Did you know that there are literally millions of people are blogging these days? So, how do you make your blog stand out in the crowd?
First, consider what you like in a blog. You want information of value to you in a format and frequency that won’t overwhelm you. Then, give your readers what you would like. In other words, be a Golden Rule blogger using the following guidelines.
- Provide good content, a mix of what readers need and what they want. They don’t always want what they really need. And keep your posts short and to the point. Example: I want to understand about the technical aspects of blogging, but I am overwhelmed if you give me too much information in one dose.
- Establish categories to make it easy for new visitors and regular readers to find posts of interest to them. On Blog4Writers, some categories are accessible from the menu at the top of the page, and all of them are listed in the drop-down menu in the sidebar. See the home page here.
- Provide a Search box. Blogger features a search box at the top of all blogs. However, in WordPress, you must add the search feature as a widget in the sidebar.
- Subscribe to other blogs. You can always unsubscribe if you decide the content is not for you. Most people have an e-mail subscription option. If they don’t, you can subscribe with feed reader like Feedly.
- Comment on other blogs. It takes time, but you will establish a connection with the blog author. On most blogs, the Comment link is either at the top near the title or at the very bottom of the post. With my current design, to comment, you must scroll to the bottom of the post where you’ll see Leave a Reply.
- Exchange links with other bloggers. Put their links in your blogroll, and ask them to include your URL in theirs. I’ve put my blogroll on a separate page rather than in the sidebar where most blogs show them.
- Invite other bloggers to guest post on your blog. You can use previously posted material if your subscriber base is different. However, do not use another blogger’s material without permission.
- Share links to other bloggers’ posts on Facebook and Twitter. Put links to your own blog posts on social media and ask others to share on their Facebook timeline or Twitter stream.
Working together with other bloggers, you can build your subscriber base and make great friends in the process. Who knew that the Golden Rule would be so relevant for bloggers?
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