I always liked writing; writing down my day’s plan, my work plan, my grocery list and even my emotions if I’m feeling low. And then I loved to torture my boss by sharing the work plan; or bugging my local grocery boy with the grocery list and worst, blackmailing my husband by sharing the emotional write-up!!! No longer to take any more of my writing and sharing skills, people suggested me to become a blogger to save them.
So one fine day, I started my blog. Being a beginner, I felt I need to follow certain rules to torture my dear readers.
What I write is what matters most!
Content is the word. Crisp, original quality content with an interesting title is what the readers want. The content needs to be regular with a time period. A new blogger is pitched against the older bloggers. So, to get hold of the audience, quality content is the foremost need.
Looks matter.
“Looks can be deceptive.” But the way a blog looks can make the target audience either attracted to it or repel away. While reading a blog, a reader wants a fast loading template to save time. Eye catching yet pleasant theme and blog design are also the counting factors. Adding share buttons and mailing list gadget for email subscription at a well optimized place in the blog is necessary. Overall, the blog should be easy to use in terms of navigation and should look good to the eyes.
It pays being social.
Sharing the blog post through prominent social networking websites as well as social bookmarking websites makes the purpose of blogging clear. What is the point of creating a post without sharing with anyone? For a beginner as well as for an older blogger, sharing the post through various channels is the most promising way to reach out to the wide audience.
Engagement is the key.
Engaging with the readers and fellow bloggers is a must for beginners. Commenting on similar blogs will help to build relationship with fellow bloggers. Acknowledging the reader’s comments on the new blog and replying back will assure active interaction with the audience.
The picture says it all.
An image is far more powerful than the content, in terms of catching attention of the audience. No doubt that a good content is high in demand but to promote a new post, usage of images is highly recommended to a new blogger. A visitor will always feel attracted to an interesting image, irrespective of whether it is a new or an old blog. However, the image should be relevant to the content of the post.
Guest on a blog.
As a new blogger, finding out similar blogs and offering to do relevant guest posts on them will help in increasing the referral traffic of the new blog. The audience on the similar blogs will see the guest post and finding relevant content will land up on the new blog. Eventually this will increase the social engine presence of the new blog.
Searching for the key.
How often we turn to our favorite search engines to find out content of our interest? Tagging the new post with significant search related keywords will help in easily finding it in search engines. The content and the title should contain the popular keywords as well. In addition to this, providing proper search description, meta keywords and meta description will help a new blog in a significant way.
Being technical.
A new blogger might not immediately understand the relevance of search engine submission. But it is a must follow rule. Google Webmaster tool helps in getting the new blog indexed in Google fast. Submitting the blogger site map and verifying the ownership of the blog enables the webmaster tool for the blog. It acts as big boost with the new blog indexed in the search engine.
Links and the exchange.
Adding links of similar posts in the blog content helps other bloggers identify the new blog. This in turn increases the chance of promotion of the new blog link through other blogs. Also, it is important to internally link the new blog posts to each other. Internal linking will increase the page views, thereby making the posts rank better in search engines.
It is all about me!
A new blogger might feel a bit dazed in the blog space with so much information to absorb. But at the end of the day, it is a blog and a personal one. So, there is no need to lose the personal touch in the blog- the opinion, language, comments, views. A blog is an extension of personal identity. So blog accordingly! This is the most basic tip.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Lisaclarke
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