It seems everyone has their own blog these days. Because of this, it’s no longer enough just to “have a blog”. Now, you need to “have a great blog”.
The best thing about blogging is also the worst thing - a blog should be updated on a regular basis to keep your readers coming back for more content. The flip side of that is that many bloggers burn out and either publish nothing for months on end simply because they’ve run out of things to say. Alternatively they feel so under pressure to add content that the quality of their posts goes downhill and they start to add junk posts.
Slowly, their readers stop coming back either way.
So this article serves firstly as a wake up call. Are you posting genuinely useful content that will keep readers coming back for more every day or are you just “padding” really. Does your content stand out from the crowd, or is it average at best? Even worse - do you only add a new post when you have something to try and sell your poor readers rather than when you’ve got something interesting and new to tell them about?
If reading that description hurts, if you feel a twang of guilt, here are a few hints that hopefully will help you increase the quality of your posts, and so the readership you generate…
1) Be Original
As someone who reads quite a few internet marketing blogs it can be quite shocking how many different blogs will post pretty much the same review when a new product or service comes out. The bloggers that generate large readerships are those who stand out - who go the extra mile - and come up an original angle to a topic.
If your posts lack originality then why should a reader read your posts, as opposed to anyone elses? Keeping things fresh, original and based on your own personal experiences rather than generalizations will help keep your posts fresh and interesting for your readers.
2) Post Less Often, But Post Better
Uber blogger StevePavlina.com has publically stated that he made a conscious decision to post less often on his blog than most people - just 2 or 3 posts a week - but that he would make those posts so goodthat you’d be glad he took the extra time.
He was right. And his readership continues to grow every month.
So don’t feel obliged to post every day. Very few people have enough interesting stuff to say to make that level of blogging a reality. Consider posting every few days but make them meatier and deeper than the 1 paragraph posts that many bloggers produce.
3) Use Social Bookmarking Services
Services like Digg, StumbleUpon and Del.icio.us get their listings from user-generated results so you will often manage to dig up a new site, service or idea that you wouldn’t have found so easily in the traditional search engines. Also, you can use any patterns you find of particularly hot topics and base new posts around these to generate maximum mileage from your time.
4) Use Google Alerts
Google Alerts will allow you to receive emails from Google on a regular basis on any keywords of your choice. When those keywords are mentioned on a new website, you’ll find out the site and the story. So setting up Google Alerts for your primary keywords can also generate plenty of new ideas for blog posts.
5) Get Into The Community Aspect
Go and visit other blogs on related topics, get involved with social networks like MySpace and faceBook to find people with similar interests and visit on topic forums to see what the “buzz” is at the moment. What are people talking about, what questions are being asked? Then answer them as best you can on your blog.
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Richard blogs about online business, lifestyle design and travel over at his new site No More Compromise -> http://www.NoMoreCompromise.com