Written on February 7th, 2009 at 07:02 am by Darren Rowse

What Do You Spend Most Time Doing on Your Blog?

Reader Questions 109 comments

Here’s a question for a little discussion over the weekend:

“What Do You Spend Most Time Doing on Your Blog?”

Running a blog calls for all kinds of skills and activities. Writing content is probably the most obvious of these – but as I talk to different bloggers I often find that they each have their own activity that they tend to be drawn to spend more time than others. In addition to writing content – these activities might include:

  • Blog Design
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Guest Posting on Other Blogs
  • Editing Guest Posts on Your Own Blogs
  • Moderating Comments and Interacting with Readers
  • Networking and Promotion to Other Bloggers
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Monetization
  • Reading Other Blogs in your Niche
  • Reading about Blogging
  • Watching Statistics/Metrics

I’m sure there are more – but that list should get you started.

What do you find yourself focusing upon in your blogging at the moment? I find that I go through stages where different activities get more focus than others. For me at the moment I’ve just moved out of a phase of redesigning one of my blogs and am focusing more upon generating content (writing it myself but also editing posts of others).

Interested to hear what you’ve been focusing upon.

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109 Responses to “What Do You Spend Most Time Doing on Your Blog?” - Add Yours

  • Cristhian Bedon

    February 7th, 2009 7:54 am

    I currently am just looking at blog design, I am in the process of learning on how to build a wp theme start from scratch, so I look around the design to see what fits me best. I do a bit of S.E.O, just to get the name out, done a few social media networking but not really concerned with that at this moment. But most of all, I been reading other blogs && trying to interact as much as I can.

  • Nick

    February 7th, 2009 7:56 am

    Interestingly, I spend most of my time blogging away from my computer – in the kitchen.

    In general it takes much longer to cook and take photos than it does to actually post any given recipe.

    It’s amazing all the different hats bloggers wear.

  • Elliot

    February 7th, 2009 8:01 am

    Most of my time is spent trying to build traffic, yep I build cardboard cut outs of people, then get them to click on my blog and look as though they really enjoy it.

  • Alex | Blogussion.com

    February 7th, 2009 8:01 am

    I try to focus on everything listed above (except SEO. my blog partner does that). But I usually find myself working the most on blog design and writing new posts.

  • Jim Robinson

    February 7th, 2009 8:03 am

    I spend a bunch of time playing with Drupal and hardly any time writing.

  • Janith | Blogussion

    February 7th, 2009 8:07 am

    Oh hey there, Alex!
    Well I’m the partner that he was talking about ~ and I pretty much manage the SEO on our blog.

    However, lately I’ve found myself writing content more than anything else – whether it be for our blog our guest post or even a few articles that have been outsourced to me.

    However, looking at the bigger picture – I would say I do most of the SEO, on and off page the most.

  • Jensen | CS-Weekly

    February 7th, 2009 8:15 am

    I spent most of time on getting material and ideas for my blog topic. Besides that, blog design and traffic efforts also take decent amount of time.

    Unfortunately, I also waste a lot of time checking traffic stats. I know that’s stupid. I am wondering when I will stop doing that.

  • darya

    February 7th, 2009 8:16 am

    Wow, I spend so much time on my blog these days it’s hard to say there is one thing. Right now I am designing a new site, so that easily gets 50% of my time. I am also reading a tremendous amount, both in my niche and about blogging and monetization. I also spend a lot of time on social media, trying to stay up on my niche and related niches. In fact, I should get back to work….

  • Nate @ Money Young

    February 7th, 2009 8:30 am

    I spend the majority of my time reading other blogs(in all niches) and writing/editting content.

    -Nate

  • Gori Girl

    February 7th, 2009 8:32 am

    Reading other blogs in my niche/doing research on my niche, hands down! Since mine is a blog on a personal subject – intercultural relationships – there’s a lot of personal stories to hear, both from my readers and others that I’ve recently discovered on the web. And I’ve recently been working to deepen my idea bank – which means lots of research to see what’s being said, and what’s not being said.

  • Mark Sanborn

    February 7th, 2009 8:32 am

    Since my blog is fairly new I am mainly spending my time coming up with quality posts and researching/leaving comments on other blogs in my niche.

  • RJ W

    February 7th, 2009 8:54 am

    My blogging journey is relatively new. Spend most of my time writing and researching. Which I really enjoy.

    Second is reading blogs in my niche.

  • Dabbygag

    February 7th, 2009 9:09 am

    My blog is new. I really didn’t know what it took to create a good blog. From getting up ads, learning basic html, researching content, and marketing, it can be pretty tough. I see it as running a business because there’s so many differents parts to it, and in order for it to be successful, each part must work together. Now I am thinking about putting video content on the site, so that’s even more work.

    Even thought it’s difficult, I absolutely love it. I put so much effort into it, and I know it will pay off one day.

    Troy
    http://www.dabbygag.com

  • Darren Alff

    February 7th, 2009 9:36 am

    The writing part takes up SOOOO much time. But besides that, I would say that answering emails from readers is the thing that takes up the second biggest chunk of my time. I’m trying to figure out a way to get paid to answer my emails (giving advice, making recommendations, etc) without coming across as a jerk. Like a membership program or something, maybe? Any ideas?

  • Paul C

    February 7th, 2009 9:36 am

    Yesterday I spent an hour choosing twenty of my favourite posts to appear on my side bar. Hopefully this will encourage browsers to linger and see that I’ve got some pretty good content.

  • Lightening

    February 7th, 2009 9:45 am

    I seem to be struggling just to keep up with content right now on my blogs. Usually I spend about half the time on writing and half on responding to comments and commenting/networking. I spend hardly any time on blog design etc. Probably not enough in actual fact. Blogging is like housekeeping I think – there is always something you “could” be doing. It’s never “done”.

  • Tony Lawrence

    February 7th, 2009 9:53 am

    Cleanup.

    I’ve had this site since 1997 and while most of it is CMS driven so that I can change thousands of pages quickly and easily, some old pages are not. I spend a lot of time finding those and bringing them into my CMS.

  • Todd Hebert

    February 7th, 2009 9:58 am

    I spend far too much time tracking stats. I’m obsessed with it lately. I’ll check google analytics every 5 minutes. Woohoo, 2 more visitors!
    It’s such a waste of my valuable time. Seriously, I need help.

  • Sparky

    February 7th, 2009 9:58 am

    I spend most of my time on research trying to decide on all of the variables in blogging.I am overwhelmed at the moment but I think just getting content on the page and spreading the word around is the best thing to do right now.I love it all,but it takes more time than I thought.

  • Will Lowrey

    February 7th, 2009 10:02 am

    Great discussion topic. I was just writing today about how watching your stats too much can be a bad thing. If they are up – you can get lazy. If they are down – you can get unmotivated. And yet, I still look at mine too much. Maybe once a week would be good?

    Time Spent in Order of Most to Least:
    – Writing Content
    – Reading Other Blogs
    – Commenting on Other Blogs
    – Engaging with people on Twitter (@WillLowrey)

    I don’t spend too much time on my site design and I do not monetize my blog (yet – just launched it)

  • Mel Menzies

    February 7th, 2009 10:16 am

    The thing that really gets me, and takes the most amount of time, is finding a suitable photo for each blog. Even if I have an image in mind (and I don’t always know what I want until I see it) finding one that I can use legitimately is a nightmare. Often I end up taking my own – or asking my husband to take one for me. I think the one of his gappy gum was the most grotesque in a blog titled “Why I’m Tearing My Hair Out About The Gap In Your Teeth”.

  • Trainer Baade

    February 7th, 2009 10:17 am

    I spent 60% of my blog-related-time reading other blogs and other sources for my input, 30% of my time writing and 10% of my time correcting and proofreading my articles (even older ones). And only maybe 1% of my time commenting on my own blog, although I have quite a lot of comments.

    So maybe I should engage a little more in the discussions I started on my own blog.

  • Sire

    February 7th, 2009 10:17 am

    I find that I spend more time interacting with my readers than I do actually writing a post. Even though I get a lot of enjoyment from the post itself, its the fact that the post strikes enough of a cord with the readers that they take the time to leave a comment that really makes it worthwhile. To show my appreciation I will in turn interact with them and I always take the time to visit their blog to see if I can find a post where I can leave a meaningful comment.

  • mark harrison

    February 7th, 2009 10:25 am

    Nice post and timely because I have spent about 3 hours on my blog tonight and I’ve done zip. I added a widget and amended an existing post yet my plan was to write 2 400 word posts! Proves that a plan is essential when you sit down in front of that glowing little object…

  • Silverback Investment Group

    February 7th, 2009 10:51 am

    I have found that most of my time has been spent creating new blog posts. Perhaps that is because I have yet to become savvy in the marketing department. I anticipate the marketing side of this project will grow over time but for right now that is just not the case. I need to learn more about the available marketing models that have proven effective in the past.

  • Angela Mills

    February 7th, 2009 11:20 am

    My blog is brand new, and I am just learning about all these things, mainly from your site! I spend most of my time writing, but I want to learn about SEO. Not because I plan to make any money, because I don’t. But because it is everywhere I look and I want to know what people are talking about!

  • Elena Kostovska

    February 7th, 2009 11:21 am

    I agree w/ Darren that writing takes up a lot of time. I’ve always been sort of anal about writing, it may just be a character flaw. But from all the things you mention, the most time spent (on things other than writing) would have to be reading other people’s blogs.

  • Joy (from Just Plain Joy)

    February 7th, 2009 11:35 am

    Apparently, I am spending most of my time commenting on other blogs rather than working on my own blog! But I think my blog is in good shape right now!

  • Smart Boy

    February 7th, 2009 11:46 am

    I spend most of my time writing content, answering emails, replying to comments, social media marketing, and working on design. As you said above, I too go in and out of phases.

  • Sire

    February 7th, 2009 12:11 pm

    @ Dabbygag – If you have a new blog you can’t go past visiting a lot of other blogs leaving meaningful comments. Not only can this drive a bit of traffic to your blog, but you may even find those bloggers who reciprocate their quality comments by visiting you blog and leaving a comment in return.

  • USMC81

    February 7th, 2009 12:16 pm

    I spend most of my time going through content and gauging what people are interested in reading. Know your audience, keep the flash to a minimum, keep it current, make it fun, have empathy, find a good pace, network, keep up with technology, comment, be responsive, be respectful, be a mentor. HAVE FUN!
    @usmc81

  • Andy Fossett

    February 7th, 2009 12:31 pm

    I have multiple blogs in various stages of development. As a result, I’m finding that each one requires an entirely different task-list from day to day.

    The oldest one has developed some technical glitches on the back end and has a lot of outdated content that I’m trying to update. It’s an information resource, so maintenance and editing take up a lot more time than generating content.

    The newest blog is aiming at becoming an authority site in a health niche. Most off my time there is spent writing the content that will become the meat of the site.

    The others all lie somewhere in between. One needs a redesign, another is just for fun, so it only needs what I feel like giving it.

    One thing I need spend more time on for all of them is commenting on other blogs (here I am) and building relationships. I’ve focused so much on “building the thing” that I almost forgot who I was building it for.

  • Brad

    February 7th, 2009 12:38 pm

    I probably spend the most of my time writing and editing my content. After that, it’s probably reading other blogs, writing comments, sending follow-up emails to people who comment on my own blog, etc.

  • Monty's Mega Marketing

    February 7th, 2009 12:51 pm

    Definitely blog design, SEO, and reading & posting. I spend huge amounts of time on those three.

  • Ashwin

    February 7th, 2009 1:16 pm

    Hello,

    I started blogging about 3 months back and my blog is still at the startup phase.

    In addition to writing content, I have spent last 3 months primarily on – blog design and SEO. Also, I am trying to promote my blog through social networks.

    But in the next 9 months I am planning to focus on – writing quality content, engaging more readers and following/commenting on blogs in my niche. Also, I would like to make my blog topic more specific (right now it is very wide) and generate a niche for itself…

  • Thomas

    February 7th, 2009 1:20 pm

    First comes content. I focus most of my time on content. Content is the key. Lots of people say that my blog is a lot of reading, and I take that as a compliment. I’m always adding writing as well as photographs.

    Second comes comments and reader interaction. I like to interact with my readers (answer questions, comments, and email), as well as visit their blogs and comment there as well. I use CommentLuv to encourage others to comment and allow them to “plug” their posts.

    Third is upgrades to plugins and work on the layout (theme, etc.). But like I said before, content development will always be top priority!

  • Dee Langdon - BloggerNewbie

    February 7th, 2009 1:34 pm

    it’s funny you should talk about this subject because i was just thinking that I spend a majority of my time with blog design and was also thinking that I really enjoy that aspect of blogging, maybe I am in the wrong part of blogging?

  • TwinToddlersDad

    February 7th, 2009 1:53 pm

    Content. Content. Content!

    Most of my time goes in reading, researching, generating ideas, developing an outline for the posts, and of course writing.

    I also seem to be spending a lot of time looking for appropriate pictures to go along with my posts.

    I also invest a lot of time on promoting my blog posts on Twitter and building relationships.

    I do a fair amount of posting comments on blogs I like, although that does not take too much time.

    My blog is still quite young – just about 4 months old. So my two top priorities are content and promotion.

  • Corey Freeman

    February 7th, 2009 1:54 pm

    I would say 60% design and 40% content creation. I should probably spend more time developing more involved content and marketing more. I’m trying to focus my content more and do more promotion lately. I definitely spend most of my time on design tweaks and making it as usable as possible.

  • ashok

    February 7th, 2009 2:17 pm

    I watch statistics a lot, but that’s partly because I’m trying to see whether what I’m doing has any effect.

    I’m trying to comment on a wider variety of blogs, just to see what happens. I’m always looking for newer people to pitch the blog to, and that’s what I find hardest, getting new sources of visitors.

  • Arshad

    February 7th, 2009 3:15 pm

    iam always fine tuning my blog for SEO.Iam always building links nowadays.Its a very tiresome job unless you buy them which G doesnt like so much .

  • Coffeeblogger

    February 7th, 2009 3:23 pm

    I tend to spend way too much time designing, redesigning, then totally revamping my blogs and websites. You’d think I was a web designer, but I’m not . . . although maybe I should be!

  • Todd Borst

    February 7th, 2009 4:10 pm

    Since I’ve only been blogging for a month, I spent a lot of my time reading sites like this. Very thankful for these resources.

  • Maureen

    February 7th, 2009 4:25 pm

    I’m new to blogging so I spend the most amount of time reading other blogs or articles in my niche (obviously, also a few about blogging).

  • The Blogger Tips

    February 7th, 2009 4:32 pm

    It really took so much time. I decided to sell my blog. Anybody interested can contact me. Thks

  • I Need A Blog Idea

    February 7th, 2009 6:28 pm

    Site design seemed to take forever, and now I feel like I don’t have much to do. In reality I have a ton to do, including more content and marketing. I know the content is the most important, but I have this nagging desire to do as much marketing as possible. I want people to see my creation, even if it isn’t the prettiest design ever!

  • Gerrit Eicker

    February 7th, 2009 6:39 pm

    1. Reading (70%), 2. Writing (20%), 3. Socialising (10%) – That’s what I’d call “blogging”. ;)

  • Suzie Cheel

    February 7th, 2009 7:21 pm

    At the moment rebuilding my blog, one you blog is up and running keep going , stopping and starting is does not make blog happy.

    past month I have blogged daily sometimes more- guest posted. so my main focus has been on content and having an editorial calendar so I know what i am going to write
    I then spend time, responding to comments on my blog, commenting and stumbling blogs in my niche and occasionally find time to read blogs like problogger.

    My design needs work as blog has a few issues that need ironing out, as i get more income directly from the blog I will get a VA to look after that

  • seger bagio

    February 7th, 2009 8:52 pm

    I spend much time for developing my blogs and practice my english skill trough blogging. I feel my blog’s not good enough. Though i find many lessons from proglogger. thanks..

  • Hisham

    February 7th, 2009 8:54 pm

    I deal everyday with different blogs of mine, managing my own community, writing posts and comments.. and give some time to read other blogs and tips, designing and developing website for y clients … and.. and so many other stuff daily!

    but the most thing I like to do now.. is blogging

  • kaidez

    February 7th, 2009 9:53 pm

    Too many times, I let sloppy mistakes slip thru. Like misspellings and bad punctuation. As I result, I send (It think) too much time proof-reading. If a post takes me an hour, half of that time is allotted to proofing.

  • SEO Tips

    February 7th, 2009 9:55 pm

    Usually it consists of SEO, SMM, Content Writing and replying to comments.

    However it does change throughout the week, so I can fit everything in to the scenario.

    Will.

  • Eric Hall

    February 7th, 2009 10:28 pm

    As we have a newer blog – we find our time spent
    1. Developing good content
    2. Creating a buzz, driving traffic to our site.

  • Viraj Sawant

    February 7th, 2009 11:25 pm

    I am lazy in producing content. I spend most of the time marketing

  • Tutorial-NET

    February 7th, 2009 11:33 pm

    M mainly warry about the content and look about my posts. Then m bit concern about making traffic also

  • Kevin in Manila

    February 7th, 2009 11:41 pm

    I spend the fast majority of time writing–high quality content is the key.

    I am learning to spend a little time on things that help get the word out, such as Entrecard, advertising, etc.

  • Sunny Jamiel

    February 7th, 2009 11:41 pm

    I’ll take turns. For three weeks I’ll focus more on writing content and 1 week i’ll tinker with the design and other stuff to make the website more user friendly.

  • Rhea

    February 7th, 2009 11:54 pm

    Reading other blogs is my big things. I have 222 blogs on my RSS reader and many of them are in my niche (baby boomers, midlife) and many of them are sources of interesting content to link to or just personal interest (paranormal, for instance).

  • Sheila Atwood

    February 7th, 2009 11:56 pm

    I spend most of my time learning the new tools. Right now I am learning how to capture my screen for doing tutorials.

  • Make Money Online Tips

    February 8th, 2009 12:40 am

    I think posting and writing quality content, moderating comments and interacting with readers, commenting on other blogs is what takes the most of the time.

  • pet snakes

    February 8th, 2009 1:16 am

    I don’t spend that much time checking stats but I find when I do check them I’m thinking about how to improve them for another hour which takes me completely away from the task at hand which is to develop useful information for my readers and present it to them.

    So in answer to the question I’d have to say I spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking of how to improve my stats.

  • Lynn Rosenberg

    February 8th, 2009 1:20 am

    Hi:
    Thanks for this post. I am fairly new at this. I wonder do I have a natural copyright with blog posts or must each post be registered and copyrighted via Washington, D.C.?

    Lynn

  • Matt

    February 8th, 2009 2:43 am

    I feel like I spend way too much of my time searching for new ways to drive traffic when I should be writing more content. I’m still fairly new to blogging and it seems like a giant balancing act to me.

  • Mark Daymond

    February 8th, 2009 2:55 am

    Like some other commenters here, I spend far too much obsessively checking my stats. Some days I get excited by a spike in organic traffic only to see it decline the next day. Must use my time more productively………

  • Taylor Blue

    February 8th, 2009 3:12 am

    I think I spend most of my time networking than spending on my blog.. It’s such an important part of the process. :)

  • mike

    February 8th, 2009 3:37 am

    I read a lot of other blogs and comment. I like photography blogs which are fun to look at.

  • Marty Weil

    February 8th, 2009 4:23 am

    Since mine is a niche site, I spend a lot doing content research and reaching out to sub-genre experts for interviews.

    Recently, I’ve been making a concerted effort to attract sponsors. This has been a time-consuming effort that has yielded mixed results.

  • Cyrus

    February 8th, 2009 4:56 am

    Currently for me is to post daily for 30 days, commenting on other related blogs, SEO, and social networkting. Thinking of guest blogging as well.

  • Korea Beat

    February 8th, 2009 5:46 am

    Law school gives me barely enough time to keep updating quality content and policing them comment sections. If I had more time I’d be trying to do a lot more networking and promotion.

  • Robby G

    February 8th, 2009 5:49 am

    Networking and Promotion to Other Bloggers and reading about blogging. I really should focus more on SEO.

  • The Geek Entrepreneur

    February 8th, 2009 6:41 am

    Being relatively new to blogging as a profession, I do find myself reading other blogs when I’m not writing content for my own blog.

    For those out there who use either Firefox or Flock, there is a great add-on called Morning Coffee which I use to load all my daily blogs in one shot. I turn it on every morning, make my breakfast, come back to find all the blogs I keep up with all ready to be read!

    Wesley
    The Geek Entrepreneur

  • Nomad

    February 8th, 2009 8:12 am

    Reading related blogs and blogs about blogging.

    My new pastime appears to be moderating spam from my comments section.

  • Megan

    February 8th, 2009 9:00 am

    Blog Design and SEO, most definitely

    Megan,
    Snag An Internship

  • new trading

    February 8th, 2009 9:18 am

    Brilliant idea in making post. By the way I spend most of my time in writing articles and optimize my site with keywords. I also have relations and they do most of their time in designing their website.

  • Mike

    February 8th, 2009 9:55 am

    most of the time I am looking for good blogs to comment on. Other times I am busy writing posts. Now I am going to start focusing on Video posts.

  • Sanjo-chan

    February 8th, 2009 10:45 am

    I’m currently working on a new design for my blog which is taking up most of my time, but I also find myself writing more articles when my brain can’t take it anymore from the coding of my blog’s publishing software.

  • PerfectMoney

    February 8th, 2009 12:48 pm

    Mostly do for researching and blogging for advertising and quick presentation,I love reading all the things about blogging,advertising,SEO and recently I spent my time blogging to get more friend that I can socialize with

  • Tracy

    February 8th, 2009 1:11 pm

    At the moment my blog is very new so the main thing I concentrate on is establishing relationships. I spend time looking around my niche for fun stories to post and for links to add to my blogroll. I go on twitter to meet new people and comment on different blogs.

  • tiffany

    February 8th, 2009 5:10 pm

    I spent many times to learn how to design blog, search engine optimization and reading other blogs in my niche.

  • Gert

    February 8th, 2009 5:40 pm

    I’m designing mostly, but working hard to bring ppl to my blog and investigating for ads.

  • Green Panda

    February 9th, 2009 4:38 am

    Writing content is a m biggest time consumer. My second is Social Media Marketing and Networking.

    I’ve recently cut who I follow on twitter to reduce clutter.

  • Jennifer

    February 9th, 2009 7:34 am

    Writing always takes time but I spend a lot of time coming up with concepts that I think will make my blog different and hopefully more interesting to my readers. I also spend a lot of time on the photos- they are worth a million words right?

  • Gigi

    February 9th, 2009 7:43 am

    My blog is only four posts old, so right now I’m just trying to learn the ropes and I spend a lot of time on this site. My blog is a very personal blog, so I don’t do a whole lot of research or reading of other blogs. I guess I spend most of my time coming up with a topic and writing the post, and then a good chunk of time determining my next steps.

  • ICT Blog

    February 9th, 2009 8:03 am

    I unfortunately spend too much time tweaking my blog template…

  • Belkis

    February 9th, 2009 2:41 pm

    A lot of time reading either my own stuff (proofreading) or other blogs.

  • Ajith Edassery

    February 9th, 2009 8:11 pm

    Commenting/moderating and constantly tweaking & beautifying the site are two of my favorite activities.

    I also spend about 10-15 minutes of SEO before I post though it has not yielded any major result so far :lol:

  • Jonathan

    February 9th, 2009 8:46 pm

    Most of the little time I spend on the blog is spent generating content that I feel will be of use to others.

  • Writer's Coin

    February 9th, 2009 9:48 pm

    Blog design takes so much time even to get minute things done. I think reading other blogs/content takes up a lot too.

  • D. A. Shaver

    February 9th, 2009 11:26 pm

    Hi Darren, I just finished watching your adsense post, great stuff, http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/02/09/my-adsense-tips-on-the-official-adsense-blog/
    It is a toss-up over studying and learning new skills or writing articles. Lately I have been trying to participate more in other people blogs instead of spending all of my time working on my own.
    Clients take the next largest block of time. Keeping up with the necessary skills takes time so back to number one.

  • Marijuana Reviews

    February 10th, 2009 3:44 am

    I started my blog, MarijuanaReviews.com at the end of Nov, 2008. To give you an idea of the size, I get about 1000 hits/day right now and appx. 7-7500 page views. (Yesterday I had 2000 hits due to a great post).

    I had no clue what to expect but like I heard someone say on this blog, “blogging will take up as much time as you let it.”

    I write 3-5 posts daily. After that I spend most of my day doing just about everything you listed. Besides writing reviews, the next 2 biggest time consumers are moderating comments and social networking.

    Checking stats is a whole other animal as I am a stats JUNKY!

    Hope this helps.

    –Chubbs

  • seth

    February 10th, 2009 4:38 am

    I spend lots of time right now publishing posts. I am trying to build my content and get out as many quality posts as possible. After that I spend time focusing on reading up on blogging tips and then trying to implement them right away into my blog, or i right them down on my blogging to-do list. As things pick up for me I hope to be working on the other stuff as well. Thanks for the post!!!

  • Rodrigo Oshiro

    February 10th, 2009 9:29 am

    I spent a lot of time integrating my blog with other services like Tweeter, Google Reader, Picasa and YouTube… It was worth though… Now I can mirror into my blogger contents that i can easily publish in other services. For example, if I create a YouTube playlist it is automatically mirrored to by blog.

    I am very lazy to publish my own posts… :(. but I have fun creating the layout and adding stuff like this integration that I commented here.

  • Dean Holland

    February 10th, 2009 6:26 pm

    Hey Darren

    This is a good topic actually and is something I have been reviewing my own time for lately…

    As my blog is only a few months old I find most of my time is spent doing social media marketing, interacting in forums and on other blogs.

    The last few weeks though I was dedicated to my blog redesign which apart from a few last tweaks is done.

    I think it all depends on what you need to acheive at a certain time, I dont feel it is neccessary to always be focused on design.. Nor do I feel it should just be about doing just 1 of the above task you mention.

    I think you need to set a plan, stick to it and work it

    Thanks

    Dean

  • Keith

    February 10th, 2009 11:51 pm

    Fixing bloody Error 500 messages

  • Dustin

    February 11th, 2009 1:31 am

    I spend a good amount of time writing. Since I’m fairly new as well I spend a good amount of time researching tools and plug ins looking for all the best products to support the blog. By far though, I spend most time writing.

    If I don’t have compelling content I’m just wasting peoples time. So I really work hard on honing my ability to write good copy.

  • Joel Drapper

    February 11th, 2009 11:13 am

    Writing mostly. I’m finding it really hard right now.

  • D. A. Shaver

    February 11th, 2009 10:17 pm

    I think it is writing articles by a long shot. I spend a lot of time researching them, wording, rewriting them and correcting them. It is so hard to get the mistakes out. I read and reread and I seem to find mistakes every time. Mostly words left out. Even after I post I read on the web site and keep finding mistakes. There are probably still mistakes here but I can find any more.

  • Timon weller

    February 12th, 2009 12:05 am

    Mostly writing and publishing posts or commenting on other peoples blogs.. :)

  • Scott

    February 12th, 2009 12:41 am

    I think I’m the 100th comment! For me, the most time consuming thing is reading other blogs. I don’t comment often enough, but I should; same thing with guest posting. Once a month or so I try to take all of my starred posts (I use Google Reader) and incorporate them into “around the bloggosphere” and “long Island Legal News” posts, which take much more time to write than you would think by reading them.

  • gerd

    February 12th, 2009 1:37 am

    I always tes and change my blog theme and add useful plugin…every month

  • suneer

    February 12th, 2009 2:30 am

    I do spend time on writing articles, but I do also spend lot of my time on analyzing the traffic. I find it interesting from where users are coming and where they are going.
    I also spend some time to find cool plugins to engage my users.

  • eve

    February 12th, 2009 7:25 am

    I have been spending the last few weeks on design and cleanup, Starting from the very first post I am going through and deleting, optimizing, etc. After 4 years of blogging it needed to be done- and boy and I finding some BAD posts from the beginning! Lots of purging over here. I hope to get my rank back after deleting all paid posts/adding no-follow to the ones I cant delete yet. ((crossing fingers!))

  • Justin Levy

    February 12th, 2009 1:21 pm

    I spend most of my time writing and reading other blogs in my areas of focus. After that I probably spend the most time interacting on social networks. I like testing new tools on my blogs to see which ones my readers tend to use more. For instance, using just icons for social networks versus the FriendFeed widget, etc.

    -Justin

  • untreatable

    February 13th, 2009 7:45 am

    I seem to spend too much time on watching statistics and trying to figure out ways to get my blog out there when I should be focused on the actual writing. Need to figure out my blogging priorities

  • Marf

    February 13th, 2009 12:00 pm

    I go through stages too. Right now I’ve been concentrating on blog design and watching statistics/metrics.

  • rohan

    February 14th, 2009 3:55 am

    i spend lots of time in custmising my blog …

  • Kevin

    February 14th, 2009 11:34 am

    Content. Definitely Content. For a long time I mucked around with the design, all the bells and whistles and such just trying to figure it all out. What I figured out is that it is the content that brings people in, and keeps them coming back!

  • Georjina

    February 16th, 2009 11:28 am

    I’ve recently moved to hosting my own Wordpress blog and my time is being spent attempting to fix it. I’m getting there, but it’s definitely not as easy as I thought…it’s probably a little bit of me and a whole lot of ‘wrong template’:)

    Wish me luck – I’ll need it!

  • Culinary Cory

    February 16th, 2009 2:13 pm

    I write a food blog. So my time is divided between three main areas. Creating recipes and supporting stories, testing, and photographing the food in a creative way. I’ve started to get into a groove where I can batch my posts and schedule them over time. This gives me more time to focus on researching need ways to interact with my readers.


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