When you are starting a new blog, there are several things that you need to plan from the outset. What will your blog be called? What kinds of topics will it cover? How often do you intend to post? What will your writing style be? The rest of this article will look at those aspects in more detail.
Picking a Name For Your Blog
When writing a blog, the first question you need to consider is whether the blog is primarily centered around your own writing or a specific topic. Many bloggers name their blogs after themselves such as 'Betty Boop' and others will name their blog based on the topic such as 'Cat Grooming World'.
Your choice here will depend on the aims of your blog. If you intend to use it to promote some kind of personal service then using your name can be a good idea because it will always remain relevant even if your services differ over time. If you're blogging about a specifc topic and you intend to monetize it via external methods then it can be better to use a name that is related to the topic.
Choosing Your Blog Topics
Many new bloggers start their first blog by just blogging about anything that comes into their head and end up with a broad range of largely unrelated topics. This is not all that efficient as many readers simply don't have time to wade through posts they are not interested in and it makes it more difficult to target monetization efforts.
By clearly defining the topics you intend to blog about at the outset you can organise your posts into categories which will make your blog more organised and it will also be easier for new visitors to find what they are looking for.
Coming Up With a Blog Posting Schedule
Often the advice to new bloggers is to make sure that when starting a new blog you publish a post every single day in the beginning. The idea behind this strategy is that more posts equates to more chances for people to find you. Whilst this might be true, very frequent posting may make it difficult for some readers to keep up with you.
In my experience it doesn't really matter how often you post or on what days of the week etc. The most important factor is that whatever schedule you set for yourself, you try to stick to it and remain consistent. There are very successful bloggers that only post once per week and their readers look forward to reading their weekly post.
A common trend amongst new bloggers is for them to start out full of enthusiasm and throw themselves into and crank out tons of posts in a short space of time. However over time the blogger finds this enthusiasm waning or perhaps he simply runs out of material to post. The end result is that the blog looks like its dying and readers move elsewhere!
Personally, I would suggest the opposite approach - start off slowly with a nice gentle schedule that you know you can stick to. Over time if you feel you wish to do more then slowly increase it but don't do it the other way around!
Do You Have a Particular Writing Style?
I have often read advice that suggests that you should establish who your target audience is (this is good) and then alter your writing style to fit and that part is not so good. People will read your blog for its content and if you try to write in a style that is not comfortable for you it will show. Your blog is a reflection if you, your thoughts, opinions and passions and so on. Let the real you shine!
My advice is simply to blog in your own style, whatever that means! Some people are very conservative, some people use very colourful language, others like to be controversial, others are very dry and matter-of-fact. Whatever you are, simply be who you are and write as yourself.
Similarly, I see people asking questions such as, how long should my posts be? This again is down to personal style though it is perhaps influenced by your posting frequency. Short, snappy posts may be best if you post very often but if you only post once per week you'll probably want to publish something with a bit more substance!
You can never please all the people all the time anyway so trying to change your posting style to suit one particular group is futile. The people who like your style will hang around and those who don't will go elsewhere. This is the simple truth and it's not something to worry about at all! - 2364
Picking a Name For Your Blog
When writing a blog, the first question you need to consider is whether the blog is primarily centered around your own writing or a specific topic. Many bloggers name their blogs after themselves such as 'Betty Boop' and others will name their blog based on the topic such as 'Cat Grooming World'.
Your choice here will depend on the aims of your blog. If you intend to use it to promote some kind of personal service then using your name can be a good idea because it will always remain relevant even if your services differ over time. If you're blogging about a specifc topic and you intend to monetize it via external methods then it can be better to use a name that is related to the topic.
Choosing Your Blog Topics
Many new bloggers start their first blog by just blogging about anything that comes into their head and end up with a broad range of largely unrelated topics. This is not all that efficient as many readers simply don't have time to wade through posts they are not interested in and it makes it more difficult to target monetization efforts.
By clearly defining the topics you intend to blog about at the outset you can organise your posts into categories which will make your blog more organised and it will also be easier for new visitors to find what they are looking for.
Coming Up With a Blog Posting Schedule
Often the advice to new bloggers is to make sure that when starting a new blog you publish a post every single day in the beginning. The idea behind this strategy is that more posts equates to more chances for people to find you. Whilst this might be true, very frequent posting may make it difficult for some readers to keep up with you.
In my experience it doesn't really matter how often you post or on what days of the week etc. The most important factor is that whatever schedule you set for yourself, you try to stick to it and remain consistent. There are very successful bloggers that only post once per week and their readers look forward to reading their weekly post.
A common trend amongst new bloggers is for them to start out full of enthusiasm and throw themselves into and crank out tons of posts in a short space of time. However over time the blogger finds this enthusiasm waning or perhaps he simply runs out of material to post. The end result is that the blog looks like its dying and readers move elsewhere!
Personally, I would suggest the opposite approach - start off slowly with a nice gentle schedule that you know you can stick to. Over time if you feel you wish to do more then slowly increase it but don't do it the other way around!
Do You Have a Particular Writing Style?
I have often read advice that suggests that you should establish who your target audience is (this is good) and then alter your writing style to fit and that part is not so good. People will read your blog for its content and if you try to write in a style that is not comfortable for you it will show. Your blog is a reflection if you, your thoughts, opinions and passions and so on. Let the real you shine!
My advice is simply to blog in your own style, whatever that means! Some people are very conservative, some people use very colourful language, others like to be controversial, others are very dry and matter-of-fact. Whatever you are, simply be who you are and write as yourself.
Similarly, I see people asking questions such as, how long should my posts be? This again is down to personal style though it is perhaps influenced by your posting frequency. Short, snappy posts may be best if you post very often but if you only post once per week you'll probably want to publish something with a bit more substance!
You can never please all the people all the time anyway so trying to change your posting style to suit one particular group is futile. The people who like your style will hang around and those who don't will go elsewhere. This is the simple truth and it's not something to worry about at all! - 2364
About the Author:
Caroline Middlebrook has been blogging in the Internet marketing niche since August 2007 and her popular blog earns a 4-figure revenue-stream each month. She teaches people how blogs make money and has downloads of her free guides & courses on her blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment