The Best 13 Steps to Successful Blogging
Blogs can be a very marketable and very profitable tool if used appropriately. Blogs are very powerful and useful tools nowadays because it allows folks to find information and resources on the internet in the easiest way. A blog is managed by individuals who are ready to spend their precious time writing through the internet to help others. To succeed in life it doesn’t come in the easiest way you need patience and hard work. Earning from blogs is just a matter of grasping the attention of the audience and not doing any actual salesmen selling. In this article, you will learn the Best 13 most essential steps to successful blogging.
1.==> Where to start?
It allows you to focus only on your content and not the internal maintenance of the blog. The best benefit of starting with a free service is, in the case your blog doesn't become successful you do not lose any money or you are left holding the bill, although we are praying for everyone to success it is good to start with custom domain which is also accepted in Blogger and other free blogging sites.
The great thing about a blog is that they are organized in sequential order, your latest entry is displayed first. When your blog traffic grows significantly and you are ready to upgrade to your own personal Hosting then you can simply make your last blog entry the announcement of your "move". Simply add a last entry stating that your blog has "moved" and type the new blog URL address or use URL forwarder to forward your old URL to the new one. Which directs new and old visitors to your new blog site, keeping your following, without a major inconvenience to anyone. Upgrade as you need to...but only when you need to!
2.==> Niche
A niche is a targeted product, service, or topic. You should first decide on a product, service, or topic which interest you and you also specialize in it. Choose an area which you can devotedly write about on a daily basis.
You can use keyword research services like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to find popular searched keywords. It does NOT matter if your topic is popular as long as there is an audience for your topic and the topic is precisely focused then your blog should be successful.
Anything can be considered a niche as long as it has a target audience no matter how large or how small the audience is. A blog about your cat can be a niche or a blog about the species of the cat family can be a larger niche market, if there are people who are interested in hearing about your cat or the species of the cat family...you can even choose to build your audience for a market which an audience does not exist, but first you must build your blog. And never start with other niche that you really know you are not good at because you heart someone is generating a lot of money or he is getting more visitors then you just try to do what he/she is doing keep in mind nothing comes in easiest way you need to work hard to success or to be where they are today; it really takes them nearly time to be where they are right now.
3.==> Update Daily (nothing less)
This step is a must and not a suggestion. Updating your blog regularly not only keeps your blog more interesting to readers, but it also gives your blog fresh content on a day to day making it more attractive to search engines.
Not updating your blog on an infrequent holiday or one day here and there is comprehensible to most, but missing days at a time or weeks is unacceptable and will most likely result in your blog being unsuccessful. To keep your blog traffic and retain your visitor's interest it is a must to update your blog daily with multiple entries. You should try to update your blog every day with at least 3 or more daily entries or at least five times a week if you are engaged in some other things. The best way to accomplish this is to set aside 1-2 hours a day for tending to your blog and adding new entries. It may even be wise to schedule a set time which you dedicate to your blog each day. Give yourself work hours and treat your blog as a job, what happens if you don't come to work for days or weeks...you lose money or worse you get fired! Same applies here...if you don't update your blog for days or weeks you'll lose hug visitors.
4.==> Traffic
It's not a secret. You must have real traffic to profit from blogs. There are several many ways to build traffic. Some include Paid or free advertising, viral marketing, search engine marketing and RSS/XML feeds. You should always use your blog URL address in the signature of your email, forum discussions, message boards, or any other communication media that you use.
You should also submit your blog URL address to search engines and blog directories like Google, Yandex, and Bing. You should submit your RSS/XML URL feed to blog ping services like Technorati, Ping-O-Matic, and Blog digger. You should also confidently share your blog link with family, friends, co-workers, associates, and business professionals when it relates.
5.==> Track Your Blog
How do you know if your blog has enough traffic? Just because no one is leaving comments doesn't mean your blog isn't growing. Many visitors do not leave comments but they are returning visitors. I know it sounds crazy but with blogs, people are more interested in what "you" have to say! Many visitors do not comment on their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time. Some do not comment at all but are active daily visitors.
Tracking your blog does not have to be overly erudite, Google Analytic is one of the Best tools to use that track number of visitors. Install (copy/paste) the code into the head tag of your blog template and start tracking your visitors. It’s better to use Google Analytic which gives you progressive traffic analysis, such as keyword tracking information, referral information, and search engine information. Visitors, returning visitors, and unique visitors should be usual for the page counter service you choose. You can read full guide on how to set up Google Analytics for your blog.
6.==> Listen to Your Audience
When using Google Analytic you should begin to see how others are finding your blog and if through search engines then which keywords are being used to find your blog. If constantly your blog is being found by 1 or more keywords then focus your blog around those keywords to make it even more powerful. When writing entry titles and entries use the keywords as often as possible while keeping the blog readable and interesting.
7.==> Short & Concise
Aside from the long article a week for syndication and publication, your blog entries should be short & concise (if you can help it). Sometimes there are concessions to the rule and you have no choice but to blog lengthy entries, but try to avoid this as much as possible. You do not want your blog entries to become hours of reading. Visitors like to easily find information and skim through your entries. It is good to be detailed and provide useful information, but do not include useless information or run-away sentences that turn away from your topic.
8.==> Digital Art
Try to include non-advertising graphics, pictures, photos, and art in your blog entries. Not too much. Once a week is fine. Graphics can sometimes bring your blog to life. Of course, the content of the blog is the most important aspect and you do not want to overshadow your content with graphics, but displaying graphics can add a bit of spice to the blog. Be choosy about your graphics and make sure they fit your entry topic. You should add content with the graphic, at least a caption. Original graphics, photos, pictures, and art is recommended.
9.==> Keep it Personal
A blog is most successful when it is kept personal. Try to include personal experiences which relate to the topic of your blog entry. Stay away from the business style of writing. Write with a more personal style and use first-person narratives. Do not write any of your entries as sales letters, instead share product reviews and personal endeavors.
10.==> Reply to Comments
A comment is really helpful to blog not only to stand around the crowd but it serves as an encouragement. The are some people who may decide to ask a simple question through your comment box instead of sending you a mail as they believe it is the best way to get respond. So, always try to reply to comment that is a drop in your blog.
11.==> Interact With Your Visitors
You now have the traffic you deserve. You should begin interacting with your visitors. Create a regular theme such as: "Monday Money Tip" or "Picture of the Week" which induces your readers to look forward to each week. Give your readers advance notice about a product, service, or topic which you are going to review and then talk about later. If the President was scheduled to give a speech then in your blog you should state that you "will discuss the speech and give your opinion after the speech airs. Comments will be appreciated".
Try your best to find exclusive information that not many have. Do not disclose any confidential or secret information which is deemed illegal or can potentially get you into trouble, but try to get the scoop before everyone else does. Such as: If your blog was about Paris Hilton (the socialite) and you had a blog entry about "Paris Hilton Getting Married" then it would be interesting to your readers if you had an actual picture of Paris Hilton engagement ring. Give your best effort to dig and search the internet for exclusive information and you will possibly come up with something useful. Your readers will appreciate this and they show their appreciation through word-of-mouth referrals. Imagine how many readers will tell their friends, family, and others about information they only can find on your blog.
12.==> Make Money
13.==> You're a Professional
You may be wonder about the header, yes, of course, You're a professional now! What are you still doing with that free blog hosting service? It is time to upgrade to personal Hosting. You need to get a web host and choose a domain name or migrate your domain name to your new blog. Select the blogging software you wish to use, such as Squarespace.com, WordPress.org, MovableType.org, etc. When you have your new blog domain setup and ready for traffic then it is time for you to announce your move on all your previous blog accounts. Your last entry to the blog should be a "move" announcement. The title should be "Moved" and the blog entry should state something like "Old Blog has been moved to New Blog please follow and bookmark this link for future reference. They are also domain forwarders that you can use to redirect your old and new visitors to your new blog This way all returning visitors and new readers should not have any problem finding your new blog domain.
At the level of a professional blogger, you may want to team up with 1 or more other bloggers. This will create a more interesting and more powerful blog. The old saying "two heads are better than one", more authors mean more advertising and exposure because each author will have a vested interest in the blog. The idea of a team blog is to make it profitable and rewarding for all authors while continuing to target the blog topic and keeping the blog interesting for visitors.
Following these blogging techniques should make your blogging experience much more rewarding. There is no guarantee that your blog will become popular or a household name, but the effort should at least put you one step closer. Making money online is not an overnight experience like many may think, but making money online is definitely a foreseeable possibility. As well, growing popularity on the web is not an overnight experience, but through time, dedication, and persistence you will be rewarded with all the royalties of blogging.
Let me know in the comment section below if you have any other secret way on how to succeed in blogging and if you found this post very helpfully don’t forget to share with your lovely ones. Happy Blogging!!
