As we continue the Blog Revolution Project, we come to the final day of our focus on writing. Today’s article will focus on keeping your blog focused.

One of the main reasons I unsubscribe from a blog is that the content changes from day to day, and things aren’t what I expected they would be. This comes when the blogger doesn’t have a specified topic of concentration.

Another advantage to focusing your blog is that you will convert more of the search engine referrals into regular readers. One of the coolest features of WordPress.com and WordPress.org software is the “Related Posts” type plugins or features that can be added. These add links at the end of the post to allow readers to read other material you’ve written on similar subjects. As we remove off-topic posts from our archives, it helps to refine the focus of the blog.

Set your target
If you use categories and tags, a good plan is to limit the number of categories to somewhere between 15-20. The less categories, the better, actually. I like to limit each article I write to one single category, and possibly add some additional tags. Tags help to better define the subjects. Something I did that really helped my writing and helped to refocus my blog was to go in and delete some of the old posts that were off-topic. I didn’t delete too many, but it really did help to clean up my blog and helped me in determining how I write.

For instance, I can pick a subject such as organization. I know that is one of the favorite topics when I write about organization. So I figure out a new way to approach some of the material I have written before.

But what if I say the same thing I’ve said before?
We have to keep in mind that a blog is not a book. People don’t all start on page 1 and keep reading. People pick up where you currently are. With that in mind, I have to remember that most of my subscribers now have no clue that I was featured in Zen Habits back in October. Many readers don’t know that I have set up SYWTT Forums and will begin really diving into them much more this summer. They don’t know that I reviewed last school year. They don’t know that the band director I work with had a stroke in December, or that I made the ebook The Instant De-Stress Handbook available.

All this is to say that if I write about Classroom Management a few times, it won’t be the worst thing that I ever did. See?

1. February 14, 2007 Classroom Management: The Key To Your Success
2. February 24, 2007 A Customer Service Oriented Classroom Experience
3. June 7, 2007 How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?
4. June 21, 2007 Arguing Is Normal, isn’t It?
5. July 10, 2007 Habit 2: Classroom Procedures
6. July 27, 2007 4 Similarities Between Strep Throat And Classroom Management
7. September 9, 2007 Are You Still Out Of Control In Your Classroom?
8. September 12, 2007 5 Surefire Tips For Handling Misbehavior
9. October 20, 2007 5 Ways To Win When Children Test Your Limits
10. December 8, 2007 You Better Smile Before Christmas!
11. January 3, 2008 Old School Classroom Management
12. March 16, 2008 The Deep-Seated Problems With Public Education

TODAY’S MISSION
Find some of the off-topic posts on your blog and delete them.

If you’re scared to do that, then just refine the focus of your blog. This will be in conjunction with your writing voice. You’ll also find that as you focus your blog, you will produce much better content as you familiarize yourself with your subject matter and turn yourself into a sort of “expert” on the topic.

How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?
The Blog Revolution Begins
Get Ready For Reader Appreciation Month 2008

Joel Wagner

Joel Wagner (@sywtt) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. So You Want To Teach? is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.