Make your blog better

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Step back and ask yourself, “How can I give my users what they want while getting what I want?”

I found this excellent advice in an unlikely place.

The first step in answering this is to figure out what your users’ goals are, what your goals are and how they work together.

There's more, but you can read it (with examples) on a guide that Google wrote for AdSense.

You don't need to have, or want, AdSense to benefit from this advice.

AdSense = good sense

AdSense is Google's advertising network. If you qualify, you can put ads on your blog and share the advertising revenue with Google.

From that viewpoint, good websites are good for the ad business. They attract and retain readers.

The more readers, the more revenue.

In other words, the goals of AdSense align with the goals of anyone who wants readers.

Where advertising revenue is involved, Google has skin in that game. It prepared a guide to help website owners please readers.

The suggestions are good for anyone who wants to serve an audience, advertising or no.

Good advice for all

There's advice about how to approach big editorial questions like purpose and strategy from a reader-centric point of view.

There are tips on design, a neglected editorial element.

The last page of the guide helps you to consider ways to retain readers.

Depending on your blog's mission and emphasis, some of these themes and examples won't really apply.

I'm not adverting-oriented, for instance.

But you can still take what is relevant from this excellent guide.