As bloggers, we all want to make our blog better. We want to make sure the content appeals to our visitors that the design is attractive and the functionality is top notch. It’s easy to overlook things when we get so wrapped up in creating and tweaking elements so that they work well for us, but often times we forget about those new visitors.
Keep your visitor’s experience in mind
A lot of new bloggers make the mistake of creating a blog that only appeals to them. It can be tempting to develop an online space that really speaks to you individually, but it’s extremely important to sometimes put your visitor’s preferences above your own. Design wise; try to think of your blog as if you are a first time visitor who knows absolutely nothing about who you are. What links would you want to be prominent? Is everything easy to find? Your blog is like a virtual introduction to a stranger, so make sure it is a good one to keep them coming back!
Put social shares on auto pilot
So now that you’re going to share every single article you write with readers and friends you’re gonna want to save some time, right!? Use a plugin to immediately share your content to your social platforms AND shorten the URL link.
Create a clutter free space
With an abundance of widgets and features available at your fingertips, a great layout can easily become cluttered with too much “stuff”. Before you add any additional gadgets, ask yourself if it will benefit your blog or your visitor’s experience in any way. If it won’t, forget about it!
Figure out your reader’s journey
Mapping the ‘customer’s journey’ is a buzz-term in business right now, similarly, you need to think about the path your reader takes on and off your blog. Think about the actions they are taking, and the actions you want them to take.
Factor in content placement and design
With the former point, think about the actions you want the reader to take, and organize your blog so it is easier for your readers to take those actions. For example, my primary audience here is people working in marketing and social media for brands. The primary actions I want them to take is to sign up for my newsletter, and read my content on brand advocacy. So notice that my newsletter signup and recent posts on Brand Advocacy are both featured at the top of the blog, where they will be the most visible.
Create a posting schedule to blog better
You don’t need to be posting new content every single day, especially if you are a solo blogger. In fact, you really should be following the 80/20 rule and creating content 20% of the time, while promoting it 80% of the time. Create your own posting schedule and decide when you will publish new content, whether it be once or twice a week, or at a certain time each day. Fill the vacant days with promotion strategies to get that content in front of more eyeballs.
Utilize great headlines
Your post titles and headlines are probably the most important piece of the blogging puzzle. They not only help greatly with SEO, but they also have the ability to attract more visitors depending on your wording. Experiment with long-tail keywords in your headlines and make sure they are relevant to the post. The visitor should know exactly what they are about to read before diving in.
Show your personality
A lot of bloggers make the mistake of trying to mimic other bloggers in the way they post and the tone they use. This tends to leave your writing a little less authentic and lacking in your own personality. Try to show what makes you unique through your writing style. This can take some time, as it’s sometimes tough to convey your personality through written words, but once you master it, it will come naturally.
Focus on certain topics
Not everyone needs to have a niche blog, but if you try to focus on certain topics, you’ll find that you’ll be attracting more people. It really comes down to what you want your blog to be about. From there, you can decide which areas you will cover frequently. In doing this, you’ll find that a lot of content ideas just might not make sense for your overall blog vibe and will be able to concentrate more on the topics that make your blog what it is.
Take time to learn
Sure, you could just sit back and publish posts every day, but taking the time to learn more about blogging and technical aspects in particular can go a long way! You’re already reading this article, so I assume that you are eager to learn more about blogging. If you ever come across a question, a glitch, or a feature you’d like to implement, take some time to actually research the answer instead of looking for an easy solution or relying on someone else for help. Hands on trial and error is one of the best ways to learn a new skill.
We all know that running a successful blog takes careful planning and ample promoting. Throw in sponsors, affiliates, mailing lists, guest posts, tracking stats, giveaways, and taking pictures and blogging quickly becomes a full-time job! With so many balls in the air, it can often be hard to keep track of everything and stay organized. That is why I painstakingly worked over several months to design the most comprehensive blog planner out there.
Are you ready to take your blog to the next level?
Whether your goal is to make money with your blog or you just want to increase your traffic and following, consistency and planning are the biggest keys to a successful blog. Without a plan it’s easy to forget to post, forget about staying active on social media.
Use this blog planner to organize your blog, social media posts, giveaways, sponsored posts, and more!
This planner contains everything you need to get your blog on track for success. I’ve taken my own personal needs as a blogger into account and created this planner full of pages to help you get & stay organized with your blog.
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