As I type this I am getting ready to post my first blog post ever. What are some tips that you have for a new blogger?
- systems consultant
There are a lot of aspects to running a good blog. Fortunately, we here at Silver Square have spent many years learning the hard lessons of blogging, and we’re happy to share our wisdom. Here are a few tips to keep in mind for the beginner.
1.) Find your voice. If you want your blog to have readers, you need to give them something to connect with. That’s your voice. Maybe you’re funny and irreverant. Maybe you go into incredible detail on your answers. Maybe all of your blog posts involve interviewing someone. There’s no single right answer. Developing your own unique identity is a key to building a successful blog, though.
2.) Post consistently. If someone comes to your blog and sees that the last update was a month ago, they’re probably never going to come back. Your existing readers will also lose interest if you go for an extended period of time without posting anything. Before you panic that you’ll never be able to take a vacation again, you can write posts today and set them to appear on the site at some future date. If you’re going to be away from your blog for a while, make sure you queue up a few posts to keep things fresh while you’re gone.
3.) Think about your audience. Remember that your blog is not a fansite for your favorite TV show. Make sure you are writing about things your readers will care about. If you want to write about what’s in the hatch on Lost, make sure you’re discussing it as a metaphor for something related to your business.
4.) Use good titles. People see the title of your post and use that to decide if they want to read the rest of what you written.
5.) Promote your blog. If you build it, they may or may not come. Make sure you are telling people about your blog. When you write a post, send a link to the people you know who might be particularly interested in that topic. Share your blog on social media sites like Twitter. When you’re writing an email about a topic that you’ve blogged on before, mention that you wrote about this and include the link.
6.) Respond to comments. Since your blog is brand new, you probably won’t need to worry about this too much yet, but don’t forget this as your blog grows. Make sure you respond to comments that people leave on your blog posts. Nothing makes a reader feel unappreciated more than not receiving any kind of acknowledgement when they take the time to leave a comment.
Good titles also help your post rank well in search engines. Tip #3 is a great point. I always wonder what the motive is behind having a business blog and then filling it with posts about music, television, and movies. Nice article!
-Dan Finney
@Dan: good point. Blogs do a great job of optimizing the code of your site for search engines, but the content (including the title) still falls to you. And when you do show up in search results, people will only click your link if you have a title that compels them.