A guide to Blogsville
Blogs are not only the tools for expressing personal opinions, creativity and heritage – a blog is also a great way to advertise merchandise or service. The loyalty of the followers depends on the content and popularity of the posts. In Bangladesh, e-commerce has flourished through online ads and pages and we have yet to fully explore the power of blogs.
A blog is a site where people publish information and display it in a chronological order starting from food, travel, poetry, fashion, work hints and the list goes on. Blogs started out as a doorway to an individual's mind but recently multi-author blogs have developed, with posts written with the effort of a number of people sharing the same interest.
So how does a blogger get people coming back for more? How can one upgrade his or her profile and win more business? Once you catch the eyes of the firms who are looking for fresh faces to promote their brand, you can even earn money through your reviews!
Here are a few tips that will give a boost to your blogging!
Setting up
There are many free options out there including Wordpress, Tumblr, TypePad, Stylebubble and Blogger. All of them offer free design themes so you can customise your own blog so it's very easy to get started. You can also watch online video tutorials on how to work around the options. Instagram, on the other hand, is a hassle-free option for publicizing that uses photos, videos and hash-tags to attract followers.
Choose a topic and let your blog be dedicated to that one special topic and find a niche audience.
Readers and search engines will find it helpful. Most importantly consider integration by providing links to websites, profiles, folios and other links to build content and make the search engines more user-friendly.
Marketing mix
A really impressive blog will not get the attention it deserves if it lacks good marketing.You can actively market your blog by leaving worthy comments on other people's blogs and this will help people notice you. Interact with existing people on your blog and ask for feedback, respond to queries, build a community around online peers, and be friendly.
Make the commenting option accessible so that people can interact with you and others as well, and this will keep them coming back for more. Be careful about the blog comment hosting service you use. For example, Disqus has fallen out of favour in recent times due to load time. It's preferable to use social media comment hosting.
If you invest in any online advertising, your analytics will also help determine your ROI (return of investment) and how efficient it is. Keep an eye on your web analytics and ensure your blog is working as it should be. However sometimes, when you dislike any comment it can be deleted or responded to positively. Do not let any negativity clutter your mind; what a needle in a haystack thinks is none of your business.
Go all out!
It is essential that you make sure to test automatic updates via Twitter or Facebook after you link it to your blog's RSS feed and update your followers and fans with your latest post. Twitterfeed is a great tool that automatically publishes your posts to your Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Even during holidays, make best use of scheduling tools on the blog so you can post articles automatically while away from desk. This will help the followers remain updated and prove consistency. Place "follow" badges on your blog wherever possible. For example, on Blogger you can add a free widget which encourages people to "follow your blog" in their own Google readers.
Eye candy
Some of the most popular creative blogs consist of plenty of imagery. This is partially because people love to scan quickly through web pages and enjoy seeing photos and images that help to break up the monotony of texts and adds visual interest.
Texts can get boring if it is not organized properly so try and keep your articles as easy, quick reads. Keep the layout clean, fresh and uncluttered and avoid adding unnecessary features. Provide lists wherever possible and break up the text, add in bullet points or lists because it will hold people's attention more. Titles that are appealing and catchy will draw people in and spark their curiosity.
Type your heart
If you don't write about what you love then your content will suffer due to lack of passion.
Select a topic and branch out by sharing information and facts about it or admiration towards it.
Writing about popular topics is a good way to make use of the search engine.
It is crucial to check spellings and proofread the article again and again. Bad spelling will not only ruin credibility, it will damage your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as the search engines will have difficulty recognizing the poor copy. Make sure to check everything before posting it.
Add value to the content and people will be pleased with their web experience.
The real deal
People love it when you reveal about yourself and give a little peek of your life. Being genuine has it perks because it will attract the like-minded personalities. People want to follow people not brands so include something heartfelt in the 'about me' section and maybe add a photo of yourself. Tapping into readers' emotion will encourage loyalty and bring happy followers and visitors to your blog.
Be confident about your work, put in the hours, and blog away!
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