blogging tips

8 blogging tipsBlog Tip 1: Get a schedule and stick to it.
Having a regular posting schedule serves several purposes. It let your readers know when to expect your pearls of wisdom. You have a lot of competition right out of the starting gate, and more new blogs being started everyday. You can post 5 days a week or just once. If you specialize in certain types of information, you may not want to post everyday, but you do want to keep your content relevant and fresh. This will keep you from being totally forgotten by your readers.

Another reason is for the search engines. You want the search bots to get used to a certain schedule and then they will regularly come to index your site.

Blog Tip 2: Use Your RSS feed
That leads us to the importance of utilizing your RSS feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. What you can do is encourage your readers to sign up to your RSS feed, that way they will be informed whenever you post an article. Your article will only be a snippet of course, and if it catches their interest they will click on your link and go to your blog. Also, many other bloggers are looking for fresh content. If your posts are something they feel that their readers may be interested in, they will include it on their blogs. This will give you even more exposure.

Blog Tip 3: Stay on topic. Stay informative.
If your blog is about the financial market don’t write an article about taking out carpet stains, unless you can relate it to something financial. I know it may seem obvious, but… If you are writing from a perspective of being knowledgeable about a particular subject make sure you are up to date with your information. If you are mainly offering your opinion, make sure that it is clear to your readers. It is important that you establish trust.

Blog Tip 4: Its your reputation

Never endorse a product that you have not personally tried. It will quickly become obvious to any of your readers who have tried out a particular product that you don’t know what you are writing about. Your readers may not always agree with what you write, but by having an honest opinion and offering factual information you will maintain their respect.

Blog Tip 5: Write with clarity and simplicity.
Be sure to make your posts and blog entries easy to understand. What may seem obvious to you, may be something completely new to some of your readers. It always drives me crazy when somebody writes: “as everybody already knows”. Unless you are a professor who is speaking about a course that you have already gone through with every student in attendance, don’t assume that every reader understands what you are speaking about. Also keep in mind that the worldwide web is just that, global. You are able to reach a worldwide audience, so depending on what kinds of subjects you are writing about you may want to keep that in mind.

Blog Tip 6: Be sure to do spell checking and proof-reading.
Hey, it only take a click to use your spell checker and a few minutes to go over your article, so do it. Nothing says ‘unprofessional’ as having a few misspelled words in your article. You may also want to consider what you are writing, especially if you are in a heated moment. Remember that everything you publish on the net is archived and can be found later. So whatever you are writing about, take a moment or even a day, to reflect what you are posting about.

Blog Tip 7: Use the right Keywords
This can be a little tricky. You need to use the right keywords in your article for the search engines to index your post properly. If X amount of people are searching for information are are using particular keywords, you should be sure to use them in your article, several times if possible. This tell the search engines that you have content related to what people are searching for. The trick is not to make it seem to obvious. Be sure to use the keyword in your articles headline.

Blog Tip 8: Quality matters.
Look, you just are not going to get that many chances with your readers. People can look past many defects in writing styles, but the bottom line is, that if you don’t offer the kind of information they are expecting, they just won’t return. I know I don’t. So if you need to, be sure to do some up to date research on your subject. Because old news, is just that. Until you become proficient in just being able to articulate off the cuff, take some to plan out your article, or series of articles.

I know its not always the coolest thing to say, and may be old school, but no matter what you are doing, the fundamentals still matter.

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