you should get an idea of when are the best days and best times to publish your blog posts.
For example, if most of your readers are based in the U.S.A (and you’re based in the UK) the best time to publish your posts is between 12:00 and 17:00 GMT. Why? Because the mornings are peak-reading times for many.
Remember that your posts will appear on the WordPress Reader of the bloggers who follow you, but will slowly disappear as more and more posts drop onto the reader.
I’ve read many articles about when is the best time to publish blog posts, and most of them claim the best publishing day and time is Monday at 11 am EST. However, until you know where most of your audience is, this will differ.
Let’s Recap
Blog post titles are the shop window to your blog. They can make or break your blog.
Make the titles of your blog posts enticing enough to make visitors want to click the ‘read more’ link.
When creating a blog post title, ask yourself what title would make you want to click the ‘read more’ link.
Never use duplicate blog post titles. Search engines rank blogs and posts with duplicate titles lower than those with original titles.
Adding your own excerpts to your blog posts are far better than allowing WordPress to use the first 55 words of your post as the excerpt.
Hook readers by making the opening lines of your blog posts enticing to make them want to find out more.
Blog posts that contain images or photos are 70% more likely to get read than those that do not contain any images or photos.
Reduce the size of images and photos before adding them to a post. This will help your post download more quickly.
Make sure your blog posts are kind to the eyes. Avoid glary colours, tiny font, and combinations of colours that make the font hard to read.
Use no more than four sentences in each paragraph, as this helps breaks up blocks of text that can look intimidating to read.
Use sub-headings in long posts to help break the post up.
Find out where the majority of your followers are located, and schedule posts to publish during the morning in the timezone they are in. Mornings are peak-viewing times.
What do you do to entice readers to read and leave comments on your blog? Please share your tips in the comments section.
Follow Hugh on Social Media. Click the buttons below.
February 28, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write about the farm life. Where is the farm and who are the farmers? What are they farming and why? How is the farm life? Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.
How To Farm Your Blog – by Hugh W. Roberts
“Have you tried farming out your blog posts instead of cluster-publishing them?” asked the blogging genie.
“Farming them out?”
“Yes, another word for scheduling. Instead of publishing too many blog posts and overwhelming your readers, farm them out by scheduling them over a more extended period. Your readers won’t feel swamped.”
“I like that idea.”
“And don’t forget to farm out the posts you want to reblog. Instead of reblogging them the same day the original post is published, allow them to grow and farm them out a week later. After all, farming and blogging are all about growth.”
Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.
***
Notes
The definition of a cluster-blogger is somebody who publishes many blog posts within a short timeframe and then does not publish the next batch of blog posts for many days/weeks or months. It can result in making readers feel overwhelmed.
Scheduling blog posts in advance and leaving at least six hours between the publication of blog posts decreases the sense of overwhelmingness, resulting in a more manageable and enjoyable reading experience.
Click here for information on how to schedule blog posts.
Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love Glimpses
Glimpses
28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.
Have you been blogging for long and fallen victim to some of the blogging traps out there?
Here are thirteen quick blogging tips I’m recommending to get you started, to become a better blogger, and to avoid those traps.
13 Free Quick And easy Blogging Tips
1. It’s all about me
Do you like to know something about the person behind the blog? I do, as it gives me an idea of what to expect when considering whether to follow a blog.
Every blogger and blog should have an ‘About me’ page.
Why? Because not only do most new visitors to your blog want to know a little about you before deciding whether to follow, it’s also one of the most visited pages of the majority of blogs.
Take a look at how many times my ‘About me’ page has been viewed.
How many times has my ‘About me’ page been visited?
Yes, over 12,000 times! Now check how often your blog’s ‘About me’ page has been visited. You may be surprised!
Tell visitors a little about yourself and at least give them a name by which they can call you. If you don’t want to use your real name, use one you’d like to be known by.
Make sure your blog does not have the original template for an ‘About me’ page. It will say ‘This Is An Example Of An About Me Page’ and contains no other information. How bad does that look to new visitors to your blog?
And remember to update your ‘About me’ page at least every 6 to 9 months or sooner if anything has changed.
2. Make some journeys outside of your blog
I’m always amazed by what information is out there in the blogging world.
I’ve learned how to self-publishing a book, how to use social media and make it work for me, how to bake gin & tonic cupcakes, how to take great photos and, of course, picked up lots of blogging tips.
Reading other blog posts often ignites ideas for new posts.
Make sure to also check out the comments section, as this is another place to discover new bloggers and get ideas for future blog posts.
Even if you can only spare a few minutes a day, make sure you visit, read, and comment on other blogs.
3. Get talking to other bloggers
When you leave a comment on another blog, other visitors will read and see it and may then come and visit your blog. However, ensure your comments are always relevant to the post and prove that you have read it.
Comments of at least ten words or two sentences long go a long way in showing that you enjoy interacting with other bloggers and your audience.
Don’t overload comments with emojis, as they can come over as spammy. Using emojis in blog posts is also considered a bad habit that can affect your blog’s ranking with SEOs like Google and Bing.
Avoid leaving lazy comments such as ‘Great Post.’ These types of comments add no value whatsoever.
Instead, tell the blogger what it was that made you think it was a great post or why you enjoyed reading it. They will appreciate your thoughtful comments far more and may visit your blog and become your next follower.
However, never feel obliged to leave a comment if you’ve nothing of value to add. Instead, click the ‘like’ button on the post. After all, that’s what the ‘like’ button is for.
4. Treat others how you’d want them to treat you
Don’t ignore anyone who has taken the time to read and leave a comment on any of your posts.
Most importantly, never ignore anyone who has taken the time to leave a comment on your ‘About me.’ page.
Think about it like this. You’ve invited a guest around for a coffee and a catch-up and completely ignore them. That’s like ignoring comments left on your blog.
Try and respond to comments promptly. However, responding a week later is far better than not responding at all.
Treat everyone who visits your blog as a guest and ensure they are made to feel welcome. After all, with millions of other blogs out there, they can always go elsewhere.
5. Not all links and pingbacks are seen as friendly
Never leave any links in a comment unless you have been invited to do so.
If you want to leave a link to one of your posts or to the post of another blogger because you believe it’s relevant, ask for permission to do so first.
When I started blogging, I quickly learned from other bloggers that leaving uninvited links was frowned upon and seen as spammy.
What would you think if you owned a coffee shop and, without your permission, somebody from a rival coffee shop came in and left a lot of promotional leaflets about their coffee shop without your consent?
It’s not your blog to leave links on unless you have been invited to leave them or have asked for permission to leave them.
Not sure how to deal with uninvited links or pingbacks left in comments on your blog posts? Edit them out by editing the comment first before approving it. Whoever is leaving uninvited links or pingbacks will soon get the message.
6. Take a challenge
There are lots of writing and photography challenges in the world of blogging.
Don’t be shy, have a try.
Not only will it help you with your writing and photography skills, but other participants will come over and read or look at your entry.
It’s a great way to make new friends, have fun, and gain more followers.
Most challenges are held weekly, but some may be held monthly.
Here are details of some blogging challenges I’ve participated in. Click on the links for more information.
Can you imagine a TV or movie producer, an editor of a magazine, or another blogger wanting to contact you to invite you to write an article, and they can’t find a way of reaching you privately?
A lot of bloggers dream of making some extra cash with their blog, so if you don’t have a ‘contact me’ page, and they can’t find a way of contacting you, then they’ll probably move on and give that opportunity to somebody else.
Not everyone wants to leave a comment that other readers can see, so ensure your blog has a way for visitors to contact you privately.
Click here to learn how to set up a ‘Contact me’ page.
9. Invite a guest blogger
I’ve contacted and asked other bloggers and writers to write a guest post for publication on my blog. Many have accepted my invitation.
Once published, the guest blogger may reblog the post. Some may ask you to write a guest post for their blog, putting you in front of a brand-new audience.
Don’t be shy. Ask other bloggers and writers if they’d like to write a guest post. You’ll be surprised by how many bloggers and writers welcome guest blog post opportunities.
10. Take up an invite
On the other side of inviting guest bloggers, consider accepting opportunities for writing guest posts for publication on other blogs.
Remember what I said previously about being put in front of a brand new audience? Time for the spotlight to shine on you.
I no longer use the WordPress ‘reblog‘ button but, instead, use ‘Press This.’ to share other bloggers’ posts. I also share their posts on my social media platforms, especially if I have enjoyed reading them.
In return, many bloggers will share my posts which mean they are putting me and my blog in front of thousands of new readers.
By sharing blog posts, you are putting yourself in the position of the possibility of having your blog pushed to the front, where you may be discovered by new followers.
The more you share, the more you and your blog get noticed.
12. Social Media: The highway to your blog
Using social media to promote your blog is free and can help bring your blog lots of extra traffic.
But don’t take my word for it; check the following screenshot to see what additional shares social media brought to my blog in 2021.
Social Media Traffic
Want to follow me on social media? Click on the buttons below.
Are you’re wondering why the title of this post is different to James’ post? SEOs such as Google dislike duplicate information and rank duplicate posts lower, hence a different title.
As with all reblogs, I’m closing off comments here so you can leave them on James’ post with all the other comments his post has received.
Your old blog posts could be damaging the health of your blog
Here’s Michelle’s questions:
As I move into my fourth year of blogging, sometimes I look back on my early posts and cringe. It’s great that I’ve come a long way as a writer, but I’d love to refresh some of those old posts. Is it better to delete them and republish as a new post, or just go in and update them? Also, does deleting old posts impact SEO rankings?
I’m going to tackle Michelle’s last question first.
Many blogging professionals agree that keeping old, out-of-date blog posts reduces your blog’s overall SEO (search engine optimisation) rating. Even if you regularly publish new blog posts, your blog will suffer if you have old, out-of-date information on it. Your new blog posts will also receive a lower ranking.
SEOs dislike out-of-date information and will redirect readers to sites that have up-to-date information. This is one of the reasons that I recommend every blogger updates their ‘About Me‘ page at least once every six to nine months, especially if it includes pingbacks and links.
Old, out-of-date, and irrelevant blog posts and pages (including your out-of-date ‘about me’ page) serve no purpose on your blog or to your reading audience.
I have a clearout of old blog posts at least once a year, usually in December, when I find the blogging world a lot less busy.
Do this first before deleting any blog posts
Before deleting any old blog posts, there are a few things to consider. I’ll cover these in my answers to Michelle’s other question: Should bloggers update old blog posts or rewrite them and delete the older post?
If a post is still relevant, useful and contains evergreen content, I’d recommend that you update it. More so if it includes valid pingbacks to other live posts on your blog or to other blogs and websites.
Don’t forget to also check if the post has any incoming pingbacks from other blogs that are still valid (you’ll find these in the comments section of the post).
I recently deleted a pingback from a blogger who had deleted the post that included a pingback to one of my posts. SEOs dislike broken links. They don’t look good on your blog, and if your blog contains too many broken links, readers will probably not come back.
When should I rewrite an old blog post?
If a post has out-of-date content or is poor quality (including images), but you feel it is still relevant, rewrite it. Don’t forget to delete the older version before publishing your new post.
When rewriting the post, give it a new title. Think of a title that would make you want to find out more or make you want to click the ‘read more’ link.
If you have content that is out of date, irrelevant and/or poor quality, but you feel it can be salvaged – even if that means a complete post rewrite – then you should do that!
How to check for broken links
After you delete any old posts, I recommend that you also check for any broken links on your blog.
You can do this by running a report on a free broken link checker site such as Brokenlinkcheck.com. However, beware! If you’ve never performed a broken link check on your blog before, the report you receive could be rather overwhelming. I’d recommend pausing the report once you get to 20 broken links, fix them, and then run another report.
WordPress also offers a broken link plugin, although this will only be available to those on certain WordPress plans or to bloggers that have a self-hosted blog.
Once you have run a broken link check, I recommend you perform one at least once a month, or whenever you delete any old blog posts.
Another good practice is to delete any pingbacks in blog posts you’re about to delete first, before deleting the post.
Can re-written blog posts become successful?
Yes, defiantly.
I have rewritten and republished many of my earlier blogging tips posts. Not only had they received few views, but I felt the quality was poor, and they had poor quality images. As I rewrote them, I updated procedures and added better quality images that did not slow down my blog. I also added pingbacks to some of my other most successful posts.
Many of these posts have since become my most successful and best-performing posts.
Let’s wrap it up
Delete any old blog posts that contain out-of-date information and can no longer be salvaged.
Before deleting old blog posts, deactivate any incoming and outgoing pingbacks on the post first.
Run a broken link report on your blog at least once a month or whenever you delete any old blog posts.
SEOs will rank your blog and new blog posts lower if it contains out-of-date informnation.
If a post is still relevant, useful and contains evergreen content, update it. More so if it includes valid pingbacks to other live posts on your blog or to other blogs.
If a post has out-of-date content or is poor quality (including images), but you feel it is still relevant, rewrite it and give it a new title.
Always delete older versions of rewrtitten posts before publishing the new post.
Thank you for your questions, Michelle. I hope I have answered them for you.
Michelle is a boomer with a youthful outlook seasoned with a dash of wisdom.
She lives in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada with her husband and one of her two young adult daughters.
Michelle works full-time in financial services and has a passion for learning new things.
When she’s not working, studying or blogging, you might find her on stage singing rock music, or enjoying a walk in the great outdoors.
Visit Michelle’s blog for tips on environmentally-friendly living, decluttering and living your best life.
If you have any questions about this blog post, please leave them in the comments section.
Do you have any questions about blogging? Leave them in the comments section. If I choose your question to feature in an upcoming post, I’ll also feature you and your blog.
It may seem much longer, but at the end of 2018, WordPress introduced the Gutenberg Block Editor to users.
And what a journey the Block editor has had since introduced. Some users moved to other blogging platforms to avoid using it, whereas others decided to continue using the Classic editor for free via the Classic Block.
Are You using The Paragraph Block To Its Best Advantage?
Last year, I witnessed more than ever fans of the Classic editor coming over to using the Block editor, some of whom wondered why they hadn’t done it sooner.
As more bloggers use the Block editor, I thought I’d write some posts on how some of the most popular blocks work.
I’m kicking off with the ‘Paragraph‘ block, which everyone who uses the block editor will use.
How Do I Find Or Add A ‘Paragraph’ Block?
After adding the title of your blog post, click on the ‘+‘ symbol in the draft section of the post.
In the search box that opens, type in ‘paragraph.’
Select the ‘paragraph‘ block.
Where to find the ‘paragraph’ block
Start typing in the paragraph block on the draft post.
Start typing in the Paragraph block
How Do I Add A New Paragraph?
Tap the return button on your keyboard to add a new paragraph.
Does The ‘Paragraph’ Block Come With Any Options?
Yes. The ‘Paragraph’ block comes with a toolbar full of options. Here’s a list of what you can do.
Yes. Click the kebab menu in the toolbar to show even more options such as ‘Add to reusable block‘ and ‘remove paragraph.’
Click the kebab menu to see more options
More options are also available on the righthand side of the draft page. To see them, select any block that contains text and select the ‘Block‘ option.
Make sure ‘Block’ is selected.
Colour: Change the colour of text or the background colour of a block.
AMP Settings: AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is an open-source framework that allows browsers and apps to quickly load your site’s content on mobile devices. AMP is enabled by default for all WordPress.com sites. Click here for more details.
Typography: This allows users to set the size of the font in a block. Here’s an example. In the next block, I’ve selected font size 36.
Hugh’s Views And News
See how much bigger it is than the text in other blocks.
Users can also manually set the size of the text by clicking the icon that sits to the right, just above the Size Default box. The icon looks like two small slider buttons.
Advanced Options:
HTML Anchor: This option allows users to insert ‘page jumps’ into a post. For example, you could anchor the words ‘Skip to the bottom of this post‘ in a block. Clicking on the anchor text then takes readers to the bottom of the page. Click here for more details.
Additional CSS class(es): Add CSS code to a block. –
CSS is the acronym of “Cascading Style Sheets“. CSS is a computer language for laying out and structuring web pages (HTML or XML). This language contains coding elements and comprises these “cascading style sheets”, which are called CSS files.
Note: Some of the above options I’ve mentioned may move or change over time.
Layout, content, settings and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
Looking for more information about the Gutenberg Block Editor? Check out these posts.
If you’re an author of a published book, this is how creating a reusable block for your book will put it in front of hundreds of new visitors to your blog.
Are you a new blogger? Have you recently started following my blog or thinking about following it?
I’m honoured that Hugh’s Views And News has gained a lot of new followers. What’s even better is that some of those new followers are already engaging with me.
But it seems there’s a big difference about what engagement is.
New To Blogging? Read This Post First
If you’re new to blogging, there’s a long learning curve ahead of you. So allow me to share some advice about engaging with other readers and bloggers in the comments sections of blog posts.
Don’t leave uninvited links or demands in the comments section of any blog post.
I received that vital piece of advice from some professional bloggers at the beginning of my blogging journey.
Examples Of Comments You Should Never Leave
I’ve recently had a rash of first-time comments from readers that had me shaking my head. They include comments likes these.
Hi, check out my blog, follow me, leave me comments and tell all your followers to follow my blog.
Hi, subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Help me get to 50 followers. Follow my blog now!
I’ve followed your blog, now follow mine.
Follow for a follow?
Then there are the demand comments that don’t include links.
Demanding comment?
Yes, I’m interested in novels (not so much poetry), but don’t demand that I follow your blog, read your books, press ‘like’ on your blog posts and leave comments when you can’t even be bothered to mention anything about the contents of the post you’ve left your demands on. Did you even read my post?
I never responded to the comment because I doubt very much the blogger who left it would have seen it.
Although the blogger didn’t include a link to their blog, in my opinion, it’s just as bad as the comments that include uninvited links.
What’s worse is that some bloggers tried leaving the same demanding comments on several of my posts. All of them were bloggers who had never left comments for me before and probably wondered why their comments weren’t showing up.
How To Get People To Visit Your Blog
If you want your blog to get noticed in the blogging world, read some posts and leave comments that add value to what you’ve read.
However, while people are far more likely to check out your blog if you leave good valuable comments, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will follow your blog.
My advice has always been to only follow blogs that interest you. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time following them.
Leaving demands in a first time comment without ever having engaged with a blogger before is like going on a first date and demanding that your date buys you a drink and dinner.
As for leaving uninvited links, providing you’ve set up your Gravatar correctly, your blog details are left within the comment box when you leave a comment anyway, so you don’t need to leave any links to your blog. It’s already there.
Where to find a link to the blog of somebody who has left a comment for you
Be friendly: Be nice.
Addressing a blogger by their first name in a comment (especially a first comment) goes a long way to getting you noticed. If it’s obvious what the blogger’s first name is, use it in your comment. If their first name isn’t apparent, check out the ‘about me‘ page of their blog and find out what it is.
Or is all of that just too much like hard work? I’m shaking my head at you if you answered ‘yes’ to that question.
Be friendly and courteous in your comments, even if you disagree with the post’s contents. Don’t come over like a troll or somebody who will always disagree with the contents of every post.
I don’t expect those examples of poor comments I mentioned to stop coming in. Why? Because many of those who leave them probably never read the post they’ve left them on anyway.
I’m expecting similar comments to get left on this post, but you’ll never see them here or on any of my posts. Why? Because I moderate all comments before they appear. Comments with uninvited links or demands get marked as spam. You’re wasting your time if you leave me demanding comments or comments that include uninvited links.
Am I being too harsh?
There is a chance that some of those leaving demanding comments or uninvited links are at the beginning of their blogging journey. They may not know they shouldn’t be doing it. If you’re one of those people, then take some time to check out, read and ask questions on the thousands of free blogging tips posts found all over the internet.
I’m one of those bloggers that don’t charge for the blogging advice I publish, so don’t be afraid to leave any questions you have about blogging in the comments section of this or any of my other posts.
Take it from somebody who has learned a lot about how the blogging world works, that you’ll get yourself and your blog more noticed if you read posts and leave good, valuable, friendly comments on them.
Happy Blogging!
Are You New To Blogging? Do You Have Any Questions About Blogging? Leave Them In The Comments Section.
Looking for more blogging tips from Hugh? Check out these posts.
Would you like to save some time when drafting your blog posts?
Do you participate in a daily, weekly, monthly or annual blog challenge?
Do you get frustrated with or dislike having to copy and paste from one blog post to another?
Do you have reoccurring blog posts that only need minor changes?
Blogging Tips
If you participate in weekly blog challenges or publish posts that have the same layout every month, the ‘copy post‘ feature on the Block Editor is an excellent tool. It relieves all the stress and frustration of copying and pasting and finding the time to draft blog posts.
How To Copy A Blog Post
Here’s an image that will outline some upcoming vital points.
How To Copy A Blog Post On WordPress
1. Go to your blog’s ‘Posts’ page and find the post you want to copy. In my case, I’m copying a post I wrote for the weekly 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.
2. Click the kebab menu (three vertical dots) next to the post.
3. From the dropdown menu that opens select ‘Copy Post.’
Open your draft folder, find the newly created blog post and make changes to it.
Essential changes you’ll need to make to the new post you’ve copied.
In some cases, such as the copied post I’ve used as an example, I didn’t need to add or change the categories or tags, so I saved myself even more time. However, I did need to update the pingbacks and images on the post.
However, overall, I saved myself time by copying an existing post and making amendments to it.
Copied Post
Schedule or publish your post.
That’s it! You’re done and will have saved yourself some precious time and got rid of the experience of frustrations that copying and pasting often bring when drafting blog posts.
Layout, content, settings and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
Have you used the ‘Copy Post’ feature on WordPress? Do you have any more time-saving tips when drafting blog posts? Share them with me in the comments section.
Looking for more blogging tips from Hugh? Check out these posts.
I see a lot of Twitter users who don’t have a pinned tweet set up on their Twitter account.
The main reason may be that they don’t know what a pinned tweet is, how it works or how to set one up.
Pinned Tweets: What Are They and How Do They Work?
Pinned tweets help drive traffic to your blog or website and are a brilliant way of getting you, your books, your blog and your writing some free promotion.
What is a pinned tweet?
A pinned tweet is a tweet that users attach to the top of their Twitter timeline. It’s the first tweet people see when they visit your Twitter profile and is often the tweet that gets the most attention.
You can pin any of your tweets for which you want to get more attention. For example, upon publishing a new blog post, you may want to pin the tweet for the post to your Twitter account.
How do I create a pinned tweet?
Find a tweet you want to pin to your profile. As I’m being featured on the blog of Teri Polen today, I tweeted the post via the Twitter share button at the bottom of her post so that it appears on my Twitter timeline.
Click on the meatball menu (the three horizontal dots in the top right of the tweet).
Click on the meatball menu
A new window menu will open.
Select ‘Pin to your profile‘ from the dropdown menu that appears.
Pin To Your Profile
Press ‘Pin‘ on the window that opens that asks ‘Pin Tweet To Profile?).
You’ve now created a pinned tweet that will stick to the top of your Twitter timeline until you either replace it or remove it.
Pinned Tweet
How often should I change my pinned tweet?
At least once a month.
Pinned tweets over a month old can look out of date and may contain out of date information.
Old pinned tweets can also make the user look lazy because they are not changing or updating their pinned tweet. Visitors who have visited before will see the same pinned tweet and may not want to retweet it again.
I always share fresh pinned tweets, whereas I don’t retweet pinned tweets I know I have shared before.
I update my pinned tweet at least once every couple of weeks. Doing so encourages visitors to my Twitter account to share and retweet my new tweet. This results in lots of new referrals to my blog or blogs where I’m being featured.
It acts as free promotion for my blog, books and my writing.
As a way of saying ‘thank you’ to those that share my blog posts via Twitter, I retweet their pinned tweet. However, if I’ve retweeted it before, I won’t retweet it.
Ensure you change your pinned tweet at least once a month.
Can I pin the tweets of other users to my Twitter profile?
No. You can only pin your own tweets to your own profile.
Do you have a pinned tweet on your Twitter account? How often do you change it?
Looking for more blogging tips from Hugh? Check out these posts.
Have you ever wondered if there is an easy way to add a PDF file to a blog post on WordPress?
With the Block editor, it’s as easy as ABC.
Blogging guru Natalie Ducey shows us how to upload a PDF File on WordPress using the Gutenberg Block Editor. Click the following link or image to read her tutorial.
Hugh's Views & News 