Don't Give Up on Your Blog: Advice for First-Time Bloggers
I appropriated a message from a HR Blogging contact I had met in a Google+ Community the previous summer. This individual contacted me looking for consultation on blogging and needed to know how to stay propelled to proceed with and increment blog execution. Genuinely, I don't review the greater part of my recommendations. I pondered, "Why pick me?" I was moderately new to the blogging universe. I absolutely would like to give any exhortation that might demonstrate hurtful to this individual's blog so I picked my words with incredible consideration.
I advised the individual to recount a story and that blogging revolved around the necessity and need to compose. You must love what you do to uncover the story. Notwithstanding the online journal, I knew this to be correct. I, too, resound the adoration to compose as my temperament is a storyteller on a basic level.
Finding A Story
Any writer in any medium may pose the following questions:
- What should I write?
- What topic should I choose?
- How will I know who will read what I write?
- How can I find topics?
Have you ever asked these questions? (I think, if honest, we would ALL say “yes” to the question.)
Three Suggestions:
- Look for stories anywhere.
- Don't think too hard but look for them.
- It's a story and, as The Doctor always says....We are all stories in the end.
Think of What You are Writing
When you think of writing I urge you to think of what you are writing.
No, you didn’t read it wrong.
Yes, the sentence is as I intended.
When you think of writing I urge you to think of what you are writing.
What does this mean? It means that writers should not write what one might THINK someone wants but what you FEEL you want to write. Don't expect to write a 10 point how-to or an in-depth discussion of XYZ topic on every single post.
- Write about you.....that is what is unique.
- Write about a class discussion and how it changed/did not change your perception of the topic.
- Write about the paper you wrote and learning about XYZ topic during the process.
- Write about the really great/really bad day you had during your HR (or any other type of) education.
- Write about your first time watching a TV show (Doctor Who...hint, hint) and your impressions of it.
- The lists and article posts are great but it is those who make you feel something that you remember. It is also those that make others come back.
- Also, don't be too aggressive with your posts. What I mean is - one posts every 7-10 days...that might be enough for now. Just make a pattern and post consistently.
Final Recommendations
Expect and embrace failure.
Don’t Expect to be perfect.-------------------
20 Ways To Drive More Traffic To Your Blog
Increasing readership of your blog is both art and science. Take a look at these 20 quick ways you can drive traffic and attract the audience you want.
SEPTEMBER 02, 2013
Every business owner who's ever hosted a blog has experienced the frustration of trying to gain readership. Though we’d all like it if readers just magically came to us, the reality is, it takes some work to build an audience.
It’s easy to get frustrated and just give up on blogging, but once you experience the benefits, you'll understand that your blog can have a tremendous impact on your business by attracting traffic to your site, helping you build a social media audience and making an impression on prospects and clients alike.
Contributors will also share with their networks and may ask you to write for them, opening up new readership avenues for you.
Following are 20 proven strategies that can help you boost readership and increase traffic to your blog.
1. Write more. Studies show that the more often you update your blog, the more traffic it will receive. Google gives higher priority to websites with fresh content, so if you want to get more attention from the search engines, update your blog at least twice a week.
2. Promote with social media. Share each new blog post across your social media networks, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. If you spend time cultivating your networks and share great content, social media sites can become some of your top traffic sources.
3. Write better titles. The titles for your blog posts are almost more important than the content itself. That's because titles help potential readers decide whether they should click and read more. Pay attention to the article titles you see on magazine covers. They entice readers with promises and solutions. When you do the same, your readership will increase.
4. Know your niche. While you may be interested in sea life, exotic travel destinations, Little League baseball and weight loss, you'll confuse your audience if your content doesn’t follow a clear theme. Decide who your target audience is, what they want to read and what specific messages you want to convey.
5. Include photos. Studies have shown that photos in blog posts boost readership. Not only does a photo make the post more visually appealing, but you can also include keywords in the Alt Image tag on the photo, boosting search engine optimization (SEO) for your site. Keep in mind that you can’t just pull any photo from Google because you risk violating copyright laws. Instead, locate royalty-free images from a site like Clipart.com.
6. Incorporate keywords. Speaking of SEO, keywords are at the heart of SEO. One of the easiest ways to generate more traffic to your website is to ensure that every page on your site has a keyword strategy. So for each blog post you write, choose one key phrase that you believe readers would use to find that post. Next, incorporate that phrase into the title of the post, the headline on the page, within the content on the page at least two times, in a featured image on the page and also as part of the page link. Keyword concentration helps Google understand what that page is about, which can ultimately lead to more traffic from the search engines.
7. Incorporate links. When you mention another company’s product or service in a blog post, include a link to that company’s page. Not only does Google like to see outbound links on your site, the company you mention may also notice your post and link back to you. Plus, readers appreciate it when you provide resources to make it easier for them to find the things they're looking for.
8. Add social sharing buttons. At the top and bottom of your blog posts, make sure you include social sharing buttons for Twitter, LinkedIn and the other major social networks. Make it easy for readers to spread the word.
9. Retweet past content. We aren’t all looking at Twitter at the same time, so when you share a new blog post link, the majority of your fan base won’t see it the first time. Repeat your tweets, and don’t be afraid to share past content. Readers don’t care when it was written as long as it’s still relevant.
10. Invite guest contributors. When others write for your blog, you add more content that you didn’t have to write yourself. As a bonus, those contributors will also share with their networks and may ask you to write for them, opening up new readership avenues for you.
11. Add video. Google owns YouTube, which is one of the many reasons that videos can drive more traffic to your site. Supplement the written content on your blog with short videos that are informative and entertaining.
12. Invest in promotion. If you believe your audience is spending time on Facebook, occasionally invest in sponsored posts. For as little as $10, you can “Boost” a post and increase its reach significantly.
13. Conduct give-away events. Create fun theme days such as “Free Book Fridays” where your readers can win a prize by submitting a comment or sharing your link via social media. You can provide prizes yourself or invite companies to donate or sponsor these promotions.
14. Write guest posts. Locate other blogs that reach your target audience, and offer to contribute guest blog posts. If the site has a substantial audience, you can bet that readers will in turn want to engage with more of your content.
15. Cross-promote to your mailing list. Instead of writing all new content for your electronic newsletter, share the first paragraph from several recent blog posts and include a link to continue reading on the site. Not everyone is taking the time to read your blog each week, so this will help get your subscribers invested in your blog.
In addition to the tips above, the following smart strategies will also help increase readership:
16. Make your content easy to read by using plenty of subheads, bullets and numbered lists.
17. Promote your blog in your email signature and your bio in any online profiles.
18. Make it easy for blog visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed.
19. Invite readers to leave a comment, then respond and let them know you’re engaged.
20. Finally, have fun with your blog. If it feels like drudgery, your readers will notice. But if you enjoy producing the content, that will come across and have a tremendous impact on your success.
13 Tips How To Write A Great Blog Post
Think your blog post is good? I bet you’ll find a way to make it better if you follow these tips.
1. Add Headers
Just because you wrote 800 words does not mean your visitors are going to read 800 words. Headers give your content structure and help people find what they’re looking for.
Someone reading this post, for instance, may see this header and think “yeah yeah, headers I know,” but then find interest in a subsequent header.
2. Give Them a Logical Order
Read just your headers. Do they make sense on their own?
Someone should be able to read over the header and know exactly what your post is about, what is coming up next. If a visitor wants to find a specific piece of information in your post, help them get to it by structuring your post with headers.
3. Use Header Tags Properly
It’s surprising how many people toss a bunch of h1 tags inside their posts. You should only have one h1 tag per post that succinctly captures the subject of the post matter. After that, use h2 tags to outline different subsections and h3 to divide even smaller subsections of your content.
Tip: It’s only okay to have multiple instances of h1 tags if they’re on a page that includes and/or links to many different subjects. For instance, your homepage probably has an h1 tag for each blog post title and this is okay.
4. Use Present Tense
People like action.
If you have a header in your post like “Getting More Blog Comments,” change it do “Get More Blog Comments.”
5. Make Them Immediately Clear
The meaning of your headers should be immediately clear (this goes for your post title as well). By immediate, I mean the first 11 characters. Don’t use long, bland words like “Introducing” to start a header.
6. Keep Your Paragraphs Short
Don’t make a paragraph longer than 4 lines. Since people scan online, your big, chunky paragraphs don’t stand a chance at getting read, so don’t make them longer than 4 lines.
Seriously, don’t.
7. Link Out
Linking out shows that you are credible and it makes you a hub. People will remember that they found something interesting from your site and return to your post just to look at what you linked to again. Linking out also has SEO benefits.
8. Use Bullet Points
Visitors scan in an F-shape pattern, so adhere to that pattern when you can. Every time you have a comma delimited list, convert it into bullet points.
- Don’t tell me you don’t
- read bullet points
- when you see them
9. Include Lots Of Images
You should add an image to your post about every 350 words.
Images are interesting and they help get people to scroll down your page and see more. They also give you a chance to…
10. Use Image Captions
You love image captions and you know it.
Since people are going to be reading them, make them 2-3 sentences long. This will get people to slow down a bit and give your content a change.
11. Add Asides
Do you see a common theme here?
People like differentiation. They don’t want just paragraphs! So give them:
- image captions
- bullet points
- and asides
I’m characterizing “asides” as any box, fun fact, or distinctly separated area of content (like an enlarged quote in a magazine).
12. Bold Your Most Important Phrases
To be clear, do not bold the phrases most important to the concepts, bold the phrases most likely to generate curiosity.
Visitors will skip paragraphs, possibly reading only the bold text they see, so bold something that doesn’t fit and requires attention to understand. How many people do you think will slow down to understand when I say blogging is a waste of time?
13. ALWAYS use numbers
Numbers mean facts. People love facts.
When scanning, people’s eyes are drawn to numbers because numbers are often complemented by some tangible, factual information they can use.
I know, your English teacher always said you should write out “two”, but this is the web! It’s time to write 2!
Use these Tips
It’s easy to skip these tips and just hit ‘publish’, but try to hold yourself to it. Following each of these steps will make you a better blog and get you better results.
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