Key Components of the Best Blogs
When you make the decision to start a
blog,
it's likely that you want people to visit it. In other words, you want
to start a blog that has a good chance of being successful. Even your
mother won't visit your blog if it's boring. Follow the 5 elements of
successful blogs below to ensure you're on the right track from the
moment you create a blog.
1. Personality
Your
blog should reflect your personality and who you are. If it reads like
dull news, it's unlikely that people will want to return again and
again. Inject your personality into your
blog posts.
Write like you speak. Make your blog posts conversational. Use your
unique voice to tell your story in each and every blog post. Your unique
voice is what makes your blog personable and interesting.
2. Opinion
One of the key components of your
personality and unique voice is your opinion on topics related to your
blog's overall subject matter. Don't be afraid to inject your personal
opinions into your blog posts. Without your opinions, your blog posts
will read like news stories. What makes a blog interesting is the
personal opinions of the blogger behind it.
3. Participation
Don't just publish a blog post and forget about it. The strength of a blog comes from the
community
that evolves around it. In order to grow the community on your blog,
your readers need to feel like they are participating in a 2-way
conversation. If someone leaves a
comment,
respond to it. If a reader emails you directly with a legitimate
question or comment, respond to that person. Make your readers feel
important by talking with them, not just at them.
4. Value
Your
blog needs to bring something useful or interesting to readers or there
is no point in their visiting. In other words, your blog needs to add
value to readers' lives for them to take the time to read what you have
to say. You can add value by publishing posts that provide more than
just news recaps or a list of links to other websites and blogs. Your
blog posts need to actually say something unique in your own voice, with
your own opinions, and in a conversational manner.
5. Availability
Don't publish a blog post and then disappear for a week or month. Successful blogs are
updated frequently.
Readers grow to rely on them for the useful information, valuable
commentary, or engaging conversations that happen on your blog. If
readers can't rely on you to be there when they visit with new content
or conversations, they'll look elsewhere.
