When you first start out blogging it seems like an impossible task. You may look at the feeble beginnings of you blog and wonder if you will ever be successful. Well, do not worry. Everyone had to start from the bottom just like you and they made it.
However you should keep in mind a few tips that can help you to be a successful blogger faster.
- Get an idea – You should not even start blogging until you know what your blog topic will be about. Every blog needs a niche, something that it can focus on. Without a niche your blog will float aimless and directionless and will eventually fail. That does not mean that you have to write on the same topic for every post, but your blog should have a strong central topic which it constantly revolves around. Make sure you are passionate about any topic you choose because you will hopefully be writing about it for a long time.
- Update regularly – One of the biggest mistakes that new bloggers make is not updating their blog on a consistent basis. A reader expects regular updates to keep their attention. That may mean updating every day, every other day, Tuesdays and Thursdays, or other schedules. Your updating schedule should reflect your blog topic, so take a look at similar blogs in your blog’s niche for clues as to how often you need to update your blog. Stick to a schedule. Even if you have an off day or get sick, have an article ready to be posted in case of emergency.
- Title well – A good title is almost as important as a well written blog post. Your title is what draws readers in, what gets their attention, and what makes them stop to read. Your title should be short and snappy. Try not to go over ten words on the title or it becomes too much. You should also use tactics like name recognition to get attention to your posts. Using names that people recognize is a great way to be found in searches and also get people to stop and read that normally would not. Batman, Harry Potter, SpongeBob Squarepants and other fictional characters work well, as do celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, and Brad Pitt. Whatever name people recognize they will stop and read about, so this is a great idea for building traffic. One warning though, you must back it up with good content. If you mention something in the title and then never follow through in the post itself people will not keep reading your blog.
- SEO –Search engine optimization is a great way to get more traffic to your blog and more readers in. It is also a good tactic for making money off of your blog. Without a big audience, you will not be able to make a profit from your blog, which may or may not matter to you. However SEO is not easy. It requires some time and effort on your part. You need to do some research and find out what people are searching for in your niche. You can also check out social media and other things to see what the big topics are. Once you find out what topics are big right now, you should right a post on that topic or a similar one. That way you can capitalize on the search results. There are many programs, some free, that will help you in your search.
- Community is important –Another thing to remember about blogging is that community involvement is important. There are many other bloggers out there, and some are competitors. However to make the most of your blog you should become a part of your niche’s blogging community. That means getting to know other bloggers, even competitors, in a friendly and helpful manner. You may even get a lot of help from the people you meet. You can also trade for services like guest posts and get exposure for your blog with new audiences that are already a stable following.
- Encourage interaction –Some bloggers do not believe in allowing comments or likes to their blog posts but I am not one of them. I think that reader interaction is vital to a healthy blog. Getting your readers to respond to your blog posts is a rewarding experience. Not only that, but you can discover what they are thinking about and interested in reading. Offering questions and opportunitiesfor feedback is a great way to encourage interaction. The more included readers feel in a blog the more likely they are to keep reading it.
- Have fun with it – You should love your blog topic. If you do not love it then just give up now because you are going to hate it later on. Writing about the same topic for months and years on end can be tough even for the most passionate people. If you do not start out with a great passion for your blog topic then maybe you should pick another one. Readers can tell when you are just calling it in. They know what your best effort is and what is just junk. Your attitude effects what you write, even if you do not think it does. Like the telephone operators of the old days were encouraged to smile so their voice sounded pleasant you should write with a smile so your writing sounds pleasant. An unhappy writer means poor writing.
- Take a break – We all have times we get burnt out. There is no shame in it. Instead of giving up or trying to throw something together, just take a break. Get away from your desk for a while. Take a walk, go for a drive, find something you love to do and do it. We all need to recharge our batteries. However do not let your blog go without posting for a long time. A good idea is to have a backlog of already written posts you can use for emergencies. These posts are very handy when you are sick, tired, have family obligations, or are otherwise indisposed.
- Use the right platform – The blogging platform you use can affect your audience and how you write. There are many great platforms to choose from like Blogger and WordPress. I like WordPress the best myself because it is very easy for new bloggers to figure out and personalize to their tastes. Another great feature of WordPress is the tag bank that shows what the most popular tags are for the day and what people are writing on around the world. It also has great features like what people searched for to get to your blog and how many hits you get every day.
- Tag your posts –I guess I have not covered tags yet. Tags are a way to categorize what your blog posts are about. They help search engines to find your posts and help people to search through your blog for particular topics. Make sure to tag accurately and succinctly. Do not use over ten tags or it gets to be a hindrance rather then a help. Do not tag any topic that is not in your post or you could get penalized. You should find out what tags are the most searched and then go from there.
These are just a few of the tips that new blogger need to learn as they mature. Eventually you will run across your own issues and problems to resolve, but hopefully I have given you some insight into how to get started off on the right foot. Always be polite and keep positive. It may take some hard work, but your blog can be successful too!
