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Blog Improvement Project Other

Who would you like me to profile?

This month’s blog improvement task is Blog Post BINGO!

I loved trying to write all the different types of blog post last year and encourage you to participate. We’re giving away some book vouchers – does that help persuade you to try?!

This year I’m not going to try to achieve BINGO!, but I would like to attempt the three post types that I haven’t tried before.

  • A Profile or Case Study Post — both of these types of posts involve writing about a person or group in your niche; find out what they do, how they got there, or interesting stories then share with your readers (more details from ProBlogger)
  • A Post Contrasting Two Different Options – compare and contrast two similar items, let people know the pros and cons of each and ultimately decide which is the best.
  • A Collation Post – gather quotes or opinions on a subject and place them together in a post. Then use these opinions to draw conclusions on the topic.
  • I have an idea for the post contrasting two options, but would love your help on the other posts.

    Is there anyone you’d like me to see profile?

    Is there a topic you’d like me gather opinions on?

    Categories
    Blog Improvement Project Other

    Have you written any fabulous post titles recently?

    The current Blog Improvement Project task is to write a blog post with an eye-catching title. If you’d like to be entered into the best title poll you have until midnight tomorrow to add yours to Mr Linky on the BIP site. There are some great posts already listed, so even if you aren’t taking part in the project it is worth browsing through them.

    In the spirit of the magazines we’re supposed to be emulating I’ll let you know that my title is going to be:

    101 book group choices guaranteed to provoke discussion

    Come back tomorrow to see which books I’ve chosen!

    Categories
    Blog Improvement Project Blogging Other

    Blog Improvement Project: Create a Blogging To-Do List

    The first task for the Blog Improvement Project is to create a list of things on your blog that you’d like to change.

    I am aways fiddling with things on my site and spend hours trying to decide what would improve it. I really need to focus on the important things instead of just tinkering with new plug-ins!

    Hopefully this list will encourage me to make big changes, rather than messing around behind the scenes!

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    My To-Do List

    Add new header image

    I like the way that my header image gives you an instant feel for the sort of books that I read, but I really need to take a better photo – without any shine!

    Edit my challenge tab

    I need to change the challenge page to reflect the challenges I’m doing in 2010 and to ensure it focuses on my long-term reading challenges (Booker, Orange, Pulitzer prizes)

    Update my categories

    Overall I am quite happy with my categories, but there are a few redundant ones, mainly in the challenges section.

    Rebecca has a concise category list that I admire.

    Improve Sidebars

    I’d like to edit the text in my sidebars, so that it is stands out more. The  most popular post section is just a sea of words at the moment – I’d like to look at putting them in boxes, and perhaps use drop-down boxes to reduce clutter.

    Rob Around Books has a beautiful set of sidebars. I wish mine were as clear as his.

    Improve social media integration

    I need to think about adding a twitter feed, and improving the visibility of dig/delicious links.

    Paperback Reader’s new blog is only a few days old, but I’m already coveting her social media boxes.

    Can you think of anything else I should do to improve my blog?

    Do you waste hours playing with the settings of your blog?

    Categories
    Blog Improvement Project Blogging Other

    The Blog Improvement Project is back in 2010!

    I am pleased to announce that the Blog Improvement Project is going to continue this year!

    In 2009 Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness did a fantastic job of creating exciting projects that helped me and many others to improve their blogs.

    This year I am joining Kim in hosting the project. We hope to introduce many new ideas and take a further look at some of the popular topics from last year.

    We’ve created a dedicated blog for the project — thebip.wordpress.com  Please head over there for more information and to sign up if you’re interested.

    The first task will be posted on Monday 1st February.

    Are you interested in improving your blog?

    Which topics would you find particularly useful?

    Categories
    Blog Improvement Project Blogging Other

    Blog Improvement Project Week #13: Blog Post Bingo, Round 2!

    BIPThe Blog Improvement Project task this week is:

    Blog Post Bingo!

    We have to take a look at the 12 types of blog post below, and over the next three weeks, try to write as many of these different kinds of posts as we can.

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     The 12 Types of Blog Post

    A Link Post – share link (or series of links) your readers might find interesting
    A Short Post – less than 200 words
    A List Post – simple as it sounds, a list of some sort
    An Opinion Post – take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it
    A Poll or Question Post – post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback
    A How-To Post – You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it
    A Long Post – more than 700 words
    A Review Post – self-explanatory, I think 🙂
    A Definition Post – show your expertise about a topic related to your blog
    NEW: A Personal Post – something that’s going on in your life, related to your normal blog topic or not
    NEW: A Resource Post – you know a lot about something, share the sites/books/tutorials you go to on that topic. This is similar to a link post, except these links should be related in some way and be useful for other people who want to know about the topic.
    FREE SPACE – a type of post of your choice (that is not the same as one of the previous posts)

    I loved doing this task last time, but it was really hard work. I’ll do my best to complete the list, but I could do with your help. I need some inspiration for the How-To Post and the Resource Post.

    Is there anything you’d like to know how to do? 

    Or anything that you think I might be able to find out for you?

    Categories
    Blog Improvement Project Other

    BIP #11: Analyze Some Book Reviews!

    The BIP Week #11 project was to dissect some book reviews, and analyse the numbers. The idea was to compare the reviews of book bloggers with professional ones, and see if there are any obvious differences. If you are interested in seeing all the figures, then the spreadsheet is here. 

    I decided to compare the 8 professional reviews with the 8 blogger reviews and see if I could notice any major differences:

      Average Number of Paragraphs  Average Number of Words Total Number of Personal References
    Professional 5.25 550 2
    Blogger 7.5 500 78

     

    The most obvious difference is that book bloggers use personal references. In our small sample the blogger made a personal thought or feeling known 39x more than the professional.  This is what I love about book bloggers. I can frequently read professional reviews and at the end still have no idea whether the book was any good.

    Bloggers tended to have slightly shorter reviews, and a greater number of paragraphs, but the other statistics were all a lot more similar than I expected them to be. The average number of words in each sentence/paragraph was very similar, although I noticed that I tend to have less words in the sentences I write than the professionals do.

    Overall, I was surprised by how similar they actually were, but will stick to reading the reviews of bloggers as I can build up a personal relationship with them, learn their taste in books and therefore trust their judgement.

    Are you surprised by the similarity between blogger and professional reviews?

    Have you noticed any other major differences between the two?

    Do you read professional reviews?