Clearly identifying your RSS feed with Feed Icons is important. The standard for a web feed icon is this:

The color is irrelevant, although orange is mostly used. I like the blue version, personally. Regardless, using this feed icon helps create a web standard that anyone can recognize.

To further make subscribing easy, you can use this generator for RSS buttons such as this one:

Tags: feed icons, rss icons, rss feed icons, blog, blogging, blogs, rss, marketing

This is my first ReviewMe post on Blogging Help, and is one I would have written paid or not. Actually, I’m really thankful the link was brought to my attention. It’s a blog post on a site called Aviva Directory.

The post is called 21 Surefire Tips for a Successful Blog Launch, and it already has over 800 Diggs. The tips are to help bloggers with the first 2 weeks of a blog’s life, it’s all important blog launch period. A period that not only sets up the blog for success, but gets you going as a blogger as well.

I will go through the suggested 21 tips, and add my own recommendations in bullets.

Blog Launch Tips:

1. Make a connection with your readers - have an about page and welcome message/blog description
   • I would also suggest having your email and/or picture as encouraging this identification with you
2. Launch with no less than 5 posts. I would suggest at least 10.
   • Let’s define "launch" as submitting posts, emailing or contacting other bloggers, or claiming your blog in directories.
   • Ensure your 10 posts are close in date not just once a week. People often look at this for consistency in a new blog.
3. Put your subscription information at the top
4. Put easy RSS buttons above the fold (Bloglines, Google Reader, etc)
5. Offer posts via email with an easy tool like Feedblitz
6. Include chicklets in your template, not in your post
7. Seed your posts to social bookmarking sites (digg, delicious, netscape, stumbleupon, yahoo myweb, reddit, furl, newsvine, lookmarks, blinklist) with good tags - broad and narrow
   • Avoid spamming with all your posts, and to all the sites. Learn which are best for your type of content and focus on those.
8. Leave useful commentary on like-blogs to grow your community awareness
9. Leverage links you get by adding very good content to keep readers and attract subscribers and further links
10. Outbound links in your posts will attract bloggers to come to you and also give them an SEO boost
11. Give things away - code, PDF, anything
12. Reach out to bloggers - send emails and offer advice, ask questions, be involved
13. Submit your blog to blog directories
14. Submit your blog to web directories (DMOZ, etc)
    • I have had great success with Yahoo, especially right after the URL has been added
15. Participate in forums with your URL in your signature
    • Keep your involvement relevant
    • Not all forums are created equal. Some appreciate links, others not. Some are larger. Know your niche.
    • This can be more successful in some ares than social bookmarking
16. Add your URL to your email signature
17. Add your URL to your online profiles - Myspace, Facebook, etc
18. Offer to guest post on other blogs
19. Ask your friends for feedback on design and content
    • I would even do this after 10 posts as a more well-rounded introduction to your blog
20. Go to blog events in your area
21. Stop your comment spam and encourage your friends to comment early to show your site is active.
    • Use a plugin or Akismet.

I would definitely say these are all really great tips. I would lay extra emphasis on design as well, and on your hosting options. I encourage people to buy their own URLs, with discretion to the name, and to use a nice template on a good system - depending on topic, you may find that people recognize the attention you have paid to organizing and laying out a professional site.

Tags: blog launch, blog launch tips, blogging, blog, blogs