Tag: successful blogging

Blogging, like many other forms of content creation, has a spoiled reputation.

When you hear the word blog, an online diary probably comes to mind. Merriam-Webster even defines a blog as “a web site on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities, and experiences.” And many blogs exist solely from that purpose. Why? Because it’s comfortable. It’s easy.

It’s also often boring, if you don’t know the person well enough to understand their voice and why the topics they’re writing about are important to them. If you start sensing others are bored with your blog … well, you’ll probably start getting bored, too.

Before you let yourself give up, check out these ingredients for a blogging strategy that will help you continue writing new content without feeling repetitive or uninteresting.

Navigate Away From Your Comfort Zone

Have you ever thought about what draws people to a breaking news article? The headline, mostly; but what gets them to believe what they’re reading? Sources. Interviews. Someone who knows what they’re talking about, recruited to back up the article’s claims.

Honestly, many writers blog because they can stick to writing about whatever they want without having to dig deeper to uncover new information. These are the blogs you’ll find that lean more toward consistent personal narrative, and there is nothing wrong with that. That angle serves as an effective outlet for many writers just trying to refine their skills and figure out their literary niche.

Even if you’re not an experienced journalist, once you have a good idea of what you want your blog to focus on, interview someone. Honestly, if you’re just starting out as a “food blogger” and want to interview a friend who likes to cook, no one’s going to slam the credibility of your source. Get into the habit of doing things that challenge you early on in your blogging “career.” Launch yourself out of that same old blogging routine and try something new.

Produce Credible Content That Interests You

Some “professional” bloggers and copywriters will argue that writing only about what interests you won’t make you successful. What makes a successful writer, they admit, is releasing content people actually want to read.

That doesn’t mean you have to stick to writing only about topics that interest other people, though, just to coax readers subtly over to your blog. Another element that makes you a successful writer is producing readable, well-researched, well-written content, and if you don’t have much interest in what you’re writing about, you won’t put in the extra effort to make sure it stands out.

Write about what you want to write about. It’s your blog; you get to decide what goes in it. That decision changes the quality of your content. How?

Let’s say you love chemistry. You love chemistry so much that you write an 800-word post about hydrogen bonding. Your words, though centered on a topic some might not understand, will leap off the screen much more readily if you’re enthusiastic about it. If people are interested, they’ll stick around. Which brings us to our final point.

Focus On the Mission, Not Who’s Following

One mistake many bloggers make when they’re starting out is writing about anything and everything they want without a solid foundation. They might write about current events or products, just to gain a larger following. If that’s the kind of blog you want to run, go for it; there are plenty of successful ones out there.

A lack of focus—think about the angle of an article or the main plot in a book—won’t help you if you want more people to read what you’re writing. Everyone wants more followers. Before you start thinking of your blog as something to market to a specific audience, you have to know who that specific audience is. This requires the formation of a topic, and if you’re more business-minded, an “unofficial” mission statement.

Why are you writing this blog? What theme of messages are you trying to get across to your readers? Once you can define that, you’re ready to produce content that fits into that spectrum. Then you can focus on dishing that content out to people you hope will want to read it.

A blog doesn’t have to fit it stereotype, and by writing content that challenges and interests you, you’ll be able to convey a steady stream of messages more followers will want to continue reading.

This recipe to success gives you the basics. You can add anything else you want to cater it to your blog’s needs. The important thing is that you’re thinking of a strategy, and making it work for you.