Top 10 Tips for Beginner Bloggers
The Tips You Need to Successfully Start a Blog
Starting a blog can seem overwhelming, but in truth,
it's one of the simplest ways to join the online community. Follow
these tips to ensure your blog is positioned for success.
1. Define Your Goals
Before you start a new
blog,
it's essential that you define your goals for it. Your blog has a
greater chance of success if you know from the beginning what you hope
to accomplish with it. Are you trying to establish yourself as an expert
in your field? Are you trying to promote your business? Are you simply
blogging for fun and to share your ideas and opinions? Your short and
long term goals for your blog are dependent on the reason why you're
starting your blog. Think ahead to what you'd like to gain from your
blog in six months, one year and three years. Then design, write and
market your blog to meet those goals.
2. Know Your Audience
Your blog's design and
content should reflect the expectations of your audience. For example,
if your intended audience is teenagers, the design and content would be
quite different than a blog targeted to corporate professionals. Your
audience will have inherent expectations for your blog. Don't confuse
them but rather meet and exceed those expectations to gain reader
loyalty.
3. Be Consistent
Your blog is a
brand. Just like popular brands such as Coke or Nike, your blog
represents a specific message and image to your audience, which is your
brand. Your blog's design and content should consistently communicate
your blog's overall brand image and message. Being consistent allows you
to meet your audience's expectations and create a secure place for them
to visit again and again. That consistency will be rewarded with reader
loyalty.
4. Be Persistent
A busy blog
is a useful blog. Blogs that are not updated frequently are perceived by
their audiences as static web pages. The usefulness of blogs comes from
their timeliness. While it's important not to publish meaningless posts
else you may bore your audience, it's essential that you update your
blog frequently. The best way to keep readers coming back is to always
have something new (and meaningful) for them to see.
5. Be Inviting
One
of the most unique aspects of blogging is its social impact. Therefore,
it's essential that your blog welcomes readers and invites them to join
a two-way conversation. Ask your readers to leave
comments
by posing questions than respond to comments from your readers. Doing
so will show your readers that you value them, and it will keep the
conversation going. Continue the conversation by leaving comments on
other blogs inviting new readers to visit your blog for more lively
discussions. Your blog's success is partially dependent on your readers'
loyalties to it. Make sure they understand how much you appreciate them
by involving them and recognizing them through meaningful two-way
conversation.
6. Be Visible
Much of your
blog's success relies on your efforts outside your blog. Those efforts
include finding like-minded bloggers and commenting on their blogs,
participating in
social bookmarking through sites such as
Digg and
StumbleUpon, and joining
social networking sites such as
Facebook and
LinkedIn.
Blogging is not a demonstration of, "if you build it, they will come."
Instead, developing a successful blog requires hard work by creating
compelling content on your blog as well as working outside of your blog
to promote it and develop a community around it.
7. Take Risks
Beginner bloggers are often afraid of the new
blogging tools and features available to them. Don't be afraid to take risks and try new things on your blog. From adding a new
plug-in
to holding your first blog contest, it's important that you keep your
blog fresh by implementing changes that will enhance your blog.
Alternatively, don't fall prey to every new bell and whistle that
becomes available for your blog. Instead, review each potential
enhancement in terms of how it will help you reach your goals for your
blog and how your audience will respond to it.
8. Ask for Help
Even
the most experienced bloggers understand the blogosphere is an
ever-changing place and no one knows everything there is to know about
blogging. Most importantly, bloggers are part of a close-knit community,
and the majority of bloggers understand that everyone is a beginner at
some point. In fact, bloggers are some of the most approachable and
helpful people you can find. Don't be afraid to reach out to fellow
bloggers for help. Remember, the success of the blogosphere relies on
networking, and most bloggers are always willing to expand their
networks regardless of whether you're a beginner blogger or seasoned
pro.
9. Keep Learning
It seems like everyday there
are new tools available to bloggers. The Internet changes quickly, and
the blogosphere is not an exception to that rule. As you develop your
blog, take the time to research new tools and features, and keep an eye
on the latest news from the blogosphere. You never know when a new tool
will roll out that can make your life easier or enhance your readers'
experiences on your blog.
10. Be Yourself
Remember,
your blog is an extension of you and your brand, and your loyal readers
will keep coming back to hear what you have to say. Inject your
personality into your blog and adapt a consistent tone for your posts.
Determine whether your blog and brand will be more effective with a
corporate tone, a youthful tone or a snarky tone. Then stay consistent
with that tone in all your blog communications. People don't read blogs
simply to get the news. They could read a newspaper for news reports.
Instead, people read blogs to get bloggers' opinions on the news, the
world, life and more. Don't blog like a reporter. Blog like you're
having a conversation with each of your readers. Blog from your heart.
