Top 10 Resources to Build a Better Blog

I have been blogging about personal finance for about 2 months now. I read and learned a lot about personal finance, but I also learned a lot about blogging. In this post, I want to list what I thought were the most useful better blog resources on the web. Here goes:

Pyramid

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

101 Essential Blogging Skills & 50 Tips to Unclutter Your Blog — I came across Skelliewag, through GLBL’s post about her Free Clutter-Busting Review. I submitted my blog for this simplicity review and was surprised to get a very good 2-page analysis from Skellie within a day. This is an awesome free service that I highly recommend.
Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes — Some love him and some hate him. Personally, I am a big fan of Jakob Nielsen and love the topic of usability. If you want just 10 easy tips, these are the ones I recommend.
Blog Design & Spring Cleaning — This post from Content.Robot focused mainly on cross-browser & cross-platform (e.g. mobile devices) compatibility. I occasionally browse through blogs using mobile device and can attest that many of my favorites have errors in their codes — so check this out.
8 Blog Redesign Tips — A short, yet practical post from WP Designer.com. Redesign only because you needed to. Anyway, I like how this post touches specific blog elements.
21 Surefire Tips for a Successful Blog Launch — This is a good list from Aviva covering topics such as the first impression, RSS subscriptions feed, Social Bookmarking, Networking, Link Building, and ultimately launching your blog.
101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger — Consider this post from Lifehack.org a hodge-podge of good blogging tips; it touched practically every aspect of blogging. I think anyone can find at least a handful of useful tips from this post. This post was one of the first checklists I used for my own blog.
31 Days to Building a Better Blog — This is a heavy-weight blogging tips from ProBlogger. Be ready to spend a few days reading through this fine collection and ancillary tips from all the participating bloggers.
Building a Better Blog for 2007 — This is another huge collection from one of the most recognized PF blog, The Simple Dollar. I particularly enjoy this series because it is written by someone in my own niche. Hi Trent!
101 Essential Blogging Resources — This post from Blogtrepreneur is basically a toolbox for blogging. The big list is broken down under these headings: Domain Registrars, Hosting, Content Management Systems, Communication, Research, Customization, Statistics, Creating Posts, Ranking, Feed Readers, Social Media, Monetization and Advertising, Blogs and Forums, and Miscellaneous. There is something here for everyone.
55 Essential Articles Every Serious Blogger Should Read — Last but not least, an great big list from Matt Huggins that I am still working my way through. He grouped these 55 articles as follow: Blogging Basics: Getting Started, Building Meaningful Content, Increasing Traffic & Retaining Readers, Linkbaiting, SEO, Social Networks, Building a Community, Blog Monetization, and Miscellaneous Blogging Advice.

Bonus: 10 Easy Ways To Piss Off Your Readers by Shaun Low

My own short list of blogging tips are:

Keep the blog clean and simple to use
Use your own domain name and blog hosting using WordPress
Reply to all comments on your blog, visit and comment on commenters’ blog, as well as comment on other blogs in your niche
Participate in Blog Carnivals
For personal finance bloggers join PFblogs.org and participate in the Carnival of Personal Finance

If your favorite blogging resource is not on this list, or if you want to share your own tips, please leave a comment. Also, I would love to hear specific suggestions to improve this blog.

This article was featured in:

The Carnival of Better Blogging #2 hosted by Logo Design Works. For more information please visit the Carnival of Better Blogging.
The Carnival of Bloggers Helping Bloggers 3rd Edition hosted by Topic Factory. For more information please visit the Carnival of Better Blogging.

[Ad] Digivate: Ecommerce and online marketing to maximize your revenue

19 Comments

Brian
September 11, 2007, 12:21

Thanks for sharing this list of resources, Pinyo. Although I don’t get as much time as I’d like to market my blog and interact with other personal finance bloggers, it sure is a lot of fun to be in the game!
paidtwice
September 11, 2007, 15:36

This is a great list! I even added it to my tumblr
Keep up the great posts, I learn something new every day
Pinyo
September 11, 2007, 16:24

Brian, these past two months been a blast for me too!
Paidtwice, thank you! We should thanks the 10 authors on the list since they were the one who did the really hard work.
Gerd
September 11, 2007, 16:26

Thank you for this wonderful list. I think that I have to work myself through your extensive stuff to get a good blog.
Eric
September 11, 2007, 18:42

Pinyo, thanks for the list. It’s going to take me days to digest and process what I am reading on the Skelleweg post alone. Great info.
Brip Blap
September 11, 2007, 19:47

Excellent list of resources! The Problogger list alone would take about a year to go through if you read every link he posted. Now if I could just work at blogging 40 hours a week instead of actually working at my day job!
Pinyo
September 11, 2007, 19:48

Gerd – welcome to Moolanomy and you’re welcome.
Eric – you’re welcome. While you are at Skelliewag, don’t forget to ask her for a review.
Pinyo
September 11, 2007, 20:43

Brip Blap – we must have cross posted. Thank you for your comment. I think links from this list is best digested slowly. I would not make drastic change to your already excellent blog.
Lynnae @ Being Frugal
September 11, 2007, 21:51

Thanks for the list! It’s going to take a while to work through!
shaun
September 11, 2007, 23:41

awsome list and thank you very much for including me in the bonus I stumbled this post!!
Pinyo
September 12, 2007, 5:16

Lynnae – you’re welcome!
Shaun – welcome to Moolanomy. Who can resist good instruction to piss people off? Thanks for making that cool list.
Steve Young
September 12, 2007, 8:04

Awesome list – I’ll be adding it to my bookmarks for blog-building info.
Pinyo
September 12, 2007, 8:13

Steve – thank you and welcome to Moolanomy.
Steven Snell
September 13, 2007, 17:28

Great list. I especially like 5, 7, and 9.
Pinyo
September 14, 2007, 9:21

@Steve – thank you and welcome to Moolanomy. I gave your blog a look and I like your post about Linkbaiting. That was a good read.
youlki22
September 25, 2007, 1:45

I have been bloggin from more than 2 years, and also like to share my experiences with fellow bloggers. I liked your blog and your post is included at one of my lists: Useful links and resources lists
Pinyo
September 25, 2007, 9:49

Youlki22 – welcome to Moolanomy and thank you for sharing that excellent resource.
Lazy Man and Health
January 25, 2008, 18:11

I like Jakob Nielsen as much as the next guy (actually more than the next guy), but a few of his recommendations don’t apply to websites where anonymity is key. I guess it’s unique of our niche.
Pinyo
January 27, 2008, 15:59

@Lazy – That’s not your real name??