Have you ever wondered how a single person keeps updating their blog with new content regularly without running out of ideas? There are some bloggers that will leave you wondering how they manage to write content on a regular basis. No one can argue with his prolific writing skills.
For example, Seth Godin updates his blog regularly with new content. When I was first introduced to blogging, I thought I wouldn’t be able to write. But over time, I now know that writing a blog is not difficult. Over the last three years, I have learned a lot about blogging. I have written articles for various blogs and websites. However, I still have to learn more about writing to become a better prolific writer.
Becoming a blogger is all about learning how to blog. Blogging is not difficult as some people tend to think. Below are the top four blogs that will teach you how to blog and how you can become a better blogger.
1.) blogtyrant.com
2.) Copyblogger.com
3.) Problogger.net/blog
4.) Bloggingtips.com
If you are starting a freelance writing business, the Freelancefolder.com blog will help you tremendously with tips on running your freelance writing business.
Anyone who is computer literate can now create a blog. You don’t have to worry about the technicalities as there are blogging software like WordPress and the Empower Network that have made blogging simple.
Importance of blogs
1.) Blogging is interesting: there is something that you really love to do (your passion). Go ahead and create a blog and start writing about your passion. Blogging will make you learn more about your passion. You will be amazed at the attention you will receive from people.
2.) Proper use of free time: Blogging is not a waste of time. If it was a waste of time we wouldn’t be able to have so many blogs today. Instead of being idle for most of your free time, you should create a blog and start posting. This will make you not wonder what you should do to keep busy when you have free time.
3.) Inspire Others – Blogs have made it possible for people to encourage each other even though they have never met. People share problems and support each other. For example, here’s a quote I came across that made me realize how blogging has made it possible for a person to gain support from other people. “I was struggling with depression and anxiety disorder, and I felt like not blogging about it was creating a false story. When I finally shared the issues I was having, I was shocked, not just because of the support they gave me, but also because of the incredible number of people who admitted that they struggled with the same thing.”-Jenny Lawson
In fact, I encourage more young people to start blogging to inspire other young people who are facing various challenges like starting a business, running a business, advancing their career, unemployment, overcoming substance abuse, etc.
4.) Make Money Online – Start blogging to make some money online if you haven’t found your dream job. There are many opportunities online that you can use your blog to earn money. You can start blogging for money if you get hired as a blogger. You can use your blog to do affiliate marketing or you can use your blog to sell products to people online.
The opportunities to earn money online from a blog are many. It is up to you to make a decision on how you are going to make money blogging online.
5.) Gain Exposure and Attract Potential Employers – Blogging exposes you as an expert in your field. You will be recognized as an expert when you share informative information on your blog and also on other blogs that allow guest blogging. Some people will seek your advice, while there are those who will recommend people to read your articles.
Blogging will also expose your talent, creativity, passion and dedication. “Blogging is a great way to showcase your talents and interests to potential employers, while also adding an edge to your resume. If you blog consistently, it shows your dedication, passions, and creativity, all of which are key attributes that employers look for in job candidates.”-Lauren Conrad
6.) Blogging improves your writing skills – When you keep blogging, you will become a better writer over time. You will learn to express yourself better. Blogging improves your writing skills and also your abilities to communicate with people.
7.) Marketing and Building Customer Relationships – Blogs are important in marketing. A blog is a marketing tool and marketers should use blogs to inform people about the products they sell. Marketers need to post informative information about the products they are marketing so that people know how these products will help them in solving various problems. Blogs build better relationships between customers and businesses.
Great blogging challenge
The main challenge many bloggers face is inappropriate targeted traffic. Without targeted traffic, a blog will never thrive. When you realize that your blog is not attracting enough targeted traffic, you shouldn’t give up.
It’s normal for anyone to feel discouraged by disappointments, but giving up is not a solution. Giving up is creating another problem of not having found a solution that works effectively. The best thing to do instead of giving up is to figure out how you will drive targeted traffic to your blog.
So why isn’t your blog getting targeted traffic? Some of the reasons are as follows:
1.) Your blog is not yet known as it is still new. It requires exposure.
2.) There is not enough content on your blog to attract people and for search engines to rank your blog.
3.) The content you have published on your blog is not of high quality. Posting mediocre content on your blog could be the reason you lack targeted traffic.
4.) Your blog’s niche could be the reason for insufficient targeted traffic. If your blog targets a niche that is too competitive or people are not interested in, then your blog will not attract a significant amount of targeted traffic.
5.) You have not started selling a product that solves a particular problem or you might be selling a product that is not useful.
6.) You have not optimized your blog in search engines. You have not used search engine optimization techniques to optimize your blog.
7.) You have not done list building and this has led you to not keep in touch with the people who visit your blog. They visit your blog to never visit it again since they forget it.
8.) You haven’t gotten people’s attention. Your blog has no content that is interesting for people to read. You have not used headlines that grab people’s attention. He also hasn’t posted any videos or pictures that grab people’s attention. You are not giving gifts. People love getting free stuff!
9.) Your blog contains many spelling and grammatical errors. People will not want to continue reading a blog that has posts that contain many spelling and grammatical errors.
10.) Another reason for lack of targeted traffic is ignoring readers and writing for search engines. Focusing primarily on optimizing your blog for search engines instead of focusing on your readers will eventually stop your readers from visiting your blog.
10 ways to increase traffic
Driving targeted traffic to your blog is a process that should be ongoing. Here are ten ways you can use to drive targeted traffic to your blog.
1.) Update Your Blog Regularly – You should start updating your blog regularly with new content that is unique and informative if you haven’t been doing so.
2.) Quality Content and Not Quantity Content – Even though you should update your blog with fresh content, it doesn’t mean you have to update it with just any content in order to update it regularly. High-quality content is important to retain your existing target traffic. Posting high-quality content will make people visit your blog because they know they will benefit a lot.
3.) Get exposure for your blog – Use internet marketing techniques that will ensure that your blog gets exposure. Some of the internet marketing techniques that you can use include social networking sites, forms of search engine optimization, viral marketing, pay per click ads, Google AdWords, etc.
4.) Stay in touch with your audience – You need to build lists. Let people who visit your blog willingly give you their email addresses. Later you will contact them to remind them to visit your blog.
5.) Grab People’s Attention: Grab people’s attention so they can keep visiting your blog. Use titles that grab people’s attention to read your blog posts. You should also post videos, infographics, and include images in your blog posts so that they grab people’s attention.
6.) Avoid spelling and grammatical errors: Proofread your articles. Let someone else read your articles before posting them on your blog. This is to ensure that your articles do not contain spelling or grammatical errors.
7.) Engage Your Audience – You need to engage your audience. Ask them questions and allow them to comment on your blog posts. Reply to their comments. This way, your audience will know that you appreciate them and value their opinions. Your audience will trust you and keep visiting your blog and also refer people to visit your blog.
8.) Allow Guest Blogs – You need to invite experts to post content on your blog. When you allow experts in your field of expertise to guest blog, your blog will gain a good reputation. People will trust it and this makes your blog authoritative.
9.) Quality Products: Selling high-quality products will get people to visit your blog. Word of mouth will spread much faster on your blog if you sell a high-quality product that solves a particular problem that other products have failed to solve.
10.) Buy Traffic: Buying traffic will at least get people to know about your blog. There are many websites that specialize in selling traffic.
