When you consider that there are literally hundreds of millions, to be a go-to source means your blog must really offer something that keeps readers coming back. While we can all come up with different reasons as to what makes an authority blog, there are some universal things that you can do to start your blog down this path.
The following suggestions will help your blog appear more professional, get more traffic and increase sales.
3 Tips to Make Your Blog Stand Out, Get More Traffic and Make More Sales
1. Use Tie-Ins to Hot Topics: News is topical, timely – and hot! Hence the phrase, “Hot off the presses.” Traditional journalists tie in their news articles to popular, timely topics. This is why you’ll read the same story on every major newspaper’s site. Sure, they’ll cover it differently. But, if one has a story on hot topic, nine times out of ten, another one will as well.
“But,” you may be thinking, “my blog is about XXX. It’s not time, topical or hot.” Au contraire my little blogger – every topic can be made relevant, timely and hot. This is what separates okay bloggers and writers from talented one.
No matter what your blog’s topic is, you should be able to find a way to tie it into a popular topic. For example, right now, foreclosures are a hot news topic. I blog and write about freelance writing. How can I tie freelance writing to foreclosures? How about writing a blog post on the following: As home foreclosures mount, many desperate homeowners seek online work like freelance writing to supplement their income.
An extra bonus to using tie-ins: If you write on a popular topic and mention the title of a widely distributed piece (eg, an article in the New York Times), your site gets some search engine juice. How? Every time that article is read or searched for, your blog post referencing it has a chance to pop up in search results.
How cool is that!
2. Cite Sources: Professional journalists cite sources in their news stories. Many bloggers don’t do this. They speak from a “this is my opinion” point of view (I know I’m guilty of this).
But if you want your blog to be more credible, use outside sources, eg, articles, organizations, interviews, statistics, etc. You don’t have to do it with every blog post; every once in a while is fine. You’ll start to build a foundation of trust, professionalism, respect – and all those other factors that lead to more traffic and sales.
3. Write Well: While this may seem obvious, it needs to be said. Some bloggers write as if they never learned their ABCs. If you want your site to become a go-to destination, you must write well. I don’t care how timely, informative or amusing your blog is, if it’s hard to understand because of bad writing, you won’t have too many return visitors.
While blogging is a new media way of getting information, the foundation of it is the same as the traditional news media – to give readers timely, topical information that is of interest to them. Therefore if you want to make money blogging, the same strategies are applicable, whether you write for a newspaper or a blog audience.
About the Author: Yuwanda Black is a freelance SEO writer and the author of How to Make $250+/Day Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles. Ms. Black says, “You can work from home as a freelance writer in your PJs, getting assignments via the internet. I do it every day.” Learn more about how to start a successful freelance writing career.
Author: Yuwanda Black
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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