The Blogging Blueprint

Keeping track of flash-in-the-pan blogs is as impossible as counting grains of sand at the beach. Dozens of blogs fade away in a short time because they fail to follow a formula perpetuated by successful bloggers. What sets these successful blogs apart? They follow a common blueprint for building a better blog.

Starting a blog is a simple task. Creating a successful following is a little more complicated, but it’s far from impossible if you follow an effective blogging blueprint.

1. Study successful blogs

The best way to see what makes a blog successful is to see one in action. Pick a small numbers to observe and make a note why those blogs are popular. Do they offer regular original content? Does each post weave the text with relevant visual media and graphics? How often do they interact with followers through comments and social media? What you learn can serve as a template for how you approach constructing your own blog.

2. Build buzz for your blog

It’s impossible to get anyone to care enough to read your blog if no one knows it even exists. Marketing is as important as writing to a blogger. You need to find your target audience and alert them to your presence. Social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook offer a great avenue for promoting your blog because you can reach thousands of people instantly.

3. Create a content strategy

A blog is only as good as its content. Creating a content strategy can be helpful in a number of ways. It gives you a chance to decide when you will post, how often you will post and topics for your blog posts. Blogs work best when they offer a steady stream of fresh content. It’s also a good idea to focus your blog content in a particular niche that holds your interest. A blog that tries to go in too many directions will get stuck in neutral. Once you create a content plan that works, you can go it alone or hire blog writers to help you out.

4. Get involved on other blogs

Carving out an active presence in the blogosphere is a great way to get noticed. Bloggers form a tight-knit community. They often comment on each other’s blogs and promote those respective blogs on their own site. Make an effort to comment on other blogs within your niche. Include a link back to your blog homepage through your username. It will involve you in the conversation and encourage others to check out your blog to see what you have to say.

5. Make your blog user friendly

Blogs that are easy to navigate and searchable gain a step on the competition. A critical mistake amateur bloggers make is getting too fancy with their blog design. Make a point of keeping search boxes, archives, categories, feeds and other important features visible to even the most causal follower so it does not become a headache just to read one blog post.