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7 Tips
For Successful Blogging
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by:
Michele Schermerhorn
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So,
you have a blog! Do you have traffic? Do you know how to build traffic
to your weblog? There are seven proven methods for building readership
of your blog. They start with defining the purpose, or life, of your
blog. Then, after you have a blog worth promoting, driving traffic is
crucial to your ongoing success at blogging.
Here are seven tips to help you build and hold an audience for your
blog:
Tip #1: Provide quality content.
On the Internet, whether you are talking about websites or blogs, a lot
of space is given to content. Everyone directs you to provide quality
content. But, what is quality content? The quality of your blog’s
content is directly related to how well you have defined your ideal
audience.
A successful blog is written with a distinct audience in mind. In this
way, you can provide content that is unique to your audience’s issues,
needs, or desires. If you create content they like and wish to return
to read, you have quality content.
The second issue is to stay true to your audience and tone of your
blog. If people are reading your blog, it’s because they like your
topic and tone. Try not to stray from your typical topics and style too
much. This will give your readers a reason to link back to your blog on
an ongoing basis, as will posting on a regular basis.
Tip #2: Blog regularly
If you don't update your blog often enough, blog readers will move on
to other blogs. There are too many blogs out there competing for
attention. Blog readers will go where they can get enough of what they
want.
Successful blogging takes a commitment of your time. When you begin
blogging and wish to capture an audience, you should be prepared to
blog every day. In this way, you can develop an audience who counts on
you to help them begin or end their day.
This means you should also try to post at the same time each day. Your
readers will get accustomed to your schedule and check your blog at the
appropriate time. The time of day is not as crucial as the consistency
in your posting.
Since you now have quality content and a regular posting schedule, it’s
time to drive traffic to your blog. Your readers will do a lot to
promote your blog just by telling their friends. Don’t count on this
alone! You need to do some additional work.
When you post, make sure you set your blog to “ping” blog tracking
sites every time you add a new post. Think of this as a means to get
their attention. The ping says “Hey, we just added a new post”. An
alternative to automatically pinging from your blog is to use
pingomatic.com. This is a one-stop place to automatically ping everyone
you should notify of your new post and only takes a couple of minutes
to accomplish.
Tip #3: Mention your blog wherever you can
Mention your blog’s address in your email signature line, in forums
where you post, on your business cards, on address labels and in
conversations with anyone you meet. Use a tag line under your blog
address to further entice them to visit. Mine reads:
Michele Schermerhorn
http://www.imarketblog.com
A sassy little marketing blog
Beyond just mentioning your blog in writing and conversation, you must
actively participate in the blogging community too.
Tip #4: Participate in the blogosphere
Get involved in other people's blogs. Visit blogs that interest you and
are in line with the general topic of your blog. Then, leave thoughtful
comments. Almost every comment option on someone else’s blog will allow
you to post your blog URL and your email address. Help other bloggers
out with traffic and they will help you.
If a blogger really likes your site, they will add you to their
blogroll. A blogroll is generally found on every blog which understands
linking to the rest of the blogosphere helps drive traffic. A blogroll
is a listing of other blogs. Think of it as a “recommended reading
list”. Don’t be stingy with your blog roll either. Add those blogs that
you read and enjoy to your blogroll too.
Tip #5: Think keywords when you post
Think about keywords with your use of titles, links and blog posts.
Search engines, like Google and Yahoo, like keywords. The more targeted
your keywords, the better the chances of your blog appearing in search
results. Search results can drive that extra traffic you want.
To increase the value of the key words in your content, make certain
keywords are part of the hot link in your posts. Don’t use “click here”
as the hot link. You will be wasting valuable real estate in your post.
Instead use the relevant keywords for the hot link, like “a great
marketing idea. This gives the keywords added emphasis with the search
engines.
One last thought on keywords for driving traffic; if you want a real
leg up in the traffic game, in your linking code add rel=”tag”. This
helps Technorati, a major blog resource, index your blog for their
directory. But don’t stop there! It’s time to submit your blog to blog
directories.
Tip #6: Submit your blog to blog directories
In addition to submitting your blog to the major search engines, make
certain you submit the blog to exclusively blog directories like
blogwise, blogcatalog, or bloghub. Many people find blogs through these
online directories.
When you do submit your blog to these directories, remember to add a
description that will entice your targeted audience to check your blog
out. For instance, when I post my blog in blog directories, under
description I put “General musings, rants, advice and strategies from a
battle-worn veteran of the Marketing Wars, online and off”. Your
description should help the potential reader understand your blogging
topic and the flavor of how you write.
In addition to submitting your blog to blog directories, join a few of
the free or inexpensive traffic exchange sites like blogexplosion or
blogclicker.
Tip #7: Use free and inexpensive blog traffic exchange communities
There are many sites which can be termed “traffic exchange” sites for
the blogging community. It won’t cost you anything to sign up. At the
very least, join blogexplosion, blogclicker, and blogazoo. Once you
sign up, you have two options to help drive traffic to your blog. Use
both of them!
The first method is to earn credits (guaranteed visitors to your site)
by using the “surf member sites” function. As you surf through those
sites, you will be earning credits (visitors to your blog). When you
find an interesting post, leave a comment as discussed above. When you
find a blogger you like, add them to your blogroll and let them know
you did.
The second method to drive traffic is to purchase credits. The cost is
very cheap for the traffic you will drive to your blog. The more
traffic to your blog, the more customers you’ll have. The more happy
customers you have, the more they will tell others. The more they tell
others, the more customers you get. Don’t you love this dance!
In summary, blogging may not be for everyone. However, it can be a
great method for bringing your unique perspective to the Internet. You
will surely find others who think the same way you do. Some bloggers
will entertain you, some will inform you, and some will drive you to
tear your hair out. Decide what type of blogger you want to be and be
the best you can. See you in the blogosphere!
About the Author
Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a “Corporate
Freedom Fighter” dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners. She has over
30 years experience in the business world. She is President of Online
Business Institute Inc. (www.obinstitute.com), authors a sassy
marketing blog (www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free
online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to “Create
Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time”.
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