How to Create a Successful Blog! {Part 1}

Since I’ve been blogging for six years, I figure I might as well let you in on my secrets for creating a successful blog. Please note that I am NOT an expert in this and these tips are only suggestions! I’ve made little lists and sorted them into categories. Posts, Designs, Sharing, and Other. I’m going to be posting these lists in four little parts, like a series. Today, I’m talking about how to make great blog posts. Hope you enjoy!

Posts:

1. Start simple. You may want to post a bazillion posts on your first day, but this might cause a reader to find your blog overwhelming. Begin your blogging experience with one or two deep, welcoming posts that will help the reader think Wow, this is a great blog! (If you really want to write those posts, try saving them as drafts so that you can post them ASAP the next time you need something new on your blog)
2. Time tracking. Once you’ve gotten used to having your blog, I advise posting on a regular basis. If you only post once every five months, people will be less likely to check your blog as often (even if they love your blog) since they pretty much know there won’t be any new posts. If you make a post every Sunday, though, people will want to check your blog more to see those posts! I try to post at least once every two weeks, but am hoping to start posting more frequently.
3. A little or a lot? Post size is definitely something you’ll want to look into if you haven’t already. What makes a good size for a blog post? I like having variety in the lengths of my posts and pages, but I generally keep them within 500-1500 words long and normally containing a photo or two. You should decide for yourself if you like a little or a lot of words, but keep this in mind: If it’s too short, you might not have time to put in all your wonderful thoughts. If it’s too long, other people might not read the whole thing and just scan over it. You have to find the right ballance!
4. Picture perfect. I almost always post a picture or two with my blog posts. I think that it just makes my blog more attractive and fun, and can also hint followers on what they’re about to read. WordPress used to have a whole bunch of images at the side of the page that they reccomended for you based on your post, but I don’t think they do that even more, so I just look around on the web for something cute to use. Important Note-Make sure you have permission to use an image before you take it! Otherwise, using the picture could be considered piracy, which can get you in jail. And they probably won’t let you blog in jail, so…
5. Theme scheme. What types of posts do you want on your blog? Here on Rainbow of Words, I do pretty much anything and everything that tickles my fancy, but you might want to zoom in a little more and have posts JUST about animals or JUST about writing. That’s up to you. But whatever theme it is you choose for your posts, when you’re writing a post, try to stick to the main idea of that post. If you wander too much, so might the attention span of your loyal readers! If you do get an even better idea for a post while you’re posting something completely different, just jot your idea down as a draft post. That’s what I do when I get a blog idea, I’ll just begin working on it and put it on my drafts and then someday pull it out and work on it. I actually started this post in September but never finished it!
6. Style swap. Writing style is also something you might want to consider. Do you want your posts to be funny, serious, or written only in text lingo? its all up 2 u but just rmembr that any grammr freaks who read ur blog mite leave u a bunch of comments corecting all ur errors if u talk like this, lol. Mix it up, have some fun, experiment to discover your style!
7. Variety. Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little with your posts! A blog offers so many options, like TAG posts (a list of questions bloggers answer, sort of like a challenge sent from blogger to blogger), vlogs (video blogs), picture posts (a post made of just pictures and captions), quotes, the list goes on and on! Try out something new instead of staying in the same old format.

Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon!