7 Things Nobody Tells You About Successful Blogging

#1. There’s A Lot More To Blogging Than

Writing:

Writing is only half the battle. A lot of people who
start blogs love to write, and they think blogging is
a natural fit. They figure they can make money
hand over fist – because all they have to do is
write. There is a lot more to that component.
Instead of thinking about it in terms of writing,
think about it in terms of content creation:

Adding pictures
Adding captions
Embedding videos
Reviewing products
Provide case studies / tutorials
And then offer your unique perspective.
Search engines look favorably on blogs that have
rich media content and a broad overview of a
subject. Your unique perspective, however, is the
finishing touch, and true essence, of your blog.
That’s what will cause readers to follow you and
search engines to take note of your popularity.
Be as authentic and transparent as possible,
people will trust and respect you for it. Forget the
fluff.
Tracy Raftl from The Love Vitamin is a great
example of somebody giving her brand a very
unique essence online.

#2. SEO Is Still Important:

Even though you’re just maintaining a blog, and
not an “official” website, you still need to keep
SEO in mind. Why? Your blog posts can show up in
Google search results just like specific web pages.
Ideally, you want people linking to your blog
posts.
You should never use black hat SEO techniques,
which can compromise the long-term success of
your blog. Instead, focus on creating awesome
content and the keywords will naturally find their
ways into your posts.
If people are linking to your blog posts, that’s a
great combination. If you want to ensure your
posts see some search engine traffic, create blog
posts based around keywords – from doing
keyword research. But never keyword stuff. Just
write a natural blog post that happens to include
the keyword a couple of times.
Here are 16 keyword research resources for total
niche domination.

#3. Inconsistency Will Cost You Followers:

One of the main goals of blogs is to generate
followers. However, if you don’t update your blog
on a consistent basis, readers will never know
when to expect new posts. They’ll have no reason
to check back if they don’t expect to see
something new. Having an army of loyal blog
followers is like money in the bank. Make sure
you update on a daily, every other day, or weekly
basis. However, you decide to update, be
consistent about it.
If you’re consistent with your updates and still
need/want more followers, check out the top 10
traffic tips straight from Michael Dunlop.

#4. Build An Email List:

Most blog owners don’t actively solicit the opt-in
emails of their followers. If you do, however,
you’ll be ahead of the curve.
Every month or so, send out an email to your list
with a really great blog post. This will remind your
subscribers that you’re still around and updating
the site.
If every search engine visitor that comes to your
website is just lost (and nobody puts in their
email), then you have no way to follow up unless
they choose to come back and keep reading
again. They might forget, though – so emailing
them periodically remind them you’re still alive.
If you struggle to build an email list, PopUp
Domination is my favorite list building resource as
it’s proven time and time again to increase
subscriber optins by over 500%.

#5. Social Media Isn’t A Choice:

If you want your blog to be successful, make
money, and retain followers, then social media is
essential. The goal is that your social media
accounts point at your blog and your blog points
at your social media accounts.
This way, visitors coming from either source will
find the other one. Make sure every social media
account uses the name of your blog, or your
website.
If you’re struggling with your online presence, I’d
definitely check out the 10 reasons why you suck
at social media.

#6. Create Shareable Content:

Go above and beyond the call of duty.
If you’re not creating shareable content, then
people aren’t going to share it. You can ask them
to share it, but they won’t if it’s not worthwhile. If
people aren’t sharing your posts, then search
engines like Google aren’t going to rate them
favorably.
You can’t just write posts – you have to make
them great. That said, these are my top 10 writing
tips for more engaging content.

#7. Creating Valuable Content Isn’t Enough:

We all remember when we were little kids and our
parents tried to tell us to do something. We didn’t
listen, and now that we look back we realize that
often times they knew best. The same is true
when creating valuable content on the web.
You can provide great information that’s intended
to help people, but unless you make it palatable
to your audience, no one will like or share your
blog posts. You have to imbue your posts with
excitement, images, and catchy headlines – and
you have to get them shared on social media.