In this article we are going to see some useful tips when it comes to creating a quality blog that can stand out among the thousands of existing blogs.
One of the great advances in terms of dissemination of knowledge is the appearance of blogs. Thanks to blogs, many people can dump their knowledge, experiences, graphic materials, and in short, everything they want to share. This has been possible thanks to the ease offered by blog publishing systems, which have a simple and intuitive interface that requires practically no knowledge of web design.
Due to the advent of advertising on websites, it has also become possible for bloggers to profit from this activity. Blogs have multiplied in recent years, causing a true information revolution. There is practically no topic on which some blogs have not been published, although, as can be imagined, those topics that gather the taste of the majority are the most numerous.
Due to the large number of blogs out there, it becomes clear that not all of them can be successful. In order not to create a failure, it is necessary to take into account a series of guidelines that every good blogger must know and follow in detail.
Tips for having a successful blog
A blog is a website, so the same rules that are valid for classic websites are also valid for blogs. We can say that a good blog must meet the following conditions:
- It must be visually attractive.
- It must have quality content.
- Your reading has to be enjoyable and fun.
- It must facilitate access to the contents, for example with good web navigability.
- Its update must be periodic and permanent.
We have all entered a site that we do not find pleasant, whose web design appears careless. This first impression that visitors receive is very important. Visitors take very little time to determine if what they see is what they want or like. Therefore, in addition to following the rest of the guidelines, we must take care of the presentation of the blog.
Thanks to the application of web templates that can be found all over the web and that in many cases are free, it is possible to achieve an adequate general presentation of the blog. Regarding the application of templates, care must be taken that the design is consistent with the type of content that is published. Obviously, a blog dedicated to sports commentary cannot be presented in the same way as one dedicated to fashion.
But the visual aspect of the blog also depends on how the posts are published. In addition to facilitating reading, the division of the texts into paragraphs of moderate lengths also contributes to the visual presentation. Another important aspect is how the images and videos are located; All this must be done keeping in mind the principles of design.
This is perhaps the most important point to take into account, since by itself it can make the difference between the success and failure of a venture. The blog is fundamentally a collection of content. This content is what users are looking for when they enter blogs, so the quality of these is of vital importance.
There are a number of basic rules that must be taken into account when posting on a blog.
The content should be entertaining and constructive. The visitor must find what he is looking for, and in addition to being useful to him, he must entertain himself with reading. From this it is clear that it is necessary that all written material should be done in a pleasant style, with simple and colloquial language.
The visitors will come from very different places and with very particular regionalisms, so that in order for the textual content to be understandable to everyone, a neutral language must be used, exempt from regional uses that make understanding difficult.
Everything published on the blog must be original. Copying content not only constitutes ethically reprehensible behavior and also illegal (unless said content is in the public domain), but it is also a highly inconvenient practice, since sooner or later our visitors will end up realizing that we are mere plagiarists and they will end up not coming back. But in addition, the originality of the web content guarantees that our visitors will have access to unique content that they will not find anywhere else.
In the next installment we will see more tips to make a good blog, such as communication with visitors and other bloggers.
Blog content should be updated regularly
In such a way that a visitor who returns to the blog, finds new content. Updating the blog is a very important requirement as it can ensure the loyalty of the blog readers. Bearing in mind that blog users tend to read them preferably from Monday to Friday and in the morning, it is a good practice to publish on these days and early in the morning, so that when visitors enter they have the new ones available. contents.
The blogger must interact with his visitors
One of the aspects that makes blogs more interesting is the possibility that users are given to leave comments. It is also possible to implement some other elements that allow the user to give their opinion, such as post ratings, surveys, games, etc.
This interactivity should not only be encouraged by providing the necessary means, but the blogger himself should actively participate in it. This causes a great amenity of the site, even in the case that the comments are negative. Keep in mind that those people who did not like or found what was published useful will simply leave without a trace. Those who make negative comments show that they are interested in the subject, so we must learn to handle everything related to negative comments.
Participate in other blogs and forums
One of the best known practices to promote a website is the participation in the comments of other blogs and forums. If this practice is not carried out systematically (which is considered spam), it can be useful, beyond making our site known, to meet other bloggers, exchange experiences and participate in the network of bloggers who interact on their blogs..
We must bear in mind that the comments we issue must be of good quality. No one will want to visit the blog of a person whose comments do not show that it is an author of good content. On the contrary, whoever reads a good comment may feel attracted to read the content published by the author of said comments.
In these comments, the same practices that are used in the publication of the contents of the own blog must be followed. From the signature edition itself (in the event that the site has it enabled) to the care in the writing, it must have features that make the published content attractive. In all cases, the use of a confrontational style should be avoided, as this can have counterproductive effects.
Other Best Practices
On many occasions, we can see how some bloggers limit the possibilities of interacting with their visitors. This is detrimental in most cases. The vast majority of users are comfortable with the possibility of leaving their mark on the website they visit.
Allowing users to interact with each other is also beneficial, since it enables the generation of a community of users in the blog environment. The blogger is obliged to participate in these visitor communities, to encourage and encourage dialogue.
It is also very useful to offer our visitors the possibility of showing our content to our visitors’ acquaintances. It is very common to find the “Send to a friend” button, with which said content can be sent to a person known to our visitor.
An interesting utility to facilitate the access of our users to the blog, is to place a button that allows copying the link of our site in the bookmarks of your browser. Everything that enables the easy return of our visitors must be implemented.
Blog positioning and promotion
The most common form of access to content by users is the use of search engines, so we must follow all the necessary steps to achieve good search engine positioning.
Other ways should also be followed to publicize our blog. In order to increase the number of visits to our blog, web promotion policies must be implemented, some of which, such as participation in other blogs and forums, we have already described in this article.
