I had a chance to ask Sean Si of SEO-Hacker a few questions about search engine optimization and wanted to share the interview with you, as optimization is one of the most important aspects too often ignored by bloggers.

Check it out!

FUEL: What’s going on in the search engine optimization world right now?

SEAN: There’s a huge shift towards content marketing this year – after the ever-popular Penguin hit. Lots of content in Slideshare and other SEO blogs about ‘Content Marketing is the new SEO’ here are some to check out:

• Crap. The Content Marketing Deluge.
• Why Content Marketing is the New SEO
• The New SEO Era: 5 New Grounds to Avoid Extinction

Penguin 4.0 will roll out soon – although that’s pretty much just an upgrade from it’s already huge debut: hitting 20% of Google search results

Can you give us a few example of what content marketing is, including some of the ways it’s being implemented by publishers?

Sure thing. Here’s the best way I think content marketing is being used:

Copyblogger uses content marketing to gain subscribers with their Content Marketing 101 short-course landing page. This goes hand-in-hand with their high search engine ranking when you search for ‘content marketing’. The landing page gives you so much stuff about content marketing and is full of CTA buttons and phrases that you would end up giving your email address to them 99% of the time. Which leads to a powerful drip-feed campaign (that even penetrates through their e-books) that would just keep on increasing their authority in your life and knowledge. It’s some sort of subtle hypnosis – but there’s no magic involved. It’s really just content.

Content that is so powerful, it makes you want to buy all the stuffs they’re selling.

I’m putting up a Content Marketing series entitled “Breaking down Content Marketing” – you might want to check it out.

Does SEO Hacker have a specific strategy in mind for the imminent shut down of Google Reader?

Perhaps the closest I can think of right now is the huge surge in search volume for the keywords similar to ‘Google reader alternative’ with which there is an opportunity for solid content that can attract links.

Do you think your readers will continue using RSS readers, or will they swing more toward social for their content consumption?

I think that RSS is such a great, convenient way to keep up-to-date with what’s happening in a specific industry of interest. I use RSS all the time. Of course, I use feedly now that Google Reader is gone. Then again, Google Reader won’t shut down if there are a lot of people like myself. In my honest opinion, the general trend is that a lot of people have moved to social (such as Facebook pages, Google+ activity feed, or twitter feeds) for their content consumption.

I use Google+ a lot when I share news or interesting stuff that I dig up on the web. You can follow me on Google+ here.

How much overlap is there between social media and search optimization now that Google is on both sides of the fence?

I wouldn’t really call it overlap. I see social media as more of a value modifier when it comes to a webpage’s SEO factors. Social signals helps verify if a webpage is really worthy of its backlinks and search results standings. On the other hand, social media is a powerful source of branding. The more social media estates your brand has, the better. There will be more information about who you are for Google to digest. That’s always a good thing.

Which social platform are people connecting with seo-hacker most?

Right now it would be Facebook and Twitter. But that’s because I have tools that help me out in a huge way. Some of these tools are Marketmesuite and Socialoomph.

What’s the most important thing a blogger can do to enhance their prominence in the Google index?

The best thing? It’s stupendously simple really: write great content that will attract people’s attention, interest and move them to an actionable point – whether it’s to share your stuff, to change their habit, to buy your product, to avail of your service, or to simply incept an idea. After this most important thing, there’s the second important thing: Promote. Market it out on the right social platforms, the right communities, shell out money, use some tools to do this. Getting the word out on great stuff is always helpful – and will always incur some thanks and gratefulness from people who have had the chance to find out the usefulness of that stuff. These thanks can come out in the form of links, word of mouth, search queries, positive social signals, etc.

Infographics became a great way to attract a lot of attention — how do you optimize them?

I honestly think that there are tons of crappy infographs that are published for the sole purpose of attracting links. The thing about infographs is that, only the really, really, really, really good ones make it. Any less than that, you’re just wasting your time. Infographs have a limited room for optimization. You make sure the alt text is right, don’t put in an image title (it might distract readers who mouses-over your infograph), make sure the surrounding text of the infograph describes what the infograph is about, and make sure to put in a text area below the infograph for people to be able to copy the code if they want to use it in their website.

The best infographs tells a story, not just data. I think that the best way to optimize an infograph is to have an awesome outline before you start designing it.

What are you working on right now at SEO Hacker?

We’re working on creating more lessons and video sessions in SEO Hacker school before we fully market it out. We’re mostly still on the beta testing stage but we’ve got some great stuff inside the school for those who are starting out on learning SEO. It’s a school where we pretty much spoon-feed our students through the lessons and videos and community forums. We’re hoping it would go all-out by summer.

Awesome, what’s the best way for people to stay updated with the latest from SEO Hacker School?

Right now, you can enroll for free as an Insider – this will give you an initial ‘feel’ of what it is to be enrolled in SEO School. This will also ensure that we have your email address to update you when there are new things happening inside such as new lessons, videos, design, quizzes, etc.

This is a guest post by Ken Myers of  longhornleads.

When you are sick it is no time to think about your blog, but how can you forget? You know, as I do, that updating your blog regularly is the only way to keep it alive. However you are feeling too sick to write up to your usual standards. So what are you to do? Here are some tips to keep your blog going even when you are under the weather:

1. Stay ahead of the game – Well, if you are a blogger who is on top of things hopefully you are already ahead of the game. This means that you have several posts written in advance and have them scheduled to be posted automatically in the even that something should happen to you and you can’t get to a computer. Many bloggers try to stay at least two ahead on their posts so that they have a couple of catch up days should they get sick or have an emergency. If this is you then hurray! You are doing great. If not, continue reading please.
2. Have a backup – Every blogger should have at least one evergreen back up post ready to go in case of emergency. Evergreen posts are ones that are not time sensitive and will work at any time of the year. These posts should be looked at periodically and not left to rot for years, but they can work well to fill in a gap during an illness. By having a backup you can catch up on your blog and none will be the wiser. More than one back up is preferred, but at least one should be created just for this purpose.
3. Use guest posts –Guest posts are another great way to get content without actually having to write when you are sick. Guest posts work because you are exchanging something. You get free content and the guest poster gets a link to their site and exposure to your audience. This is a win-win for everyone involved. However you should make sure you form strong relationships with other blogger who would be willing to do this for you and also make sure you check over the quality and topic of the blog post before allowing it to be put on your blog. This will prevent a lot of possible trouble!
4. Use multimedia – Another way to create a blog post without actually writing is to use multimedia. Videos, photos and infographics all make for great blog posts without much writing. You can even create a video using just the web cam and microphone that came with your laptop if you want. Or you can use screenshots and narration for a great how to guide. There are many ways to use blogging other than just writing. A picture is worth a thousand words, and when you are under the weather a thousand words is a godsend.
5. Ask for help – we all get sick. Everyone knows that. That is why there is no shame in asking for help. If you have a trusted friend or fellow blogger you can ask them to write something and post it for you. You can also ask your readers to suggest blog topics and write their own response to a simple question for others to read. This is a great way to get out of writing while still involving your readers and letting them know what is going on with you.
6. Share a post – If that does not sound like something you can or would want to do, you can always share a post. Most bloggers love to have their posts shared with new audiences. Create a summary of a post you like or just take a snippet from it and post it to your blog with a link to the original. As long as you do not copy the entire contents or say you wrote it then the other blogger will usually be happy for the attention. If you are worried about it shoot them an email and ask before you share their post.
7. Repost something –Another way to get content on your blog without writing it is to repost something you had posted long ago. This can be a popular reader favorite, one you think was overlooked, or just one that suits your mood at the moment. Clearly note that this is a repost and add a little blurb about why you felt it needed to be seen again. That is all there is to it for great content that you wrote, even if it has been a while.
8. Keep it short – Now we come to actually writing something. I know that when you are sick it is hard to think about writing anything, but keep in mind that your blog post does not have to be long. In fact, shorter is usually better. Most readers do not want to use their time and energy to read pages and pages of text. Instead they like to read something they can scan or look over quickly. That is why short blog posts work so well. Anyone would be happy to read a short blog and get the same information they would get from a longer one. Summarizing your thoughts is a great way to provide good content without working too hard. You should strive for around five hundred words. Any less and you will lose search engines, any more and you start to lose readers. Even under the weather you can manage five hundred words, right?
9. Break it up – Speaking of keeping it short another thing you should do with longer posts is to break them up. You can use headers to make them easier for people to scan or you can break them up into multiple posts. This is a great way to stay ahead. Write a long post and then break it up into parts one, two and three to make it look like you have more content than you actually do. Your readers will like it better too because it is nice and short for them to read.
10. Write a list –A list is another way of breaking up your blog posts. However a list is a favorite of mine for many reasons. One, readers like lists because they can scan it quickly and because they can see immediately how long the post will be from the title. For example a post titled “5 Things to Eat in China” will be shorter than one titled “25 Things to Eat in India”. Another reason list posts are great is because you can’t lose track of what you are writing. Unlike normal posts you do not have to make list posts flow. In fact, list posts are supposed to be choppy. That means that once you have the points down you can take a break in between and no one is the wiser. Even someone very sick can write a hundred words at a time, which is all it takes.
11. Listen to music – When you are not feeling well it can make you unmotivated and lethargic. Energize yourself and get back in the mood to write with a favorite song or inspiring music. I love to listen to fast piano music as I type. Lyrics have a way of distracting us, so instrumental music or nature sounds are usually better. Even ocean waves can be quick and inspire you to write when you are feeling down.

These are just a few ideas that can help you through this difficult time. Being prepared is the easiest thing to do when it comes to keeping up your blog. If you can try to have a backup or two ready to go just in case something should come up. Happy blogging and feel better soon!

Author Bio:

Ken Myers is the founder of  longhornleads.com & has learned over the years the importance of focusing on what the customer is looking for and literally serving it to them. He doesn’t try to create a need, instead he tries to satisfy the existing demand for information on products and services.

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Being a full-time blogger or small internet business owner means making every dollar count, and that can make it tough to get to the places where networking opportunities show themselves most obviously. With conferences aimed at your niche held in some of the most tourist-friendly cities in the world, the trip, accommodations, and other expenses often prove to be too much, leaving you to improvise where networking is concerned.

If you want to rub shoulders with your colleagues in the name of furthering your business, but on a strict budget, check out these four blogging meetups where you don’t need to spend too much money to network:

1. Vancouver Blogger Meetup Group

If you live on or plan to visit the Canadian west coast, consider making an edition of the Vancouver Blogger Meetup Group part of your itinerary! These meetups are absolutely free to attend, bringing together some of the brightest minds in blogging in a city known for its technological prowess.

When and Where: Meetups of this group are held about once each month in locations around Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, meaning that there is one for you to attend whenever it suits you!

2. Chicago International Blog Awards

Held with great success for several years now, the Chicago International Blog Awards dinner is set to host about 150 bloggers and businesspeople from around the Windy City as awards are handed out, great food is eaten, and networking opportunities that simply cannot be beat rain down upon everyone in attendance.

At only $34.95, even bloggers on a budget can easily afford to get in and rub shoulders with the award-winning best of their niche, making this an excellent place to network on the cheap.

When and Where: The 2013 edition of the Chicago International Blog Awards is set for a date at the Chicago Cultural Center on February 28, 2013. Need a ride to or from your hotel of choice? Check out Cheapcarrental.net for great rates on temporary wheels!

3. BlissDom 2013

Aimed at blogging women in particular, but open to men in the business, as well, BlissDom 2013 hopes to bring together more than 1,000 attendees who are interested in finding their bliss through professional blogging. Besides nearly endless networking opportunities, BlissDom will offer workshops and lectures aimed at making you more successful in every aspect of your online endeavors, from various blogging tips to marketing.

With a price tag much lower than most comparable conferences, BlissDom offers a unique way to meet up with like-minded bloggers in a comfortable setting, all without the need to spend on a fortune on building your contact list.

When and Where: BlissDom 2013 will be held in Dallas, Texas from March 21-23, 2013, offering the historic comforts of the American south alongside a focus on the technologies of the future.

4. Camp Blogaway

One of the most unique blogging events in the world, Camp Blogaway invites its attendees to enjoy luxury camping facilities with an eye towards development as a blogger, providing a series of workshops and lectures held in a comfortable setting that encourages each person in attendance to get to know one another. While the agenda shows a full slate of activities, there will be time to relax with your fellow campers, as well, making this one event not to be missed if networking is your primary goal.

The $325 fee to attend Camp Blogaway may seem steep, but do note that it includes accommodations for the weekend, all of your meals, and even goodie bags to be handed out when you leave. If that’s still not cost-effective enough for you, consider combining a weekend adventure getaway with an opportunity for professional growth, killing two birds with one inexpensive stone!

When and Where: 2013’s Camp Blogaway is set to be held in beautiful Angelus Oaks, California, deep within the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, from May 24-26, 2013.

Keep an eye on international blogging events as well!

Just wanted to wish you a Happy Halloween!

Be sure to blog in cosutme tonight :)

What does that mean exactly? Hyperlocal blogging refers to blogs that narrow their focus on a very particular area; say, a city, a neighborhood or even a single street. This allows these blogs to provide a select audience with valuable tips, insights and news, helping to find success in a niche unlike any other.

Whether you’re only just considering taking a more focused approach to your blog or you’re a well-established hyperlocal blogger looking for tips, check out these five best examples of hyperlocal blogs:

1. Baristanet

Serving the city of Montclair, New Jersey, Baristanet.com was launched in 2004, making it a pioneer in the realm of hyperlocal blogs. Given that a stable of writers works to cover the happenings in a town of less than 38,000 people, Baristanet features information on almost everything that goes on within township limits, offering insight on topics ranging from shopping and restaurants to the local entertainment scene.

Boasting a lineup of very talented writers and contributors along with a fun design and enjoyable, informative content, there is probably no better example of a useful, inviting hyperlocal blog than Baristanet.

2. West Seattle Blog

Keeping things simple and allowing the content to do the talking is the philosophy behind the popular West Seattle Blog. Providing coverage of events and goings-on in only the metropolis’ westside allows this hyperlocal blog to really separate itself from the crowd. The content here centers around news, local crime reports, reviews of shopping and eating destinations and the all-important traffic reports that every commuter craves.

The writers behind the West Seattle Blog do what they know, and what they know is west Seattle. This allows them to draw from among a unique audience that was otherwise untapped, proving that micro-focusing for website traffic can bring much better results than a broader approach.

3. VIP Realty Dallas Blog

Featuring hyper-local events and sights, this is a perfect example of business blog that targets a local community.

4. The B-Town Blog

The town of Burien, Washington has long turned to the B-Town Blog for thoughts, opinions and updates on only the topics that matter to the nearly 33,000 residents. This hyperlocal focus has lead to reporting on local politics, crime, municipal matters and more, drawing thousands of readers from around the town, many of whom actively participate in discussion on the blog, becoming contributors to an archive of wonderfully localized content in the process.

The B-Town Blog has been rated as the number one hyperlocal blog by the Society of Professional Journalists for two years in a row, and deservedly so!

5. GoBurley

The sleepy town of Burley, Idaho used to turn to GoBurly.com for their local content, receiving news, sports coverage and even inside information on the local school system, all from a single resident and his team of contributors. While the blog has been abandoned for more than two years now, its content still serves as an excellent testament to the kinds of coverage that are needed to connect directly with local readers.

If standing out from other information sources in your community is your goal, GoBurley.com has something to teach about hyperlocal methodology!

6. SFist

Covering local happenings around San Francisco since 2004, SFist.com is a staple of the San Fran blogging scene, rivaling the city’s mainstream media websites in popularity. Content topics here are wide and thorough, covering even the most minute happenings around town while still making time for reviews of city services and shopping.

While you may have a difficult time keeping up with the sheer amount of content published at SFist.com, their span of coverage and casual, yet professional tone of writing are excellent examples of what a hyperlocal blog should be.

Design is what strikes people’s interest.

Design makes people stick around and explore.

Design is how you guide your visitor to your conversion pages.

All of this, yet most bloggers don’t pay particularly close attention to the world of design. It’s a big world, but it’s designed to work with publishers such as yourself closely. I’m not any type of design expert, but I have my own taste and I keep in touch not only with the designers I work with, but those who are looking ahead.

If you don’t have a forward-thinking design, your visitors are going to leave you in their dust in a snap.

If you’re interested in learning what a visitors thinks about the design of your blog,  ’d like to invite you to share a link to your blog in the comments section for a little Feedback Friday.

There’s a clear trend regarding where design is heading for 2013, so it will be pretty easy to spot whether or not you need to consider updating the design of your blog.

It’s one of the most important aspects of publishing, yet it’s practically ignored. With the attention span and patience growing shorter, it’s more important than ever to pay special attention to the focus of your blog. If you’re not sure what the focus is, you have some work to do. If you do know the focus, look at your categories … if they don’t reflect that focus you have in mind, you have work to do.

Ultimately, I think we all have work to do.

We need to focus in on what we’re talking about.

When I work through the blog submissions during FeedbackFriday, I see a ton of bloggers writing about stuff that seems to interest them at the moment. This is certainly okay when talking about personal blogs, but when you’re blogging for a specific community of people you need to create a strong focus on your topic. If you don’t, you risk missing out on subscribers because they can’t figure out whether your blog is about collector baseball cards or fast food.

One of the best examples of this in action is over at the shopify blog, lead by Mark Hayes. The blog features five categories, all of wh

I wanted to see if there was a positive impact of publishing in bulk as opposed to publishing the standard daily post. From what I’ve seen, I’d venture to say it didn’t provide a positive impact, and that publishing on a daily or multi-daily schedule provides a better opportunity to reach community.

I didn’t think it would work out for the better, but I wanted to try something new so I gave it a whirl. It was fun and I came out with knowledge I didn’t have in the beginning. This type of experimentation is fading away as blogging becomes more mainstreamed for our community.

Never stop trying new things.

Push the limits and just see what happens.

If you’re not learning, you’re doing it wrong

One of the most important lessons about working had to do with learning. My grandpa told me that if I wasn’t learning from my job, then it was a waste of time and that I should find another. I’ve always tried to align myself with that approach, and I think it’s reflected here in a way.

If you’re not pushing yourself to learn something, then why are you doing what you’re doing?

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The social web not only enables us to share our content from our blogs, it also enables us to attract individual audiences across a variety of specific platforms and thus diversify how we connect with our followers, and more importantly, how they connect with us.

In addition, the social web also helps bloggers convey how influential they are in their community, which can be important when a new visitor isn’t sure who you are.

This advantage comes with a price though.

In order to promote your social profile, you have to send people away from your blog … and this is what bloggers were quick to do in the early days. Some have started to think this isn’t such a smart approach after all … I mean, telling your visitors (not just your readers, but new visitors) to go away and connect somewhere else doesn’t make much sense anymore.

If you’re thinking it enables them to connect using a platform they trust, that’s true.

However, if they want to connect, you could argue they’re going to connect one way or another so why not try to control that connection a bit more instead of letting Facebook show them ads or Twitter show them promoted tweets from McDonalds?

This is where the email list comes in, but I digress.

The point here is that you might be over-promoting your social profiles on your blog and ultimately losing potential loyal readers.

Want direct feedback about your blog?

If you’re not sure if your blog strikes a good balance, consider sharing a link to your blog in the comments section so I can take a quick peek. Like all FeedbackFriday posts, I’ll be visiting each blog submitted and providing a bit of feedback in the comments section under in reply to your original.

We don’t.

Everyone can work hard.

It’s not until you start working smarter that you deserve any kind of credit … and even then, who cares? It’s not about credit, it’s about building something, reaching people, having fun, and maybe even creating something you can count on to be there when your employer lays you off.

Don’t worry about how much time you spend working on your blog — doesn’t matter. Instead ask yourself, “what am I achieving with my blog?” What are you building? What problems are you working on solving?

When you focus on the time you spend and how tired you are, you sound like the majority of the work force … and they don’t like their job. The idea here is to escape the 9 to 5 so you can spend all of your time with your blog … what you love most!

That’s working smart, not hard.

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We communicate everything online these days.

Information, thoughts, feelings … we put it all out there for our friends, co-workers, and strangers to see (in some cases). We also share our opinions about specific products, people, articles, videos, and brands. Because the publishing world has been cracked open and made available to everyone, both on a blogging level and a status update level, we can begin to build both our individual reputation and our brand.

Brands used to pay big money for this type of power.

Now it’s free.

Building your brand with the social web isn’t just about attracting as many followers possible … some brands and most celebrities pay money for this, but it’s not powerful … and thus doesn’t cost much money. No. Building your brand with the social web can’t take place until you’re open to getting down in the trenches with your following.

Talk with them, not to them.

Listen and think about what they’re telling you. It matters.

Once you’re at that point, you can start building your brand.

Blog about what they want to read

If you’re writing a blog for readers, then you need to consider what your readers want to read. In a way, you’re a movie director and the only person you should be thinking about the whole time is the person watching your movie. Blog for your reader.

If you’re blogging for yourself, as many bloggers start out doing, then you don’t need to worry about this right now. Sure, it will help you because your readers might appreciate it, but you also risk losing some of your core readership if you begin writing for new visitors. If you have a loyal following, then they’re probably right there with you, learning, and on the same page. You’re leading the way of course, but they’re experiencing much of the same thing … so when you begin to publish content for new visitors, your loyal readers are thrown off. This comes down to a decision you have to make — do you want to attract new followers and provide a well-rounded experincing or do you want to continue forward at your own pace and publish for that group of loyal followers?

Perhaps there’s a happy middle ground?

This kind of brings us to the next point, which is something a lot of bloggers tend to lose when the begin blogging for the reader.

Be yourself

If you’re not yourself, then who are you!?

Too many bloggers try to be someone they’re not. It doesn’t matter if it’s celebrity, pro blogger, or whatever — it’s easy to see through. Be yourself and do your thing … if you’re true to you, then your readers will like you for who you are, not for who you’re trying to be. Be transparent and express yourself.

Acknowledge your readers

Build your brand by thanking or spotlighting your readers. Every appreciates the occasional credit or highlight now and then, but doing this publicly in front of everyone else will strike a chord with not only the reader you’re highlighting, but the rest of your readers as well.

The way you do this is up to you. Brands do this in a variety of different ways, so it’s up to you to come up with the way you’re going to showcase your reader.

It comes down to Word of Mouth

The social web provides everyone the chance to level with friends, strangers, customers, trolls — whoever!

Take advantage of this and always strive to create good word of mouth … people are going to talk, so it might as well be geared toward your favor, right?

Starting a blog is a long lonely road for most new bloggers.

It requires the kind of dedication, focus, and energy (among other things) that has the power to dissuade even the most passionate person. Don’t worry … if you do a good job, the loneliness aspect of blogging will disparate and make room for community.

There are two ways to approach the start of your blog:

Spontaneous

This approach usually includes tinkering your way through the start process until you’ve published your first post. Little to no consideration is spent on long-term issues, like branding or optimization.

Premeditated

This approach to starting your blog is drawn out over a long period of time, in which you’ll consider all the long-term issues, the potential problems, legal aspects, and other variables that frankly don’t matter yet.

There are pros and cons to each, but it will ultimately come down to your personality and style. There’s no right or wrong way, but depnding on the way you choose, you will find challenges down the road that could have been avoided using the opposite method. But again, that’s true for either approach you take so it really doesn’t matter.

Unless …

Spontaneditated

It’s silly, sure … but the idea’s still there.

Try not to stress out about the things that won’t affect you until you’re successful, but consider the things that make an impact on your blog forever — like the name.

How did you approach the start of your blog?

Some niches continue to thrive and thought leaders certainly brew up dedicated followers, but it seems like new visitors are taking less part in the conversation than ever before.

That’s fine.

The problem comes up when visitors do decide to post a simple, complimentary comment.

“Nice post.”

Comments like these are certainly welcome, however, commenters need to understand that bloggers are facing an unprecedented amount of spam … and that’s often exactly the type of content they post first.

You see, spammers know that if they can just get one or two comments approved by a moderator, they’ll have unlimited access to posting as many comments they want (if the blogger has set up auto approval to save time).

This problem has me considering moving comments to some sort of closed system (for my own work), but that in itself will likely limit the comments.

How do you handle the comments on your blog?

I read a post over at Jon Morrow’s blog, called 12 Blogging Mistakes that Make You Look Like An Idiot (written by Chris Lappin), and connected with just about every mistake listen … yeah, not sure if that’s a good thing. Actually, the reason I was able to connect with them was because in addition to the mistakes I’ve made for myself over the years, I’ve also seen a lot of bloggers make mistakes — especially when I venture out on Fridays and visit all the blogs submitted in the comments sections of the Feedback Friday posts.

The eighth mistake stuck out to me in particular, because it has to do with soulless content … and that @$%& sucks!

Here’s number eight from Chris’ post along with some advice:

Not infusing your personality into the content

So, sprinkle it in. Talk about what your audience is interested in, but do it your way. Yes, there’s a fine balance, since it can’t be all about you, but don’t disappear completely. You can share your stories and experiences while still focusing thoroughly on your readers’ needs. The biggest sin on the Internet is to be boring. Don’t be guilty of this, or you’ll soon be forgotten!

The last line is mint. Don’t be boring! Stop trying to fit in with all the professional bloggers out there and just do your thing. Go read the full post — highly recommended.

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There’s a beauty behind everything … you just have to find the right angle.

I’ve always been pretty involved with photography, but I’ve only recently begun to appreciate the beauty of simplicity. I’m not sure if it’s because of how the design world is swinging toward big bold visuals or if it’s a natural progression, but I’ve been taking a lot of photos of every day items from angles that illustrate what used to be boring, like lines and lack of depth.

Is there simplicity behind your blog?

In terms of blogging, this makes me wonder if it would help to take a step back and try to see our work as a whole.

Instead of looking at it from behind the WordPress admin, let’s try to look at it from above — an aerial view. Where are the lines and shadows and lack of depth? What stands out and what doesn’t? This might help bloggers refine their approach to a more simplified approach, which in turn might help them focus on what they’re blog’s about.

Take a step back

Next time you’re at the Apple store, bring up your blog on any device and look at it. Don’t touch it, just look at it exist on a device that’s not yours, in a place that’s not yours.

Then step away and watch what happens when people interact with the device. Do they scroll away immediately or do they look at the screen for a moment? Do they explore your blog, or do they search for something else. If you pay attention to how people interact with your blog in person, you might be able to see the simplicity of it all.

Identify it.

Then move forward and try to make it even simpler.

One blog I think has made an incredible leap toward its simplicity is ThinkTraffic … the re-design is beautiful and promotes the simple core behind everything Corbett Barr has been working on.

Give it a whirl, find your simplicity, then strive to amplify that simplicity.

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