The fastest way to get popular in business is to move online – create a blog. Content is King. We are in the information age, and the information is got online. Credibility is established almost totally depending on what is said in the media.
How does one go about creating a blog? What is required of you and how can you be sure you are doing the right thing? Below are a couple of tips to get you going. Ensuring you follow these ardently in at least the first couple of months will give you a head start. Given, you will learn a lot on the way and develop your own style and personality as you make your own mistakes albeit fewer than if you didn’t.
1. Get paid for the site; there are a number of free blog options to get started; WordPress and Blogger amongst others. It may seem alright to test free blogs for a couple of months if you are a first-time blogger, however, sooner than later you need to convert to your own paid website by upgrading from the free version. The paid blog allows you to advertise and appear in search engines. It also gives you a professional image so your audience takes you seriously.
2. Secondly, it is a good idea to take the time to learn how to write eye-catching
headlines. People will first be attracted to your blog by the headlines that you have. Only 20% of people who see your headline will actually read your article unless it entices them to click. A good headline increases the percentage of possible readers from this 20%. If the headline is not eye-catching they will not click on it and it doesn’t matter how good your article is, it will not be read.
However, be careful not to embellish too much; with time people will stop reading your article and view it as crap. It can also result in unnecessary legal complications especially if your blog is political or is a social column (gossip like in nature). Whatever you write should be true. Good command of language helps you express yourself better without resorting to irresponsible gimmicks.
An important point to note here is that there are a lot of ‘tips’ given online on writing eye-catching headlines that no longer apply because the net and its use are always evolving with a change in trends. For example, the word ‘secret’ has been on a downward trend for a couple of years now following the Book ‘The Secret’
3. Good content; After taking the time to ensure your headline is good the next most important thing for the reader is that the content should be rich in its objective whether it is to inform, amuse, entertain or inspire. Articles that are neither here nor there can be confusing and readers would not go beyond the first paragraph.
Given this, understand that many readers have limited time so unless you establish a name and are known for something your articles may not be read for long. The way to do this is taking your time to develop good content. Whether short or long articles, time will be spent to research in your area of expertise for you to prepare good articles.
Having a good article also means you take the time to edit and proofread the content. This is really important and has been the reason why many self-published authors fail. It is a good idea to get an editor with a good command of language to go through your article if you can afford it. If not, someone else can help you do this. In the event this too is not possible, you can write beforehand and edit a few days after. This time-lapse gives you a fresh look at the article. It is then easier to see any mistakes and areas of improvement in the prose. Go through your article, at least, three times.
4. Current affairs and passion; while it makes sense to write on what is trending and popular, this may attract people for a while but if your blog is not political in nature or a news blog it would mean that you may have a slump of followers until the next big thing happens in your industry. It is more important to get followers based on your expertise in your industry. This means people will seek you and your articles continually to improve themselves in the industry. With time, this leads to organic growth and the sharing of your content.
5. Be consistent; consistency ensures your readers know when to expect a new post. The importance of this is that it contributes to a consistent build-up of followers and your image as a professional and expert in your field.
6. Longer post; these (over 1200 words) tend to have higher conversion rates and increase the length of time people stay on your website. So if you are looking for higher conversion rates and building a following at the same time, this is the best way to go. On the other hand shorter posts if their short and sweet can create a good following especially if your goal is to amuse or spark a thought. Shorter posts would require that you write more often than longer posts; even several times a day!
7. To be able to succeed with blogging on expert areas search for forums in your area of expertise and post in them. Don’t forget news websites in the industry.
8. Traffic lists; these are a good place to post your website link so as to drive traffic to your site. You could also write list blog posts yourself as they tend to get more traffic because they are a source of information.
9. Use trends on twitter and Google to choose topics to blog on especially if your blog is on current affairs and celebrities. These give you the diversity to blog on about almost anything that is going on whether or not you’re an expert in the field.
10. Interview and blog on influential people in your industry. This can naturally increase traffic to your website.
Blog’s are a great way to get recognition as an entrepreneur, expert in your industry and become an influencer. Lastly, be careful when picking the products to sell in your blog posts. They should be relevant to the post and not more than three for every 1000 words if possible. Too many adverts interrupt the reading flow and may put off some of your readers instead of attracting them.
Blogs don’t have to be all text you can have a picture, video, and audio blogs. Coupled with your writing they provide for rich content that your followers can come back to after a while for reference. A range of tools also enables you to blog on different platforms. The better the quality of your blog the more likely you will be sort, have lots of referrals and shares and feedback from your audience.
