4 Simple, Yet Effective, Tips for New Bloggers
New to blogging? Or perhaps you’ve been blogging for some time and are looking to spruce up your blog and boost your readership? Whatever your motivation, you’ve probably heard the business advantages of blogging and are therefore ready to jump on the blogging bandwagon and take full advantage of the free ride. With that in mind, here are some tidbits that will help new (and not so new) bloggers with their ventures in blogging.
Keep your blog simple and clean:
First and foremost, keep your blog design light and fresh. While it’s great to include interactive and artistic features on your blog, too much of a good thing is bad. Too many blogs are cluttered with pictures, advertisements, icons, and overwhelmingly bright colored backgrounds and text. This is distracting and headache-inducing for your readers. With so much going on, they’ll feel bombarded with information overload and won’t know where to even begin. A nauseating layout and design will do nothing more than encourage readers to click away in pursuit of something that is more manageable and easy to read. Don’t be afraid of white space! Focus on making your blog easy to navigate and pleasant to read.
Ensure your blog is easy to navigate:
Make sure your landing page welcomes your reader to your blog, explains the theme or “focus” of your blog to your readers, and shows them how to get around and find what they’re looking for. The best way to do this is include a navigation bar at the top of the landing page with clear “categories” or tabs for different subjects/topics (i.e. “About Me,” “About My Business,” “Contact Me,” etc.). Another good practice is to include a short description of yourself, your blog and your business, as well as a photo of yourself, on the right hand side of your blog, so viewers can identify you – the person behind the blog – right away.
Let the real ‘you’ shine through:
People are naturally drawn to blogs that have a human face behind them. Before they commit to reading your blog, they want to know who you are so they can make a personal connection with you. That doesn’t mean that your readers are necessarily looking to make friends with you right off the bat. What it does mean is that they’re looking for similar interests and that personal connection that gives them a reason to want to come back to your blog again and again. Show your readers who you are – include photos and information about yourself and your business.
Take advantage of social media as fuel for you blog:
Twitter is a great catalyst for your blog. If you have a blog, make sure you sign up for a twitter account and tweet your blog posts. The great thing about twitter is that it allows you to “talk” with your readers and form your own little (or big!) community of like-minded people. In other words, twitter is the platform that will drive communication and feed your blog. It should be used to create a following of “friends” that have the potential to become your customers because they share the same interests as you and like to participate in your blogging community. Creating a facebook page is also a great way to encourage your readers to stay connected with your blog, especially if they’re not twitter users or if they don’t read your blog on a daily basis.
Please feel free to share your tips for new bloggers below:
What have you noticed about blogging that has worked for you?
