If you’ve been writing for a while, you’ve probably encountered content style guides, especially when producing material for others. A style guide often includes specifics such as desired content length, language and spelling preferences, how to handle symbols in text and whether to use the Oxford comma. However, you might not have thought of style guides associated with entire blogs.
Does your blog need one? Yes. Keep reading to learn why. Read More
You’ve chosen several topics and angles, picked a content management platform and used your social media profiles to spread the word about how you’re entering the blogging world soon. What’s left? Making sure you know the basics about legal concerns that could arise when you’re a blogger.
Please Note: We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice! Just some things to consider learning more about and looking into as your blog grows. Read More
Knowing how and where to use keywords can be confusing. Google seems to change the way it utilizes keywords on a consistent basis. Keyword stuffing and similar tactics simply don’t work. However, keywords are still useful
Google gets about 66,659 searches every second, but if you aren’t ranked near the top of the search engine results for a particular search phrase, those searches do you no good at all. If you want to grow your blog, figuring out which keywords your competitors are using and how you can create stronger content is a big step toward success. Read More
Figuring out the best time to monetize your blog isn’t an easy decision. Should you monetize from day one, or would it be better to wait until your site is getting a certain amount of traffic?
Blogging experts such as Darren Rowse recommend going ahead and monetizing your blog from the beginning if that is your plan. Rather than asking if you should monetize early in the blogging process, it might be better to figure out how you would monetize early on, as well as how that might change as your audience grows. Read More
You already know how to use words to your advantage. Each day, you craft engaging blogs that draw readers in time and time again.
But there’s one way to make your posts stand out even more: by incorporating numbers with your words. You’ve probably seen other blogs use this method in titles, with pieces promising “7 Tips” or “10 Ways” to do something valuable for the reader. Using figures and statistics within your articles will make things even more eye-catching.
Why? Because these figures make you seem like more of an authoritative source. If you can back up your claims with numbers, it makes each tip, trick or fact look even more substantial.
With that in mind, here are four of the best practices for using numbers in your blog posts. Read More
Regardless of the size and scope of your blog, you undoubtedly face periodic challenges associated with publishing content frequently enough and keeping readers engaged with topics they enjoy. You can especially relate to that if you have more than one blog or maintain an extremely busy schedule that makes it difficult to devote as much time as you’d like to a blog.
Fortunately, sponsored content and posts written by guest bloggers can fill the void. But then the question arises, how much of that material can you use without annoying readers who prefer original content? You can consider numerous things to reach an answer. Read More
In the late nineties, blogs surfaced as a form of self-expression, and many platforms such as LiveJournal and Blogger allowed young people and mature folks to share their views.
You have probably noticed that many trends of the nineties have come back into popularity, trending on various posts around the blogosphere. Talk about full circle, right?
Blogs stuck around to mature as a vital component of expression, marketing and money making. They generate activity and buzz around a brand. For example, marketers with business blogs boost leads and traffic by 67 percent. With blogging, your brand is present to attract quality leads with continually updated posts.
Still, blogging isn’t a golden ticket to success for all who post. Here are five things every blog post should include to get on the road there. Read More
For every brilliant creative rush, there’s an equally dismal and long rut bloggers fall into without fail — it makes you feel like a lazy failure. You’re not alone. Blogging ruts happen to the best of us.
Six months ago, I fell into a major blogging rut. On days when I wasn’t feeling the rush, I trusted I’d recover, and I made up for it at other moments when the creativity flowed. I’d write an extra post or two and schedule one for later in my editorial calendar — at least I’d attempt to sketch out the idea. Before long, the cursor kept blinking on the blank page. The periods between rushes extended, and I finally accepted that I had a serious case of writer’s block.
Remember the Little Blogging Train That Could? Probably not because it’s a thing I just made up, but the storybook adage applies to your blog: Think you can, and you will. Here’s how to climb your way back out and relaunch your blog more boldly and successfully than before. Read More
You’ve decided to dive into the world of blogging for the first time. While you’ll learn about many different topics and connect with readers from around the world in this endeavor, you will also make early mistakes that could cause your blog to sink before it swims.
You don’t jump right into the pool without checking the temperature, right? Plus, you know, learning how to swim. In this post, we’ll get you floating before you sink. That’s not a fun way to learn for anyone, and a failed first blog is a significant de-motivator to move forward. Believe me, I know.
Here are five first-time mistakes many people make as a blogger, as well as how you can avoid them. Read More
Lists exist in your everyday to-dos and everywhere online. Some sites focus on serving up content solely through listicles, while others use lists within small sections of posts.
Lists are versatile, and that’s why they’re popular among bloggers and readers. Even as a small part of a post, lists make your content more impactful, accessible and actionable to a reader. Here’s how to make better lists and use those to your advantage as a blogger. Read More
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