Christians, we need to learn to blog better. We’ve got to raise the bar for Christian blogging. I’m not talking about content. Pastors, ministry leaders, and writers you already have amazing content. I know. I read many of you regularly.
Content is not the problem – knowing how to use the power of the blog is.
I’ve been talking to friends who blog or who are thinking about starting. They want to know how I get so many subscribers, how I make such great connections and what they can do to get their message out. I’ve been trying to find blogs with higher PR than mine that I can add to the discussion and get decent backlinks and I can’t find very many Christian ones. I really get tired of searching for Christian content and finding negative and contrary views ranking higher than what the Bible says.
Christians, we need to be better bloggers. We need to control the flow of information.
This is a mountain we can have amazing influence on. Blogging allows us to rank high in the search engines when we know how to optimize for the keywords and syndicate it across networks. I chose a topic and dominate it. You’ve probably found my site looking for information about “forgiveness” or “honor” or “negativity” or more recently, “seeking the Lord” and “fearing the Lord”. Most Christian bloggers write amazing content that sits there…
It’s on my “radar list” to create Christian Blogging courses at the 101, 201, 301 and 401 levels. I’m investigating creating a blogging network to exchange headlines. I’m able to produce videos for some incredible plugins every blog should have. The problem is, I don’t have the time right now to do all of that and I need to stay focused on by book and freelance writing business.
But I came across a blogging course by someone I trust. I’m highly impressed with what I’ve got from him and I’ve had no problem with any product he produces.
This blogging course is amazing. He covers things that have taken me years to learn. My only fear is that you might be overwhelmed with the amount of material – don’t be. Take your time to get the training for the things you need to do now.
And don’t be put off by the name: “WordPress Wizard 2.0”
If you’re blogging on another platform, WordPress now lets you import it easily, and you really should be using WordPress simply because of the powerful plugins you can use with it. Oh, yah… “Wizard” doesn’t need to have a spiritual connotation. I’m sure Pawan was just after the alliteration.
Anyway, if your planning on getting serious about Christian blogging – and anyone with a backlog of sermons or writing should be – check out WordPress Wizard 2.0 and if there is enough information you’re interested in, get the membership. I’m sure there’s information you already know – take the meat, spit out the bones.
I’m thinking I’ll do a weekly segment for Blogging and Social Networking. Since I’ve written two Twitter books already, I have a lot to say already.
Ask me your blogging questions, I’ll try to answer them in the comments or do up a full post if I need to.
Thanks for sharing your post. I too am a Christian blogger and author. I am interested in learning all I can to help reach more people for the Lord. I would like to increase my traffic. I share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, but still don’t have the amount of traffice I would like to have. So, anything you can tell me to help with that is greatly appreciated. Blessings, Deborah H. Bateman
Deborah H. Bateman recently posted..Daily-Bible-Reading "Jesus’ Dedication" (Luke 2:22-35)
Deborah, I’m actually working on some courses to help people with blogging. Plans are in the works for an Author’s Academy that will start with Social Media training to market books. Keep in touch and I’ll let you know when it’s set up and ready to roll.
I agree with you about needing more Christian bloggers. I’m doing my part with 3 active Christian blogs and I have 2 that I need to move to my new WordPress site. Problem is between Tweeting, monitoring, promoting my novel and trying to earn some income to support myself, it’s hard to find the time to dedicate to writing good content, never mind working on novel #2! Could use some pointers. http://giselleaguiar.com/personal_blog, http://giselleaguiar.com/novel1/deo_volente/, http://giselleaguiar.com/wwjd/blog, I’d love to get some guest bloggers for the WWJD one.
Giselle,
I’m actually working on some email courses for authors to promote their work through social media. It’s where almost 100% of my sales come from. I need to be doing more seminars and speaking as well as other more traditional and more original marketing. We may be switching to a “crowd sourcing” model of publishing for Expectancy Press. And if we do I’ll be setting up an Author’s Academy to help them create the buzz for bestsellers.
I’ve whitelisted you so you don’t have to wait for me to moderate your comments anymore. Look forward to posting your guest post.
I think adding a weekly post on blogging is a great idea. I have been blogging almost a year and have spent as much time learning about traffic and SEO as I have writing. Maybe more at times.
Having simple explanations would certainly help us non-tech types.
I also agree that we need to get more attention on Christian blogs. It’s another way to reach people for God. Thanks for your willingness to help others – certainly one of the things God calls us to do.
Sue
Thanks Sue. I go back and forth on it all the time. I’ll soon have more about me on my about page so people can see why when I learn something, I feel EVERYBODY wants to experience it with me to. Can’t understand why some Christians don’t want 70,000+ people on Twitter, until I realize not everybody is like me
Trev,
Thanks for sharing. I’ve been doing some technical blogging myself but also want to write some more encouraging stuff.
Thanks & God bless!
Bill
Bill Watkins recently posted..Lest We Forget!
Great work on your blog. Keep encouraging others!
would you be willing to review my blog and tell me how I can reach more people?
Brad, there’s a lot to learn on SEO, social networking and SEM to get the traffic you need for your great content. Why not start with Twitter by reading my “Twitter Tips”? I’ll get 300 – 600 people a day from Twitter.
While we wait for better blogging please check out mine. Is this what you are looking for?
David,
Checked out your site and your book. It’s a great idea for authors to blog. Build a following, interact with your niche. You’re blogging regularly, which is great. If you can make it easier for people to connect with you – subscribe to an email list – you’ll build better connections.
It’s one of the reasons I love wordpress. I have all kinds of plugins behind the scenes that ping sites, aggregate RSS feeds, create sitemaps, use google analytics, let me have my own store, and make it easy for people to sign up… without (hopefully) being too obtrusive.
Just so you know…feedburner is often loosing contact with all the aggregators that subscribe to my blog, that’s why there are wild fluctations.