HOW TO HAVE AN AWESOME BLOG

How to Have an Awesome Blog {Part 1}
 

In my humble opinion, there are FIVE things you must have in order to be a successful blogger with a substantial following.   All are equally important, and if you are lacking in even one of these areas, your blog could suffer or not grow as quickly as you’d like.

Keep in mind, these tips are for those of you who wish to have a blog with a large following and wish to perhaps make money off your blog one day. If you keep a blog as more of a journal for friends and family, more power to you!  There’s nothing wrong with that, but I aimed these tips towards bloggers who want to grow their blog quickly and possibly earn side income through it one day!

So without further ado…

To have an awesome blog, you need:

1. Great writing.  Duh? For the most part, blogging is a WRITING based media.  Sure, some folks have photo blogs or blogs that are just otherwise much more photo or video heavy, but MOST blogs are centered around writing and the way the blogger is able to weave a tale or communicate information.   Even the most mundane of lives or topics can be written about in an entertaining, humorous, or insightful way if the blogger writes truly well.  And I’m not saying this to exclude all those who weren’t born with that natural aptitude for writing, but I am saying this to insert a little dose of reality. 

Your writing is the foundation of your blog.  So brush up on your grammar skills, find a website with all the rules on punctuation, and proofread the crap out of your posts before you publish them.   If you are churning out poorly written posts, you’re turning people away.

2. Something of value. Think about your favorite blogs, especially those blogs that have reached hundreds or thousands of followers.  Why is it that you love those blogs?

I guarantee you it’s because those bloggers offer you something you find valuable.  Those bloggers don’t just ramble endlessly about the plights of their life or the awesomeness of their weekends, etc.  Or maybe they do, but if they’re doing it right, there’s something in it for the reader.  You see, I’ve noticed that all the bloggers with large followings simply offer their readers something of value.  Maybe it’s fashion tips. Maybe it’s inspiration in the form of beautiful photos or well-told stories.  Maybe it’s humor and laughter and wit.  Maybe it’s just that feeling of “hey, I can relate to her/him! I’m not alone, after all!”

Bottom line is, you have to have something your readers will find valuable and keep coming back for, or your following will not grow.  And I firmly believe that we all have something valuable to offer, if we pinpoint it and cultivate it.  It’s what I love about blogging!

3. Attractive aesthetics.  Aesthetics are the appearance of your blog—the “feel” a reader gets based on the color scheme, the fonts, the pictures, the formation of your paragraphs, and so on.  There are lots of fun ways you can customize your blog regardless of which platform you use (Blogger, Wordpress, etc), but I really can’t stress enough the importance of having your blog designed professionally.  It sounds really terrible, but I’ve actually clicked out of blogs before if they weren’t visually appealing.  To me, a blog with poor design reflects how serious the blogger is about blogging.  That may or may not be true, but I’m just saying.  You should treat your blog like a business.  If you open up a restaurant or retail store but the outside of your building is run down and shabby, people won’t want to come in, right?

A professional blog design says “I’m serious about what I’m doing and I’m willing to invest a little into making my space on the web attractive, unique, and a reflection of ME.” And a blog design does NOT have to be expensive!  I found this website to be a great starting place to look for blog designers, though many of those are little pricier. Also pay attention to the designer attributions on the sidebar or at the bottom of blogs you love. There are plenty of great ones out there. I'd also recommend going to Etsy and searching "premade blog designs." You will discover there are LOTS of great options for premade designs!

It’s just a fact of life that first impressions are EVERYTHING.  So make sure that when your readers come to your blog, they don’t have to strain to read your font color or aren’t terrified off by block upon block of straight WORDS.  Utilize white space (see how I skip a couple lines every now and then? It breaks things up  and makes paragraphs less scary).  Utilize photos (preferably really GREAT ones, and from your own life if possible [but we’ll get into that next post]).   Bottom line, make stuff pretty.  Study the blogs you love, and learn from them. 

4. A unique voice. When I first started blogging, I struggled with what “voice” I wanted to write in.  Did I want to write in a funny, witty, lighthearted way, or did I want to focus more on personal reflections and spreading inspirational messages, etc? I still haven’t really chosen between the two, but I think my readers understand that I could go either way, and it’ll still be “me.”

 

I’ve noticed that the really successful bloggers stick to one particular “voice,” and that voice is what their readers come to expect and anticipate.  There are thousands and thousands of blogs out there, so you have to ask yourself how YOURS can stand out from the crowd!  So DO study the voices other bloggers write in, experiment with your own, and find a style that is uniquely yours.

5. Time.  Now THIS is where we might lose some folks.  Seriously, even if you write like a pro on an aesthetically pleasing blog and offer readers something of value in your own unique voice, your blog’s following will STILL grow slowly if you aren’t willing or able to put TIME into networking with other bloggers and interacting with your readers.  When I first started this blog, I would spend a few hours at a time EVERY DAY visiting, commenting on, and following dozens of blogs – leaving a trail of my link all over the blogosphere.  You simply CANNOT expect people to find you if you don’t put your link out there whenever possible! (and by link, I just mean your profile – when you comment, you’re giving others the opportunity to click on your profile and find your blog!)

And if you really take the TIME to read and get to know the bloggers you’re visiting, and really take the TIME to leave thoughtful comments (i.e. NOT just one-liners!), other bloggers WILL take notice and want to come check out YOUR blog too.  And if, when they arrive at your blog, you have all of the other four items above, you will notice people beginning to read you regularly, link to you, and ask you to guest post, etc. 

You have to understand that, just like a business, you can’t expect it to thrive without putting the TIME in.  Without maintaining relationships with your new blogging friends.  Without returning comments (at least occasionally).  And as your blog’s following grows, remember that it will take MORE time to maintain relationships, answer emails, etc.  So if that isn’t what you want or  you won’t be able to handle it, you might ask yourself if a blog with a large following is really what you want! 

How to Have an Awesome Blog {Part 2}

Ok, so you think you’ve nailed the writing, the content, the aesthetics, the voice, and you’re willing to put the time in.  What else are all the awesome blogs and bloggers doing that you might not be? Are you providing your readers with the best possible experience on your blog?  Here are a few more of my suggestions I feel will make YOU a better blogger and YOUR BLOG a cooler place to hang out.

1. I beg you, PLEASE add your email address to your blogger profile! 
If you’ve never received an email in reply to a comment you’ve left on another blogger’s blog, it’s probably because you don’t have your email address associated with your Blogger profile!  A quick way to check and see if you've done this is to visit your own profile.  If you see a link that says “email” beneath your photo, you’re up and running! It should look like this…

If you DON’T see that link to your email, I PROMISE you are missing out on an awesome way to build friendships with other bloggers!  Plus, you are making it more difficult for other bloggers to quickly answer your questions or reply directly to your comments on their posts.

For example, when I get an especially nice/funny/awesome comment or if someone asks me a question, I hit “reply” straight from the email notification I receive and, if your email address has been added to your profile, my reply will come straight to your inbox.

If your email address has NOT been added to your profile, my reply will be sent into outer space, never to be seen again.  (Thankfully, once you hit “reply,” you are able to see whether or not the blogger has added their email address – if they haven’t, your message is addressed to “noreply-comment@blogger.com.”)  And that makes me sad.  And then angry. And then I get over it. 

But seriously, do it.

Go to your Blogger dashboard and click “edit profile” beside your little picture.  Then check the box next to “show my email address.”

 

If you would like to use a different email address than the one shown, you can change it below under “Identity!” I suggest you use an address that doesn’t include your last name.  Create one specifically for your blog.  Ok?  Awesome.

2. PLEASE. Consider giving readers the option to listen to your music playlist (versus setting it to start automatically when someone enters your site)

There are so many reasons this is a no-no, I don’t even know where to start.

I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been surfing blogs with my volume turned up when someone’s jam started blaring at me and almost made me pee myself in terror.  Not to mention how many times I’ve been listening to classical piano on Pandora when someone’s blog tunes started playing over my Pachabel.  How rude.

Bottom line: it’s jarring, and we don’t all have the same taste in music.  Your reader has to search for your music thingee to turn it off, then your song restarts whenever you click on the comment window (if it’s not a popup).  Then it restarts again when you submit your comment.  Then it restarts again if you click on a link in your archives, etc.  **INSERT ANGER AND MULTIPLE HEART ATTACKS.**

Again, not cool.

 
How to Have an Awesome Blog {Part 3} 

1. Use Windows Live Writer (if you have a PC).  It changed my life.

I heard something once about blog posting through Windows Live Writer, and then I realized that my laptop already had it installed (you may already have it too, or you can download it HERE if you use a PC)! And people, it will revolutionize your blogging experience.  I used to literally go stark raving mad (err, STAY stark raving mad) due to the time it took to upload pictures on Blogger and due to the way Blogger would randomly screw up all the spacing on my posts and due to the fact that Blogger just overall SUCKS!!! (yes, I am bitter.)

Then I started blogging with Windows Live Writer, and groups of pictures that might have taken 15 minutes to upload on Blogger take about 5 SECONDS on Windows Live Writer.  AND you have the option to size them to your exact specifications!!

And that’s not even going into all the other multitudes of reasons that posting blogs through Windows Live Writer is AWESOME. It is exactly like posting in Blogger, except way better.  You must try it, and you will understand.

For all you Mac-ers out there, I hear uploading pics through Photobucket or Flickr is much easier than using Blogger.  There’s a tutorial HERE. But sorry, I don’t think you can use WLW on a Mac… I guess this is the one and only thing Windows has on Apple! ;)

2. Speaking of pictures, put only the best ones on your blog (and make them as large as your template will allow).

This is so, so huge.  YES, blogging is a writing based media, but your blog will be judged as a whole package.  When you include large, clear, and good quality photos on your blog, you are drawing your readers in – in a way that not even words can do.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right? So make sure your photos aren’t shoddy and your readers don’t have to squint to see them.

Great photos add SO MUCH to a blog.  Think about your very favorite blogs, and I bet you will realize that most of those bloggers all incorporate great pictures! And NEWSFLASH: you do NOT have to have an awesome, expensive camera to take better pictures for your blog!  Any ol’ digital camera will do, and even some phone cameras take great pictures!  You just have to learn a couple excruciatingly EASY tricks regarding angles, lighting, etc, and your pictures will improve dramatically.

Just before I started getting into photography, I asked our wedding photographer for some tips, and she suggested I buy the book How to Photograph Your Life by Nick Kelsh (find it HERE – check out the used copies! I think I paid about 12 dollars for mine!).  It’s a really awesome book for beginners, even though it’s old.  The information is timeless!

3. Install Sitemeter and Google Analytics.

Both are fabulous (and FREE) tools for monitoring stats, pageviews, and even (in the case of Sitemeter) how many people are live on your blog at any given moment! Do it.  You will become obsessed.  In a good way?

4. Utilize ALL social media to help grow your blog and keep people coming back for more!

This is another big one, in my opinion.

If you aren’t using Facebook and Twitter to help bring people to your blog, you’re being silly. 

Let me explain. Specifically, let me explain the benefit of Twitter to those of you who haven’t entered the 21st century yet jumped on the Tweet Train yet.  I was against it at first, too.  And honestly, I don’t really see the purpose of Twitter unless you’re a blogger or have a business you’re trying to promote, or unless all your friends are on Twitter too.  But if you’re a blogger and not on Twitter, you’re missing out on a valuable way to drive traffic to your blog and to maintain relationships with other bloggers.

So go make a Twitter account.  Start following all your blogging friends, and some will follow you too.  Then write interesting tweets sometimes.  Then reply to other people’s tweets.  Then post a link when you publish a new blog post, and make your link sound interesting so people will want to click it.

Do the same thing on Facebook.  My blog has a Facebook page, and I post a link to the blog when I publish something new. 

It’s just marketing, people. Marketing and relationships. In the 21st century.  Get with it.

(and by the way, Twitter is not only a great marketing tool, but it’s a super fun way to get instant feedback and chat with blogging buddies.) Follow me on Twitter! (shameless plug) “Like” Story of My Life on Facebook! (another shameless plug!)

and finally…

5. Grow a thick skin. And assume there are crazies reading your blog.

Ah, yes, the crazy people.  My final piece of advice to you is to accept the fact that, as your blog’s following grows, you probably WILL encounter some crazies.  And I’m just warning you: if you give people the option to comment anonymously, they WILL.  And it’s usually not because they have something nice to say.

Just a couple short months into blogging, I received my first ugly anonymous comments, and I was horrified by it.  I removed the option to comment anonymously, but even now I still hear from some haters/people-who-fell-out-of-the-looney-bin-and-discovered-the-Internet. 

Do not respond to them.  They are people who don’t know how to create relationships through kindness, but instead just try to get a reaction and a rise out of you. Or they might just be legit insane.

But DO be very careful about the personal information you put out there.  Just because you don’t have any crazies YET doesn’t mean you never will.  Trust me on this one!

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I sincerely hope you found all these tips helpful!  If you did, spread the word!  Let’s make the bloggy world a better place.

Do you have any other tips I missed?! Leave them in the comments!