Two bloggers on opposite sides of the country decide on the same day to start blogging about the same subject. They both start their respective blogs and post an introductory post, something along the lines of “Welcome to my blog! I’ll be discussing the coolest new tech devices on this blog and I look forward to keeping all you readers up to date on what is happening in the world of tech!” They both go to sleep. That’s about where the similarities end.

‘Blogger 1’ wakes up early the next morning, and reads a few of her favorite tech blogs, then checks out the science and technology section of the New York Times. And begins writing a post about her take on that day’s tech news. ‘Blogger 2‘ sleeps in and when she finally gets to her computer, the first thing she does is set up a Google Ad Words account and begins soliciting for advertisements. ‘Blogger 1‘ spends a good part of the rest of the day setting up social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, while ‘Blogger 2‘ sits on the couch, subsisting on a steady intake of Doritos and tuna fish.

Now, which blogger do you think is going to end up having more success? That should be clear, but it’s important to note what exactly is meant by the term “success” when applied to the world of blogging.

Does success mean you’ve been able to post a lot of ads on your site? Does it mean you’ve gotten a lot of Facebook likes? Does it mean you have a high page rank on Google?

Success in blogging is most accurately measured by a combination of all these criteria. It involves many elements and is not as straightforward as “how many followers do I have?” Here are a few tips for bloggers. These often get overlooked so take note and ask yourself if you’re putting each of these elements into action.

Are You Overdoing Your Ads?

There is nothing more frustrating that visiting a page and being unable to distinguish the advertisements from the actual content of the site. Having a page that is littered with ads not only looks visually unappealing, but it can also destroy your site SEO. Google’s page rank criteria takes the advertising factor into account and if it deems your page too heavy on advertisements and too light on content, your page ranking will plummet. Instead of focusing on quantity of ads, focus on quality. An ad from a well-respected company can do a lot to increase the perceived legitimacy of your blog.

Are You Providing Useful Information?

What sort of posts are you putting to your blog? Are you mostly just wearing out the Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V functions of your computer by copying and pasting all your content from other sites? If you’re not going to provide meaningful and original content for your readers, You might as well not even have a blog. Even if you’re not breaking the stories, you should at least put your own spin on things. In the above example, Blogger 1 researched other sites, got a feel for what was going on in the world of tech and then wrote about her take on things. Make sure your opinions aren’t just recycled too.

Are You Providing Regular Updates?

You should consistently update your blog. This may mean at least one update every day or several updates per week. You can take the weekends off, but if you want to drive traffic to your site, you’ll need consistent updates. If you find that you’re having trouble making regular updates, implement a guest posting policy.

Check out our ‘Content Schedule – How Often Should I Post On My Blog?‘ post for more info!

Are You Using Social Media?

Facebook and Twitter are invaluable tools for promoting your blog. This allows you to not only get the word out about your posts, but it also gives you an opportunity to connect with your readers. Engage in conversations with them regularly. Put some personality behind your social media channels because people want to know that there is an actual human being on the other end and not just some robot.

These tips will help you attract readers and as a consequence, advertisers. You must implement each of these items to create a successful blog, otherwise you’re wasting your own time and you’re just taking up space on the web.
___________________________________________________________________
Thank you to my Guest Post Author: Carolyn K 

Carolyn is a guest blogger who writes about the best business practices, blogging strategy and business software like BigCommerce.
___________________________________________________________________