8 Easy Tips To Make Your Blog More Appealing

It’s taken a lot of work and a lot of convincing to overcome your fears. But here you are, and you’ve been talking to your audience via blog now for some time. Things haven’t seemed to work exactly as you planned though.

You post great content. You notify your social media networks, and nothing happens. Sure you might see a slight blip in your numbers, but no comments, no heavy traffic spike, and no sales.

This blogging thing takes time. Chris Brogan writes one of the most popular blogs on the Internet, and he’s talked in the past about how it took him eight years to truly begin developing his audience.

Writing a successful blog can take patience, and establishing your presence online. You have to learn by doing. In the meantime, there’s some basic stuff that you should be doing with your blog, to make sure that you’re being friendly to your readers.

These eight tips alone won’t guarantee your blog’s success, but if you don’t follow them, they may be hindering your climb to the top:

Write For Scanners

That’s right. Use subheads and lists to make sure that people can quickly work their way through your material. This will move your readers a little more quickly through your content and on to your call to action.

Invite Participation

I know that you want comments. You know that you want comments. But unless you specifically indicate what you’re after to your readers, do they know that you want comments? Ask your readers a question or two to end the post. It may just put them a little more in the mood to participate.

Write Valuable Content

What are the industry questions that you hear the most frequently in your day-to-day business? What is it that your readers are just dying to know about? These are often good places to start for blog post ideas. Chances are people are searching online to find answers. Your content can more easily find an audience this way.

Make The Writing Sing

It’s not just enough to know what you’re talking about. You need to write short, active sentences with punchy verbs. We know that you’re interested in your industry, but you have to write about it in a way that will interest others. Nothing bores readers more than run-on sentences and weak verbs.

Eliminate Grammar And Spelling Mistakes

Spell check will do some, but not all of the work. It’s up to you to understand the correct usage of words with multiple spellings. You’ll want to edit your work more than once and make sure that it’s as strong as possible before you hit the publish button. Nothing erodes trust quicker than a blog post riddled with mistakes.

Think Visually

Every post that you write should contain a picture or graphic with it. Some of us simply need a visual presentation to be enticed enough to make our way through reading your blog post. If you need added motivation from there, Pinterest sends some of the most traffic on any social network. It requires having a photo to “pin.”

Write Conversationally

For some people, as they write, they instantly begin formulating their thoughts more formally. It’s not necessary, and as a reader, it can be a quick turnoff. Instead, think of how you would tell a friend about a subject over a cup of coffee. This is the language and approach that you want to take with your blog posts. You can be informal and professional at the same time.

Eliminate Geek Speak

I know you love to look smart. But your mother is already proud of you, so why not meet your readers where they’re at? If you chase your audience away to the dictionary, they may not come back. Instead use friendly, easy-to-understand language.

Your Turn

What have you tried that’s worked? What makes your blog more appealing to readers?

Want to Start a Blog? How to Do Keyword Research the Right Way