By July Minor.
For as long as I can remember, I have been engaging in the fine act of scribbling my thoughts on paper (and then showing that to other people for shock value).
But seriously, what makes an average blogger turn successful?
Is it hard work? Determination? Both?
Well, the answer sadly is— no. But don’t get discouraged, for I am about to reveal my own personally patented secret to success, although I am fairly sure it is not secret at all. The key is to follow a set of rules and guidelines that I guarantee you to work wonderfully in at least 60% of the time.
Why 60% you ask? Well, as you will find out; blog writing is a tricky and harsh endeavor, suited only for those with true mental and ethical fortitude.
So What Is It?
The answer to that question can be found in yet another question:
“What makes a good entertainer great?”
Just because you’re writing your entertainment on paper (figuratively speaking) you are not protruding more integrity into your undertaking. As a matter of fact you should feel flattered that you live in an age that allows basically every Tom, Dick and Harry to express their viewpoint, even if no one actually cares.
Here are my 6 secrets to make your blog stand out (and people care).
Quality Design
As superficial as that may appear to the less artistically driven bloggers, having a good quality design is what counts for the first impression. No one is going to stick around to hear your philosophy on contemporary hedonism if your blog looks like garbage. There are many fantastic tools that can help you turn your dud blog into a real winner.
While this paragraph is no place to go over each of them specifically, some well executed research and hardcore learning initiative on your behalf will help you see just how much better your blogs can look if only you take some time to learn the fundamentals of art designing your blog— or to find a good web designer to do it for you, that’s it.
Content That Connects
And I can’t stress that enough! People are not interested in you, your children or your dog Precious. If you expect to be recognized as a great blogger, you must discard any fantasies you may hold in regards to writing about yourself. People are just not interested in your personal life because it doesn’t bring them what they need.
Base your written content along the lines of ‘What is Hot right now and what is not”. For example, look as the situation in Syria escalates and write about what you believe people want to hear about that topic. You must, and I repeat MUST, give people what they want.
What are the ‘hottes’ topics right now on the ol’ Internet? Find out and write about that. If you have any scientific understanding of social manipulation and social control in general, then you would know that people tend to follow the herd. So try to avoid subjects that are too controversial or unpopular unless you have an objective in mind.
Style
Always strive to write interesting content, but don’t get discouraged if your posts turn out as a failure the first couple of times. Remember that every great author had to start from somewhere.
Actually, refining your style is both part writing and part reading. So if you want to be a successful blogger, you need to read lots and lots of blogs. Find the style that suits your style best and try to copy it. Most great writers are just copying what other great writers wrote before them. Of course plagiarism is a big no no, so alongside ‘stylish’ text I must insist that we put ‘unique’ there as well.
Advertisement
How do international companies make it big? They pour millions, upon billions in advertisement alone. If a financial newspaper wrote about the current tensions between North and South Korea and it was advertised on all the major talk shows, TV ads, the News etc., there would be lots of people who will have an interest in reading it.
As long as you can find a link between popular topics and your blog, there’s always room for advertisement.
Guest Posting
Promote your website by writing guest posts for other people. How does that work?
Well, a long time ago, some smart fellow came up with a simple, yet irrefutably genius idea; why not make a blog but have other people write the articles for him? And little by little that blog started to grow and generate untold amounts of traffic. Soon enough more and more people started showing up to take a part in this. After all, for each guest post you submit, the blog itself posts you personal info – like name, website, bio etc.
This way you are making yourself popular, even before you start writing for your own blog. And if you play your cards right, maybe some day people will guest post on your blog too.
Linking
Like I said earlier, there is not a single, all powerful truth behind being a successful blogger. For example, linking your blog to other ‘high traffic and high authority’ websites will boost your SEO rankings exponentially. It is an important part of blog management, and if you want your blog to be successful, it is just as important as writing good content for your readers.
About the Author
July Minor is passionate freelance blogger and writer. She loves to spare her time blogging. She currently works at Clean To Perfection and she loves that because she has enough free time.
Image credit: Mike Licht
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