Blogging Advice for the Next Level
Okay, you’ve started a blog. You’re writing posts, but you want more. You want more connection, comments, awareness, recognition. How can you go from having a tiny shop on a dirt road out on the far side of town to a trendy spot that becomes a hot stop for people looking for information, connectivity, and useful information? I’ve got a few ideas for you.
Break up text to make it readable
Use bold titles inside your blog posts to separate sections. Use bulleted and numbered lists when illustrating several points. Pull out quotes and surround them in the blockquote tag to make them stand out from the rest of your text. Use pictures.
Write for your audience
Consider what they might take from your posts and how they might use it. Think about being USEFUL. Then, make it as clever, as brief, and as streamlined as possible. (More words is not better).
Connect
Use tools like plugins for Wordpress for comments to improve the two-way nature of your blog. Ask questions. RESPOND to comments on your blog. Give people other ways to reach you, like a Twitter account or, gasp, a phone number. Put a PICTURE OF YOURSELF on your blog, and make it known who you are. People want to connect with the person/brand, not just the product.
Comment
Get out and comment on other people’s blogs. Comment and track back to stories on the ‘big guys’ and make yourself useful to your community of interest. That will help others discover YOUR useful blog.
Post daily
Repetition breeds reputation. It’s an oldie, but a goodie. Post something useful every day. Don’t be afraid to go personal, or off-topic, but try and keep even those posts useful to your audience.
Lead with the best
Put the absolutely most important information of your post in the first few paragraphs. People skim. Make it easier.
Prominently display your RSS feed
And consider using Feedburner so you can add an email-subscription option, like this:
And ASK for ideas/opinions/suggestions
An easy one, but people forget to solicit their audience for ideas. Remember, if you’ve got someone doing you the favor of reading your blog, you should return the kindness by making it really useful to that reader. Ask often for ideas and advice.
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It’s up to you to develop your blog into something people want to read. I’m grateful to everyone who comes by and finds something useful here at [chrisbrogan.com], and I’m thankful for people who write about topics of interest to me, link back and forth with me, who have chosen to be listed on the Rockstars page.
Should you ever want improvements, have suggestions or requests, you know where to find me.
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Comments
This info is most timely for our new blog, Strengths Finding, a blog about the strengths movement. This is our “Kick Off” week, a coming out of beta so to speak, and we need all the advice we can get.
“Making it Useful” is terrific, and much harder than it looks. Opinions are like, well, let’s just say that everyone has one, which is great. But I love blogs where I can take something away with me. Often “useful” can be a great idea, not just practical how-to’s and “6 steps to achieve whatever….” although as you have shown with this very post, those can be just the thing too.
Once again you’re on the mark. It’s also worth mentioning participating in online forums that are tied to the blog content you write.
But as always… you’re on point!
Nice cluster of ideas, Chris:
As a writer & content strategist, I thought your post was a tad elementary at first; then on a second read, I began to appreciate its distilled clarity quite a lot. Like the poet Charles Olson noted, “I had to learn the simplest things last, which made for difficulties.”
[…] post from the Blog Herald! I’ve also been exploring podcasts @ Podtech. I just surfed to Chris Brogan’s blog from Twitter and he posted a handy, dandy list of 30 Wordpress plug-ins. Apparently, content is […]
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Chris, that was a spectacular post. I agree with you on all points. I was just discussing that in the last post on my blog. I need to implement a few of your ideas but am using some of them already. I’m going to get Twitter, Jaiku and MeeboMe.
I aim to be prolific and to be everywhere.
Thanks for a truly informative article. I subscribed to your blog. I’ll be back.
Have an excellent day.
Good stuff Chris, most of it is common sense but, its a good reminder for those of us struggling to get out own sites off the ground.
Excellent use of the English language to convey your extremely sweet ideas. You are the spinach to my Popeye dreams of sucess.
Mike
[…] Been blogging for a little while? Chris Brogan has advice on how to take your blog to the next level. […]
This is a great post. You apply everything you say. Your post has an image, text is breaked up, your rss feed is prominently displayed…
This is all about method and productivity, organisation and taking action. I’ve written on the same topic on my blog, “don’t you hate that bad feeling of non productivity? And how to overcome it.” Very good for bloggers just starting out. Your post is very good for bloggers that are just starting out too.
Terrific post, and all true!
Let me contribute a few ideas of my own:
1. Join StumbleUpon, get the toolbar, and use it! Participate in the community on StumbleUpon. I’ve found it to be a great traffic-getter. And if the SU toolbar doesn’t work with your present browser, then load Firefox, get the toolbar, and use it with that. You’ll probably like Firefox much better anyway. Firefox ROCKS!
2. Even if you’re writing for a highly educated audience, keep your language simple and clear. Go over your blog post before you publish it, and try to say the same things with fewer and simpler words.
3. Liven things up with photos, clip art, and videos. Even if you’re blogging about serious topics, this will make people feel more comfortable with your blog.
4. Ask for help when you need it, and be ready to help other bloggers who need advice or assistance.
5. Chris is right about blogging every day! But if your other responsibilities sometimes get in the way, TEAM UP with one or more co-authors. Look for like-minded writers with good ethical standards who are capable of making quality blog posts that fit the theme of your blog. Give them permission to post to your blog, moderate comments, and so forth. And grant admin rights to a trustworthy person with enough tech savvy to address any blog glitches that may arise. That’s what I’ve done with http://1389blog.com!
6. Think like a journalist! For instance, if you feel the need to address a certain topic, but you’re not an authority on it, then find an expert and interview him or her for your blog or podcast.
7. Help your readers stay focused by organizing your information with bulleted or numbered lists.
8. I have TWO blogs - my second one offers links and notes that other bloggers are welcome to use as material for their own blogs! It’s very informal and covers a variety of topics. Look for it at http://1389moblog.blogspot.com. Like my other blog, it’s set up with FeedBurner, so you can have it delivered via RSS or email.
When I first started blogging, I sent out a Blog Pro Survey to A Listers and interesting niche bloggers, asking them what makes a blog successful.
Matt Mullenweg said to interact with other bloggers, post relevant, intelligent comments at their blogs.
This remains, in my experience, a most effective, a truly powerful strategy.
Reciprocal commenting is a mandatory policy: always post comments at blogs of those who have posted comments at your blog.
When you post comments at a blog, but the blogger never returns the favor, dump that blog, move on to a more friendly blog.
No single blog is totally unique or of extraordinary, unequalled value. You can always find a better blogger, with better content, if you must dump somebody.
Leaving my comment on one of the “big guys.”
All great advice, to which my site stats can attest! My blog experiences definite traffic spikes after I post, since I’ve added Twitter and when I comment on other blogs.