How Good is Your Blog? Take This Test

Are you getting the most bang for your blog? Successful blogging is all about generating awareness, repeat visitors, search engine visibility and lots of inbound links. Take the following test to see how well your blog shapes up. Give yourself one point for each “yes” answer and 0 points for each “no.” Check your score at the end.

1. Do you use a domain name that matches the search terms that are most important to you (for example, “photoprofessional.com”)? Alternatively, does your blog live within your business domain (such as “photofinishing.com/blog”)?
2. Does your blog title include a description of what the blog is about?
3. Do you post new entries three or more times per week?
4. Do you vary the length of entries, with some short and some long?
5. Do you tag your entries?
6. Do you list your tags alphabetically or in a tag cloud?
7. Are your headlines simple, descriptive and declarative?
8. Do you make it easy for visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed?
9. Do you regularly include photos?
10. Do you regularly include streaming audio or video?
11. Do you write mostly in first person?
12. Do you always attribute and link to source material?
13. Do you have a blogroll?
14. Do you include a link to your company website or your other personal websites?
15. Do you write about a variety of topics, some professional and some personal?
16. Do you frequently file reports from conferences or events you attend?
17. Do you invite comments from visitors?
18. Do you respond to comments from visitors?
19. Does the number of comments you receive exceed the number of entries you post?
20. Do you have an “About” page with descriptive information about yourself?
21. Do you have a photo of yourself somewhere on the blog?
22. Do you provide a way for readers to contact you?
23. Do you provide a search option?
24. Do you make it easy for people to bookmark your entries to digg.com, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon and/or other social bookmarking sites?
25. Do you have a copyright or Creative Commons statement?

Scoring
20 – 25 Jedi master
15 – 19 Accomplished blogger
10 – 14 You can purchase The New Influencers here
5 – 9 I’m kind of surprised you’re still doing this
1 – 4 You are a spam bot