I have been doing blog for about a year now. My first blog was closed by wordpress. It is was quite a surprise, because there was no warnings – the night before I was able to login, the next day I was not. I learned afterwards, that the reason they closed my account is because I had backlinks to my self-host website. So the first important lesson learned from blogging, is to read the contract carefully. Make sure you really understand the terminologies. When I first started blogging, I had no idea what backlink is. I assumed I won’t do anything illegal, then I should be fine. I did not read the contract word by word. If I knew that was not allowed, why would I do that?
My first blog was actually doing well. I gained followers pretty quickly. I then decided to move to a self-host site, so I can have more flexibility on web layouts. The first blog’s focus is educational applications (app) on mobile devices for kids, called iGameMom. App is an area that is developing quickly. With so many apps on the App Store, it is very hard to find good educational ones for kids. More and more kids are having access to a smart phone or a tablet nowadays. As a parent myself, I know I don’t want to my child to play games all the time. Once I found there are good educational apps out there, I know this is something other parents would like to know. My blog iGameMom started and grew quickly. Thus the 2nd lesson learned, find a topic that meets other people’s need. When people feel the value you offer, they will come back and read more.
When I just started blogging, I am not sure what to write, and how to write. So I read other people’s blogs. I read a lot. Instead of following persons, I follow topics. From reading, I had a good sense what are people’s concern, what are they thinking, … It helps me form my own topics. I look for apps that help on people’s concerns. This is the 3rd lesson learned, to make your blog relevent to your readers by reading their blogs.
That’s all for today. I will share more at another time.
Game4Learning 
Thanks for ‘liking’ my recent post, ‘Matching And Mixing – World Anomaly.’ My best wishes to you.
I started learning a lot too.It has been challenging and very rewarding.
Excellent learning strategy. Keep on bloggin’!
Thanks for liking my blog. I can relate to your blogging learning curve. Great job.
Great for sharing the blogging experience, esp. on self-linking mistake and the focus on
topics on readers’ interest.
That is a very good “heads-up” information article. Thanks for reading mine.
Hey, thanks for liking my post. I just got back from my trip and can’t wait to gather my thoughts and blog about it.(I so missed blogging while we were gone!)
Also,I appreciate your comments above. I have two blogs and I’m worried that if I pingback from one to the other, I, too, might get kicked off. Neither are self-hosted. Any advice?
I really enjoyed this post. I am new also, can you do a post on backlinks and tell us more?
Thanks for being such a loyal visitor to my blog. I love yours!
It’s tough huh? I just ventured into this new world & I’m loving it…but there IS a lot to learn!
Thanks for writing this. It has great advice for new bloggers like me. I didn’t know what a back link is either. So far, I don’t think my blogs meet anyone’s needs, so I may have to think about how to change that. You got me thinking!
Thanks for writing this. It has great advice for new bloggers like me. I didn’t know what a back link is either. So far, I don’t think my blogs meet anyone’s needs, so I may have to think about how to change that. You got me thinking!
Sorry for the double post, but I forgot to click the box about follow up comments.
BTW, what are trackbacks and pingbacks?
thanks for stopping by my blog and liking a post! that means a lot to a new blogger…also you have great posts here about what you’ve learned blogging…good ideas that i, too, can incorporate, as i’m fairly new at this! thanks for sharing!
Love the tips! I just started yesterday and appreciate your “like” on my blog. I’m looking forward to reading more on your site.
Thank you for reading my post “If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother”! What I am learning too late is that as a new blogger, I have a tendency to overshare. Now I have to go back and delete posts so I don’t freak people out. I probably should have gotten the advice before, not after, I started…
Great Blog, and useful for newbies! Thanks for the like on my Blog too. 😀
Thanks for writing this. Very helpful. For new bloggers it is indeed quite a complicated jungle to navigate. And thanx for reading Cannibalism. Come back for part 2!
Great advice! I am new to blogging and appreciate all the experienced information. Thanks for the visit to my blog.
Nice blog. You have insigtful information. Keep it up. Thanks for visiting my blog, I’m really not sure if people do visit because I get the same message each time. If you did thank you very much.
Thanks for stopping by. I am a big fan too
Thanks for stopping by my blog again. Interesting blog and info. Thanks for sharing.
Very useful post. With just a year and a half as a new blogger, I’m always interested in learning from someone with experience. Thanks much for visiting and liking my blog. Hope I could entertain you with a few chuckles. Keep the posts comin’.
Based on the number of likes and comments you get, I’d say you’ve figured it out. 🙂
Thanks for the likes. Looking forward to reading more of your blogs
Reblogged this on LivingWithHealthyOutlook and commented:
Awesome Lesson on what you can learn about Blogging.
I’ve been blogging, though intermittently, for probably a year and a half. Don’t even know for sure. I have no clue what a back link is, but I have no other blogs, so I guess I’m OK. Thanks for liking my little blog. I liked what I’ve read here, too.
Janet
Hey, and thanks for liking my post; The Importance of Good Grammar. We all learn from one another as life is a lifelong learning process. No one person knows everything. So, please come back and visit my blog again.
Thanks for visiting my site because of it I got to view your site and I must say I like it. A blog useful for me… I am also looking for not only iphone apps but also android supported apps that are educational and worth the penny if not free.
Again. Thank you!!
Thanks for liking my blog, “With Humour and Hope.” I like your suggestion about reading your readers’ blogs to find out what topics they are interested in, and use that information to make your blog more relevant.
I’m always learning more and better ways to blog, and I look forward to reading more of your posts. I hope you’ll stop by my blog again and leave a comment or two.
Cheers!
This is very interesting but I was thinking is it so bad if I don’t make it as a pro blogger at least one day my son will have a good idea of what his life was like from my perspective. He will also know how much he meant to me.
Thank you so much for liking my blog. I am “techno-challenged” even though I have been blogging for 5 years!. I started blogging on blogspot.com, but decided I liked wordpress better/ I am still learning as I write.Your blog is really great.
Helpful information here! I will have to do some researching soon! Thanks so much for the like! 🙂
Thanks for any other informative website. The place else may I am getting that type of information written in such an ideal approach? I’ve a undertaking that I am just now operating on, and I’ve been at the look out for such info.
I’m pretty new to the blog world but I’ve had a roller-coaster year and what I’ve been through lately can maybe help others if they come across my blog. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you’ll be back!
I have no idea what I am doing writing a blog. I follow no trends, but try to stay current with the news. I also try to write about the stuff that doesn’t seem to discuss the importance or relevance of a news item. But mostly, I emotional write. If it creates enough emotional response in me, I write.
I really appreciate it when I note someone that reads my stuff. It feels as though I have actually reached someone. I had a friend tell me last week that I seem angry sometimes when I write. Frustrated maybe, angry possibly, interesting . . . I hope so.
Am I learning from this experience? I hope so. But truthfully, I hope I am doing more teaching than learning. I haven’t much more time in this life. I would like to believe that I reach someone and provide them what they need to find peace and happiness, love, or just the best place for “take-out” Chinese, before my time is done.
No I am not done in a day or two. I am not quite that old yet. So, keep reading . . . and Ill keep writing.
Thank You!
Very helpful information and this will help me a lot in writing a blog. A great site for beginners.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have learned a lot from this blog and as a SEO this will help me a lot. Thanks for posting.
Reblogged this on Red Unscripted and commented:
I am now wondering what a backlink is?
So exactly what is a backlink? I like this article, it mirrors alot of what I’m reading about in my digital media class. Great tips for finding topics, too!
Thank you for sharing your experience 🙂
Thank you for checking out the Hooping with Sarah. It stinks that your first blog was shut down. Looks like you learned a lot in the process though. Thanks for sharing your lessons.
Thanks for the info- now i will read the agreements I have were I am hosted and be safe.
Also thanks for the general idea and the posting. https://twitter.com/martyroddy
Funn will show up on twitter and the blog
I never knew we couldn’t ‘back link’ to our website! I need to read more about this to ensure I’m in compliance. Thank you for this blog and for liking my most recent post, Words of Wisdom.
Thank you for liking Romilly’s Challenge. I went to iGameMom. A good field. I’m looking for fun maths apps for our 15 year old daughter and will be back.
…thanks for this…we remember back in 2012 your blog was one of the first blogs we associated with…we shifted focus to a self-hosted blog and discovered that WORDPRESS ONLY BARELY TOLERATE THEM!…we thereafter ditched the self-hosted blog and since then we have had some peace of mind!…but wordpress can any day flex its MR BIG STUFF muscles on nothingness…it does not matter what you know about the rules…the “contract” permits them to do ANYTHING with your blog…twice the’ve done it to us and twice we challenged them to tell us the rules we broke…on both occasions they restored our blogs with apologies…one day we hope to use their premium services which will guarantee more respect from them…nice to see you back and thanks for your visit to ours…
Wow, you sound like a pro already. Sorry about your experience, shows that there is always a lot to learn.
Interesting piece and quite enlightening. Thanks for liking my post.
Hi,
“because I had backlinks to my self-host website.” What does that mean? I am naive as to all this technology, you hopefully will forgive an old (72) lady. Thanks for stopping by my new blog.
Gerry
Hi!
I too believe in having my own likes & dislikes on a website. I had to learn from getting a web host about them selling you a software contract with your website & when registering your domain name also. It seems to me that learning is the only way to know what is out there & how to handle what life throws at you. I have done a lot with websites as I was going to free places to get them at first. I love making them now after learning what I had to do & what was expected of me in the contracts. I also had to think & put myself in other people’s shoes you might say to find out how I would handle others making mistakes & have been doing this for a while in past, present & future deals. Everything I do now makes perfect sense as opposed to when I was just learning way back when. I hope I am not too hard on you but always give my thoughts like this as they have hit home & are costly if making too many of them like with your followers through each & every website I do. Thanks for following my blog(s) & reading my posts that you are interested in a lot.
Rodney
Thanks for the “app went free” links. I have downloaded several from your blog.
Hello! Thanks for liking my guest author post today (w/host Laura Marshall.)
I’ve been on WordPress for almost a year and am loving that I’m always learning something new. I was aware of trackbacks/pingbacks but this is the first I’ve heard about self-linking! So that is good to know for future reference.
Appreciate that you stopped by!
-Kenzel