Are you looking to start a blog? It really is a great way to share ideas and to spread information over the Internet. Of course, tens of thousands of other people think the same way, so for you to make sure your blog posts are seen and reach the desired audience, you need to follow through with these seven killer strategies to start a blog post.
1. Register a Domain
There is a major difference between a professional blog and a hobby blog. While you might hope for the blog to eventually become a nice source of income, it ultimately is going to start off as a hobby. The first step you need to take in order to separate yourself from the rest of the hobby-type blogs is to register a domain. By registering a domain, you no longer need to have the “WordPress”, “Tumblr” or “Webs.com” tag at the end of your blog title. You want your domain to be easy to remember and flow smoothly. People who read your blog and want to return to it need to easily remember how to do so. Having to recall what service provider you use for hosting the blog can often become difficult and prevent someone from returning to your blog. Make it easier for your viewers and your viewers are going to respond in higher numbers.
2. SEO
The practice of SEO is all about improving how your blog appears on search engines and how high it is ranked. The higher the ranking, the more exposure you receive. When you perform a search online, how often to you go to the second, third or fourth pages of the search results? Probably not all that often, and generally, the further down in the search results, the less likely you, or anyone else, is going to select it. That is why improving your search results are so important. The main element of this is keywords. Keywords describe your product and blog in a very specific way. General keywords is not going to work, as it opens you up to other websites providing the same information and makes it difficult to become listed. So, focus on specific keywords to describe ideas, and make sure to use these keywords in section headings.
3. Use Visuals
What is the first thing you think of when you see a big block of text on a website? Do you groan in disgust? Roll your eyes and scroll down to see how long it lasts? Or do you just back out and go to a different website? Regardless of what you do, chances are it is not positive. While what the text has to say may prove important, it really does not matter if nobody is going to read it. Instead, break up the text with visuals. Text accompanying pictures is always better than no pictures. While you and most other adults might have moved past picture books from childhood, there is still a connection with the images and very short paragraphs on every page. If you want to know whether or not the block of text you have included is too much, think about whether or not it might fit on the page of a child’s picture book. Best of all, when you use images and visuals in your blog post, it helps improve the search engine optimization, as your blog becomes listed through both Web and image based searches. So, the more pictures you use, the better. Don’t forget, people are bored of stock images, try something creative like Canva or an infographic instead.
4.Single Page
When it comes to a blog, you can either have a single page that scrolls up and down easily, or one that you have to click through pages. Go with the single page that scrolls up and down. This is better because now you do not need to constantly have a new page listed on search engines, which takes forever, and as you go the keywords become stronger on the page, not to mention it becomes tagged for new content as you go. This should generate more traffic and keep individuals coming back.
5. Social Media Integration
Social media integration is very important when starting up your own blog. Some of the first people who read your work are going to be your friends and family members. There is nothing wrong with this. Every time you have a new blog listing, make sure to post it onto your social media accounts. Ask friends and family members to spread the word, which might help you, reach new readers. You also need to make sure you have several different social media accounts. Facebook and Twitter are essential, but Google+, LinkedIn and Tumblr can be helpful as well.
6. Regular Posts
In order to grow your blog, you really need to have regular posts. If the blog is just part of a larger website, where visitors are coming for all sorts of different reasons, than having a new post once a week, is going to suffice. However, if the blog needs to stand on its own, you need to have at least one new post a day, if not more, especially if you are looking to increase revenue from ads on the blog. The more people want to visit the page, the more they are going to click on your website and the more money you are likely going to make from the ads.
7. Have Fun
Just remember, a blog is supposed to be fun, not work. If you start making a nice living off if it that is great! If not, at least you are having fun with it. The readers can tell when you enjoy writing about the given topic, so enjoy every post and think of it as a nice release from your daily activities and not a chore.
A blog is a great way to communicate your passion for a particular top with other readers who share the same passion. While there is no direct outline for success, if you follow these seven strategies, you should at least improve your chances of growing a readership and increasing your overall online following. Who knows, you might even make a buck or two on the blog as well.