What is your blog about? Cooking? Parenting? Crafting? How to do’s? Whatever it is, make sure it's "you." Maintaining a blog is a lot of work, and if you don't love blogging enough to always write about several days a week -- until the end of time (or you quit) -- don't start. If you don't have the passion for your topic, you don't have much to offer your readers... and, they will soon be gone.
I personally LOVE coming up with ideas and giving out relevant information. I always have. It may sound weird to some, but that is "me." I’m always writing down whatever comes to my head or whatever I read somewhere or whatever ideas buzz up on my head. That's how much I like it. People ask me all the time if I ever worry that I'll run out of things to write about or information to share on the blog, and I can easily say "no." I feel confident that I can spew out ideas for the rest of my life. It’s just who God has made me. Clearly, a blog about ideas and sharing information would suit me well. And it has.
So, think about where your passion lies, and blog about it. One word of caution I have is to not get caught up in the linky party or giveaway trap in an effort to gain readers. I've seen several great blogs quickly go downhill because they became obsessed with hosting giveaways. Their content suffers and I don't know about everyone else, but I take off in a flash. See ya. It's fun to host giveaways every once in a while. Its fun to host give away every once in a while. But unless you have a blog dedicated to those things, that is not why the majority of your readers are coming to you. They are coming for your content; to revel in your passion. Don't leave them hanging. What you want are readers who LOVE reading what you write about, not readers who sign up because they have to in order to enter the giveaways. That's not how you build an audience. Anyway, my whole point is, write about what you love and stay committed to your blog.
Be Different
The truth is that whatever you choose to blog about, there are probably already a million other blogs on the same topic. So spend some time thinking about ways your blog can be different than the rest. If you're doing a craft blog, see if you can come up with some ideas that most other craft blogs don't do. Recently I stumbled on a craft blog that was dedicated to little boy crafts. I thought that was so clever, because really... lots of the crafty stuff we see is more appealing to little girls. Look at other blogs in your same genre and change yours up a little. Maybe if you're doing a cooking blog, you could host monthly reader submissions, where they submit their recipe for, say, beans cake. You try it, pick a winner, and give them a prize! That sounds fun... never heard of anyone else doing it. Ya know what I mean? Maybe the premise of your blog will be basically the same, but just see what you can do to come up with something different, like the submission contest I just mentioned.
For me, I knew there were a ton of women's blogs giving their readers "ideas." Nothing new. But, I decided to do a few things different. First, I wanted to have at least 30 posts in a week, not just a couple times a week. Second, I wanted to give even new and undiscovered bloggers a chance to share their ideas on my blog. As opposed to only accepting guest posts from superstar bloggers. I wanted each day's post topic to be a surprise to the reader. So, that's that. That is what my goals were as far as "being different means"
Write Good Content
Write content that YOU would want to read. Avoid the painstakingly obvious. It stinks to get really excited about a post title, only to find the content obvious and worthless. Hmmm... I don't know, I imagine that someone, somewhere, could think that about any given post I write. You'll never please everyone. But really, put effort into being creative. Let's say you are doing a post called "5 Great Games for Kids." In my mind, I'm like, "sweet!" I open the post, and the games suggested are Ring-a-Round-the-Rosie, Mother, May I?, Simon Says, Hide and Seek, and London Bridge. "Okay, really??? That's what you have to offer??" No, thanks. See what I mean? The Internet (and, magazines, for that matter) tend to be full of the obvious. Make your blog stand out with GOOD, creative, helpful, inspiring content.
Write As If You Are Talking
I love reading a blog where the personality of the author shines right through their written word. You feel like they're right in front of you, sharing their thoughts. The posts are more engaging and easier to read... is that redundant? Either way, let your personality shine through. Let your readers build a connection with YOU while they read your content.
If, for some reason, you have really bad spelling (and won't use spell check), can't remember the difference between "lose" and "loose," or have a hard time organizing your thoughts, maybe you should wait on the blog thing. Readers are fairly forgiving of misplaced commas and the like. But don't you dare mix up "their," "they're," and "there." You'll be in a world of trouble from the grammar police. There all over the internet.
Network
Remember; never find yourself too cool to respond to your readers' questions and comments. Your readers will love to hear from you, and will be impressed that you addressed them specifically. Interact with them on your social media networks, such as Twitter or Facebook. Visit their blogs, if you can, and leave a comment. Be complimentary and humble, and all of those good things. Not only does it make you a better person, it makes people more likely to want to read your blog and tell others about it.
Also try to follow bloggers who also have similar content to your blog. You can also visit big blogs who have huge visitors and people that comment on their post, and be a frequent commentator, you can spike it up by adding your an url of your blog most read content after your comment.
Make Research
One of the best things you can do to help your blog grow is to study bigger blogs. What are they doing that you like? What do you not like? Look at lots and lots of them and take notes. Maybe they have some cool widgets that would be helpful to you. Maybe they are running a contest that is really exciting their readers. Maybe they are using an advertising agency that you've never heard of and want to look into. There are so many things you can learn! Obviously, you don't want to copy everything someone else is doing, but pick out your favorite things from several different blogs, come up with ideas of your own, and even learn things you would never want to do.
But... sometimes just when you're feeling excited about your blog, you decide to check out some other ones, and then you start to think, "Gosh. Mine stinks. I shouldn't do this anymore." That's when you get off their blogs and focus on your own. Blogging is not a competition. It's a fun way to express ourselves and share our passion with the world. There's room for everyone. Maybe your blog will never be HUGE, but it can still make a huge impact on your readers. So, focus on that. You will always get the best response when you're being yourself.
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