10. Publish Articles on a Consistent Basis
Readers get used to the frequency in which you publish articles on your blog. It is therefore in your best interests to choose a posting frequency and stick to it.
A common mistake that beginners make is to publish too often when a blog is first launched. Their enthusiasm for their new blog gets the better of them and they post once or even twice per day. Ultimately, it can be difficult to maintain this posting frequency when you are also trying to promote your new blog. Posting frequency, and the quality of posts being published, are usually affected because of it.
Rather than publish articles every day for two weeks and then not publish any more articles for a few weeks, it is better to stick to a posting schedule that can be easily maintained in the future e.g. three times a week. If you find that you have too many articles scheduled for publication, you could increase posting frequency to four or five times a week.
Whether you publish once a day or once a week, I recommend sticking to the same posting frequency so that readers become accustomed to when more articles will be published.
11. Develop a Following on Social Media
There are a lot of social media services available, however I believe that for most blogs the most relevant services to be active on are Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. You should create an account for these services and use a plugin such as Social Networks Auto-Poster to automatically update your accounts with your latest posts.
Make a point of displaying links to your social media profiles prominently in your sidebar to encourage readers to follow you. If you can generate a large following on social media, you will be in a position to increase sharing of your articles and generate more traffic to your blog.
12. Build an Email List
A targeted email list can be the catalyst that drives your blog into the big time. When someone signs up to your blog’s email newsletter, they are giving you a strong vote of confidence and advising you that they are happy for you to contact them directly. That is why an email subscriber is worth more than a social media follower.
Visitors will subscribe to your email list if they enjoy your content, however you can increase email sign up rates significantly by baiting them with an offer such as a free eBook.
Once you have developed a targeted email list, you can drive traffic to key articles and promote related products and services to them.
13. Engage with Your Readers
Blogging is not a one way street. A big part of being a successful blogger is connecting with your readers. You should actively try and engage with your readers in comments, social media, your email list, and of course, through your writing. You can also use pod casts and video to speak directly to your audience.
This will help you grow a loyal readership that spreads the word about your blog. It also makes readers more responsive to any products and services you promote in the future.
14. Market Your Blog
Nothing is more discouraging than writing high quality articles every week and not seeing your readership grow. The reality is that a professional blog design and consistently publishing good content every day will not guarantee you a successful blog. You need to market your blog in order to gain readers.
There are a number of ways to do this:
- Network with other bloggers
- Guest blogging on blogs within your niche
- Commenting on related blogs and forums
- Be active on social media
- Competitions
When you are interacting on social media and commenting on blogs and forums, do not make the mistake of promoting you and your blog. If your comments are not marked as spam, they will probably just be ignored. You will paint yourself in a better light if you contribute to the discussion rather than just spamming. People will want to visit your blog and find out more about you if you contribute something original.
15. Set Yourself Goals and Work Towards Them
Checking stats too frequently can be counterproductive, however it is important to analyze your blog on a monthly basis and review traffic, readership, social media followers, and income.
Set yourself a target every month so that you have something to work towards. Whether you reach that goal or not is not always important. What is important is that you look at what areas of your blog can be improved and then work towards addressing them.
16. Develop a Thick Skin
A blog allows you to share your views with the world. If comments are enabled, others can share their views with you. These views may conflict with yours.
In order to develop a successful blog, you need to develop a thick skin and not take criticism to heart. Banning commentators who disagree with you is a sure fire way of alienating your readers (and the likelihood of being compared to Hitler!).
While I recommend that you delete hateful comments, it is in your interest to have an open commenting policy that allows readers to share their views (however, be mindful that hot topics such as religion and politics can upset people).
17. Monetize Your Blog
Ideally, you should plan how you will monetize your blog before it is launched. This will help you gear your blog towards the business model you are adopting.
While affiliate products can be promoted through your articles from the start of your blog’s life, most monetization strategies should only be implemented once you have established a readership. When you do have sufficient readers, you will be in a position to market your own products and services to them. You will also be able to make money through sponsored reviews, paid posts, premium content, and more.
Banner space can be sold to advertisers or used to promote your own products or affiliate products. Just be careful not to overstate your design with advertisements as it may drive readers away.
18. Bring in People to Help Maintain Your Blog
Many blogs are maintained by one person. They are responsible for writing articles, responding to emails, fixing technical errors, marketing their blog, and much more.
Yet there is only so much that one person can do.
If you want to take your blog to the next level, you should invest a percentage of blog profits back into your blog. Authors can be hired to help increase posting frequency or reduce your own writing responsibilities. You could also hire an assistant to handle all emails and hire a whole team to develop a product for you.
Once your blog is taking up all of your time, it is better to start bringing in people to help you maintain your blog. This will allow you to focus on other tasks and scale the growth of your blog more intelligently.
19. Do Not Become Complacent
I know of many blogs in which the owner has taken their foot of the pedal once they have taken it to a certain level. It can be tempting to work less frequently on a blog if it generates money on auto pilot, however it can also be detrimental to its future.
You should not take your readers for granted. I have seen many successful blogs lose readers because they stopped focusing on high quality content. If you want your blog to continue growing, you need to stay focused and ensure your articles are fresh and innovative.
20. Take Time Off to Enjoy Life
A hectic blogging schedule and a focus on making your blog successful at all costs can have a negative effect on you and your blog. Many bloggers burnout by working too many hours and not taking time off to relax.
If your blog is to be a success in the long term, you need to incorporate leisure time into your schedule. Working too much will reduce the quality of your articles, burn you out, and discourage you from blogging altogether.
Try and keep a healthy balance between work and play. Exercise, sleep well, stay healthy, and make a point of reducing your workload if you are feeling stressed. This will help you stay enthusiastic about your blog and make you a happier blogger
I hope you have enjoyed this look at how to make a blog successful.
What is your number one tip for developing a successful blog? Please share with us in the comment area below
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