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Making it onto Freshly Pressed

  1. detgwolfe
    Member

    This is just a suggestion, and I don't have a solution, but I would love it if the powers-that-be take a look at the criteria for getting a post on Freshly Pressed. I love the site, and I love blogging here (I have other blog sites but never use them). However, I've noticed there's a lack of faith-based topics on Freshly Pressed. I'm not making this suggestion so that my blog can make the page. I'm making it because there are a lot of other bloggers who put a great deal of time and effort into their work, and they may never get noticed. I don't ever recall seeing the blog about the woman in Detroit on Freshly Pressed, and now that the ordeal is national news, it's there. Any feedback would be welcome. Keep up the great work, and God bless.

    The blog I need help with is holyghostbumps.wordpress.com.

  2. susielindau
    Member

    Do the editors look at every post we blog to be considered for a Freshly Pressed or do we need to stand out in some way? I seem to be pretty invisible......

  3. timethief
    Member

    @susielindau
    Good morning. There are millions of WordPress.com bloggers publishing millions of posts every day. Have you seen this Freshly Pressed entry in the support documentation? Also note there are many forum threads as well http://en.forums.wordpress.com/tags/freshly-pressed
    See also > Getting More Views and Traffic

  4. timethief
    Member

    @detgwolfe
    If you are looking for Christian faith based blogs then you can use the global tag page search approach and when you do you will find a large number of blogs all posting on the same topic.
    Examples:
    http://en.wordpress.com/tag/religion/
    http://wordpress.com/tag/Christian/
    http://wordpress.com/tag/Jesus/
    http://wordpress.com/tag/God

    More here > Global tags

  5. susielindau
    Member

    Thanks for the input. I think I am doing everything right, I just have to believe I can win the lottery of WordPress and get Freshly Pressed!!
    Thank you~
    Susie

  6. timethief
    Member

    @susielindau
    The result of having a post Freshly Pressed can be simply stated. You get a sudden inflow of traffic most of which simply bounces in and out on the same link, thereby skewing your stats. If you are fortunate a few visitors may choose to follow your blog. I don't spend any time questing for this. I think your time will be better spent on the following traffic attracting activities:

    1. Structure a reader and search engine blog;
    2. In blogging content is king create unique, high quality content so publish fresh content frequently;
    3. Learn basic SEO so you can use keywords effectively and apply basic SEO to your headlines, blog and posts;
    Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.
    4. Make your blog posts look professional;
    5. Create at least 4-6 pillar posts and continue to create pillar posts;
    Pillar posts are also referred to as flagship content. Pillar posts are comprehensive posts that offer great value to readers as the contents are timeless in nature. They define you as having authority in the niche you blog in.
    6. Select and link to appropriate anchor text;
    7. Leave meaningful comments on related blogs and encourage comments on your own blog;
    8. Develop relationships with other bloggers so you can build a blog readers’ community around your own blog;
    9. Support the blog centered communities on related blogs by commenting on them and promoting posts from them;
    10. Link to authoritative sources in the same niche your blog is in in your posts;
    11. Deep link to your earlier related posts in your new posts;
    12. Assign appropriate categories and tag your posts with care;
    13. Link to related authoritative blogs in your blogroll;
    14. Provide RSS feeds for subscribers - RSS (Rich Site Summary or really simple syndication) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.
    15. Having a well designed theme is important, evaluate your theme for effectiveness, and if required, create a new header, make improvements or replace your theme and reduce page loading time;
    16. Avoid cluttering your blog with widgets that lack reader value and slow page loading time;
    17. Buy your own domain and domain mapping;
    18. Verify your blog with the major search engines.
    19. Get organized, use an online to do list by developing a blogging workflow;
    20. Join social networks and social media sites like Facebook and use Twitter, Friendfeed and other Free RSS directories to promote your blog posts;
    21. Promote your blog through online groups;
    22. Develop a social media time management strategy and stick to it;
    23. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival;
    24. Become a guest blogger on sites with higher page rank than your own site.
    25. Create newsletters and/or ebooks for your subscribers.

  7. nighttimer
    Member

    I got a couple of posts chosen on Freshly Pressed last year and that was a nice little goose for my blog stats, but this year I've had nothing. I follow most of the advice suggested by timethief, but it hasn't amounted to zip in terms of getting a post selected.

    Which brings me to ask, what's the point of the "This post is super-awesome" button? Apparently, a post is not "super-awesome" if it's never selected. I can understand not every post is worthy of wider attention, but none of them being worthy is a bit much for me to accept.

    Maybe Word Press should ditch that "super awesome" feature if the only one who thinks it is happens to be the author.

    Oh, and with this latest redesign, grabbing the Shortlink to copy it is a real pain.

  8. absurdoldbird
    Member

    @ nighttimer If you're seeing a 'This post is super-awesome' button, you might like to read this thread:

    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/this-post-is-super-awesome-whats-that?replies=34

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