Blogging is one of those things akin to riding a bike. Sure, you might fall flat on your face as you’re first learning the motions, but after you have your balance figured out, it’s something you never forget how to do. Getting started is the hardest part, so here are some tips to help you ease through that transition.
You need to keep things current and popular with blogging. If you’re writing about unpopular topics, or topics that are too obscure, you’re not going to create any buzz and no one is going to visit your blog. So remember to keep things trendy.
Now, you don’t have to be Hemingway, and you won’t have to carry a pocket thesaurus to impress the literary crowd, but you do have to write well. This means proper grammar, no misspellings, and no longwinded prose that bores people to sleep.
Blogs that are the most successful are blogs that add new content at least once a day. This might be unrealistic for you, but you have to try to make it happen at least every other day. Adding fresh, original content is what keeps people coming back.
Never be afraid or embarrassed to speak to other bloggers about what they’re doing that’s so successful. Find a successful blogger within your niche and build a relationship there. Your success will help that blogger also, so he or she will be more than willing to provide some good advice.
You need to find a network of blogs that are in your same niche, and also bloggers that are interested in the same topics. So it’s important that you visit different blog forums and communities to join in on the conversation.
Some of the best traffic to get out there is the easiest traffic to get. Make sure your friends, family, and other acquaintances know about your blog. Give them the address and make sure they’re some of the first through the door. Word of mouth may spread through them.
A great way to make sure you’re taking a fresh angle with your blog is to focus on the news. Keep up with current events, set different alerts in your email, and check out Google’s “News” section regularly to see if you can find some fresh blogging inspiration.
As a blogger, you need to have goals, and they need to be realistic goals. For example, create a list of different milestones you would like to achieve, like receiving your first 10 comments, receiving your first 1,000 visitors, making your first $100, etc. Hitting these goals will keep you active and driven.
You have to blog about what people are interested in, or else you’re not going to have a very popular blog. You becoming the trendsetter and dictating what people like is something that most likely isn’t going to happen, so it’s best to find a niche that’s already active.
Staying focused in blogging is very important, because some posts are not going to do well at all. Your post last week may have received over 50 comments and created a lot of buzz, but today’s post might end up receiving no feedback at all. Stay focused and driven in your work.
Being a blogger is something that takes a positive attitude and commitment. Use the tips you have read above to help you get started in the blogging genre.
