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Weekly UpdatesDevelop a theme. Will it be a personal blog geared toward comments about raising your kids. Will it be a business-oriented blog that focuses on tips and feedback on your industry.Will it be about your journey developing and growing a work-from-home business? Whatever the theme, keep it consistent. This will develop a group of followers who feel compelled to come back for new information.
How often should you post? Develop a posting schedule and stick with it. You could choose to post daily, weekly or another set time period; however, if you find you are writing posts without much substance, you might want to slow down your schedule so you produce posts with more value.
Remember those grammar lessons? Your teacher was on your case for a reason. Nothing turns off a reader more than poor grammar. Use correct spelling, avoid run-on sentences and eschew typing errors. If you aren't confident about your writing ability, have someone proofread your blog before you post it.
Get people involved. People will return if they feel they are a part of the community. Create a way for people to leave comments and offer advice or suggestions on your posts. If you notice you're getting inappropriate comments, moderate the comments before they're visible. It's best to get the comments listed as quickly as possible to get the impact from the readers. A word of caution: Requiring participants to register before leaving a comment will reduce the number of people who participate.
Everyone wants to be a winner. Giveaways or contests are a great way to drive traffic to your site, generate excitement and keep people coming back for more.
Get to the point quickly. If someone opens your blog to find a lot of long paragraphs, they may not take the time to read what you have to say. Make your posts flow easily by incorporating bullet points, bold words and short paragraphs so readers who only scan it can still understand your key points.
Condense your thoughts. People won't stick around to read a lot of information. So tighten it up and get your point across in the fewest words possible.
Grab attention with the headline. Once you have the details written, create an excellent headline that will get readers to your site. The headline will be what appears on search engines, so choose your words wisely.
Show why you're unique. Stand out from the crowd and write about topics you won't find on other blogs. Become the go-to person for guidance, advice and trends.
A great layout, topic and easy-to-read format are the building blocks to a successful blog. It's a cost-effective approach to advertising if you invest the time.
Lesley Spencer Pyle is the founder and president of HomeBasedWorkingMoms.com and HireMyMom.com and the author of The Work-at-Home Workbook: Your Step-by-Step Guide on Selecting and Starting the Perfect Home Business for You. Pyle has been working from home for more than 13 years.
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