Do you want to be a better blogger?
I have noticed that the most successful bloggers online all take similar steps to becoming great bloggers. There is no magic secret that they use to be successful, they all just use they same tips and techniques that work.
Anyone can become a successful blogger, you just need to know what you are doing. This is why I have put this simple list together. This lengthy list highlights some of the more important points to concentrate on whilst growing your blog. Not all of these points need to be accomplished, and there is no specific order that they need to be done in.
Here are my 70 tips on becoming a better blogger…
General Tips
1. Domain Name – Get yourself your own Domain Name! Having your own domain name (e.g. YourBlog.com) is infinitely better than having a rubbish free one (e.g. ‘YourBlog.Blogspot.com’). Not only will it look more professional, but you will attract much more traffic. The best domain names are descriptive of what your website is about, for example ‘OnlineIncomeTeacher.com’ is about teaching people how to make money online. It only costs about $10 to register a domain for a whole year. I used GoDaddy to register my website domains and I’ve never had a problem with them.
2. Website Hosting – Host your site with a professional Hosting company! I know what you’re thinking… “I can’t afford a website at the moment and why should I have to pay when there are sites like Blogger.com?” The truth is, you never really own your content with free hosting sites and it could be taken away in an instant. All your hard work will be gone and you have absolutely no control. Search engines often ignore these sites all together and visitors may doubt your credibility! You get much more control over your website by using a professional hosting company and it looks a lot better to your site visitors. I use HostGator to host my sites. It only costs me about $4 a month, which is a bargain because you easily make that back with your site once it is up and running!
3. WordPress – You’re using WordPress for your blog, aren’t you? WordPress is the best blogging platform available to use to manage your blog site, and best of all it’s completely FREE!
4. WordPress Theme – Use a good quality WordPress theme! Sites like WooThemes & StudioPressoffer high quality WordPress themes to its users. This makes your site look and feel more professional to your readers, which will cause them to trust you more. People do judge a book by its cover, so having a sharp looking website helps readers stick around for longer.
5. Publish blog posts regularly!
6. Spend time creating unique, quality blog content! Content is King after all.
7. Use Google Analytics! Track your site progress and see where you need to improve. Check out our beginners guide to Analytics.
8. Give your blog it’s own unique voice… You! People are going to be reading what YOU write, so make sure that it is interesting and different in some way to the competition.
9. Build relationships with your readers! Let your readers see the REAL you. Blogging is more personal than conventional websites. Be honest and share a few stories from your own life. By being real and personal, you will build a relationship with your readers based on loyalty and trust.
10. Persistence is the key! Give your blog at least 6 months before you start expecting great returns on all of your hard work. Believe me, it will pay off in the long run!
11. Ask your visitors for suggestions! They can help you to improve your website content, because at the end of the day, it’s all about your readers.
12. Look out for trends within your niche!
13. Write about something that you love! If you don’t enjoy the subject that you are writing about, you will not put the required effort in to succeed.
14. Have fun! Blogging doesn’t always have to be serious. Feel free to make your posts fun and entertaining.
Pages You Should Have
15. Include an “About Us” page! Think of this page as an advert for your site. Sell yourself, your qualities, past experiences, information about you, your story and how you got started. The better this page is, the more likely people are to trust what you are writing about.
16. Make a Subscription Page!
17. Make a Confirmation Page! People will be redirected back to your site to the confirmation page, after they subscribe.
18. Create Comparison Pages! When you are promoting a certain product on your website, it can be beneficial to create a comparison page that lists other products that are similar. People like to shop around to find the best deal, so if you can let them do that whilst on your website it will benefit you.
19. Let people contact you via a Contact Page! Provide a clear page that lists all of the ways that readers can get in contact with you to ask you questions, seek advice, etc.
20. Provide an Advertising Space Page! If you offer advertising space on your website, then you will need a page detailing how someone would go about securing it.
21. Make an Earnings Disclaimer Page! If you are one of these people that talks about money and how much they are earning, then you need to provide an earnings disclaimer page. This is just to stop you from getting into trouble.
22. Provide an FAQ Page for your readers! You will find that people tend to ask the same sort of questions repeatedly. Having an FAQ page that helps to answer these questions is very helpful for people.
23. Make Category Pages! I split my posts up into different categories and created a page for each;writing, making money, traffic, etc. This way, people that are only interested in the making money posts can easily find them, without having to search through all of my posts.
24. Create a Product List Page! The aim of this page is to display all of your recommended and highest converting products to your visitors. This way, they can easily see the things that you use, which can encourage them to invest in them themselves.
25. Create a customized 404 page!
Blog Content Tips
26. Write with your reader in mind! Imagine that you are chatting with them over lunch. Write as though they are sat right in front of you and stay away from over the top technical terms.
27. Learn to write great headlines!
28. Create Top Lists! e.g. Top 50 Earning Blogs, Top 50 Valued Websites, etc.
29. Use numbers in your titles to attract attention! e.g. 10 Steps To Write Amazing Content, 6 Unique Website Content Ideas, 8 Ways To Improve Your Blog Writing, etc.
30. Create a “How To” articles! e.g. How To Successfully Monetize Your Blog, How To Blog For Money, etc.
32. Edit your posts ruthlessly! Bad spelling & grammar are one of the easiest ways of putting people off.
33. Turn your articles into podcasts!
34. Turn your articles into videos using PowerPoint to create an entertaining slide show. Submit your video to all of the popular video sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo.
35. Turn your articles into downloadable PDFs/ebooks.
36. Use Infographics!
Getting Traffic To Your Site
37. Submit your site to blog directories!
38. Submit to blog carnivals!
39. Use Email Marketing! Encourage people back to your site by promoting your latest post/promotion/competition.
40. Sign up to Google+! Attract traffic to your blog with Google Plus.
41. Sign up to LinkedIn! Build your business with LinkedIn and drive traffic to your site.
42. Sign up to Twitter! Use Twitter to promote your site.
43. Create a Facebook Page! Make a profitable Facebook Fan Page and promote your blog.
44. Sign up for Feedburner! Let readers subscribe to your RSS feed on your site. A good way to do this is to place an RSS feed link at the bottom of every post.
45. Use On-Page SEO Techniques & Off-Page SEO Techniques to improve your rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs)!
46. Use internal linking within your posts!
47. Optimise your pages & posts using targeted Google keywords!
48. Get involved in the blogging community! Being a blogger is about being part of a larger community. Leave comments and post links to other peoples blogs and get to know your favourite bloggers.
49. Encourage social media sharing & bookmarking! You should make sure to include social media links before and after each post, which allow readers to share what they have read with other people via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.
50. Install Google XML Sitemaps plug-in! This plug-in will enable you to automatically generate aGoogle sitemap for your blog.
51. Become a Guest Blogger! Write guest post articles for other blogs. This helps to spread the word about you and your site to other people that will be interested.
52. Invite your readers to submit guest post articles to your site!
53. Conduct interviews with industry experts/other bloggers within your niche! This is one of the best ways to create original, engaging content.
54. Translate your site into multiple languages! This is one tactic that few sites are taking advantage of. Simply installing a plug-in that allows translation of your pages is a great way of attracting more traffic.
55. Submit exclusive content to high-profile sites.
Top Ways To Monetize Your Blog
56. Pick a profitable niche to blog about! Learn how to select a blog topic that makes the most money.
57. Treat your blog like a business!
58. Passive Income!
59. Recursive Income!
60. Affiliate Marketing!
61. Google Adsense!
62. Product Reviews!
63. Make & sell your own product!
64. Write an ebook!
65. Membership site!
66. Email Marketing!
67. Job Boards!
68. Donations!
69. Sell your Website!
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