Did you know that 8 out of 10 people read the headline, but only 2 out of 10 go further and read the actual blog post?1. Grab attention Your headline may be the only impression you make on a prospective reader. Unless your headline turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not exist.

2. Communicate with key words A headline must also communicate a full message to its intended audience, and it absolutely must

3. Lure the reader into your body text. A compelling headline must promise some kind of benefit or reward for the reader, in trade for the valuable time it takes to read more.

By the end of this post you should know just how important linking is.

A link is a way that you can connect your blog to say ‘hey this is important and relevant’. It’s  a vote of confidence in that post. It’s one important way of creating a conversation. Links also influences the popularity of the blog you are linking to so you want to link in a way that drives links back to you. There are only 2 rules you ABSOLUTELY MUST follow.

1. Use links in every post (a few not hundreds!)

2. Make sure that links are truly relevant because Technorati tracks the number of links and the unique source of links to determine the breadth and readership of any author or site. Technorati monitors the ongoing conversation – who is linking to whom and which bloggers are commanding attention on various topics. You can monitor your ranking on Technorati very easily by just entering your blog URL in the search window.

You need to know about the difference between “inbound links” and “outbound links” Inbound links refer to hyperlinks from other sources citing your blog (these are valuable). Outbound links refer to hyperlinks from your blog to outside sources.

 A successful blog needs links from other quality sites, for several reasons. The first is to direct traffic: people will click from those sites to yours. The second is for better search engine ranking: when the search engines notice that other sites have linked to yours, that increases your site’s importance.

So do whatever you can to get links from other good blogs, particularly those on a related topic. It’s most valuable when you collect new links over weeks or even months. This steady flow of new links is not only easy for you to manage but the search engines will also see it as more natural. Excessive links can lead to penalties from the search engines (such as being de-listed) or can simply cause your blog to look like a flash in the pan that’s unworthy of long-term visibility.

I’ve just discovered this amazing bloggers hand book written by the reporters without borders on the Kabissa site.

Bloggers are a weird community of people but the statistics show that we can’t ignore them. More than 15% of Americans are blogging or reading blogs, - in South Korea 40% of the population has a personal blog!

So, we have no choice to make a difference in wildlife conservation we have to blog. The more that I have gone into it, the more I realize that there are some unstated rules that govern blogging etiquette… here’s a few things you should be aware of or risk being an blog outcast

1. Get personal and bare it all Effective blogs require a certain amount of frankness. It’s exciting to hear and feel emotions, to hear strong opinions, and to hear a different perspective. But its boring when your opinion is middle of the fence, or when you talk in third person. Always be honest about who is writing – don’t mislead your readers, EVER.

2. Update regularly and frequently Your content will get stale unless you refresh the blog at least two to three times a week, if not more often. Tell your story in bits so that we are drawn in and forced to log in and read the next stage in some unfolding drama.

3. Interact with your community Find ways to encourage visitors to post comments and join the conversation. Thank your readers, listen to opinions and answer questions.

4. Don’t be offended by comments Sometimes comments can be a bit nasty – an inspired reaction is indeed a good indicator of how good your blog is. But hold back, don’t get offensive at any point just enjoy the conversation and wait for things to cool down. It always does….

You’ll find more interesting and useful tips on blogging etiquette here and here and here