Extra, Extra, Blog All About It: Five Basic Blog Tips for Authors

August 19, 2008 at 10:35 am wordbot Leave a comment

Greetings, Earthlings,

Blogging ain’t easy, especially when you’re trying to get noticed among the million or so other blogs currently posting. Intimidated? Not even sure how to manage a successful blog? Need a few pointers? Then, look no further. Wordbot has five basic blog tips that should help emerging writers and new authors make waves in the blogsphere.

Keep it short and sweet. Sure, it’s important to have a playful tone and establish a good voice, but not at the expense of your content. Make sure you have a strong SEO title and keyword-friendly first paragraph, so your readers know what your post this week is actually about. Long, irrelevant blogs will definitely get swept under the digital rug before Internet surfers have even finished reading them.

Be honest, but excited. Sometimes the truth can hurt, but as long as you look on the bright side and find a rhyme to the reason, your readers will respect you. Don’t get bogged down by negativity or marketing pessimism. Instead work to help your fellow writers and yourself with useful information and proactive suggestions.

Use your common sense. You’d be surprised – simply being practical can works wonders for your blog. When you pose real problems and offer time-tested solutions that are easy to implement and adaptable, you should definitely seem an increase in Internet traffic and positive comments. Before long, people who stumble upon your insightful posts will link back to you, ask questions about your experience and subscribe to your feedburner.

Stay current. Make sure your posts are always relevant to your mission and address topics that in the news. People want to stay in the loop. Even tidbits and reasonable predictions can make a world of different. Publishing industry buzz and printing technology updates will not only earn you hot keywords, but a contemporary audience as well.

Balance is key. When you’re designing your blog, be sure to think about your layout. Most blogs include search engines, about the blog text, author links, other site information along with a wide variety of widgets. Incorporate graphics, podcasts, viral videos, humor and information into your posts, and create a memorable blog people look to for guidance. Consider purchasing a personal domain name as well, and giving your blog a URL title that readers won’t forget.

Though there’s no guarantee that your blog will become the latest craze on the Internet, by following these rules of thumb you can definitely turn your weblog into a hot spot for your target audience.

Wordbot upload completed. Transmission ended.

Entry filed under: Marketing, Writing. Tags: authors, blog, domain name, emerging, feedburner, Internet, keyword, podcasts, Publishing, SEO, Technology, tips, videos, writers.

Zero Multiplied by Two Is Still Zero: A Wordclay Free Self Publishing Math Lesson Researching, Sharing & Learning from Experience: How Search Engines Can Benefit Your Book Marketing Efforts

Weekly Writing Prompt

Imagine a setting or situation in which you would be an outsider. Say it’s your first day learning karate and the rest of your class are black belts. Or perhaps you find yourself smack dab in the middle of an NRA conference and you adamantly oppose firearms. How would you react? How would you feel? Being an outsider can often provide the perfect springboard into your character’s mentalities as well as an objective viewpoint that can be used to describe settings more naturally. (2/4/11)

Weekly Writing Tip

When it comes to writing, seeing isn’t always believing. Next time you find yourself in front of your keyboard about to begin another piece, try closing your eyes and typing. Imagine the setting, characters, thoughts and emotions you’re trying to capture and start writing without opening your eyes. Just the look of a sentence can often disrupt your flow or rhythm, and rereading what you’ve already written will not only slow you down, but upset your train of thought as well. (2/4/11)

Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing