This guide is also available on video by clicking this link.
Blogs are the new state interest--not just for Americans, but for Web-connected folks all over the globe. It's something that spans all age groups and occupations. There are private blogs, social blogs, and corporate blogs. Regardless of the subject, someone has possibly blogged about it. Some of us are paid to blog and others pay for the right of blogging (on a certain site or with certain programs).
The net provided the chance for anybody to publish content to a world audience. The Web log, or blog format, has made it easier and simpler. However all blogs are not born equal. Some promote an ardent following and others ache in darkness. Regardless of your motivation for blogging, you can make your blog better, more comprehensible and more popular.
#1: Define your purpose
The most important step in creating a better blog is to ask yourself why you're blogging. What is the point of your blog? Is it to be a Web edition of the private diary, narrating your experiences, views, and emotions? Is it more of a book, where you save concepts and draft projects? Is it a social site, for interacting with pals, sharing links, getting to know individuals? Is it an editorial page, for comments on the government, social trends, and contemporary events? Is it a professional or hobbyist website, for sharing ideological and how-to information about some domain of expertise (e.g., aviation, PC programming, or photography)?
Sure, you may have only a blog that mixes parts of all of these, but you will find that readers like you to particularize. If you want to pen about your area of experience often and your favourite political party at other times, it might be advantageous maintaining 2 distinct blogs to avoid dividing or dull your readers half the time.
Concerning readers, a crucial part in defining your purpose is to grasp your audience. That will aid you identify the voice and writing style that's appropriate for those you're addressing. You most likely would not use an unchanged style when writing to stock car race rooters that you'd utilize if your audience were made primarily of stock exchange brokers.
In holding with your blog's ideal, you should have a defined theme. For instance, if the point of your blog is to express political views, the theme might be to market a low-tax, nonintrusive government.
#2: Create visual charm
Substance isn't the one thing that matters. Your blog website should also be visually appealing, or at least visually stable. You do not need to frighten away prospective readers or have them leave in frustration because the page is distracting or unreadable.
The advisable visible design for the page is based in part on your readers and theme. You may use coloring, font styles, and graphics to set the mood and look and feel--just make sure the look and feel equates the content. Whatever your theme, it's best to duck black letters on a black background, little or excessively fancy typefaces, and other components that make your blog hard to read.
If your blog is hosted on a public blog site, you could be restricted in how much you can alter the design, despite that there will often be a number of preconfigured visible themes you can select from. Keep readers appeal and readability in mind when selecting one.
#3: Utilize the correct tools
You may create a blog utilizing any "What You See Is What You Get" HTML editor, such as FrontPage ( shortly to get replaced by Microsoft Expression Web Designer ), Macromedia Dreamweaver, or the Amaya opensource editor endorsed by W3C. You can even employ a text processor like Notepad to pen the HTML code.
Nevertheless, blogging is made far cleaner, quicker, and more convenient if you employ a of a blogging software or the features of a blogging Web site letting you pen posts in the Web browser or via e-mail.
If your blog is hosted on a free public blog site, such as Blogger or Windows Live Spaces, you can pen your posts in your e-mail client and send them to a special email you're given when you create your account. For many, this is the easiest way to post, even though it doesn't present you the formatting.
A different option is to employ a blog software like WordPress, Cartable Type, Post2Blog, or Windows Live Writer, which put up varied helpful features. For instance, Windows Live Writer (free download at http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/ ) allows you put a button on the toolbar in Internet Explorer so that if you would like your blog to mention a Web site you're visiting, you can highlight the text you wish to cite and click "Blog It". This starts Live Writer and inserts the link and the quoted text in your blog. You can publish to your blog on Live Spaces or other well-liked blogs with only one click.
#4: Make it painless to navigate
If you are planning your blog website from scratch, it is critical to make it easy for your audience to get around and do what they want to do. For instance, if you're using comments and RSS feeds, confirm it's obvious to readers how to post a comment or subscribe to the feed.
You should also make it straightforward for readers to check past posts. Confirm archives are arranged logically--not only in chronological order but in categories to make it better to check certain posts.
If your blog is hosted on a public blog site, you can generally alter the agreement of page components, add or remove components (often named modules), and otherwise shape the navigability of the page. Keep clutter as small as possible but be certain to insert the components that your audience require.
Your blog should be searchable, if possible, so users can find posts using keywords. You can put a Google search box on your site ( for more information, see http://www.google.com/searchcode.html#both).
#5: Avoid moving around
Most bloggers try out different blog hosting websites and/or with hosting their individual websites, especially on the early stages of their blogging experience. It might take you awhile to get the best setup, but attempt and do so as fast as possible and then stay in one place so your audience can find you. Moving around to different URLs too frequently is bound to lose you some readers.
If you have a tested blog and it's critical to move it to a different address, attempt and publish a last post on the former blog that leads readers to the new website and leave it up as long as possible.
#6: Engage your readers
Possibly the most vital factor in enticing and keep readers is establishing a relationship with them. Even engaging content is yielded less engaging if we do not know who's talking ( writing ) to us. Tell your audience who you are and something regarding yourself.
You don't need to go into a lot of personal details if your blog is political or professional, and in a few situations you may not even need to exhibit your actual name ( particularly, as an instance, if you're posting derogatory information about your employer or the police chief in your small town). But do not just persists nameless; give your audience a pen name by which to spot you and tell them generalities about yourself which will lend you credibility without burning your cover. For instance, you might say that you're a middle-age male who lives in California and has worked in the telecomms industry.
If you do not have a reason to keep your personal identitysecret, you may be in a position to benefit ( attract the attention of headhunters in your area, become known as an expert in a specific domain, for example. ) by trying your actual name and providing contact information.
Regardless of whether you show your true identity, you can engage your audience by chatting with them through the comments feature or by providing an e-mail address and responding to their input. You can, of course, employ a free Webmail address or other option to your primary address if you need to protect your identity and/or dodge spam.
Engaging your audience asks for taking their confidence and thinking of the reader first. If you make claims, support them up with mentions and links. If feasible, don't link to sites that need a subscription or even free registration (or if you must, warn readers).
#7: Create a blogging schedule
Blog readers are a fickle gang. Once you've gathered an audience, they expect to find new content when they visit your website. That doesn't mean you have to post every day, but you should establish a nominal blogging schedule and stay with it. Let your audience know, preferably in a static text box at the pinnacle of your blog page, that you're going to update the blog daily, weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays, or whatever. Then do it--even if some of your posts aren't exactly extreme or extended. Your audience will desert your blog if they suspect you have deserted them.
If you must vary from your schedule ( for example, you're going on holiday for two weeks or you'll be in the hospital or you have a family or job emergency), let your audience know that you won't be writing at the usual time and give them an idea of when you'll return.
#8: Be succint
Regarding posts that are not especially extreme or long, don't think you have to wait until you have something amazing to claim before you write or put off posting because you do not have time to pen "Les Miserables" today. In truth, most readers possess brief attention spans and/or jammed agendas themselves and would prefer to read a short, brief post instead of a long, complicated one.
If you do write lengthy posts, divide them up into short paragraphs to make them more readable. There's nothing more daunting to a reader than a massive volume of unbroken text, regardless of how good your turn of phrase.
You'll also gather more readers with popular words than with clouded ones, so unless you're writing for an especially educated audience, pursue the famous KISS advice: keep it simple, sweetheart.
#9: Proofread before publishing
Even if you are a British professor, it isn't difficult to end up with typographical blunders, misspellings, and grammatical failings in your articles if you do not proofread before pressing the Publish button. Especially if you're writing in the heat of keenness or inspiration, your writing fingers can get ahead of your ideas and cause words to be dropped or transposed, commas to appear in the most unlikely spots, or sentences to become fuzzy.
Maybe you pride yourself on not adhering exactly to the guidelines, but presumably, you need your audience to understand what you're saying. That complicated sentence that seemed so brilliant in composition may read a little strange once you see it on the screen.
It's difficult to catch mistakes in your own texts, because you fill in what you believed you typed, rather than see what's really there. This is particularly true right after writing. If at all possible, have some other person check your post before you publish it. If not, let it "cool off" for a day so you can approach it with a more neutral proofreader's eye.
And although it's best to catch mistakes before they are revealed, one huge advantage of Web content is that, unlike print copy, it's simple to change should you find an issue after publishing.
#10: Go syndicate yourself
You do not need to wait for readers to come to your blog every day or every week. Instead, you can get your blog to them. Use RSS to feed your new blog articles to readers who sign up. This makes it easier for your audience, who do not have to don't forget to do not forget to visit your blog Web site to makes it simpler for new posts--and whatever makes it easier for readers is good for writers. You can syndicate just your post titles, short summaries, or complete posts.
Almost all public blog hosting websites give you the choice to syndicate your blog, and it's sometimes as straightforward as clicking a button or 2 in the configuration interface. If you'd like to syndicate your self-hosted internet site, see http://www.xul.fr/en-xml-rss.html for more information.
Other sites worth checking:
SEM Business Blueprint - Trick Or Legitimized Opportunity?
Email Blast Software, Newsletter Do's and Don'ts.
This guide is also available on video by clicking this link.
