This is Day 18 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project 60+ of us bloggers are doing together in an effort to help each other become better bloggers.
The idea behind creating a sneeze page for your blog? Quite the opposite of spewing bacteria all over your friends, family and co-workers while wondering why no one says God bless you anymore, your blog’s sneeze page encourages your visitors to stick around for a while, hand sanitizer optional.
If you still haven’t installed a statistics tracker, today is a good day to get that done. Tracking the hits to your blog is the only way to know if these exercises are doing your blog any good.
Creating a sneeze page can be done several different ways, and if you’ve been blogging for more than a minute, you’re probably doing at least one of them.
- Your about me page is more than a mini-bio. Link to your favorite posts that tell your readers more about you.
- Create a page that lists the most popular posts on your site. For you WordPress users, there are plugins that will do this automatically, but why not stroll through your archives yourself? Link to the ones you like the best, the ones with the most views, and the ones that generated interesting discussions in your comments. Mix it up.
- When you use words like “yesterday’s post” in your current post, take the time to hyperlink yesterday’s post. Write your blog as though every single visitor is reading for the first time.
- Each post should be a sneeze post. Link your commonly used themes, references and cast of characters in each post. Tell us who you are every chance you get, and be interesting. Readers won’t read your blog for an hour without compelling content and easy navigation. Don’t bury the goodness.
- If you’re using a blogging platform that won’t allow separate, tabbed pages, you can use your sidebars just as effectively, but on a smaller scale. More of a slightly runny nose than a sneeze, you can still get your readers to click around your site by listing your must-read posts.
Discussion questions:
- What is your current method for getting your readers to stick around on your blog?
- Do you change your sneeze or sticky pages frequently or just kinda let them collect dust?
- What’s your way of knowing if anything you’re doing on your blog is working?
- Do you like cats?
The Extra Mile
A few other things you can do to take your blog, other bloggers, and this project even further today…
- Reply & give other bloggers feedback on the little things they do.
- When other bloggers include a link to a new article they’ve posted today, click, read, and comment on it.
- Check previous posts in the series for new comments.
- Tweet, share, & bookmark this post.
- Please review the blog of Becky Beery (aka TiajuanaBecky), and give her some feedback.
Blogging daily about nothing in particular at freefringes.com and tweeting about even less as @hmx5, Erica Mullenix is a writer and special needs parent living in Texas with her three extraordinarily normal children and Lab mix pound puppy.
73 Comments
Good job, Erica!
I haven't worked on a separate sneeze page specifically today, but I have been working on linking posts to current/past posts as I write. I'm not really sure what a "sneeze page" looks like. I'm going to have to browse around and figure out what that would look like on my blog. I've already got some great resources with everyone here!
Truthfully, I've hit a wall because of some personal issues and am having problems continuing on with this (or any) project. Please pray! There's an update for today's blog post:http://jenniferjanes.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/sna…
~Jennifer
I'm guilty of letting my sneeze pages gather dust and if looking at the stats counters I have installed and then doing precisely nothing with them.
And I can't stand cats 😉
My most recent post links to a previous post and my "about me" page links to the very first post which explains why I'm there. I've inserted the Link Within gadget that refers to other posts.
My blog is directed at Christian husbands who are either in crisis or pursuing Christlikeness (or both!). I'm in a series I call "The Best Safety Device is a Careful Man" This post starts, "A safe man is careful with: His thought life."
http://preparation4eternity.blogspot.com
Blessings, Kim
Great post, Erica. I did not realize that I have "Sneeze" pages or at least 1 "Sneeze" page which is my "Getting to Know Me" (my about me version). After today's assignment, I am thinking about adding a Categories Page and perhaps a Series Page, although I'm sure how often I would use that. I am doing a series on prayer right now and I am more inclined to post that on my sidebar.
I have Google Analytics through Feedburner but not sure how to evaluate what gets clicked on. Might try some of the sites you suggested to Richard Sipes.
I am getting better at posting links to previous articles and I hope that my writing keeps them coming back.
Any suggestions?
Janis
I have been adjusting the "Sneeze" pages on our site since uploading our recent upgrade. Still lots to do. I also use Google Analytics and have found the LinkWithin plugin very useful once I was able to integrate it.
I like both cats and dogs but they don't seem to get along very well with each other.
I started to create a "blast from the past, best of 2003" highlighting my best posts from my first year of blogging. The trouble is, before I increase traffic through those posts, some of them really need editing!
Also, it turns out I have more old posts I'd like to share from that year than will comfortably fit on a sneeze page. So I said, "I know, I will break them up by category." But I decided to rename my categories. And now I want to review the categorization of those posts.
I'll get there, I'll get there! 31DBBB is starting to outstrip my ability to keep up. As I posted on Twitter/Facebook last night, "There aren't enough blogging hours in a day."
Thank you Erica. This is a beautiful one. Many of us have not thought it wise in the past to create a sneeze page since there can always be allergy. I am working on my about me page to link several sites of mine that explain much about me. I am also creating a page that will highlight the best of my old blog post. Thank you for that write-up. It will bring beautiful changes in people's blog
Great post. One question though. What if your blogs(s) get super popular and lots of people start leaving comments? If you go the extra mile you'll have no time for anything else much less working on the next blog post for your own site(s). Such a shame too because I really enjoy yours.
So here's the corner I've boxed you into — I want everyone to read your blog. I don't want everyone to read your blog so you'll still have time to blog!
Which do you wish to happen?
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Hi there, i just wanted to drop you a line to say that i thoroughly enjoyed this particular post of yours, I have subscribed to your RSS feeds and have skimmed a few of your posts before but this one really stood out for me. I know that I am just a stranger to you but I figured you might appreciate the appreciation 🙂 – Take care – and keep blogging.