At Apollo Media’s Blog, we often post articles detailing blog building strategies that improve your blog gradually over time, stressing patience and perseverance as your content and readership expand. There are, however, several tactics that can be employed immediately and on a daily basis to improve your blog.

While the long term strategies are equally useful and important, you should also consider these blog habits if you want to truly make your blog effective:

1. Comment on other blogs. Whether you are a regular participant on one blog or you actively search through other sites within your niche, commenting on other bloggers’ work should become a daily activity. Actively engaging others in the blogosphere creates a space for you there through conversation. In addition, a thoughtful comment will entice other bloggers and blog readers to check out your blog. It also demonstrates your own blogging authority and knowledge of your niche.

2. Read your posts out loud to find mistakes and awkward phrasing. Whether you are writing a new post or reviewing old content, read it out loud to get the general tone and rhythm of your words. Doing this can help you proofread and help you spot errors you would have missed otherwise. Reading aloud helps identify awkward phrasing or grammatical errors that detract from the flow of content.

3. Respond to your comments. Old or new, go through your blog’s comments and respond to them, either through your own blog or by email. This shows your readership that you appreciate their feedback and that you actively encourage discussion on your blog.

4. Look at new plug-ins. Check the website or blog of your blogging service and see if there are any new plug-ins that might improve both the creation of your content and its accessibility to your readers. There are literally hundreds of plug-ins available for free online (definitely for WordPress), so make a habit of looking at the latest installments to see if there is anything novel or useful for your blog.

5. Optimize your posts. Look over your posts, new and old, to see if you have optimized them for search engines. Go over your titles and see if you can improve their clarity, concision or stickiness. (See our post on 7 Ways to Craft a Viral Title for more). Make sure your previous posts have been optimized for key search terms as well. Check the URLs of your pages to see if they clearly represent their content.

6. Share your recent (and previous) content. Syndicate your posts by submitting them to Digg, Reddit and other bookmarking sites. Post your blog posts to your Facebook profile so your friends can see what you’ve been up to. Use Twitter to inform your network that your blog is updated. Even use IM or email. Do whatever it takes, (well, within reason) to share your content.

7. Bookmark articles that catch your eye. Surf the web and go through your RSS feeds with bookmarking in mind. Track down any sites, articles and resources that you can come back to later when developing new content. Also check social networking sites like Digg and Reddit to see what’s popular. This can help you develop future content that is optimized for social media. Make note of attention grabbing headlines, useful guides and novel concepts.

8. Keep track of your blogging. Manage the latest developments on your blog by reminding yourself of your daily accomplishments. Not only will this keep you organized, it will also encourage you to build on your past successes. You can use a notepad, calendar, spreadsheets, etc. to keep track of your blogging schedule and stick to your goals.

9. Write down your thoughts and ideas. Always be prepared for your Eureka ! moments. Jot anything of interest down in a notepad or journal so you can come back to it later. Feel free to scribble and doodle, this is for your eyes only and mindless marks can actually help you clear your head and focus on urgent tasks.

10. Step away from your computer! Sit back, relax and take the time to think. Take a walk, play a game or phone a friend. It’s important to get away from blogging for a bit in order to rest your mind and regain your energy. Taking the time to walk away from what you are doing, either to think or move on to other things, will allow you to come back to your blog feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.
    

Keep at these 10 tasks everyday and your blogging efforts will be sure to improve ten fold. Your content will be more concise and accessible, you will become more connected with others in the blogosphere, and your thought processes will become more focused and energized.

While good blogging takes time, practicing daily strategies like these is simply like good hygiene – it will keep you and your blog healthy, and allow you to meet long-term goals with greater efficiency.

What daily blog strategies do you use?