Better Your Blog in a Week: #1
Starting today and going until next Wednesday, I’m going to start a new feature where I’ll share my best ideas to help you improve your blog. The idea is simple: if you have a blog and take these ideas into reality with your own blog, I can almost guarantee an improvement in readership.
#1: The Point System
Having a personal point system is a great way to improve your blog’s traffic and readership. There are many different ways to set up your own point system, but the best way to do it, I think is like this:
- Get a piece of paper and a pen. Have them by your side at all times (just leave it on your desk).
- Everytime you do something worth points, write down how many points you got, what you did, in an ordered list/table style setup.
- The next morning, record the previous day’s traffic and RSS readers (as tracked by Feedburner) and their respective changes.
- Keep the totals for each day, and then if you want you can track weeks and months too.
My personal point system works like this:
10 points for writing a blog post
6 points for emailing a reader
4 points for commenting on another blog
4 points for replying to a reader’s email
1 point for commenting on my own blog
1 point for a (relevant) forum post
Simple enough, but your points might be different. It all depends on what you want to do. For me, I want to write more comments on other blogs while still posting, so my point values reflect that. You can add things, change things or whatever to suit your blog.
I try each day to get a minimum of 30 points. I could post and write 5 comments for 30 points, or any other combination of things. If you don’t make it, don’t worry. You can always add them on to the next day or spread them out through the week.
If you’re already working to a point system, I’d like to hear how it has been going for you and what values you use. If not, this is the simplest thing that can produce huge results if you just try it. I’m going to try and have these posts out at 11AM EST for the week so it’s early enough for you to participate the same day and late enough for me to sleep a little 
Leave a comment
Steven Snell
August 15th, 2007 at 6:53 PM
Hey Connor,
I just came to your blog through your comment on my article at Blogtrepreneur. I really like the look of your blog. I think this point system is a good idea. Anything you can do to keep yourself focused and productive is good.
Connor Wilson
August 15th, 2007 at 7:30 PM
Thanks Steven, glad you like the design. I did Blogtrepreneur too
Glen Allsopp
August 16th, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Nice idea, although ive recently seen it around a few blogs on the web
Chris Juneau
August 19th, 2007 at 11:00 AM
The points system is a great concept. I’ve been looking for ways to keep my blog and my online relationships fresh and new. With a full time job and a family, it’s hard to keep up with everything without going crazy. This points systems is a good measure to follow to make sure you are giving it your all. I might even apply it to my real life.
i.e. 5 points for kissing the wife
5 points for calling an old friend
LOL
Connor Wilson
August 19th, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Yeah, but could you imagine your wife’s reaction when she saw you were doing everything for points?
MB Web Design
August 24th, 2007 at 1:35 PM
Thanks for the first instalment in the series Connor, you’ve won yourself a new subscriber
Keep up the good work!
Verna Jimenez
January 8th, 2009 at 11:24 PM
hi
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good luck
Gale Campos
January 10th, 2009 at 12:14 PM
hi
8t8l1118erlfj7ox
good luck
Las Vegas Real Estate Guy
March 11th, 2009 at 6:48 PM
So what happened to your point system?
CSS Perk
April 13th, 2009 at 1:25 PM
That’s a great idea. I really am trying to work on my blog and I think a system like this would really help me. I’m going to read the rest of these because I’m sure they’re full of great idea. Thanks for this series!
Beauty Salon
June 10th, 2009 at 7:05 AM
Well, i’ve been surfing online media but never tried for blogging as i heard its really essential to be there always ready with new content. BTW, here i can learn something helpful to make myself as a newbie blogger.
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