- Look at your blog title. What is it telling your readers? If you are still on a free domain and thinking about moving to self hosted site, think long and hard about your blog name.
- Showcase a clutter free design. Install a premium theme to make it look really professional. You are only looking at one time cost but it will really help your blog stand out. You can easily tweak things to make your design look exactly the way you want.
- Getting your tagline just right is extremely important. It speaks volumes about your blog. It tells the first time visitors what is it about and what’s in it for them. Aim to make it descriptive rather then creative.
- Show your most popular posts on the sidebar. This way your best content is always available for newcomers.
- Add a brief author bio and image to your sidebar. This way anyone landing on it for the first time can see at a glance who writes it. Again emphasize on why you write this blog.
- Place your email sign up form in a prominent position. A top bar works well. Another good position is to add it to your sidebar. Be careful that it is above the fold and the reader doesn’t have to scroll down to find it.
- If you are accepting guest posts, it is a good idea to display your guideless in an easy to locate position. Think about adding a Write for Us or Guest Post Guidelines tab on main navigation. If you accept guest posts by invitation only, say so.
- Make it super easy for your readers to contact you. Add a stand alone Contact Me tab on your main navigation or add this information on your About Me page. Don’t make readers jump hoops to get in touch with you either.
- Work on your About Me page until you are happy with the result. After your home page, this is the most frequently visited page of your blog. It needs to tell the visitor who you are, why you are writing this blog and why should they care. Meaning what makes you qualified to write on this topic. Don’t forget to add your opt-in form.
- Add links to your Social Media profiles on your sidebar. Be consistent with your choice of icons
- Add a subscription form after every post to remind your readers. Add other relevant plug-ins that will display similar posts.
- Work on your About Me page until you are happy with the result. After your home page, this is the most frequently visited page of your blog. It needs to tell the visitor who you are, why you are writing this blog and why should they care. Meaning what makes you qualified to write on this topic. Don’t forget to add your opt-in form.
- Create your ideal reader profiles. Go into detail and write a few personas. Make sure you appeal to at least one type of reader when writing your blog posts.
- Add social share buttons at the end of your posts so that people can share them easily. Don’t add too many to confuse them. Select a few networks that you are active on yourself so you can respond and keep an eye on what’s happening.
- Hook your reader in with an irresistible intro. Perhaps make a startling revelation or share a shocking statistic? Ask a pressing question or say something totally unexpected.
- Practice the principles of effective communication. Blogging is much more about writing. Remember to be clear, concise and connect with your audience.
- Make your content screen friendly. Short paragraphs, subheadings, bulleted lists, images, screen shots and lots of white space. Every single element will go a long way in making it highly scannable.
- Create ‘linkbait’. Examples of these are round up type posts, interview posts, long lists – in short, posts that a lot of people would be interested in linking to. They are excellent ways to build authority and show off some social proof (tweets, likes, comments, links etc).
- Add a relevant call to action to your home page (subscription form) or at the end of your blog posts (Share, comment, link, buy something). Don’t overwhelm readers with unnecessary choices.
- Show that you truly care about your community and always respond to their questions and any relevant comments
- Install Reply Me type plugin. This sends an automatic email when you respond to a comment. The commentator doesn’t have to check any boxes to receive updates. More over, the person only receives the response and not all the comments in the thread. They never miss your response and it helps build engagement
- Add a hire me page if you have any services on sale and list all the details for easy access. Don’t bury this information.
- Offer a freebie to get people to sign up for your newsletter or subscribe to your blog. Nothing entices anyone than a relevant freebie. This can take a form of a short report, an ebook or even a link to a video. Make sure you deliver high value content to get people to sign up.
- Thank your advocates and your biggest supporters. People who always take time out to comment and share your stuff.
- Place testimonials and raving customer feedback on your site to add credibility and authority.
- Have fun. Come across as a positive, passionate and fun loving blogger. Don’t paint a picture of gloom and doom.
HOPE YOU LIKE MY TIPS AND IMPLEMENTED THIS DURING BLOGGING THANK'S FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND VISIT AGAIN AND AGAIN FOR IMPROVING YOUR BLOGGING SKILLS.
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