Blogging is used for any number of reasons, obviously it is fundamental to be able to write well and understand what keeps the reader’s attention. But there is more to it than that. So, what are the traits a blogger needs?
An Understanding of Social Media
Social media is not merely a medium of staying in contact, it has now become an essential part of search engine optimisation, creating viral pieces and also informing a target audience of your blog. Social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, DiggIt and even the likes of Google+ offer a new and ever changing way to connect with your audience, as well as create a new one. Google+ and its new circles feature will change the way this is done, allowing bloggers to place certain articles of interest to particular groups of people into certain groups or Circles. This will mean a new and more specific
way of interesting people in your blogs.
Encourage and harvest message and comment boards
After you write a blog, pay particular attention to your message boards and use them to stimulate discussion on your site. Understanding what will get people involved and engaging them through your boards is a great way to get people to read your blog on a regular basis and this sort of interaction is essential. Harvest and use what they say to come up with more ideas for future blogs, this means you are giving the audience what they want.
Know your audience
Understanding your audience and what makes them tick is essential for blog writers. Researching other similar blogs, the people who read yours and all the ins and outs of the industry or topic you write about is of essence when blogging. This is also essential afterwards, as you can gather from out previous tip, you need to keep people engaged and understand them to get them coming back for more.
Use Media
Varying the means with which you communicate can make your blog far more attractive for readers, as well as giving them something a little different. Videos and podcasts offer different opportunities for bloggers to explore and use. These mediums can give your site something different and offer more potential than the written word alone. Understanding the basics of these media mediums can be very easily done – look it up on YouTube or in your library.
Tech Stuff
Having a basic understanding of HTML, SEO and some other programming languages can have its benefits. Knowing how to tag or finding out the best keywords for your article is essential in the rankings game. Knowing how to lay out pages properly is also essential. Blog readers want certain things such as short paragraphs, bold sub headings and a number of other things. Read up on these and increase the readability of your text online.
No comments:
Post a Comment