Today - March 1st - officially kicks off our Be A Better Blogger series. Each day through the month of March we'll work on one step to improve our blogs, for a total of 31 steps by the end of the month.
I'll number each day in the title of the post, starting with the BABB acronym (BABB-1, BABB-2... BABB-31) so that you can easily identify related posts in this series and follow along in order. That will help you find the entire series too, by typing "babb" into the search box to the right.
If you are just now starting your first blog, this series will be great for you. If you have been blogging for awhile (like me), you still stand to make some substantial improvements by following the steps & ideas we'll share here. And if you dont have a blog of your own yet at all, there's no better time to start one!
"The secret of getting started is breaking your complex,
overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and
then starting on the first one." - Mark Twain
During the BABB series we'll be using the outline provided by Collis Ta’eed in his article titled 31 Days To Becoming A Better Blogger, and I'll also be adding in additional resources & references relevant to each day's task along the way.
Ready? Great! The first task is a doozey... 😀
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Day 1. Write a better ‘About’ page.
A more gripping About page will help convert more new visitors into loyal readers. You can almost guarantee an effective About page by answering the question: “What does this blog have to offer?â€
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I dont know about you, but this is great timing for me because my About Page is in dire need of an update. And while this is quite a task for Day One, its a great start as the About page is one of the most important pillars of your blog.
Often I'll visit blogs and want to know more information about the author - either so I can contact them, or quote them in a reference - and have zero luck finding anything at all. I addressed that recently in a post titled Dear Mystery Blogger, which is a good place for you to start.
Check out that post, and then head over to your own blog. Click on your About link, and try to view it from the standpoint of a brand new visitor. You dont know you. This is your first visit to your blog. Now read your About page.
Does your About Us page draw you in and give you a feel for the author (you)? Does it have a Call To Action? And yes, that's important - every page of your site or blog should contain a call-to-action. For a blog you might consider asking them to subscribe via email or RSS, leading them into your top posts, or leading them back to the main page to view the most current content.
Next, see: How to Write the Perfect ‘About’ Page
There are some very good steps there to follow as an outline to creating your About Us page. With a blog I think its important to be personable and to speak directly to your reader, and in first person - not third. Keep in mind that your goal is to build a readership and to make a personal connection with your visitors. The more a person gets to know you, the more likely they are to become a loyal reader of your blog.
You also want to answer basic questions like who you are, how you can be contacted, what your experience is in regard to the blog topic, and what your readers can expect from you and/or your blog.
Okay - I'm off to re-write my own About page, and will be back to share the before & after. What I will do to make it easier is simply create a new page to work on, instead of editing my About page live. That way I can show you the difference between the two, and continue to tweak it until I am ready to publish it on the site publicly.
I spent the better part of the day working on a total re-write and here is what I have come up with: http://www.clicknewz.com/about/
If you have any questions or ideas, or good references on writing About pages, leave them in the comments section below. And when you leave a comment below, be sure to link to your blog's About page in the URL field so we can check it out 😉
About Lynn Terry
Great tip to start the month. I was working on my blog when I took a break to visit Clicknewz. I have been meaning to add my contact details and update my about and given your reminder got them done right away!
Look foward to the next tip..
Great, Danielle - you can mark off Day One 😉 I am also adding more contact information to my new About page as well. One of my goals this year is to make myself "more available" (after our recent Business Networking webinars 😀 ).
Be sure to link to your About Page when you leave a comment to this post so we can all check out each others work 😉
I never am sure whether the About page should be about the blog or about the blog author. Right now my About page is about me, but perhaps visitors would be more interested to see an About page that just conveys the mission of the blog and what they will find there. What do you think? I also like blogs that have an audio file under a picture of the author because I like to hear the way people sound. I think it feels more personal. That is why I enjoy your Tuesday Webinars so much because you have such a sweet, sincere sounding voice that it makes me like you more and, therefore, be more likely to buy your products and read your blog.
You are absolutely right... and ours falls way short (in fact that's its major problem). Time to hunker down and right a good, riveting one!
I just updated the About Me on my StefaniPartin.com blog. It only had a couple sentences and now it looks better. Thanks for the post...
What are the chances?
I'm rebuilding a blog right now,
and want it to be perfect.
So I stumble across your post in my feedreader.
I have a feeling my blog might just launch this month!
LOL!!
Thanks Lynn.
You always seem to have the info I need.
Brad.
OH! ps...
http://www.ItsAllAboutTraffic.com/blog/index.php/about/
I still have a bit to do,
so you'll see a "maintenance page" for now.
Sorry, but it's a secret 😉
I look forward to checking it out, Brad 😉
I think both. The nature of blogs is much more personable and therefore readers tend to take as much an interest in the author as they do the content. On my own About Page I am trying to provide a combination of information about the blog and what a visitor can expect from it, and about me as the author so they have an opportunity to get to know me on a more personal level at the same time.
Anyone else have thoughts on this?
If you are clicking an About page on a blog you read... what are you generally looking for?
Fancy that! I just finished my About Me page last week! It's great to be ahead of the game on Step 1.
I don't give any personal info away, such as address or phone. When I get a mailbox address, I will add that.
Feel free to critique:
http://antiagingnutritionnews.com/blog/about-me/
Great! Off to check it out GiGi...
I finally finished the re-write on my About page as well, which I've added a link to above in the original post.
Thanks for letting us know about this series! Thanks to the instruction provided by you and Skellie I was able to create a brand new About Me page.
I look forward to completing the rest of the series along with you!
Nice work Julie & GiGi, just checked them both out. Stefani I am only seeing one line here: http://internetmarketermommy.com/about/ so I assume you were referring to a different blog?
*grinning* Two days late, but it’s finally updated. I’m not sure I’m satisfied yet, but it’s better than what it was. The original is there under oldabout if anyone is interested in seeing the difference.
Now to see if I can get caught up.
My new "about" page is at
http://www.irepnetwork.com/blog/about
Previously I just had info about me personally. I like the more visitor-focused pages that everyone is doing.
I hope one of the BABBs tasks is on trackbacks and pings... I don't seem to get it. I thought I sent a trackback to this post when I completed my page the other day.... I don't see it here. Other times I've unintentionally sent trackbacks to a blog (did it once here not too long ago). I probably just need to spend a few minutes to figure it out, but those few minutes always seem illusive.
Off to do an easier Day 2 BABB! 🙂
Here's my About page on my most popular blog: http://paper-it-fun.com/about/
I'm going to work on updating my other blogs as well, but this one is my top priority.
Originally, I started with a lengthy personal bio on this page, but after reading one of the links you referred to here, I realized it made a whole lot more sense to start with a "blurb" about what the blog was about. Duh!
Don't be fooled by the timestamp of this comment...I actually updated my About page the same day you posted this, I just didn't comment on it until now...okay, maybe I tweaked it a little between day 1 & day 3.
Nice work, Carrie - it reads very well!
Hi Linda,
I dont see it on the list for the month, and I did a search here on ClickNewz and it looks like I havent really addressed it yet either - so I will make it a point to do that. Its a great topic! Thanks for the suggestion 😉
Hi Debi,
Just checked out your updated page, and wanted to say that I really like how you have used a calendar on your blog - it looks great on your About page, along with the related photo. Very nice!
I would suggest you re-word the top paragraph to speak directly to your visitor though. For example "you'll find interviews with performers"... "you can also read reviews and find upcoming events" etc - and then linking to them from that text would be great too. Basically answering the question (from their perspective) of "What is this blog about?".
I am pretty happy with my about page at one of my sites--and am surprised at just how many people click in to read it. Since I am revamping my other site, this is timely!
Linda Stacy wrote: "I hope one of the BABBs tasks is on trackbacks and pings… I don’t seem to get it. "
I'm with Linda! Anything you can tell me about how the heck these work would be deeply appreciated. And please DO treat me like an idiot when and if you explain how to get them to work lol!
Love the ideas, I think will need to modify my about page soon. thanks.
I'll do that, Diane - should make for a great post 😉
Thanks for the feedback, Lynn, I've made a few changes to the first paragraph. There may be other changes coming, that's still up in the air.
We're debating the need to/advisability of adding personal information. In my niche, most people who are involved enough to read my blog also use "Faire Names" such as we have listed. Real or "mundane" names are seldom used, even by friends who know us well.
This is a great article. It's funny as you said when you visit some blogs you'll hardly find anything useful on the about me page. And I wonder if such ones are ghost writers.
Debi - I think its important to go with what fits best with your blog, and in your niche. You will want to add an email address at the very least - but you can also add a PO Box or other easy ways to reach you without giving up too much personal information.
I knew I should have checked in sooner! Now I have over a week of BABB work to do to catch up on. Thanks Lynn. This is a great series and I hope to be able to squeeze it all into my March. 🙂
~Cynthia
It's bizarre.
I'm working on creating a new About page, but when I click the "About" link on the home page to check it, I get an Internal Server Error page.
How do I fix that?
Hmm - I see what you mean, Dan. The first thing I noticed is that your site doesnt have an index page on the root domain: http://www.promoteanythingonline.net/
I also get an Internal Server Error on the Archives page - in addition to the About page. Were either of them working when you first installed the PressCut theme?
Dan - check out this link
http://cutline.tubetorial.com/why-dont-my-archives-and-about-links-work/
and the comments
or try this for the about page:
1. Delete the existing Archives page.
2. Create a new page by going to Write → Page.
* Enter “Archives†in the title field.
* Enter nothing in the text body
* Enter “archives†(without quotes) in the Post Slug field (on the right).
* Select “Archives†from the drop-down list in the Page Template field (also on the right)
3. Hit Publish.
Best
Thank you Herman 😀
Did that work for you, Dan?
I decided to go through this BABB course again fixing up my other blogs. Here are the About me pages for my Business Blog and my Personal Blog.
I didn't get a chance to do all of the BABB assignments this last month, but I've made up a chart to tackle each of the tasks for my four blogs over the course of the next two months. This is such an awesome resource/tutorial you provided here. Thanks!
I agree - it was a great article and the series was tons of fun! You always impress me with your organization lol - you are awesome! Are you for hire? 😉
Seriously, I am going back through it again myself - many of the things are great 'habits' to form - and will be using this is as an outline for every new blog I launch.
I just added a Twitter badge to my About page here on ClickNewz: http://www.clicknewz.com/about/ If you've recently started using Twitter, be sure to publicize it on your blog 😉
I am behind but I only found your blog tonight. I have rewritten the about me section of one of my blogs and I plan to do the other tomorrow. I am really excited to see where this month long venture takes me in improving my blog.
http://hoobahswife.spaces.live.com/default.aspx
My profile (about me is down the left hand side) and used to be 1 sentence
Hi Erica - Welcome to ClickNewz 😀
I hope you enjoy this series as much as I did while writing it! Feel free to leave comments as you go, or ask questions along the way. I'll keep an eye out for them 😉
How do you handle pictures and info on the "About Me" page when using a pen name?