Are you trying to improve your blog? Maybe you’re just in a redesign and need to figure out what you’re doing. When you’re in a rut, it’s easy to say that blogging isn’t worth the effort. Especially when you don’t seem to be getting any kind of traffic. It can get discouraging, but here are 10 ways to improve your blog.
- Know why you want to blog and who your audience is. When you know this, then you can better tailor what you’re writing. Are you trying to reach out to other writers like you? Or to your readers? What is the reason for you to blog? When you figure this out, you can decide whether you want to be a niche blog or not. Both have positives and cons:
Pros for having a niche blog:
-readers know exactly what you’re all about and what to expect
-you have a focus, a direction
Cons:
-can run out of topics. You can feel “locked in”
-if what you write doesn’t interest your readers, you can be limiting those who come to your site
2. Like what you’re writing about. This is very simple. If you don’t enjoy what you’re writing about then you’re going to be least likely to continue.
3. Have an interesting twist on what you’re writing. What makes you different from all the other blogs out there? What are your opinions? Why should your readers read YOUR site?
4. Have a pleasing site to look at, nothing too bulky (i.e. sidebars that extend past the page). This also goes to no white font on a black background. This shouldn’t have to be said but, I still see it: no music.
5. Your title should tell your reader what the post is going to be about. You don’t need to be creative or cryptic. It should be plain and simple. In other words, you should use keyword rich headlines.
6. You should be posting new stuff constantly. Be on a schedule. If your readers never know when you’re going to blog, then they won’t come back often. Not just that, Google sends out spider bots and if it doesn’t pick up a post, it may take weeks or longer before it comes back to your site. The more you post, the better SEO you’ll have. Better SEO= better visibility.
7. Write an optimized first paragraph using the same keywords you used in your post headline.
8. When writing, keep paragraphs short. They should be one or two sentences at most, and then break for a new paragraph. White space is your friend. This is especially true for those readers who go to your blog on their iphone or ipods, etc.
9. Use bullet points and lists as often as possible. This makes it easier not only to read but to remember.
10. Know that it takes time. If you’re not willing to put the hard and persistent effort into building an audience over a prolonged period of time, your best bet might be to look at guest writing opportunities on existing blogs, or websites.
