Today, David Walker shares seven other things you need to be doing on top of your New years resolutions to keep your blog staying steady. Want to write for us too?
The hysteria of your New Year’s resolutions regarding blogging should have ended now. After promising yourself on December 31 to write a new post every day, leave comments on every industry blog going and contacting hundreds of potential new JV partners on a weekly basis, a dose of reality should have set in.
Now the madness of January is firmly behind us, I want to share with you seven tips on how you can improve your blog and stand above your competition in a practical manner during 2010.
As you read the seven items in this list, compare them to the resolutions you made at the beginning of the year. How do they compare to them, and would you be willing to adopt these new items to your list?
1. Let Your Passion & Personality Shine Through
I am a firm believer you should only blog about subject matter which you are knowledgeable and madly passionate about.
Your passion is your edge in a cluttered marketplace and is what makes you stand out from a crowd of “same old, same old” merchants.
When producing your blog content, establish a voice and let your personality shine through. People will pick up on it, be drawn to you and will be keen to know your take on the topics that mean the most to them.
2. Add Depth to Your Posts With Images
One of the best decisions I ever made was to illustrate my blog posts with images. Numerous people have told me how much they enjoy my posts and that the photographs I use add depth to what I have written.
Adding photographs doesn’t have to be expensive if you purchase quality stock images from the numerous online depots but my weapon of choice these days is Flickr.
There are millions of high quality, interesting and downright weird photographs on that website taken by professional and amateur photographers alike, many of which you are free to use and adapt for your own purposes.
Want to find some great images? I have found some of the coolest images for my blog posts by doing the following:
- Go to Flickr
- Type in a keyword that relates to your post (tip: don’t search for images directly related to blogging; try using metaphors)
- Be sure to check the creative commons options before searching. This is so you are only searching for images that can be used on your blog.
Always be sure to give credit to the image author somewhere in your post for using their image. You can scroll to the bottom of this article to see how it is done on Blogussion (all images here are found through Flickr).
3. Use Video & Audio Too
Photo by Mark Tomlinson
I am not suggesting you ignore written blog posts in favor of multimedia content, far from it, but a video post or audio interview with another expert in your niche can help to keep things fresh.
A great phrase I heard recently is “the money is where the fear is,” so if you are nervous about recording videos or conducting interviews, then push yourself into doing them.
You can be sure at least some of your competitors are NOT so it’s a great opportunity to get in front and if they are, then you don’t want to get left behind, do you?
4. Comment on Other Blogs
Leaving comments on other blogs is a great way to build your authority but you are not going to impress anybody by just writing “Great post” in response to every new blog post which opens up in your RSS reader.
Choose which posts you are going to contribute to carefully and make sure you fully understand what the content before you add your own take on what’s been said.
If you find a particular blog which resonates with you, leaving comments on a consistent basis will help you build a relationship with the blog owner and lead to future JV opportunities, not to mention directing some of their readers to your own blog.
5. Don’t Forget About Your Own Readers
When people leave a comment on your blog then you should do your best to leave a reply. Obviously, there is no point in responding to any “Great Post!” type shenanigans (I usually just delete those!) but if someone has made an effort then they deserve to be acknowledged.
Responding to comments helps conversations to develop and enables your readers to interact with both you and each other and fostering a sense of community helps to build your authority in your chosen niche.
6. Write Guest Posts
Guest posting is a hot, hot topic during the early stages of 2010 and it is an act you need to get in on yourself if your blog is going to grow.
Writing a guest post for other blogs in your niche opens you up to a brand new audience and a precious backlink to your blog will also help your long-term search engine positions.
If you manage to get published on one of the authority blogs in your niche, then in a way you will be seen on a similar level because your post is to some extent an endorsement from the blog owner.
You get perceived authority, instant credibility, free traffic and a better position in the search engines for one article you can write in less than an hour – and you are NOT doing it?
Photo by T.W. Collins
7. Forget About the Money to Begin With
Nobody expects you to blog for free, forever, but you should view your blog and your marketing in general as a long-term commitment to your niche.
There are hundreds of people who try to “ram raid” a niche in the misguided dream that all customers are idiots and will hand over their money because they have put up a half-assed blog and a shoddy product.
If you are just starting out with your own blog this year then you need to build trust through high quality content and work hard to stamp your authority on your niche.
Instead of plastering your blog with Google Adsense and banner adverts, collect your readers email addresses and build a relationship with them through helpful, free content.
The money will soon come and you will be hailed as your niche’s saviour in the process!
How Will You Improve Your Blog?
These are just seven tips you can use to improve your blog and your own authority during the remainder of 2010.
They are all realistic and achievable, you just need to put in some time and effort (but you are already, right?)
If you have any other nuggets of wisdom to share on how to take your blog to the next level this year then please share them in the comments below!
The Discussion
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Hi,
I just happened to go thru your post as I am eager to get my own blog to new heights, & was searching for some tips on the same…Sure it’s a very insightful post. Especiall I found that I already fall in the line of ‘ways number 1,2,5 & 7′ as for the remaining three ways I will definately work my way through. Now although I started blogging a year before, although not fullflegedly, I am not able to build a considerable number of readership, but this won’t make me give up…I am into a research-at-par on the covoted topic of blogging. Now as a new blogger, I would like to know (In specific context to my blog) what’s missing, or what more can I do, so I seek advice from top blogging experts as the likes of you, So if possible can you check my blog and help me dicypher the hidden virtues of blogging, I would be graeatful to you, Please consider my request.
Thanks,
Vishal Kuberkar
Great points you mentioned here. I am trying to build up my blog in 2010. Till now I have been somewhat successful but not as successful as I wanted to be. And yes it’s important to forget about making money at first at least. That way you can simply focus on growing your blog.
There are good 7 way mention by David which will really help to improve your blog 2010
For starters – I think you have mentioned 7 awfully true things regarding how to rank higher in the search engines as well as branding yourself. Tip #3 (Use Video and Audio) is a must. I think, when one more often use this tip in your posts, you merely, again, show that you are doing great effort at presenting your site to the world – and that in itself should bring trust from others to such a specific website or blog.
There are two things I and a lot of other bloggers are quite bad at: Tip 5, 6 and 7. I can absoutely not concentrate at NOT making money – so I don’t work at other things on my site.
Luckily the year have not completely ended and I can still work on that part of reaching my goals for the year of 2010.
Thanks, Alex.
I just started my blog this past quarter, http://www.mentionthisblogspot.com. Great tips and I love your theme and the the little summary/keypoints div you put at the end. All great points of development in addition to the article. Is this your own original custom theme ?
great points, i think here are good and advance blogger, i want your help on my blog please have an eye and then suggest me.thanks
http://majliss.blogspot.com
Thank you sooo much for this post and blog! Talk about right timing.. you nailed it..
Flicker is a good place to get images, as long as you remember to reference the pic properly.
I was also worried about copyrights when I am adding images to my blog. Thanks for clarifying.
I am adding images to my site right now.
Here is a similar story
Top five ways to increase traffic in your blog
Module 1: Where to Start
Module 2: Get Off Your Blog
Module 3: Get More Google Traffic
Module 4: Advertising and Syndication
Module 5: Live Webinar
Fascinating reading. I appreciate your effort, have a very great day!
If you blog simply to try to make money it will show in your words and you will have a tough time keeping regular visitors/readers. Another way I like to improve my blogs periodically is I look at the “appeal” factor. When someone visits do they see a sloppy misrepresentation of what I am trying to accomplish with it. That’s when I clean it up and make it appealing to my taste by adding something here and taking out a little something there. This is definitely one of the biggest reasons for my success. I think!
Another great way to improve is to pay attention to the internal navigation structure of your content. It can really pay off to link related posts and sections together to keep readers on your site longer and help increase the chances that they will bookmark it or return again later.
Hey there, i am very new to blogging so reading this was helpful, i hope you guys could check my blog i know there isn’t much to it at the moment but like i said i’m new to it and if you would e-mail me on ways to improve it i would be very grateful, Thanks!
Hey there, i am very new to blogging so reading this was helpful, i hope you guys could check my blog i know there isn’t much to it at the moment but like i said i’m new to it and if you would e-mail me on ways to improve it i would be very grateful, Thanks!
Sorry for writing another one the website was wrong.
Stumbled across this post and just wanted to say it’s been very useful! I have only been blogging a month and have entered the Mummy blogging world which of course is over saturated to say the least. I have noticed how some bloggers are keen to put up ad banners and blog furiously, personally when I see a blog like that I decide at that point I won’t return again. I guess we are all different and what may appeal to someone may not appeal to another, the best way is to stick with what you feel is right. Thanks again
Those tips are really useful for those who are amature like me
Nice one David. I totally agree with the fact that money isn’t the first thing when you start your blogging niche. Flickr is something that I will give a go too and multimedia is something that I’ve been thinking about for a while for our blog (run it with friends). Thanks again for sharing something valuable and important.
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