4 Rules to Live by for a Successful Blog
It’s no secret that blogging has become vital for perpetuating the success of businesses, organizations and individuals.
They increase search engine traffic, build authority in competitive industries, generate more leads and improve conversion rates.
Small businesses employing blogs report a 126 percent increase in leads, search engines index 434 percent more pages for websites with blogs, and companies that blog receive 97 percent more inbound traffic from outside links.
The following are four reasons why those blogs win and why so many others fail:
- Content
Blogs should provide information about trends and developments in trades that will benefit visitors. They should spotlight your proprietary knowledge and expert wisdom, not spew sales pitches.
Blogs attract visitors when they profit from your expertise, so bloggers should write with those visitors in mind. The lack of a defined voice and specific niche represents the downfall of many blogs.
- Consistency
It helps to say, when posting new material, “This blog is updated every Thursday at 9:30 am,” or, “Check here for new content on the second Friday of every month,” so readers know when to return. They might visit every so often without a calendar, but they will move on if they don’t see new content consistently. Vagueness in timing for the sake of attracting a few additional page views is counterproductive.
Many bloggers fail because they begin with an overly ambitious mindset. They blast out of the gate, publishing three times a day with writing that engenders a fury and zeal for their subject.
A consistent post schedule is the key to attracting regular readers.
- Promotion
Visitors won’t read your blog solely because it exists. The internet is too vast to expect that readers will somehow discover it themselves and then remember to return. Bloggers often spend too much time on content without a corresponding amount of effort pitching it digitally.
You need to promote whatever content you write. Using multiple social media platforms, email marketing, online advertising, giveaways and partnerships with larger brands to create a core following that can expand.
- Money and prestige
Most blogs fail because their writers set out to earn riches and gain celebrity overnight. They set incredibly ambitious goals of pulling in lots of advertising dollars and attracting millions of followers. It rarely works.
Successful bloggers are passionate about their vocation and informing their audience. They offer a rare perspective on their industry and commit to weekly or even daily updates, in addition to marketing themselves aggressively.