In an evolving world, the Web is becoming more and more important in being able to mark one’s presence and emphasize our capabilities, just think of most of the activities that once filled our day, such as going to the post office, shopping, and reading the newspaper, and can now be done through a simple click.
Innovation has dragged along with it the need to express oneself and share one’s thoughts with the masses, so much so that it has created cross-sections of realities and experiences, corporate and otherwise, that are called blogs.
From Yesterday’s Blog to Today’s Blog
When U.S. programmer Dave Winer, back in 1997, launched Frontier, the first individual Internet dissemination tool, he did not yet know that that would become an important information and especially marketing tool. “For what it’s worth,” says Winer, “I decided to pronounce the word weblog as wee-blog. Or blog, for short,” referring to his “web reports.” In fact, the blog began as a personal, virtual diary for an intimate few, soon to become a full-fledged, commoditized website. Structuring a blog is a winning and innovative solution that allows you to connect directly with your users and enliven your brand. However, it is an option to be used with caution since the line that divides bad blogs from good ones is very thin. In order not to run into the mistake that could damage your work and create a blog that has all the requirements to become a must-have on the web, our web agency in Rome reveals the 10 points points to follow and not to overlook:
1: INFORM, EXPOSE, WRITE
The moment you want to write an article you need to focus on every detail of the topic through meticulous research on the web, do not leave anything out but adopt a magnifying glass on any kind of source as long as it is reliable, even of your competitors. There are two mistakes a webwriter should never make: the first is to disdain other people’s blogs, it is vital,in fact, to take cues from everywhere, keeping well away from copying so as not to fall into the second mistake. You should know that Big G notices everything so if you want to facilitate your business by using the classic copy and paste you are very wrong! Take your cues from what others write and don’t be afraid to express yourself and show your point of view; you may have many things to add or perhaps correct. Your watchwords to begin with will be: think, write and argue.
2: QUALITY CONTENTS.
If the content is not good, the argumentation turns out to be null and the blog loses quality, so sifting through a good topic remains the most difficult step. First and foremost, we need to outline a project that will help us find original ideas for writing quality articles and plan the work. Do not dwell compulsorily on famous themes but carefully search for something new by integrating it with your own point of view and considerations. In order for the blog to become a reference point for your users you should talk about everything related to your topic, which is not always related to you and your interests. You must do information, not advertising! The second step after you have a good idea is to express it in the most appropriate way.It goes without saying that spelling and punctuation errors are not allowed, and the excuse of “typos” is as old as time. So be careful what you write and how you write! Moreover, if you want to easily engage the reader, it is advisable to use language that is not too polished and more colloquial so that the reading will be more conversational and faster. In fact, often the average reader does not have much time to waste, so making use of a concise form would be the most appropriate option better if interspersed with pictures, a few lists and bold keywords.
3: A CATCHY TITLE
Choosing an effective and direct title is one of the most important steps when you want to write interesting posts that persuade the user to read. How do we know how to positioning one’s post among billions of results and hoping to be chosen is a very complex thing; moreover, most of the time the distracted reader does not pay attention to the article itself but is attracted by catchy titles – question titles or titles that answer a potential question that the user looking for answers is probably asking himself; so take this opportunity and try to get into his mind and give him what he is looking for. In general be concise and direct and you will hit the mark!
4: TAKE CARE OF YOUR FAME
There is no more wrong thing to do than to make your blog impersonal. Be proud of your work and get out of anonymity by stepping up the use ofauthorship…let me explain. Lately, it is no longer enough to write an article, but the need has arisen to associate the content with its author, so as to verify its affiliation and increase the authority of the one who wrote it and the article itself. In short, “put your signature.” We refer you to a short and effective guide we wrote on how to properly implement your authorship. It is a sure thing that an article written by a renowned/famous/followed author definitely has more traction than an anonymous or low-profile article so you should take care of your online image mainly through social networks, especially Google Plus (crucial for implementing authorship). Imprint a Guest Posting strategy, i.e. make contacts with your colleagues, don’t shy away from also writing on other titles/blogs and at the same time to host articles by other webwriters (better if well known). Help populate the web with interesting and quality content and raise your profile by exploiting more than just your channel. The more you write, the more interest your ideas generate, the more open you are to other blogs and the more trustworthiness and notoriety you gain.
5: SHARE AND SOCIALIZE
If you really want to make your blog successful, it is mandatory to use and know how to make good use of the Social Networks, sharing your content with extreme judgment. Don’t settle for just posting but make the best use of the medium that society offers you, express your opinion and make it known in its entirety. Don’t be afraid to use more than one social but be careful to use the right ones, each one has its own target audience, its own style and its own why, so find the one that best suits your topic. Don’t just share articles but also interesting things about the topic at hand to create sharing and “socializing.”
6: PLANNING AND VERSATILITY.
In order to take action on the web setup, it is essential to possess a thorough organization and to be able to envision a work plan that optimizes as much as possible the activity of the blog. To best structure your blog draw up an editorial plan by studying an outline of possible types of articles: talk about a news story of the moment, write a review of a useful tool in the industry, or a “how-to?” type article. The editorial plan should be continuously analyzed and revised if necessary, always staying tuned to the needs of users. The suggestion for being able to pique their interest is a dynamic, daily and versatile publication. The watchword is: update. What not to do? Never leave the blog idle!
7: PARTICIPATE AND COMMENT
Always include a commentary section within your articles and especially curate it, keeping the discussion alive and treasuring all comments, even the negative ones. It is of primary importance that people actively participate and be induced to dwell on your words, and why not, to give their own opinion. You should take their point of view as an example because they are the biggest users of your ideas. At the end of your articles conclude, if possible, with a question or incentive for your readers to interact.
8: AN ENGAGING STRUCTURE
Take care of the structure of your Blog properly, organizing it with modules that are useful to the reader and keep him or her on your site. For example, in a good structure you cannot miss a search form and a section with: most read articles, an archive, most popular articles and last but not least, not to be underestimated, the inclusion of related articles at the end of each article. Very useful for navigation and immediate search of information is the use of TAGs or, in case your Blog deals with different topics, a specially designed categorization.
9: ANALYZE AND MONITOR
Writing and organizing a blog is definitely an essential step, but if you really want to be successful you need to monitor your work consistently. Obligatory to hook a statistics system such as Google Analytics and check the response of users, but also to find out what may be the articles that provoke more or less reaction, the most visited pages or those of little interest and carefully analyze the bounce rate. By evaluating this data you can keep an eye on your target and have a clear picture of the effectiveness of your blog, going to targeted action where there are weak points.
10: EXPERIMENT AND INVENT
Do not hesitate in expressing your opinion, sift through all the possibilities that the Web offers and do not shy away from new things. Anything can further your success and enable you to benefit from your intended results. Be creative. Do you have an idea? Experiment with it and don’t be afraid to make mistakes…everything can be remedied! Do not homogenize your mind but stand out through new forms of thinking and writing. Remember that a blog is definitely a great tool for attracting visits to your site but it is also a powerful means of expressing who you are; do not finalize it exclusively for an increase in numbers but rather use it to unleash your inner information and share it with the web. These 10 steps are not meant to be dictates but to help you open your mind and adhere to what we see as the right parameters for setting up effective and successful work. Let us know if you agree and if your experience has led you to interesting new insights to analyze together.