What makes a blog effective? How do we become successful bloggers in the digital age as we compete with others to generate something new and unique? Where do I start? All these questions can be answered with three pieces of advice found below to get you one step closer to becoming the ultimate blogger.
1. Finding Your Niche
The first step to successful blogging is to find a niche that is unique to you and your readers. After all, you want is to stand out and become a wealth of great knowledge and content; something your readers will seek out. Below are some of the most important aspect to consider when discovering the perfect niche.
Ultimate Goal:
To uncover a small, “untapped,” segment or niche market, in order to develop a website and promote your online services and products, thus, becoming an authoritative voice at the top of your chosen market.
- Keywords and Conversions
Always target and incorporate long tail keywords for optimization in order to improve your traffic and conversions. To generate a great long tail keyword, try to think at least three words or more. As a result, you’ll find your traffic volume is less than larger bunched keywords; however, you will have a much easier time ranking in a search engine, as the conversion is much higher.
In doing so, long tail keywords may require you to put more effort in promoting your blog, but in return, you won’t have to deal with as much competition with optimization. Since conversion is one of the most important measures in online business metrics, paying close attention to these details will help you generate more traffic.
No matter what, always keep this rule of thumb in mind: never ignore a keyword having over 100 in volume, as this will help you promote readers to your blog. Google Analytics is an excellent free tool to help you measure these conversions and goals. For example, the program will report any activity on your blog from subscribing to your blog to purchasing a product on your site. For best results, try to group your context and meanings together to hone in on your keywords and take control over your chosen niche market.
- Becoming the Authority
Considered one of the biggest tickets to success, becoming an authority in a niche market is the best window of opportunity to become an effective blogger. For example, Google+ cornered the market when they fused their search engine with social marketing. With this solid foundation, the need for “expert writers” becomes a high priority to remain an authority. This way, as a skilled content writer and blogger, you will generate more traffic and exposure.
Nevertheless, always conduct sound research before purchasing a domain. This means researching keywords and investigating the current markets. In order to find the perfect niche and be an educated authority, find out what your strengths are as a blogger. Determine what content fits under your area of expertise based on your past experiences.
Looking for a challenge?
Try to be realistic and optimistic when going about these large start-up growing pains, and understand that failure is one more step to success. Realize that sometimes if you want to go after a more competitive niche, it may mean you have to work much harder and dispense more resources in order to become an authority in your chosen niche. For instance, you will find a lot of competition in writing along the lines of “losing weight,” since many have tackled and exhausted this particular topic of interest.
A few pointers:
» Monitor your rankings through metrics
» Avoid older domains- the older, the harder to outrank
» Avoid “spammy” content that wards off readers and questions your validity
2. Telling Your Story
Storytelling and blogging are synonymous. From the title to the very first word, you want to compel your audience and engage the reader into your content. Provoke the reader to think past just your simple words and drive them to leave your blog thinking about your unique copy.
Ultimate Goal:
To become a crafty blogger and develop a voice that is friendly and welcoming, all while telling a story and truly captivating your audience with important and unique information.
- Unleash the Introduction
Going back to the old English class five-paragraph essay format for writing, your teachers were right about creating a hook for your introduction. Begin with a story or anecdote that engages your audience from the start and leads them through your content. Try to avoid stories that come across as selling something; this can negatively affect the way your readers view your blog.
- Relate and Connect
In avoiding a sales approach to content, you can better connect to your audience. Try to share personal experiences so that the audience can better relate to you and hopefully feel like they connect to you on a personal level. In developing this rapport, they will become loyal to your blog. Building this foundation will in turn help you establish your authority and they will respect you and your content.
One of the most intriguing ways to captivate your audience is by sharing some of your readers’ stories and responding to their thoughts. By creating this visual exchange of ideas, your other readers will see the connections you build between others and that their presence on your blog matters. Just remember to remain professional and not break any confidences that your readers may share with you.
- Share Your Stories Visually
Images and videos can tell a thousand stories and can express some thoughts that words alone cannot say. In blogging, add tasteful pictures to your content that further emphasize your thoughts. Never clutter your blog with images so that people won’t feel overwhelmed as they read. Let the picture extend your thoughts and allow your reader to really connect to your blogging. If using data, include a strong and visually stunning infographic to support your claims. Many organizations – no matter which industry they’re in – have hopped on the infographic trend. For example, Havahart created an infographic depicting something unique to their business – but interesting and engaging for anyone.
The same ideas apply to video. Havahart also created many videos to help educate potential customers – or people that are simply curious about how to get raccoons out of their yard. Do not have the multimedia detract from your content, but let it be a supplement to further share your thoughts and benefit your viewers.
3. Becoming A “Go-To” Resource
In blogging, we want more than just readers to view the blog and move on to the next task in their life, forgetting to absorb anything that was written in the post. In today’s society, blogging has gone from simply venting or sharing ideas to reaching people and moving them on a personal level.
Ultimate Goal:
To reach and touch the lives of your readers, by providing sound advice and making a connection on a deeper level, acting as a thought leader and go-to resource.
- The Power of Blogging
Continue to develop meaningful content that approaches the information in a non-confrontational manner. By establishing a friendly tone, you can share your knowledge and advise others within your chosen niche. Whether personal or professional, you can incorporate success stories and uplifting content meant to inspire others, ultimately establishing yourself as an authority and a safe place for readers to return and seek your blog for advice.
- Mainstream Multimedia
Think outside of the box and see how much you can effectively include in a typical content blog. By following the advice on establishing authority, monitoring your conversions, and connecting to your readers, you will have a great platform to take blogging to the next level. Try hosting a online video chat or podcast to build intimacy and loyalty, because you are connecting to your audience on a more personal level. Additionally, you can include a Slideshare presentation to really make your blog “pop.” Whatever you do, make sure you have tact; avoid confusing your reader with a bombardment of visual information. A little goes a long way.
Concluding Thoughts
In the journey to becoming an effective blogger, keep in mind that you want to be approachable, engaging and unique. Always consider your audience when writing and try to see what the best method for sharing information will work for your blog. Keep in mind that blogging is not a perfected science, as we are human and the art of blogging was designed as a way to simply write what is on our minds. Some of the greatest successes come from failures, when we try, fail, but try again. When in doubt, take the above advice to heart and use it to fuel your thoughts and captivate your audience.
Thanks for reading!