If you haven’t already, check out tips one through five here. As a reminder, we’re going through ten “tiny” tips that aren’t life-changing, but that will make your day just a little bit easier as you’re going about your blogging duties.

Tip Six: Google Yourself

Ok, now that just sounds dirty. If you haven’t already, Google yourself to see where you’re mentioned online. Here’s a better tip, though: set up a Google alert for your blog’s name, the username you most often use for sites like Twitter or forums, and your own first/late name (unless it’s really common). That way, when anyone mentions you, you’ll get an alert. The trackback/pingback system through WordPress is great, but it isn’t going to catch everything, and some people won’t link to you when they talk about you, unfortunately.

I’m not narcissistic, I swear. Well, maybe a little, but I still think this tip is valid!

Tip Seven: Trending Topics Inspiration

Got writer’s block? Check out the trending topics on Twitter. You can turn almost anything into a blog post with a little creativity. For example, one night when I saw that Lady Gaga was trending, I wrote How to Lady Gaga-ize Your Blog (and why that’s a good thing). Find out what people are talking about and then be creative in finding a way to use it in relation to your own niche. Another great tip (I believe I picked this one up from David Risley) is to do a Twitter search for “how to” or “how do I” and whatever your niche may be (for example “how to blog”) It’s a way to find out what people are asking, and you can use it to create a blog post.

Tip Eight: Code

For those of you who work with your blog’s code: you can view the source code for any page by pressing control+u or by going to View->Page Source on the menu bar. An even better tip? If you’re a Firefox user, download Firebug. It not only shows you the code for a page, but it is interactive, so you can find the exact code you need. Even if all you do is deal with colors with your blog’s stylesheet, this is a quick way to find the line you need.

Tip Nine: Subscribe to Your Own Blog

This tip I have to attribute to Chris Lodge from Blog-Op. If you subscribe to your own feed (including the comments), you’ll have an emergency form of backup should you lose posts for any reason. Backing up your blog (for real) is something you should be doing regularly, but this is a sure-fire way to have a copy of your latest posts and comments. As an added bonus, it’s good to see what your readers see to make sure things don’t look wonky when read from a feed reader.

Tip Ten: Clean Up Your Archives

Let’s face it – I can barely remember if one of my own posts was written in May or June, let alone a post on another website. Many blogs have an archive on their sidebar consisting of months and years, but a more effective type of archive, check out Clean Archives Reloaded, which allows you to create a list of post titles by month. It’s a much more functional type of archive system, in my opinion, and a fast way to create a site map of sorts on your blog.

Go a “tiny tip” of your own that you’d like to share? Leave a comment or email me at allison-at-abcontentonline.com. If I get enough, I’ll create a post filled with your tiny tips!

Allison Boyer is a writer for BWE’s blog and the owner/manager of After Graduation. She googles herself frequently and encourages you to do the same. On company time, because that makes it especially naughty.