ProBlogger: 5 Quick Questions with Robert Scoble: What Makes a Great Tech Blog?

---

5 Quick Questions with Robert Scoble: What Makes a Great Tech Blog? Posted: 23 Nov 2014 07:08 AM PST Robert Scoble is the brains behind the blog Scobleizer (which he’s just abandoned in favour of solely microblogging on Facebook), and a well-respected authority on social media, tech, and blogging. He has worked for Microsoft, and is currently with Rackspace. We were super-fortunate to grab a few minutes of his time to answer five questions about how to make your tech blog a success. What do you think are the essentials a tech blog should have in order to be successful? Define success! For some, it might be just getting an industry discussion going. Others might want to build a media business to the place where they can quit their day job and do this full time. In each, it really is simple: make content other people want to read, discuss, and share. Of course, if that was so easy everyone would have a famous blog. If I were starting out today I'd pick a niche that I could own that will get bigger over time. Today that might be Wearable Computers. Tomorrow? Brain interfaces or robots. These topics don't yet have a blog that is dominant. It's a lot easier to get going in a smaller niche that doesn't yet have strong blogs. What are the topics you've found really resonates with the readers? What seems to get the most engagement? Drones. But, seriously, if you try writing about drones it's too late. The trick is to find something that will be big tomorrow. If you had an exclusive insight into the Apple Watch, for instance (something that hasn't yet been reported) that will do very well. For newer bloggers, or those wanting to turn their tech blog into a business, what would you suggest focusing on first? I would pick a small niche. Cover it to death. There's no way you can really blow away Techcrunch, Verge, Re/code, in overall tech space unless you have millions of dollars. But, you can become the world's leading drone (or brain interface, or robot, or wearable computer) expert and use that to edge your way into a business. It really comes down to content. Do you have something that no one else has? Marques Brownlee, for instance, has a unique take on gadget reviews. Others focus on tech out of just a single country like China or Israel. Yet others, like Julien Blin, or Redg Snodgrass are trying to own the wearable space. What is the hardest thing about being a tech blogger, and how have you worked to overcome that? Sitting through all the pitches is the hardest thing. To find the next big thing you've probably got to see 150 so so companies. Maybe even more. I've been pitched in bathrooms (no no) and on the street at 2 a.m. at SXSW (also a no no). How do I overcome that? Always be nice, sit through a few minutes, and if you aren't interested, say so and why. That said, most of the time now I only see things if referred by someone I trust. What’s the best advice you’ve been given about blogging (or business in general?) Be real. Don't be corrupt, or better said, disclose conflicts. Dave Winer showed me the power of that more than a decade ago and it still serves me well today. It's why I share so much of my private life. All you really have is your reputation. It's why I work so hard on personal relationships with people across the industry. What do you think? Have you experienced something that Robert has mentioned? I’d love to hear about it! Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger 5 Quick Questions with Robert Scoble: What Makes a Great Tech Blog?

You are subscribed to email updates from @ProBlogger To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

ProBlogger: Google Introducing ‘Mobile Friendly’ Tags in Search Results and Signal It Will Start Impacting Search Rankings

---

Google Introducing ‘Mobile Friendly’ Tags in Search Results and Signal It Will Start Impacting Search Rankings Posted: 21 Nov 2014 07:06 AM PST Over the last couple of years any blogger who has paid attention to their analytics will know that how people are reading blogs is changing. No longer are people simply arriving on your blog on their desktop computer or laptop but on tablets, mobile phones and more. Today I took a look at the change in how people arrive on my blog (Digital Photography School) over last 3 years. I doubt the results will surprise anyone. The growth in mobile/tablet traffic has been remarkable. When I look at the last period in the chart in more detail and look at just this month (November) the trend continues Another month or two and we’ll be hitting a 50/50 split of those on desktops and those on mobile devices. Every blogger I speak with tells me a similar story. While the breakdown might vary a little the day is coming (if it hasn’t already) where most bloggers will have more readers consuming content on mobile devices than desktop. Google Launch Mobile Friendly Tags and Testing Tool Google have been encouraging those with websites to make them mobile friendly for a year or more now but in the last week Google made an interesting announcement that is aimed at twisting the arm of those with sites even more. They announced that they’ll be rolling out ‘tags’ in search results that mark sites as ‘mobile-friendly’. In the coming weeks when you search Google you’ll start seeing this next to those sites Googlebot considers to be fit for mobile consumption. What makes a mobile friendly site in Googlebot’s eyes? What it is looking for is sites that: Avoids software that is not common on mobile devices, like Flash Uses text that is readable without zooming Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom Places links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped Google also made available an easy to use ‘test’ that enables us to add our URL and test if our blog fits the criteria. Simply plug in your URL and it’ll analyse your site and give you a tick of approval or a cross with suggestions on how to fix any problems Google to Start using Mobile-Friendly Criteria in Ranking Sites Also of interest in Google’s announcement this week is this line: We are also experimenting with using the mobile-friendly criteria as a ranking signal. Take note: Google are officially letting us know that if your site isn’t mobile friendly that it could hurt how your site is ranked in Google. Note: last year we completely redesigned Digital Photography School with a mobile friendly responsive design. We’ve also gradually been rolling out responsive designs on ProBlogger.com, ProBloggerEvents.com and in the coming month hope to finish overhauling the ProBlogger suite of sites by making ProBlogger.net and our Job boards similarly design. It’s a big job but well worth the effort! Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger Google Introducing ‘Mobile Friendly’ Tags in Search Results and Signal It Will Start Impacting Search Rankings

You are subscribed to email updates from @ProBlogger To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States