How to Not be ‘That Guy’ in the Blogging Community
Every crowd has “that guy” or “that gal” who are often the subject of annoyance, and the blogging community is no exception. Here is just a small lists of don’ts, and we’d love to hear some of your annoyances in the comments below…
Don’t Ask To Exchange Links
If you have a good or decently ranked blog, chances are you’ve received requests to “exchange links,” which is basically a fancy way of saying promote me on your blog, and I’ll promote you back. Link exchanges happen all the time, and is often to help with SEO even though Google has openly commented on such practices. Other times, it’s just to try and get free promotion.
However, it’s an incredibly ineffective approach, and 99 percent of the time, the site that someone wants linked is complete crap. Back in the day, I remember getting requests for sites that had absolutely nothing to do with my own. If someone naturally enjoys your blog, and/or is inspired by something you write, they will link to you. That’s not always the case though, and asking to “exchange links” is a quick way for someone to exchange your email for something more important, like a chain email from their Aunt Betty.
Don’t Comment Using Your Blog Name
Here at Blog Herald, we see this one just about all the time. In theory, it makes sense, but in reality, nobody wants to talk to a brand or thing, they want to talk to an actual human being. Yes, I get that you’re blogging about making money on blogs while blogging about making money, but it would be really great to just talk to Todd.
Simply be yourself, and when you do that, you’ll find that more people will interact with you, and there will be less chances of your comment ending up in the spam folder.
Don’t Stuff Your Header With “As Seen On”
Showing authority and building authority are very important, not just in the blogging community, but life and business in general. To help with this, thousands of people litter their blog’s header with images of logos of popular publications, claiming they’ve been seen on them.
Unfortunately, with 28 different logos and a bright red “As Seen On” sticker, your blog now looks like the beginning of an infomercial. But wait, there’s more! It’s easy for anyone to throw up some images even though they weren’t technically “seen.” For example, I once commented on Forbes.com, and someone saw and replied to that comment. In many cases, people have actually appeared in certain publications, but it’s always good to have a healthy dose of skepticism.
Don’t Always Do What Everyone Else Is Doing
To put it bluntly, a lot of people in the blogging community are copycats. There’s nothing wrong with emulating other successful bloggers, but you have to be unique and different in your own way. Just because everyone is doing one thing, doesn’t mean you have to tag along, and jump on the bandwagon. Carve your own path, and do what you want to do.
Photo credit: miguelb
“As seen on” is just the most disgusting way to prove yourself as a better blogger or a professional blogger, its something that has a negative effect on every thing, even if you want to tell others that you are so successful and so “good” at it, they can give a single link telling people about their achievement.
Dont just overdo the “logo” thing on your homepage.. save some place, just to make your blog look clean..
Thanks Mike, you just said what I felt everyday
Mike, what you said make sense, and I do hate “As Seen On” technique. I want to emphasize on blog commenting using your real name rather than blog name. Because I think that blog commenting is one of the best practice to get quick backlinks and even referral traffic, not much but stills some, depending upon the particular blog traffic.
But what if we do blog commenting form a brand name but besides using the entire brand name like “Operation Media Solution” we are use short terms like “Media Solution” or something like [email protected]?
Just let me know what you think?