Make your blog more popular

One of the most common questions we get asked is how to make a blog more popular. We have a diverse group of bloggers in the network. Some of you are very new, while some of you have forgotten more about blogging than I will ever know. So, these tips should be great info for some, and useless to others. And if you can offer any tips to new bloggers on how to make their site more popular, please leave a comment.

1. Get your RSS out there – For those of you who do not know, RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication, which is appropriate because it’s a very simple way to syndicate the content of your blog to other sites and aggregators. The most effective way I know of to syndicate your RSS is through Feedburner. This one submission should get you into a lot of directories across the Web.

2. Optimize your site for search – This is something I know a lot about. Search engine optimization tactics can make your site popular very fast. Ranking for the right term will sky rocket your traffic literally overnight. Blogs are inherently east to optimize. They have the main things Google looks for, plenty of fresh content, and usually some good links back from other websites. I’ll do a more expanded posting on SEO for blogs some point in the near future. But for now consider the following items. Follow step 1 and get your feed into a RSS syndication service. Ask other bloggers to link to your blog through their postings or on their blogroll. And title your postings with terms you would like to rank for. Follow those three simple rules, and keep your blog updated often, and search traffic should find your site. If you are on your own domain name, you may want to consider using Google Sitemaps to get your pages indexed even faster.

3. Make it easy for others to help you – Adding social tagging systems like Technorati will help people find your site through blog searches. And adding links for people to add your posting to Digg and their del.icio.us accounts will help your gain traction quickly.

4. Be social – Make sure to comment on other blogs, and add blogs to your blogroll that you like. This is half the fun in blogging anyway, and it will help build up your popularity with other bloggers.

It goes without saying that you should keep your blog updated often, I would say at least 3 times per week. And you want to write some good postings that other people will find interesting. Don’t just report what others are saying, have an opinion. It’s your blog, and that’s what will drive people to interact with you.

Tips from a full-time blogger

Tips for beginner Bloggers: Just a starting point for beginner bloggers. I will expand on this in time and also write more in depth stuff later.

Write about what you know - Well i know something, hmm

Do not start a blog about a certain topic just because you think it will make money. Start a site/blog on a topic you know and fully understand or are passionate about. If you can learn to monetize that then you can think about blogging for pure profit. To many rookie bloggers make the mistake of wanting to cash in big on their first project. Don't get trapped in this mindset, the vast majority of full time bloggers DID NOT make it on their first three sites. Just because you didn't make a fortune on your first couple sites makes absolutely no difference on your future success.

Self Confidence - Of course i'm.. Look

Guess what? When you start a site on something you know and love your opinion has just as much merit as the next guys. Do not be afraid to stick your neck out there. Let people know your opinions without out fear of being proven wrong later. This doesn't mean misrepresent facts. This means that when it comes to your opinion make sure you give YOUR opinion. Who cares if someone disagrees, or you are proven wrong later. In-fact, the more outrageous your opinions the more your blog will attract hits. It's your site, if they don't like it so what - at the end of the day it's only the internet for pete's sake.

Attract Traffic Through Linking - We'll see, about to do that

Here's a novel approach. The more you link to others the more they will link to you. That's it, the secret is out. Not only is it polite to cite your sources your readers will appreciate it and so will other webmasters. You don't have to break the story to reap the rewards of the traffic. I know several rookie bloggers that will cite no one and link out nowhere. They are doomed to failure. This stupid attitude of not wanting to give anyone else credit for anything WILL NOT WORK in the blogosphere.

Make Friends - So, who wan't to be friends with me, anyone?

Make friends both online and off. This may be harder for you shut-in world of warcraft types but social networking is the corner stone of blogging. Go to trade shows if they are in your area. My city actually has a group of bloggers that meet weekly. This is paramount to your future success. Other webmasters will WANT to do business with you more when they have meet you face to face. These are the contacts you are going to need down the road. Take my word if and when one of your sites ever makes it huge - YOU WILL need them.

Make your site look Professional - I've tried, it kind a ok for me.

To many people are giving away bad information. Back on the late 90's a lot people used to say that if you had good content you didn't need good design. Not sure if that was ever true then but it is definitely not true now. If you suck at graphics and design (like I do) then get a freeware template or ask a buddy to design something for you. If your site does not have a professional appearance people will not take it seriously. The more appealing your blog is on the eyes the more people will stick around. This is a proven fact. This means good navigation and clearly defined and accessible links. It still baffles me why top companies and corporations pay very little mind to this. I have been browsing numerous sites and when I went to purchase their product or service I could not find the payment link! If anyone could not find a payment link on an e-commerce site the webmaster should be fired that instant.

About the Author

Christopher Wilson is a full-time blogger who's sites have made a million dollars in a year. He also runs a personal not for profit liberal blog

Am i full time blogger? I think so, for the tips above give me strong will to make a post for every single day. Unfortunately, i'm lacking of info and idea to share about, as i mention earlier my main criteria to posting in blogger to make make from advertising. Somehow i'm also reviewing articles that is interesting.