Blog Traffic Exchange

This continues from part one and is part two in a two part series on what bloggers are doing wrong when it comes to blogging. Here are some more ideas for you to consider.

Editorial Calendars and Patterning Audiences

Chances are you don’t do it. Dosh Dosh writes a fantastic article on this and you should read it, bookmark it, and refer to it repeatedly.

You want to do things seasonally, annually, and regularly, just like a newspaper. Failing that you want your readers to understand at a glance what they’ll find in your article.

I personally subscribe to the idea of article images. I created a set of them so that there was one for each unique and special feature on my blog. Each image had text calling out the special feature and instantly let the reader know what the general idea of the post is.

In addition, my website has a section for recently published posts (as I’m sure yours does too, it’s pretty standard.) But I also have a section for upcoming posts. It’s just a bit of code and it let’s readers know what to expect in the upcoming days on the blog. It’s nicer than the mini calendars on most blogs that require clicking dates to see if anything is there.

Article Length and Formatting

Online readers (like me) have attention spans the size of a gnat. I’ve heard we glance at a website in an F shape format, (I can’t find the article again or I’d link to it) so the most read part of the page is the top.

Before posting ask yourself a few questions:

• Can your blog post be split in two? If you say yes, then do it.
• Is it interesting? If you say no, why are you posting it?
• Do you have blocks of text? If you say yes, break them up.
• Is your article less than 125 words? If you say yes, write more.
• Does your article have pit stops? If you say no, add headers and bold formatting!
• Would you share the article with 10 people you personally know? If you say no, rewrite it.
• Is your text warped wrapped around a bunch of images? If you say yes, take a few out.
• Is the article helpful? If you say no, reexamine and fix it so it is.

What do you say? Would you add anything else?

Keira runs a book review blog for readers by readers on romance novels entitled Love Romance Passion. She’s been reading romance since she was in her teens and began blogging about romance so she could share her passion for her favorite genre. She loves reading paranormal, Regency, historical America, and highlander most of all and completely adores blind and wounded heroes.

Photo credits: felipe_gabaldon

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One of the biggest keys when it comes to keeping a successful blog is to provide content that is perceived to be exceptional. The following five tips are designed to ensure that the blog posts that you write are getting read, and also that they are encouraging your readers to come back time and time again for more. These five tips are absolutely essential in helping you to write a successful blog.

Successful Blog Tip #1 – A successful blog is one that utilizes the right tone for the niche and audience.

Every blog is going to have a target audience that it is written to suit. Before you begin to write blog posts, you are going to want to figure out what your audiences are. Who is going to want to read your blog and why are they going to want to read your blog? Identify the goals you have for your blog, as well as the expectations that your audience is going to have for your blog, and choose a tone that is going to be appropriate for both of these ends.

Successful Blog Tip #2 – A successful blog is an honest blog.

Blogs should be written in a truly honest voice in order to show who you are as a writer. These blogs tend to be those that are the most popular. A critical component to the success of your blog is the community developing around it. If you represent yourself and the content of your blog in an honest manner, your loyal readership numbers will grow.

Successful Blog Tip #3 – A successful blog is more than simply lists worth of links.

Blogging is a time consuming endeavor, and so it might be a bit tempting for you to link to other people’s content and be done for the day – You need to avoid this trap. Readers do not want to follow a trail of breadcrumbs in order to find something that is interesting for them to read. Bring them the information that they want, don’t give them a scavenger hunt to find it.

Successful Blog Tip #4 – A successful blog is one that provides attribution when attribution is due.

Do not risk being accused of violating a copyright, stealing content or plagiarizing – if you find information elsewhere, make sure that you provide a link back to the source, referencing them for the information you received.

Successful Blog Tip #5 – A successful blog is one that utilizes short, concise paragraphs.

The content and the visual appeal of the blog are both just as important as one another. Write in short paragraphs for visual relief because nobody likes a text heavy website. Most readers skim anyway, so make it easier for them to find the information that they are looking for.

Photo Credits: Nenyaki

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