Blogs, or Web Logs, have become increasingly popular over the past few years and are read by millions of people every day.  Therefore maintaining and linking a blog to your own website can serve a multitude of purposes individual to the person creating it, from increasing customer interest, confidence, company branding, customer traffic, or even as a marketing exercise. Furthermore, websites that are constantly updated greatly increase their Search Engine Optimisation efforts and their chances of ranking highly in Google Results.

Whatever your reason for starting a blog, here’s some tips to help make it more successful.

How do I start a blog?

1. Establish blog or ‘Latest News’ page on your site. On this page you can then display excerpts of your blog posts that link through to the full article.
2. Create a new page template that can then be used for all of your future blog posts. Hide these pages from navigation and folder listings. Your Account Manager can help you do this.
3. Write your first post.
4. Promote and Enhance your blog with social media and SEO.
5. Find your Rhythm. Be consistent in your blog posting and stick to it. The more often you update your blog, the more favourable your Google Results will be.

Steps to writing a blog post:

1. Choose a Topic.
2. Develop a Working Title to focus your thoughts and ideas. This title doesn’t have to be final, but will help you focus on your post without straying into other topics.
3. Write an Outline of what your post will say.
4. Captivate with your opening sentence or intro.
5. Write the content.
6. Edit the content.
7. Fix the formatting of the post.
8. Choose the final title. Make it something that is catchy and will grab attention.
9. Include visuals. Add in photographs or images to enhance your post.
10. Include supporting data or statistics if relevant.
11. Optimise your post for SEO.
12. Optimise your post by enabling interactive comments. Follow this guide to enable comments.
13. Share on social media. Marketing your business and website across multiple platforms not only allows you to access greater numbers of potential customers, but increases customer confidence in your brand as customers are reassured by your strong web presence.

Tips:

1. Develop a Voice. Successful blog posts have a strong, individual writing style. Be yourself and write from the heart.
2. Be Original. Don’t just repeat other news or other people’s ideas, state your own opinions and create a contention. NEVER PLAGIARISE.
3. Take Your Time. Don’t rush, take the time to think it over and CREATE a good blog post.
4. Don’t Blog Aimlessly. Don’t post simply because you feel you have to. Be Useful and Add Value to the reader.
5. Have a Vision for the blog.
6. Consider the goal of the post? Is it to generate leads/go viral/create traffic? How have you successful achieved that goal in the past?
7. Understand your audience. Consider their market persona and their interests. Post accordingly.
8. Learn from your audience. Utilise google analytics to ascertain which topics your audience particularly liked, then create similar content to keep them returning.
9. Don’t just write about yourself. Incorporate your audience. Know your world view; be interesting, honest, and transparent. But do not isolate your readers.
10. Be Conversational. Draw the readers in with your tone. You are writing to peers, so use the terms ‘we and us’ instead of ‘you and your’ in order not to sound accusatory.
11. Be Interactive by enabling comments. Learn what makes your readers want to discuss and share content.
12. Call your readers to Action. Engage your readers by enticing them to take action from your post. This will also help them remember the post favourably.
13. Write Consistently. Develop a consistent posting timeline, but also a consistent writing style and structure of the post.
14. Know your niche and become an expert in it. Research your topic and write in an informed way.
15. Write Clearly. Check your grammar and formatting.
16. Engage in the blogger community. Link generously, leave comments and trackbacks, update your blogroll, engage with commenters, and invite guest posts and contributions.
17. Ignore negative criticism and stupidity. Accept constructive criticism, but do not let negative comments deter you.
18. Consider how to make your posts and topics SEO friendly.
19. Make your content Scannable. Few readers read online articles word-for-word. So organise your post so that it is easy to read by including lists/sections/formatting/headings and subheadings/pictures/borders/space/be succinct/reinforce your main point.
20. Pay Attention to what competitors in your industry are doing. Keep your blog updated and competitive in the market.
21. Consider your media. Blogs don’t have to be just written articles. Experiment with video blogs or photographical blogs. Find what suits your needs and your market.

There are numerous factors involved with creating a successful blog and blog posts. These hints and tips will assist you in creating your blog posts; however they cannot guarantee a successful blog. However by following these tips, choosing the right topics, and adopting a unique and informed writing voice, you can hope to provide value to your readers and support to your other web content. Speak to your Account Manager for more information or advice on how to get started with establishing a blog on your site.

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