If you are currently running a successful blog it is important that you regularly update your blog in order to maintain readership. Getting a grip on blog content means that in order to remain competitive you must always keep your eyes peeled for new content to write a blog post about. Without fresh content readers will quickly abandon your blog for another blog that has the steady updates that the reader is looking for.
When writing posts for your blog, it is important that you always pick a topic that you are comfortable and knowledgeable about. If you are blogging about information that you already enjoy chances are you will have no trouble finding fresh things to talk about. Do not choose to blog about a topic because you feel it would be profitable! Most people begin blogging for profit so that they can earn enough money to supplement or eventually leave their traditional 9-5 job. Why would you create another ‘job’ for yourself by forcing yourself to post about topics that you are not interested in.
Another reason to post about subjects that you are interested in is that readers can generally get a feel about your personality and emotions through your writing. If you are forcing yourself to research and write about a topic your readers will know. Not only will they not be interested in reading the stilted writings of a disinterested individual, they will also get the impression that you are only rehashing second hand information. This will encourage them to look for the source of the knowledge and they will often leave your blog to read the blog of someone that seems to have first hand knowledge or experience on the topic in question.
Once you have decided on a specific theme or topic start posting on a regular basis. Try to post to your new blog at least once a day, especially at first, in order to get used to posting and help build steady readership. Even if you are only making a short blog post or giving a quick review about a newspaper tidbit or blurb on the local news. After you get going and get used to posing regularly, it will suddenly be difficult to stop yourself.
A great way to keep up the momentum is to brainstorm for more content whenever possible to help avoid writers block or blogger burnout. Try to see what others who blog on your similar topics have to say on their own blogs. Go to visit the blogs and comment on items of interest. This will help you establish contacts that will eventually lead to comment conversations.
In addition to blog conversations, the world around you is a great source of content. Look in your local newspaper for stories that might be new to your readers that live in different areas. Also search around certain news sites to see what worldwide headlines are and see if you find something that might interest your readers. Even if the readers have already heard the news in question, your post might start some healthy dialog and communication.
Tags: blog content, blog conversations, blogging news
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May 10th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
You really are a professional blogger! Thanks for all the tips you are sharing. I’m just wondering why some bloggers like you share these secrets. Why not just keep them to yourself so you cal earn more than the rest of the bloggers?
May 10th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I have been using these methods for awhile now and I know that it does work. Sometimes when I run out of ideas, I get them from local news that I feel would be of general interest to my readers. I don’t just copy and paste them but I read the whole article and then translate it to my own words. Of course, I never create an article on something that does not appeal to me.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:03 am
This is really good advice for webmasters in general and bloggers in particular to bear in mind. Content must be fresh, accurate and up to date. Nothing drives away readers like outdated or stale content or worse wrong information. A very basic point but forgotten by many. A really timely reminder for all.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Once you are established you dont need the constant stream of content, once people see you as an authority they will see out your latest content no matter how frequent it is.
However this does take quite some time and is very difficult to become such an authority.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I have friends who work with government agencies and I’ve tried to convince them that they have a lot of content that they could highlight and make their web site more interactive with a blog, but they seem reluctant to do that.
Content is definitely the key to a great blog or a great web site, and I think everybody will need to learn how to use these tools better.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:06 am
You sound so professional
Another method I use is that when I’m full of ideas, I create post titles, and then save them as drafts, for when I’m not so full of ideas -> It works pretty well, keeping my blog nice and full of stuff ;D
May 13th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I agree that these are all great tips for blog writers. However I disagree with one of the comments that says that once you have an established blog you don’t have to keep a constant stream of content. I firmly believe that to keep your readers (no matter how established you are) you must constantly be adding more content to maintain their interest.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:04 am
Thanks for the article! The problem I have on my blog is sometimes I just don’t have time to keep writing articles. I’ll have 5 or 6 good ideas for my next post, but school, work, family and 50 other things always seem to get in the way.
You can tell things are bad when your latest post is a “Sorry I haven’t posted in a while…” post. But I’m sure we’ve all been there
May 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Good blog content is definitely important for a successful blogger. When I get stuck on what to write, I will usually go somewhere like ezinearticles.com or isnare.com to find an article available for reprint and post the article to my blog. That usually gets people talking too, especially if the article is about something my target audience is passionate about. Great post! Keep them coming.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
John, have you considered making really short posts? People don’t always expect an article length post. Or do what ProBlogger does and just ask a question related to your field and ask everyone else to post their opinions on it.
Another good way to brainstorm is to go to forums and see what questions people are asking. Then answer them.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Content is a king in blogging. If you have good content then you will get more visitors. It’s very true that you should have decent knowledge about the topic that you will choose to post on your blog. To be a successful blogger writing unique and quality is much important. You should have fair relation with the visitors.
May 17th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Exactly. The only thing that you can use to attract people to visit your site is content. This is why more and more site owners are willing to pay a lot to improve their content and service. Some blogs now have their own forum, provide visitors with regular polls and some even offer mini games. While its interesting to see how this can attract visitors, we must always remember to make sure that our site content is genuine and unique.
May 18th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I agree with Daisy, the length of the post isn’t most important, it’s the quality of the content. If you write unique material that’s high in quality, people will stick around. The “asking questions” is a good idea as well… encourage your readers to take part in the blog; this is another reason for them to stick with you.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Its very important to provide fresh and unique content otherwise you will not keep visitors coming back. I have had this experience. This is the only way you can expect to keep pulling them back to your site. Useful content, in a a presentable format is a must.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:25 am
I totally agree with this. You must choose something that interests you otherwise it will feel like a burden. The people who write with the sole purpose of earning money don’t usually become that successful. People won’t read your blog if its the same as hundred others which it will be if you yourself don’t have much interest in the subject.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
As everyone keeps agreeing, it is very important to write about something that interests you. Blogs these days are a dime a dozen generated as money machines and you really can tell when the writer has no interest in the content of the article.
It seems you practice what you preach.
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Wow you do sound so professional. I’m looking to start my own blog and have been looking up more information on how to start one and this site has been helping me a great deal.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Initially, it surely does help to update your blog with quality content that your traffic can benefit from because the frequency of the search engines crawling your site depends in a big way on the frequency of your posts for a new blog. As the community builds and you develop yourself as an authority in your chosen field, the traffic follows your blog and may even subscribe to your posts and rss feeds to show it at their own site bringing you more traffic.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Somebody above mentioned that you might not have to blog as often once you’re recognized as an expert. I think that’s partly true — people will wait a certain amount of time so you maybe don’t need to blog every day — but this being the world of immediate gratification they won’t wait too long.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Wow. This is information that I really needed! I have had a lot of trouble in keeping my blogs going, and to be honest a lot of it is that I’m so new at it. It took me forever to even think of something to begin with. It’s been a slow go, but I have several and am only just now starting to get comfortable with it. Thanks.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Now that you mentioned it, it seems so easy. I have never thought about looking at news papers and current news for topics to write about on blogs. Those are great source of blogging ideas… now am like how come I didn’t think of that before…