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A Guide to Building a Successful Blog

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Every day there are thousands of new blogs launched, but only a few get read by more than a several hundred people.  What is it that makes the most successful blogs a success?  There are many variables to that equation.  One thing's for sure, the most successful blogs don't become a hit overnight.  The most successful blogs require creativity, consistency, and just plain hard work. 

A blog can be your company's hub for communicating with its' target audience.  It is where ideas and opinions are exchanged.  Think of it as your opportunity for gaining feedback directly from your customers on your products and services.  A blog can be your vehicle to gain valuable insight into your customers' wants, needs and desires.

When used strategically, blogs can exponentially amplify the effectiveness of your offline advertising.  Your blog is an integral part of your online presence and allows you to demonstrate thought leadership in your industry.  Your blog is a platform that allows you to add value to your online community and be perceived as a trusted resource.

Successful blogging is just as much an art as it is a science.  At Proteus Design Studio, we have put together a guide to building a successful blog.  In the guide you'll find tips for creating useful content, strategies to maximize content distribution, and valuable resources for making social connections.  Please share this information with anyone you know that may find it beneficial.       

 

Top 50 Tips for Creating an Amazing Blog

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

I hope this list gives you some useful ideas so that you can create an amazing blog.

  1. Create a good, unique design
  2. Easy to navigate site
  3. Posts that are Consistent and regular
  4. Content that is helpful and useful
  5. Create blog posts on niche topics that aren’t oversaturated
  6. Original content using your, unique voice
  7. Easy to share content- social media sharing tools/widgets
  8. Comment on other blogs to become known
  9. Make it easy for readers to subscribe
  10. Organization with categories and sub-categories
  11. Content variety including multimedia
  12. Functionality- the ability to interact
  13. Announce your latest blog posts on Twitter
  14. Write powerful headlines for your articles
  15. Don’t sensor yourself- Be You!
  16. Monetize your blog- Banner Ads, Text Ads, etc.
  17. Reference and link to other blogs
  18. Engage with commenter’s
  19. Who, what , where, why, when format
  20. Use storytelling
  21. Conciseness and brevity
  22. Inspirational thoughts and ideas
  23. Accuracy, sourcing, and references
  24. Provide examples and demonstrations
  25. Blog Post Topic diversity
  26. Imagery and Illustration
  27. Humor and occasional fun
  28. Quotes and Acknowledgement
  29. Controversial discussion
  30. Sticky CTA’s (Call-to-Action) Entice visitors to return
  31. Participate on LinkedIn “Answers”
  32. Distribute posts using social bookmark sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Etc.)
  33. Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
  34. Scannable Posts
  35. Create relevant “Top 10” Lists
  36. Create “How To” articles
  37. Write a “series” post
  38. Don’t duplicate other people’s content
  39. Provide a picture of yourself and an “About Me”
  40. Optimize the blog for the Search Engines (SEO practices)
  41. Use Squidoo and Hubspot to write articles that point back to your blog
  42. Use Youtube to host and embed video to your blog
  43. Use Google Analytics to Analyze and Improve Traffic Demographics
  44. Write content that will still be relevant tomorrow
  45. Offer a download (free E-book or Guide) to build a e-mail distribution list
  46. Develop a personal brand
  47. Add your Blog Link in your E-mail Signature
  48. Tweet useful news articles on Twitter besides your blog posts
  49. Don’t over promote yourself or your products
  50. Submit your blog to blog directories

If you have questions on blogs, blogging, or social media in general, please contact our website design company.