11 Tips for Becoming a Successful Blogger

Ever wondered what  mistakes you could be making, when you are not so much of a seasoned blogger?

Many blogs cease to exist just after they manage to put up 4-5 posts. It is often observed that the key to survival in the blogosphere is to EVOLVE with time. Most of the bloggers are of the opinion that if they start blogging all over again, things will be different.

Here are the major qualities of successful bloggers:

1. Be Passionate

Don’t blog about what you’re not passionate about. If you’re not enthusiastic about what you are writing, your readers will easily be able to make it out. And their interest in your blog will gradually fade away.

2. Don’t Overdo It

There’s no need of blogging twice or thrice a day, and ending up frustrated. It is not advisable to burn yourself out and end up losing your own interest in blogging. Blog whenever you feel like, not because you have to. There’s nothing like ‘ideal posts per day’ that exists. It’s the quality that matters, which creates a sense of loyalty with your readers  and compels them to return.

3. Content Matters

Quality is essential, but it is also true that if your content is too short or not enough to satisfy the curiosity of the reader, it will leave them longing for more. The visitors (specially from search engines) are on a hunt to find something new and helpful, and insufficient content might disappoint them. Write detailed content and dont restrict yourself to just facts derived from other sources. Give your own inferences and opinions about the topic, that is what everyone is looking for.

4. Comments Are Not To Be Ignored

Someone leaves a comment on your post either when he/she likes or dislikes it. Negative comments shall not be deleted as they depict the blogs popularity 🙂  Responding to commentors creates a personal link between the blogger and the reader. While dealing with negative comments, always make sure that you make an insightful thought in the motive of the commentator and after finding out what might have pissed him off, leave a smart reply. Comments don’t take much of your time. Moreover, it’s a great way of knowing new people! 🙂

5. Personalize

The blogger should have a informative “About Me” page. This helps to create a personal relation with the reader. This will in turn increase your comments. Opening up to the readers is really essential and it helps in the long term for creating a loyal visitor base. Adding your twitter page to your blog has recently become a custom, this also helps in bringing traffic when you have a large number of followers. Simply, don’t be shy and open up to your readers.

6. Give Proofs

When you mention your achievements in your about me page, keep off from bragging stuff and give the facts a concrete backing by providing genuine proofs. Don’t make tall claims such as  “I earned $ 10000 this month from adsense profits”. Such unrealistic claims are only made by ambitious bloggers, who wrongly assume the readers can be easily fooled. These are veritable claims which cant be disproportionate to your Alexa , Technorati , Google rankings.

7. Monetize

There’s nothing bad in making money from your blog, as long as you can justify it with the compensatory standard that you  provide. No one minds it if you are earning your bread from blogging, or just trying to manage your domain and hosting costs from the blog.

A  note of caution: Make sure that your primary motive for blogging is NOT to make money, as this may effect your goodwill. Also, stay away from displaying too many ads as it might not prove fruitful in the long term. Discover other ways of monetizing.

8. Update Regularly

This is not contradictory to what I said in “Don’t Overdo It”, but the fact is that nobody likes dead blogs. If you don’t update your content constantly, it may loose your reader’s interest. Even if you don’t feel like blogging, you may post a casual ” Out of the Box” post, which may not necessarily resemble your niche.

9. Feed Burner Chicklet

Displaying your low feedburner counter can have a negative impact on your blog’s popularity. People like to go with the majority and will generally not subscribe until your subscriber base is at least 50+ . In addition, you should have a prominent RSS subscription button.

10. Read Other Blogs

The process of learning is non-exhaustive. You may be the best blogger in the world, but you ought to know what’s happening in the blogosphere. It always helps and you can also derive inspirations! 😉

11. Don’t Give Up

Winston Churchill once said: “Never Give Up, Never, Never, Never.. “. Don’t get disappointed by the tides of time, as success and failure are the only two occurances. Always learn from your mistakes, and move on.

Happy Blogging!

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[Editor’s Note: This post is submitted by our guest blogger Mohit Sharma. This is his first post on Devils Workshop.

If you, too would like to write for Devils Workshop, please check this. Details about our revenue sharing programs are here.]