Blogs have become the poor man’s website and for good reason. The best thing about a blog is that it is free. Sites like Blogger and WordPress have provided excellent services for people to create websites with ease. But with all of the blogs out on the net, how do you make yours stand out? There are a few methods that work extremely well, and then there are a few methods that don’t work at all.
Creating an online blog is a great way for anybody to get the word out about his or her opinions or online services they can provide.
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| I'm a make up artist and so I talk a lot about make up from various places and how to do certain looks and match them with clothes! I'm a clothes-horse! |
I'm an eclectic blogger but there are topics that I write about more than others.
The first thing you are going to want to do when creating a blog is picking your niche. A niche is the most important aspect of how successful you are going to be. If you’re going to be writing a blog about web hosting, then good luck. Unless you have a great point of view or thousands of reviews on the best web hosting sites on the Internet, you’re going to find it hard to rank high in the search engines. When you pick your niche, pick a general topic. Now narrow your general topic to something smaller. Now do it again. Now do it again. Now you are ready for your blog. Having a blog that focuses on one aspect of a topic is the best way to get traffic.
The next thing that you want to do is write everyday. Updating your blog everyday is the best way to get it picked up by the search engines. Search engines like Google and Yahoo index blogs and websites based on their content. If you are updating your blog everyday and are putting more and more original content up, your blog is going to rank high in the search engines.
So you have a blog that has a ton of content and a great niche, but you’re still not seeing any traffic? This is where people get stuck. It’s the all too common tale of somebody with a great product, but no knowledge of how to sell it. This is where one-way linking comes in. As you researched your niche, you probably went though a bunch of discussion forums.
Discussion forums are great because they always rank high in the Google and Yahoo rankings. Join two discussion forums a day and post comments on your topic. They should allow you to link to your blog through your profile. This way when somebody researches your niche, they will see your post and click on your blog.
Article marketing is another way of getting the word out about your blog. Take a couple of the posts that you have published on your blog and re-write them. Now you can submit them to various article directories on the Internet like E zine and Article base. These websites also rank very high in the Google rankings. Just like in the discussion forums, you should be able to post links to your blog from your profile page.
Viral marketing is another way to get an extreme amount of traffic to your website. Sites like Metacafe and Youtube have brought thousands of people’s blogs onto the map. If you enjoy talking about your niche or doing short how-to videos, film a couple of videos and include a link to your blog in the information bracket.
Another great way to build readership to your blog is by giving away free items. You don’t have to have a raffle for a new TV or anything, but you can post downloadable articles, ebooks or software to your blog. This is great because people are always looking to get something for free. When one person gets a free ebook, they are extremely likely to send the link to other people, thus giving you more traffic.
Starting a blog is not an easy task. If you’re looking for something that you can update a couple of times a month and share with friends, then you don’t really need to worry about traffic. But if you’re looking to make some extra money or even a full time income, you are going to need a very high volume of traffic and a decent ranking in Google and other search engines. Blogging is a great way to make additional money online.
The use of viral and article marketing is a proven way to bring you the traffic you need. Posting on discussion forums related to your niche is also a great way to get the word out about your blog. Stay away from e books and online sites that will try to sell you blogging tips. Most of the materials you need can be found through You tube videos, online articles or just a little digging.
SHARED: http://chrisbrocklesby.com/blogging-for-success/
4 comments:
Interesting perspective. I was one of those people who started a blog with no research (at least not on blogging). I was writing a book and needed an online presence. I believe my first thought when my blog appeared was "oh, heavens. This is far too easy..." And then promptly had trouble posting consistently.
I will disagree with one point: I don't think you have to blog every day. I do think you have to be consistent. Fame probably helps...but then consistently blog on a schedule that works for you.
You are so right about coosing an audience. My nisch is pretty narrow, but how many blogs for mompreneures are there? Perhaps they are all needed, but I wonder sometimes.
Good tips from you though. :)
I don't view blogs as the poor man's website. I view blogs as the modern way to run a business online and build relationships and communities with people. I also don't view blogs as free. I have a self-hosted site where I've installed WordPress. I pay for hosting. I also use a premium theme, a paid autoresponder service and other paid services to run my business. Many people who have blogs also pay for site design, which can be expensive. I didn't, but many do. In spite of these disagreements, though, I do agree that we all need to stand out. Niche is important, for sure. Keywords also are. I don't agree that you need to write every day. I believe that you need to write great content and get the word out. You've written about some great ways to do that. Blog challenges are another way :).
Some good general information for new bloggers.
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