When you first start to blog, there are a few blogging basics that you should never overlook. It is every bloggers wish that their posts and blog will go viral, but unless the basics are taken care of, this will always remain a dream!
Whilst every blogger wants success, it doesn’t always happen. Even the experienced bloggers go back to basics every now and then to ensure that their blogging is staying on track. If you have never really spent much time considering the basics, now would be a good time to start.
Blogging Basics Rule 1: Use A Great Headline
What is the first thing that people see when they come to your blog? Absolutely, it’s the title! Your title is either going to draw readers into the post, or fail to gain their interest.
Headlines also work great in social media sites where people often browse through until they see something they like.
A recent post I wrote on another site was titled “Healthy Chocolate Fudge Recipe”. It received over 2,000 stumbles in 24 hours. What was it that caught people’s attention? Well we all want to be healthy and we all love chocolate, but you don’t often see those two words together! Instantly people are intrigued and want to know more. And yes…I’m not kidding, it does include chocolate and it IS healthy!
Your headline could make the difference between someone reading your post or not, so choose this wisely!
Blogging Basics Rule 2: Use Pictures
Aside from all the writing that needs to go into a blog post, you should never under estimate the importance of pictures! Pictures should not just be used for the post either, as they are great way to catch people’s attention on social media.
Even Twitter allows you to add a picture to your tweet, which is incredibly useful when you only have 140 characters! The saying “a picture says a thousand words” is well known for a reason!
Blogging Basics Rule 3: It must be shareable
Are you ‘hoping’ that your blog post will be shared, but not actually giving any means for people to do this? The easier it is for people to share your content, the more likely it will go viral. If your post can be tapped into several social media sites, and all your followers share your content on each of these sites, then the post has a lot more chance of being seen.
Blogs that use sharing buttons are far more likely to have their content shared than those that don’t. Using these buttons is a real no brainer!
Blogging Basics Rule 4: Rinse And Repeat
If you find yourself with a post that has been very popular, what should you do next? Follow it up with more!!! Obviously you are not going to repeat what you have just posted, but there would have been something in that post that caught people’s attention.
Provide your new and existing followers with more of what they have loved, and let the same thing happen again!
Don’t forget to thank your followers either. It can be very easy to sit back and see all the shares happening without actually taking the time out to thank people for their interaction. You can not obviously thank each individual that shares a popular blog post, but you can post an update on your profile appreciating and acknowledging the efforts made.
Check your traffic reports to see what impact the blog post had on your rankings and stats. You can use this data to analyse what has happened and to help you learn for your future endeavors.
Blogging Basics Rule 5: Comments
It is always wise to encourage readers to leave comments on your site. Comments can make a difference to your traffic levels, so ALWAYS respond to comments that people leave you. The comment may not always be complimentary, but responding allows you to open the communication, and who knows where this could lead!
I’m certainly not saying that if you undertake these blogging basics you will experience an incredibly successful blog. What it will do however is set you up well, and give you more chance to experience it. When you do, look back over what happened and take notice of the things that helped your blog’s success. Then do more of the same!
Do you have any other blogging basics that you would add to this list? Please leave your thoughts with us below.
