CHAPTER 18 MAINTAINING YOUR BLOG (Web page design) 505 summarize
CHAPTER 18 MAINTAINING YOUR BLOG 505 summarize what your site is about. If you have a policy page, does it still state your site policy? If you do update any of these pages, make a post about that update, inviting feedback. Seeking New Readers Submit your site to related directories and special-interest sites. Politely invite people to your site. Don t spam those other sites; show respect for their owners, who are likely trying to build their own readership. Always consider reciprocal links to sites that contain links to your site. Keep abreast of new sites in your subject area. If new ones appear, visit them regularly to see if they offer potential to gain you new visitors. Comment on their stories, and post your own stories about the things they are discussing. Don t forget to use WordPress s Pingback and TrackBack capabilities to create an automatic relationship between the stories. Visitors from the other sites will come to read the stories on your site. Keeping Your Site Interesting Track your subject matter around the Web. Keep up-to-date with the changes in the field. It may be that over time, the slant of your blog will change as people s interests change or as your chosen field develops. Be sure to update old articles as appropriate. For instance, maybe you wrote a speculative piece last year and now some of the things you speculated about have come to fruition. Write a new piece referencing the old article and either blow your own trumpet about how you guessed right, or comment on how things turned out if you got it wrong. It doesn t actually matter whether you were right or wrong; if you write interestingly about your subject, people will still read your post and comment on it. Encouraging Contributors If you can encourage some of your readers to contribute stories or articles, that is a great way to get more content for your blog. If you do have guest authors, make sure you come to an agreement over copyright and publishing rights. If they are writing explicitly for you, make sure to allow them to quote or reproduce their articles on their own sites. It can also be worth investigating republishing third-party articles (with appropriate permissions, of course) as another source of new content. Many authors out there will be glad to have a platform for their writings. Maintaining Security The best way to maintain your blog s security is to keep up-to-date with WordPress releases. You can check the postings listed in the Dashboard on your administration pages. Any new releases, especially security fixes, will be noted there. If there are any new releases, the announcement usually details the steps you need to take to update your blog. Invariably with WordPress, the process is very simple. It is also a good idea to check the home sites of any plug-ins and themes you have installed. Perhaps once a month is often enough. Again, any new releases or security fixes will be noted there.
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