PureBlogging

If you are starting a new blog or trying to build an existing one, it is essential to know what you must do in order to succeed. Having a plan that includes building skills and working on the most important aspects of your blog will drastically increase you chances of achieving your goals.

From the time that I have spent developing my own blog and reading a few hundred others, these are the 9 factors that I see as being critical to success. Sure, without 1 or 2 of them you can still have an effective, popular blog. However, we should all be making an effort to improve in every one of these areas if we want to reach our potential.

1. Quality of Content.

Certainly the number 1 factor in determining long-term blogging success is the ability to create quality blog posts. As the number of blogs on the internet increases every day, quality content will only become more important in order to separate yourself from the pack.

Content is what keeps readers coming back for more. Quality content is also unique. If readers can get the same information in any number of other places, they will have no real reason to subscribe to you. On the other hand, if they can’t get the information anywhere else, they’ll have to get it from you.

2. Consistency of Content.

While quality is extremely important, consistency should not be overlooked either. This doesn’t mean that you need to post every day or on a specific schedule that you can never change. It does mean that you should avoid long periods of time with no new content. In this situation any momentum that you have built will be lost and you’ll have to re-do things once you start up again. Look at any of the top blogs in your niche. I’m sure they all publish new content regularly.

3. Community.

Blogs, more so than traditional websites, are very community oriented. Effective bloggers are able to build a strong relationship with their readers, which of course results in more loyalty from the readers, as well as more participation. Strong communities exist around successful blogs. Building a strong community can take a lot of effort. The blogger needs to be receptive to readers, respond to comments, help readers whenever possible, and generally show readers that they are truly appreciated and valued.

4. Network.

Part of building a blog is meeting other bloggers and developing relationships with them. It’s very difficult to grow a blog without also building a strong network. Your network can help you in almost anything you decide to do as a blogger. Other bloggers are some of the most valuable people you can know because they have the ability and opportunity to help you in a number of different ways. Of equal importance is the fact that you also have a lot to offer to others, and you have the ability to help them as well.

If you’re looking to get started building your network, there are any number of ways to get started. Personally, I have found writing guest posts for others to be one of the most effective ways to get to know other bloggers. Also, be sure to leave intelligent comments on other blogs, link out to others, and take advantage of social media.

5. Exposure.

Yes, in order to grow your blog other people will have to find you. Getting your name and links to your blog in front of potential readers is always important, regardless of what stage you are at in your blogging. Finding new readers is crucial if you hope to keep growing.

Fortunately, there are a number of different ways to get exposure. You could write some guest posts, promote your blog with social media, build inbound links, participate at forums, advertise, leave comments on other blogs, etc.

6. Name Recognition.

All of the most successful blogs have become recognizable to those in their niche. Once your name is easily recognized and associated with being a leader in your field, growing your blog and gaining loyal readers will be much easier.

Building a strong name and branding your blog is difficult and takes a lot of effort. You’ll need to work on some other things that we’ve already looked at, such as quality of content and exposure. If you can provide readers with the best content that they can find, and if you can get that content in front of your target audience, you will be on your way to building your name recognition.

7. Design.

Almost all of the top blogs have a unique design as opposed to using a free theme. The question then becomes did they achieve success as a result of having a nice design, or were they able to afford the design because they were first successful? But at the same time, does this question really matter? Ultimately you will need to have an attractive, unique look in order to be recognized as one of the leaders. Whether you get a unique design from the start or whether you wait to start making some money before you pay for the design may not make a huge difference. For WordPress users premium themes that may be used by a handful of other blogs, but not by thousands, can be an affordable option. Prices for premium themes usually range from $50 to $100, which can be much less than a custom design.

8. Focus.

In order to build a large and loyal audience, you blog will have to be focused on a particular subject or topic. A lack of focus can result in losing subscribers as well as unresponsive readers. People subscribe to a blog because they like what is being provided and they want to get more of the same. Although you have freedom to explore a variety of aspects of your topic, try not to stray off-topic.

9. Persistence.

All bloggers will at times become frustrated and discouraged. Building a successful blog takes time and a lot of work. That’s why such a high percentage of bloggers give up after a short period of time. To be successful you will at some point have to keep going when you really feel like quitting.

What other factors do you see as being critical to the success of a blog?