Today, I want to summarize the last post, clear some things up, and start making Wake Up the NEA more usable. It’s going to work with this blog because it’s so small, it has a plain background, and not a whole lot of material.

First, the summary. We talked mainly about focus and purpose in a blog, which is really important when it comes time to start writing “killer posts” as we’ll talk about later on in this post. We also looked over the basics of blogging.

One thing that is in need of clarification is the final special tip that was added to the “show.”

When writing for your blog, the best thing to do is to write your posts before you sit down at the computer to ensure that you don’t post material that you’d probably regret, or wish you could fix. Read through the post you’ve written to make sure it flows smoothly. Basically, I personally write my posts on paper before I write them on the screen.

Sometimes you may need to sit down at the computer and just start writing, but work to read through the post before it goes on the site.

Now, on with the show.

Okay, to make things more usable we’re going to to follow Performancing’s Claire Cambell’s “10 Ways to increase blog usability.”

Number 1. “Come Out” and provide a biography section. Since I’m writing for this blog at this point, I’ll need to place that somewhere on the blog. Please notice where it is.

Number 2. Make sure the Article Titles are big and clear. Check. They’re not bad at all. Of course, this blog look so plain, so we need to figure out some way to spice it up so people can not only use it, but can enjoy their visit.

Number 3. Use links in the posts. Every post. Link to definitions, articles, other blog posts, or pictures that relate to the words they’re linked to. It so essential. This blog seems to be linking in each post, but I would add one or two more links to each post.

4. Site search and archives. It’s hosted by blogger, which is not my favorite, but we’ll deal with all of that later. It has archives and you can search well enough for now.

But we don’t see “most read” or “recent comments” or “my favorites.” Those need to be placed on the sidebar. So we’d better get to work on that.

5. Publish regurarly. That’s going to be a hard one, but once I show you how to find material and get connected with your niche blogs, you’ll be ready to rumble.

6. Categories and Tagging. That’s going to be tough, and somewhat time-consuming, but we’re going to see a rise in visits if we tag each post. We’ll get into more detail later. Just know for now that this has a lot to do with Technorati.

7. A picture equals a thousand words. This site has awesome graphics. They just need to use them a little differently.

8. Explain things clearly. So far, it looks like this blog is easy to read, and gives you the information you want to know. It just doesn’t give you a way to act on that information.

9. White space. Plenty of that.

10. Cut down on the clutter. Since this blog is pretty small, there isn’t much clutter, and things look neat. But it is missing a lot of things on the sidebar, so we need to make sure that everything looks neat when we place them on the sidebar.

So, let’s get our hands dirty. We’ll do all of the above, and write a post to start, so that when we get some publicity, the readers see new material.

And that’s where we need to work hard–the post. How can you and I write killer posts that always deserve links? How is this done?

Well, again, I return to the professional bloggers favorite blog, Performancing, to give us the list of “killer posts” that are wonderful.

They are “how-to” posts, lists, campaigns, interviews, reviews, case studies, research results, what’s new, attacks on other bloggers, and “ask the audience” posts.

The last one I wouldn’t recommend trying out until you’ve built up a decent readership. I believe that would be vital, because if you have only 5 readers you probably won’t get a whole lot of discussion going on.

For Wake Up the NEA

1. Get a focus.

We’ve basically gotten that, and we’ve added it to the sidebar.

2. Place the focus all over the site.

Check. That’s basically done, since we’ve added “purpose” to the sidebar, and the title basically tells what the blog is about.

3. Fix the sidebar.

We’ve added the “usability” features that were needed, so we should be good.

4. Start getting publicity.

We’re going to talk about that tomorrow, but for now getting linked on Agent Tim Online has given the blog a little boost in visits, but we want real visits, and repeat visits. So we’re going to be getting “technoratarized.”

5. Get some killer posts up.

We’re working on that.

6. Get in a rhythm.

We want our audience to expect something, and to expect it daily, or every two days, or whatever.

7. Be unique.

Some of these steps overlap, but we’re going to be going into this further in later posts.

8. Comments.

Yes, we want to start seeing comments on posts. Basically, we need to find an audience and connect with them. Then we’ll start being successful.

9. Whatever else…

So, there you have it…the “almost 10 point to-do list.” The question is…can we do it?

Daily Tip: Don’t ever write when you’re mad–seriously, you’ll regret it later.

Credits: Thanks to Alex King of Smarthomeschool for the graphic. Can’t thank him enough. If you’d like to be a sponsor, please email me if you’d like to offer some type of prize or help to these posts, and you’ll get linked here.

Read the First Post in this series