13 Tips for Writing a Blog
2007-01-24 02:35 PM | Posted by Tejvan Pettinger | Permanent Link | thursday thirteen, blogging
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There are over 60 million blogs on the internet and I’m sure that this number will continue to grow. What makes a good blog and how can you make your blog stand out from all the other 60 million plus blogs. These are a few ideas which will help you to write and create a successful blog.
- Write on what you know about. It may sound obvious but to be successful you need to be able to write with passion and / or with an informative background. There is no use trying to make a blog about mortgages unless you know actually something about it.
- Post on a regular basis. If a blog is regularly updated then it will definitely encourage others to come back and check for your latest content. Also search engines like blogs and websites that have regular content added at a natural rate.
- Keep it simple. Good writing is often deceptively simple. There is no need to try and develop complicated linguistic skills. People will appreciate blog posts that are easy to read.
- I sometimes like to write in bullet points or numbers. It makes it quicker to write and easier to read.
- Focus on a couple of niche areas of interest. If you try to cover every interest under the sun then it is more difficult to build up a regular readership. Having said that I completely ignore my own advice. On this blog I psot on many unrelated posts: The UK economy, spirituality, Monty Python, Photos of Oxford, poetry e.t.c If you do have several interests you could always consider having different blogs for different topics e.g. I have a blog for Mortgages, SEO and a blog of funny videos.
- Develop your writing skills. Search engines like unique content. If you can write your own articles then it will definitely help improve the rankings of your site. Try to make writing a priority, even it means switching off distractions - like access to the internet. (There is really no harm in not checking our email for the 5th time today!)
- Choose titles with care. To get traffic it is good to choose keyword rich titles. For example if you choose “Advice for writing a blog” you have much less competition than if you chose a title “A Good blog”. Generally 3-4 words are better than 1.
- Try to make contact with other bloggers who share your interests. If you come across a good post and blog, do leave a comment and if appropriate link to the blog. A blogger appreciates nothing more than getting a link; who knows he may link back... The important thing is to be sincere. When I get a comment from “Blackjack Casino” on my spiritual blog something tells me they are not being entirely sincere. Needless to say that comment gets deleted and they have just being wasting their time. Personally I don’t spend much time finding other blogs I prefer to concentrate on writing and developing my own blog. But it is very nice to get appreciation from others.
- Pictures are important. When I see a blog without pictures I rarely stay long. As a courtesy avoid hotlinking other people's pictures. If you were to use someone else’s pictures I always try to give credit to the photographer. But I prefer to use my own.
- Humour. People do appreciate humour. If you not a natural comedian like me, you can’t go wrong in adding some classic comedy videos from the greats of comedy. Of course it does depends on the subject of your blog. I have been trying very hard to generate some jokes about mortgages and economics, but alas it is proving somewhat difficult...
- Submit your blog to blog directories, there are many out there just google “blog directories”. If possible try to find blog directories that specialise in your niche. Even if it just something like Brit Blog for British people.
- A while back I came across an idea on the internet “Don’t make me think” I like this very much. Basically the average internet user wants to find the best things with miminum effort. Make sure your best posts don’t get lost in the archives. You can always link to them every now and then or you could have good posts highlighted.
- Enjoy writing and blogging. If you enjoy what you do, this will show through to other people.
Previous articles:
- Guide to writing a blog
- Getting links to your blog
- How to write a good article on the web
- 13 Tips of getting links from other bloggers came across this page and thought it was very useful. Particularly like the suggestion of having photo on page.
