As we all know, blog is very popular and a common tool used
by internet users. People from primary school children to large organization
use blog to communicate with other internet users on certain topics. Blog can
contain everyday activities like a traditional diary for an individual to
promotional tool by an organization. Blog is short for web log. It can be a
paid service or free such as blogger.com as what you are reading here.
Every day throughout the year, many internet enthusiasts
created their blog and tried to maintain it as long as they can. Unfortunately,
many of the blogs failed miserably and lost their readers. To maintain a blog,
you should look at the design, creativity and innovation and how to apply them
in a regular basis.
Design
In real life, we say ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ but
this cannot be applied in blogs. In creating a blog, people do judge your blog
design. Imagine talking to two different people, one looks homeless and the
other looks like an executive. Which one are you going to ask about investment
advice? That is how important the blog design is. As humans, we are attracted
to beautiful designs.
Beautiful design is important but do not overdo it. Do not
fill every empty space on your blog. Some people tend to put banners,
advertisements, messages and whatever to every empty space in their blog. This
can make it difficult to find stuffs in your blog. Remember, time is money to
some people. Your blog’s visitors will not read everything in your blog to find
the stuffs that they need. Returning visitors usually want to find something in
your blog because they already know how your blog looks like and the content.
Make it easy for them. Put your search box where it is easy to find.
Make your text readable. Do not use
unnecessary text fonts and colors that are not contrast with the background.
This will cause reading your blog content looks like a trip to hell. Create
paragraph after a few lines and add subheadings.
Do not forget to create your logo. Logo is
important to a blog. It is a trademark. Do not get depress in trying to create
one. You can use text to create your logo. There is no need to spend a dime. A fancy
logo is not worth it if the content of the blog is crap.
Creativity
It is best to start a controversy but do not cross the line.
Readers love controversies. If the topic is just right, you can be a star in
just one night. Just write something that what people want to read about. It is
also important to organize your idea for your blog. Know about an interesting
topic and who your audiences are.
Sometimes it is hard at the beginning. Read
and learn more about your topic. Be an expert to it. Once you are familiar with
it, ideas will flow naturally. Readers like to read about fresh ideas and gain
knowledge from it. Keep your ideas up to date.
Remember to not giving up on your blog.
Keep on writing and posting. No one creates a blog with nothing to say. Be
creative in your writing. If you cannot write, you can hire a writer to write
for you. There are many freelance writers who will write for you for a small
fee.
Regular update will draw traffic to your
blog but first time visitor will not buy anything from your blog. Do not even
try to sell anything to first time visitors. Make a good relationship with them
to make them coming back. You can do this by inviting them to subscribe to your
RSS (Rich Site Summary) feed, sign up for email list, subscribe your blog post or be a fan on
social network.
The next thing is communicate with your
readers. Do some poll questions, contest and giving freebies. In this way, you
will communicate with your readers and they also can give their opinion. Be
creative in asking questions to draw the visitor’s attention. But make sure the
questions are related to your blog topic.
Change your blog template regularly
especially during festive season and special occasions. This will make a good
impression to your blog and visitors will see that you are up to date and
sensitive with everyday activities.
Do not forget to be creative with the SEO (Search
Engine Optimization). ‘Trick’ the SEO to make your blog on top of the search
list. Put keywords on your blog headlines and unique title tags.
Innovative
Creating a blog that is different from
others is quite important but avoid using a never-seen-before design. It is
good to be innovative but never-seen-before design will confused the readers.
Do not waste other people’s time looking at the design. Make the visitors know
clearly what is your blog is about and who are the audience.
When writing about controversies, make sure
the idea is new but reliable. Do not write anything that is not true. You can
lose a lot of visitors if they find out that you are writing crap or worse you
can end up facing a lawsuit. Being innovative in blog writing is a very good
thing but do not cross the line just for asking attention for a day.
Blog design is like a face to your blog. Do
not change it regularly. The best thing to do, do not try to change it. People
love the way it is because they are used to it. However, if your blog looks
lame, it is a different story. The content comes first then the design.
Start now!
What are you waiting for? Start your own
blog and have fun. Blogging is a fun thing to do. If you do not know where to
start, ask a person who knows about blogging or search in the internet on how
to create a blog account. Do not give up on your blog. Who knows that your
informative blog can be an ATM machine for you. Make your blog successful or
die trying.
References:
Laja, P. (30 September 2011). Principles of Effective Blog Design. Retrieved from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/09/30/principles-of-effective-blog-design/
Michael, E. (n.d). How to Make a Creative Blog. Retrieved from http://techtips.salon.com/make-creative-blog-1296.html
6 Ways to Make Your Blog a Success. Retrieved from http://blog.socialmaximizer.com/6-ways-to-make-your-blog-a-success/.
Wilson, M. (20 January 2012). 7 Insights Every Blogger Should Know. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/9908/7-insights-every-blogger-should-know//.
Wilson, M. (10 November 2010). Why Blogs Fail. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/3670/why-blogs-fail//.
Blogs are the basic need for satisfying 3 different aspects:
ReplyDelete> People who love to pen down their ideas,
>People who wish to share things in life
>People who like to promote their goods/services
A person would always want to make his/her blog attractive and well illustrated. Of course, who would not put in informational write-ups, but the design should be at par with some really good looking ones out there.
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Fabulous information. Now any one can Create Affordable Website with Specialized in Creative Website Design, Responsive Wordpress Themes and also provide Innovative Design.
ReplyDeleteWebsite design is also of worth importance along with SEO. If you want best SEO results both of them should complement each other.
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There are also many people who work full time and make smart money on the internet as a content writer.
ReplyDeleteAs your list grows, you need to communicate with them regularly.
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