10 Power Blogging Tips Every Blogger Needs!

How to Build An Influential Blog

Do you want to build an influential blog? Many bloggers mistakenly start off thinking their initial passion alone will drive their blog to the top of their category.

The reality is most blogs require more than the blogger’s desire to propel them to a position where they attract attention and meet the blogger’s goals. Setting your blog on track to success requires resources and hard work.

Here are ten power blogging tips to get you started.

Determine your blog goals. Without knowing what you want to achieve with your blog, it’s not going to get there! Among the top blog goal options are build brand, develop authority as an expert or drive revenues.
Select a niche with unique creative perspective. Face it, at this point just about every niche you want to tackle probably has at least one blogger in it. You must distinguish your blog from other more established blogs. Assess your competition as well as your potential to grow.
Start your blog on a strong foundation. This means providing the resources needed to achieve your goals. To this end, begin by getting your own URL and a quality hosting provider. (Don’t use a free blogging platform like Blogger.com.) It’s useful to incorporate an array of plugins to extend your blog as well.
Develop your blog’s brand. Go beyond a basic logo. Invest in a professional design that will help the attract prospects. If you have the resources, expand your brand. Think beyond a logo to other blog design elements such as your brand’s voice, sounds and look and feel. (Here’s help you to get your brand on track.)
Create great blog content. More than anything else you do, Develop the best content you can. Think beyond just text to include video, photographs, images and audio. Incorporate appropriate keywords to aid your content’s ability to be found by your target audience. To help you, use an editorial calendar to ensure you’ve got a flow of timely content.
Write amazing blog headlines. Headlines are a critical element of your blog since they hook readers into seeking more information about your posts. If your headline is lukewarm, readers will pass over it on their way to another piece of content.
Publish blog posts consistently. When you first start blogging, you’re powered by a passion that has the propensity to trail off over time. Instead, publish on a regular basis, regardless of whether it’s once a day, twice a week or once every two weeks. Keep at it and don’t give up after a few months. Understand that it takes time to reap the benefits of your blogging work. (Here’s research on blog post frequency.)
Comment on your blog posts and other relevant blog points. As with your post content, make sure you always provide value for your readers. On your blog and guest blog posts, respond to all relevant comments. Thank your readers who take the time to comment. (Part of what drives SocialMediaExaminer.com’s large number of comments is that fact that every writer is requested to respond to comments for a minimum of a few days. As a result, my column garnered 41 comments, about half of which where mine.) Also, add to the conversation by contributing new information where appropriate. Depending on the blog and the comment service, comments may include a line back to your site. (Here’s help getting massive comments on your blog.)
Generate meaty, useful guest blog posts. The objective is to get exposed to other people’s audiences. You want to have the best possible exposure on other people’s blogs. To that end, develop a list of blogs in your niche that accept post and ideas. Give these sites your best content in return for links back to your site.
Take advantage of everything to build your blog base. Be creative in the various ways you can enhance your blog readership. Incorporate social media sharing and leverage your internal media to support your efforts. Get out and attend appropriate events related to your blog.

Building your blog takes work. The most important thing you can do is to show up at your blog and publish great, useful content for your readers on a consistent schedule so that readers and prospects know when to show up.

What other power blogging suggestions would you add to this list and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

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