Blogging isn’t just the realm of first-movers and enthusiasts anymore. Nowadays, every respectable company that wishes to do business online maintains a Blog. And everyone really should; blogging is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get your message out to people and adds more relevent results for your website into the SERPs. Here are the top tips to help you make the most out of your blogs.
- Ditch the default site layout. Nothing says unprofessional than a blog using a default layout. Not only will your blog look like countless other generic blogs out there, it also sends the message that you’re not serious enough to care for your own appearance.
- Get a designer. Corollary to ditching your default layout, hiring a designer can be one of the most important decisions you will ever make. A good designer is key to making your blog aesthetic, and most of all believable.
- Get your own logo.
- Be consistent with your tone. When writing posts, be sure that your style of writing is consistent all throughout. Is it fun and perky? Strictly formal? Informative? Pedantic? No matter what your tone, stick to it.
- Write with proper grammar suited to your audience. Reading run-on sentences can be really painful. Most readers will simply give up from trying to understand what you’re saying and just forget about you.
- Add a profile. Tell a little about yourself.
- Keep paragraphs short. Short paragraphs will keep the attention of your readers for long enough for you to make your point.
- Use headings when appropriate.
- Stick to one topic per post. Don’t try to cover many things at once – a different topic belongs to a different post. Attention spans are short, and you don’t want to confuse your readers.
- Do something unique. Readers will remember you if you’re unique. You need to stand out by offering something only your blog can – comics, quote of the day, daily pictures, etc.
- Purchase your own domain. Show your readers you are serious about your identity.
- Use “pretty” urls. Many popular blog software have settings for this. Make sure you activate it.
- Get a fast host.
- Moderate your comments. Install akismet or a captcha for your blog software. You can also remove trolls and other similar behaviour from your comment pool. Readers are annoyed if there is a mountain of comments consisting mostly of spam and nonsensical arguments.
- Respond to comments. Show your readers that you care enough for their viewpoints by replying to them. It doesn’t matter if it’s criticism or praise – appreciate their feedback.
- Categorize your posts.
- Tag your posts.
- Do regular updates. Do not leave your subscribers hanging by not being regular with your updates. It doesn’t have to be daily; the key here is being regular. Stick to a schedule.
- Cross link to your own blog. Sometimes you might need to talk about a topic you’ve covered in the past. Not only is this good search engine optimization, but linking back to previous posts will allow your reader to get some context.
- Make it easy for people to bookmark you. Add a bookmark widget that allows quick posting bookmarking to del.icio.us, reddit, digg, twitter, facebook, and others.
- Use snippets.
- Backup your database often.
- Update your blog software often.
- Join a blog network like Technocrati or BlogPulse.
- And finally, content is king. None of the tips here really matter if you don’t have anything to say.