Blog Improvement Project – Fourth Quarter & Wrap-Up

I’ve been following along with Sophisticated Dorkiness’s Blog Improvement Project since the beginning of the year, and I’ve enjoyed reading everyone else’s posts about their efforts to make their already great blogs better. Here’s my fourth quarterly recap:

Project 19: Following Your Blog

This task was to use some simple tips to keep up on who is linking to your blog. I created a “vanity folder” in my Google Reader. It has made tracking references to my blog so easy and possibly more comprehensive that WordPress’s internal links data.

Project 20: Random Acts of Kindness

For this week’s task, I used that vanity folder from Project 19 and made sure to comment on every post that links to my blog and created reciprocal links for things like reviews.

Project 21: Guest Posts

I didn’t pitch a guest post for this task, but I really appreciated the useful information here. I know how the process works from the other end, though. A few months ago, I did a guest post at another blogger’s request – here’s my guest post on reading and blogging.

Project 22: Redux

This week’s project was to pick a previous task and either complete it if it was unfinished or do it again. I decided to redo Project #4: Blog Basics. This task was to focus on little blog maintenance items. I cleaned up my sidebar, organized my challenges, and added an FTC disclosure to my review policy.

Project 23: The Year in Review

This last project of BIP was to evaluate the goals I set this year for my blog and to evaluate how I did. In Project 1, I set the following blogging goals for 2009:

• Content: I’m going to keep my posts varied and stay up-to-date on posting reviews. I’m also going to engage authors and readers alike by encouraging discussions in the comments.
• Design: I am going to reevaluate the design of my blog on a quarterly basis to ensure that it is clean and up-to-date.
• Traffic: I am going to increase my traffic by focusing on topics that get the most hits and the most comments.
• Giveaways: I am going to have at least one giveaway a month. I’m going to give away more of my ARCs.
• Subscribers: I am going to increase my subscribers by 20%. I am going to add a “subscribe by email” function.
• Monetization: I currently am an Amazon Associate. I’m considering becoming a Powell’s Books Associate.

I failed to keep up with my reviews. Right now, I’m about 12 reviews behind, with little hope of catching up before the end of the year. I have tried to keep my design up to date, even purchasing the Thesis template a few months ago. My traffic and my subscription rate have suffered a bit because of my sporadic posting. (I’m blaming it all on pregnancy.) I’ve kept up with the giveaways. And I’m an Amazon Associate and a Powell’s Books Partner, but I made no money this year. :)

So, I’ve got a few things to work on in 2010, but I really think BIP has been a helpful resource this year. I’ll be posting new goals for 2010 in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned.

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Blog Improvement Project
January 1 – December 31, 2009

Challenge: Participate in Semimonthly Blog Improvement Projects
Status: 24/24

First Quarter Wrap-Up
Second Quarter Wrap-Up
Third Quarter Wrap-Up
Fourth Quarter Wrap-Up

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I want to really thank Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness for spending the time to host this “challenge” this year. The tasks were very original and helpful, and the information provided in her posts will be valuable to me in the future. I think my blog has improved because of this lovely project.

Related posts:

1. Blog Improvement Project – First Quarter
2. Blog Improvement Project – Third Quarter
3. Blog Improvement Project – Second Quarter

Tagged as: Blogging