Measuring Success: Cheerleader or Nerd?

Ca Phe Sua Da (Vietnamese Iced Milk Coffee).
Technorati recently released their "State of the Blogosphere" report, analyzing the trends and themes of blogging. Part of the report also included the fact that several of the top bloggers make six digits a year. And, of course, there are the bloggers who've gotten book deals such as Adam of The Amateur Gourmet, Clothilde of Chocolate and Zucchini, and Molly of Orangette.

Any agents or publishers reading this? I'd like a book deal too please. Pretty please? :)

The reality is that most bloggers don't make that kind of money, nor do we all have book deals, but that doesn't mean your blog can't be successful. Success is relative right? Do you judge it based upon how many comments you get? Or do you judge it based upon how many hits you get?

Building Traffic: Participate in the Community and Respond to Your Stats

Fessenjan (Persian Roast Cornish Game Hens with Pomegranate-Walnut Glaze).
There's a reason I left building traffic near the end of my series. I think it's far more important to build up your blog properly by setting certain standards such as being accurate, linking the right way, and giving credit where it's due. Once those aspects are in place, the quality of your content will shine through.

So how do you go about getting noticed so others can see that content?

Blogrolling: Will You Be My Friend?

Che bap (Vietnamese corn pudding with tapioca pearls and coconut milk.
One of my college friends and I often joke about when we first met. We were in the same orientation and felt the other person might make a good friend, but without a class together, there was little opportunity to strike up a friendship. That didn't happen until the next semester, when the casual conversations in class eventually developed into friendship. She later told me she wanted to be friends that first day, but she thought asking, "Will you be my friend?" would have sounded lame.

Similarly, you don't want to ask if someone will link to you on their blog. It's actually considered bad blog etiquette. I always feel like when I say these things, I need to back it up with another blogger so that you won't think I just make this stuff up. So yes, while I've always felt this way, I'll defer this rule of blog etiquette to Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. In her blog roll, Kalyn explains why she lists certain blogs such as whether they link to other blogs, if the blog is of interest to her, and if it's a blog that she tries to keep up with regularly. I think most bloggers share her philosophy.

Other than that, there's no rule about who or how many to list on your own blog roll.

Design: Layout, Navigation, and "Above the Fold"

I'm going to talk about newspapers for a little bit so that you can understand how that translates to blog layout.



"Have Computer, Will Write."
Think of a traditional broadsheet newspaper. That's the long page you see, in the picture above, that has to be folded in half to fit in news racks. All newspapers have a header. Sometimes below that there's a quick index that tells you what's in the newspaper that day. There's often a big picture with the lead story of the day, or at least a nice photo so the top half of the page looks good. And a headline with the lead story of the day.

In newspaper design, there's the concept of "above the fold." The top half of a newspaper is what you see in news racks or on your doorstep. Obviously, newspapers want to place the catchiest photos and headlines in order to grab your interest. This is especially crucial when you can get the same information from other newspapers, so why should you choose them?

How does this translate to blogs?

When you initially click on a blog, what do you notice? Is it the masthead? Index? Headline? Photos? You want your best content out there. People are lazy. I am lazy. You have 1 second to get someone's attention. Maybe you have 3 seconds. If your header is so big that I don't even see the content at first glance, if the layout is so busy that I can't find what I'm looking for, if your photos aren't compelling, if you have so many gadgets on your page that it takes more than a few seconds to even see the page, you've just lost me as reader.

So let's break this down into each part.

Photos: Photography Tips, Storage, and Watermarking

It's lovely that everyone was impressed with my stats but they're really quite modest. While I'm celebrating nearing 90,000 hits this month, Elise of Simply Recipes gets 4 to 5 million hits a month!

Hmm. Maybe I should downgrade my stats from "modest" to "pathetic." This is what I use. And yes, that's my messy kitchen in the background. Just showing you reality folks! There's harsh overhead florescent lighting at night and little natural light during daytime.



I was amused when I noticed that someone had searched to see what type of camera I use. My photos are adequate for food blogging, but any nice photos were shot purely by accident. I can't afford a nice camera, don't understand what aperture and F stops are, and am much more concerned about improving my writing than my photography.

Your Online Identity: Blogging Interactions and Comment Policies

Angkor Thom: Victory Gate, Bayon Temple, Terrace of the Leper King, Terrace of the Elephants, Prasats Suor Prat, and Phimeanakas

The past week has been a very interesting week for the blog. My Alexa ranking broke the 200,000 barrier. Five days of 3,000+ hits, 30 hits shy of 4,000 on September 18, and finally more than 4,000+ hits on September 21. That averages out to almost a thousand more a day than normal. Guess everyone's been fascinated by pomegranates, loofahs, 100 Vietnamese foods, and sprouting potatoes.

As my blog increases in traffic, so does my interaction with readers and other bloggers. I've received some really lovely emails from readers this week such as raves after trying my recipes (I always love getting that kind of feedback. :P ) and a woman who's using some of my recipes to woo a Vietnamese man. The most touching email came from a reader who had recently lost her mother and is using my recipes to cook for and to take care of her father. Earlier, I had also received an email from a reader who lost her mother when she was young, so she's learning how to cook Vietnamese food from my blog. Gosh, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. It's just, I'm so incredibly touched that my side hobby has turned into something that's become such a part of several people's lives. Thank you.

Those moments are much appreciated as I deal with some of the headaches that come with blogging.

So that's what this post is about -- how you want to be perceived online, how and whether you choose to respond to comments, and how to interact with other bloggers. Again, I just want to reiterate that this is merely my opinion of how I chose to and continue to conduct myself online. This is by no means the only way. I'd love to hear what you think.

Giving Credit: The Right Way to Link, Copyright, and "By," "Inspired," and "Adapted"

Let's get these definitions out of the way so there's no confusion. This is how I interpret "by," "inspired," "adapted," and copyright laws.

If I made someone else's recipe in its entirety or with minor modifications, I link back rather than republish the recipe on my blog. Example: Turnip Cake.



Mango Chicken.
If I saw something and then made something similar, but did not go from a recipe, I'll say I was "inspired." Example: Mango Chicken.

If I used someone else's recipe as a starting point, but made substitutions, I'll say I "adapted" the recipe and link back. Notice I don't do it half-assed by saying I got it from "here." I provide the name of the blogger and/or the blog and a link to the appropriate page. And I placed the link in a prominent location below the recipe title. Example: Gaeng Kiaw Waan (Thai Green Curry with Thai Eggplants).

Notice in all of the examples, I used my own photos, wrote everything in my own words, and linked back to the appropriate page with the full name of the website or blog. Just because something's available online doesn't mean it's free. And no, using someone else's photo or recipe and providing a link back isn't always enough. I observe these courtesies because I know how much work goes into creating each post and want to be respectful of the blogger. I also like playing within the confines of the law.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, all works published after January 1, 1978 are held under copyright protection until the creator's death plus 70 years, regardless of whether or not a copyright was filed. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 further requires that Internet Service Providers (ISP) remove the copied material when notified of a copyright violation. Now, whether you can enforce these laws might require an attorney, but those are your legal rights. There are Spam Blogs (Splogs) that will steal your photos and content, run ads, and hope to profit from your hard work. ProBlogger has the steps he took when someone stole from him in, "What to Do When Someone Steals Your Blog's Content - Blog Plagiarism." Lorelle on WordPress has more detailed information on "What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content."

Just because something's online doesn't mean it's free.

Posting: Frequency, Topics, and Accuracy

Lil' Sis's 21st Birthday Bash

"You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald, via PlainLanguage.gov

Sure you like to eat, but how often do you think you can talk about food? Every day? Every other day? Every week?

When I started, I wrote a few posts, then my blog languished for months and months because I couldn't figure out what I really wanted to write about. When I finally started to blog regularly, I discovered there were just so many topics I wanted to write about that even though I post every day, my queue got longer and longer. This is partly because I photograph everything. The more photos I had to work with, the more topics naturally presented themselves.

But mostly, I'm able to post frequently because I threw away those rigid parameters that I thought I had to have in order to maintain a food blog. Though I mainly blog about food, every once in a while I post about gardening or quilting or other musings. The gardening connection is obvious, the quilting not so much. Sure, it was a Sushi and Dim Sum Quilt, but the key is that I keep myself from being bored by varying my topics. Don't worry so much about what you're supposed to say, and just say it. It took almost two years of blogging before I even got around to writing a proper "About and FAQ" page.

So just write.

Picking a Name: Be Clever, Original, and Memorable

Bun Cha Hanoi Nem Ran (Vietnamese Hanoi-Style Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork Patties and Egg Rolls)

You want to be original. Sorry, Wandering Chopsticks is already taken. ;) But seriously, a clever name will generate hits. Initially, that's how people found me. They might have noticed my name in comments or linked on someone else's blog and clicked on over. Having a clever and unique name also means it's memorable. If someone stumbled upon your blog, liked it, and forgot the exact link, they might remember enough to Google your name and find you again.

Choosing a Blog Host

Bun Bo Hue (Vietnamese Hue-Style Beef Noodle Soup)

I met up with a bunch of other food bloggers tonight at a dinner sponsored by my advertiser, Foodbuzz. Recap to come!

Apparently, several of the bloggers were quite interested in my "How to Start a Food Blog" series. And judging from my stats, so are many of you. I've been working on this series sporadically for the past 5 months. It's a compilation of everything I know, or rather everything I think I know. There's a total of 14 topics or chapters planned, technically 15 if you count my intro. Please let me know if you'd like to see something that I've missed. And other bloggers please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong and/or to provide your input as well. To increase your anticipation, I'll include the "chapters" at the bottom of this post.

Then I'm going to take a bit of a break from this series and finish up a bunch of other dangling posts. What can I say? My non-blogging readers aren't interested in this blogging stuff. They just want to see pictures.

Before you begin blogging, take a look at various food blogs and compile a list of what you like or don't like about each one. Is it the photos that pulled you in? The writing? The design? Then look at the little things that might make a difference in ease of use. How are subjects organized? Is there a navigation bar? Are categories in lists or a tag cloud? Are archives easily accessible? All these things factor into how easy it'll be for you to use your blog, and how easy it will be for others to access your content.

Then decide which platform you want to use. The biggies are: Blogger, LiveJournal, WordPress, or Typepad? Do you want your own domain name? Most blogging programs will now register and host you for about $10 to $15 a year. Do you want ads? Blogger has Google Adsense built in and allows ads. WordPress does not officially allow ads. I've seen some blogs add them anyway so it is possible, but technically that's illegal and I prefer to play by the rules. You can get around that legally if you register your own domain name. Typepad costs money but has a reputation for good tech support if any issues arise. ProBlogger.net posted about the pros and cons of various blogging platforms. I suggest signing up on several of the free sites, play around a little, see which format works best for you before committing to one or the other.

On Blogging and Food Blogging

Blood Orange Granita

If you're only interested in having a blog to record what you cook and eat, and maybe sharing it with a few people, then this post is not intended for you. Keep your blog private or password protected and turn off comments.

However, if you plan to make your blog public and/or to participate in the blogging community in any way, this post might be useful. If you plan to write about recipes you make, recipes you discovered from other blogs, restaurants you've dined at, restaurants you've discovered from other blogs, or anything else you want to post. Or if you plan to comment on blogs or want people to comment on your blog. Basically, if your blog is online and public, read this.

How to Start a Food Blog... Or What I Wished I Knew When I Started a Food Blog

Banh Mi Xiu Mai (Vietnamese Meatball Sandwich)

When I started Wandering Chopsticks a little over two years ago, I had a clever name and not much idea of what I was going to do. My initial posts were not terribly interesting, neither written with much personality nor photographed with much flair. Gradually I became more comfortable with being online and allowed more of my personality to show through my posts. As for the photos, I learned to use the macro button (that's the little flower symbol if you have a Canon), increase my ISO for low light situations, and turn off the flash. In between, I learned a whole lot more than I expected about blog rankings, bounce rates, SEO (search engine optimization), and how to conduct myself online.

There's plenty of advice already out there such as "Top Five Tips for Building Blog Traffic" by Christine.net who interviewed Elise of Simply Recipes, "How to Make Your Food Blog Popular" by The Amateur Gourmet, and "Foodblogging Do's and Don'ts" by Delicious Days.

Some blogs and bloggers are big on design, others photography, and others recipes. Personally, I'm a fan of good writing, useful information, and simple layouts. The one unifying aspect of all of the above is content. If you don't have content that someone else wants, your blog is not going to be successful. Since I've received several requests for advice on how to start a food blog, or blogging in general, I thought it would be useful to do a series on what I think is important in creating a blog, conducting yourself online, and navigation tips to measure your "success."

Obviously, success is relative. So at the risk of sounding immodest, I declare my blog moderately successful. Otherwise known as, why should you care what I have to say and how am I qualified to say it?