screenshotIn this article I will share 10 top tips on how to blog successfully for your website.

First Impressions

The first impression is usually the most important, as if a blog looks unappealing, visitors will hit the back button and go elsewhere. Therefore, ensure the post looks tidy, and add an eye-catching picture near the top of the post, as this also has a large influence on your audience.

Navigation

On any website, navigation is very important. If your website is not easily navigable, most visitors will leave the site.

It is absolutely critical that you have a top navigation bar with buttons to pages such as Home, Contact, About, Sitemap and Help/ FAQs. It is also useful to have a sidebar with categories, or recent posts.

Most users hate the tedious process of browsing, preferring to search. There is no denying that most search boxes are rubbish, especially when using one on a blogging platform such as wordpress, however, it is still worth including one!

Title

The title of your blog post is very important as it influences how your site ranks for certain search terms, and it also affects which site searchers click on.

Choose a title that is descriptive, but relevant, and your site will not only rank higher, it will get more clicks.

Write Regularly

This is very important! You should update your blog regularly, at least once a week. This increases traffic, causes you to rank higher in search engines, and improves the well-being of your site. If you don’t update your site regularly, Google will mark you down, and your site will not benefit.

Schedule Your Posts

This is a blogging tip you may not know, you can actually schedule your posts to be released on certain days at certain times! This means that, rather than writing on the day you are going to publish the article, you can write a several articles over a few days, and schedule them to be gradually released, so that they last all month!

Content

It is so important that you have good quality content. Always proof read your posts, and ensure everything is grammatically correct.

Also, if you post a long article, ensure there are several images, as no one want to read reams and reams of uninterrupted text.

Ensure that you keep your paragraphs short, not in excess of 5 lines, if possible, as this looks over-crowded and unapealing.

Reply to Comments

It is important to reply to blog comments from genuine readers, as then they feel as if they are being listened to, and permitted to experience their own views. This also includes your number of comments, which gives people more of an incentive to comment.

Link Building

If you want your site to rank high, especially in a competitive niche, link building just cannot be avoided.

Guest blogging  in return for a link is also a good way to attract visitors to your site, and get some PageRank and TrustRank too.

Submitting your site to a high PR directory is also a good way, as is blog commenting on dofollow sites.

Use Social Media

These days, social media sites, especially G+, Facebook and Twitter are very prevalent, and so many people use them. It is more important now than ever to have social media pages, as these allow people to find you, and connect to you.

Maximise Engagement

Use polls, related items, and post interlinking to connect your site together. Reply to comments, and take advise from readers, as this will help improve your website, and your audience’s enjoyment.