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Blogging is a popular past-time that has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years...there are so many options out there from traditional Blogger blogs to Moveable Type that there is literally something for everyone.
7 Tips for
Successful Blogging: by Michele Schermerhorn
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
from knowledgeland.atspace.com
More help can be found here:
We hope these links help you create the blog of your dreams!
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