With numerous amazing arts, heritage and artistic blogs out there already, how does one make yours stand out? How does one get people returning for more, and the way does one increase visitor numbers and build a loyal following?
There are many tips and tricks to urge your own creative blog rocking and thus raising your profile and helping you to win more business. Here's my top 20 tips for a successful creative blog, but if you'll consider any longer.
Getting started
Choosing a blogging platform is your first challenge. There are many free options out there including Wordpress, Tumblr, TypePad and Blogger. All of them offer free design themes so you'll customise your own blog so it's extremely easy to urge started. And if you are not sure the way to use them? There's many online video tutorials to be found on the online – for instance , Wordpress has its very own lesson list to assist get you started.
Consider integration
From an SEO point of view, it's worth getting your blog integrated together with your existing website to create content and make the search engines love you even more. After all, SEO (search engine optimisation) is all about content. But if you are not ready to do that or can't afford to rent an internet developer to sort, then start a free blog and confirm you include links to your main website or other links, for instance to your artistic portfolio.
Find a distinct segment
When choosing an ingenious topic to blog about, attempt to find a distinct segment . Make your blog about something very specific and you will please both the search engines and your readers. Try to not be too general and really specialise in one specialist topic and stick with it. Find your own niche and choose it – just remember to remain on topic.
Write about what you're keen on
Write about something you're keen on , otherwise you'll show no passion in your writing. And if there is no passion, your content will suffer, so find a subject you're comfortable with and only write on that. for instance , if you are a museum curator, mention the industry, emerging trends and other museums or exhibitions you're keen on . And if you are a director , you'll write on industry folk you admire or share your working day together with your followers.
Offer value
It goes without saying but if you do not provide something the general public wants, your creative blog will never be a hit . Give people what they're after and offer real value to their web browsing experience. What do I mean by this? Well, value is demonstrated within the content you publish. If your content isn't valuable people won't read it or return to read more. Really believe what you're putting out there and provides the people what they need .
Focus on marketing
You won't get anywhere if you only launch a blog and hope that folks will come with none marketing effort. you've got to actively market your blog and you'll do this through a spread of the way . you'll start chatting with other bloggers by leaving valuable comments on other people's blog posts – this may help draw people back to your own site. otherwise you can make use of the search engines and write on topics that are popular within the searches, like this very feature. otherwise you could even offer to contribute to influential e-zines or blogs to assist raise your profile. Whatever you select to try to to , just get out there and market yourself like hell . There's really no excuse to not .
Encourage interaction
Get people talking on your blog. Ask them to feature their comments on various articles, like I've through with this post. Encourage interaction wherever possible. invite feedback, answer people's contributions, build a community and be nice. People like to interact, so confirm you're friendly and welcoming.
Make commenting easy
Just remember that there are many reasons why people won't discuss your blog posts. It might be anything from not providing quick access to log a comment to writing about negative things people don't need to be a neighborhood of. Bottom line? Make commenting easily accessible and write on stuff that gets people talking positively. If people can interact on your blog, they'll keep returning for more.
Don't worry about negativity
Occasionally you'll get the odd negative discuss your blog. Don't let it put you off or scare you faraway from blogging. Any comments you are not proud of are often deleted or skilled positively. Despite what people say, it's extremely rare that you're going to face negativity so don't be concerned about it an excessive amount of .
Don't get fear and believe yourself
Once your blog starts to urge quite 1,000 visitors per month, it's only natural that you simply may lose confidence in yourself and your writing. aren't getting fear and keep at it! there's a reason why you've got numerous visitors, so believe yourself and keep writing fantastic content.
Images, images and more images
People love images. a number of the foremost popular arts and artistic blogs within the world include tons of images . this is often partly because people like to quickly scan through sites and that they enjoy seeing photographs and pictures that help to interrupt up text and add visual interest. When writing an ingenious blog, images are essential so provide as many as possible and provides your audience many things to enjoy.
Provide easy reading
Research suggests that folks view and scan sites instead of read all little bit of copy. Therefore, attempt to keep your articles as easy, quick reads. Provide lists wherever possible and hack the text. From an SEO point of view, you would like to supply a minimum of 250 words of copy. But it is also good to stay to the present number for your readers — unless in fact you're writing a piece of writing like this one – during which case, add in bullet points or lists because it'll hold people's attention more.
Give your posts punchy titles
When brooding about things to blog about, write articles that have punchy titles: ones that folks look for through search engines and titles that are appealing and catchy. you would like to draw people in and encourage their curiosity.
Keep it regular
A blog is nearly like a web journal and suggests a "regular" focus. attempt to keep your blog updated with a minimum of two articles every week . Ideally, you would like to be blogging every single day, especially if SEO is one among your key priorities. Otherwise, just attempt to keep things going. And if you continue holiday, make best use of scheduling tools on your blog so you'll post articles automatically while you're faraway from your desk.
Avoid clutter
When designing your blog — either creating one from scratch or using any of the free blogging platforms online — attempt to keep the layout clean, fresh and uncluttered. Avoid adding many unnecessary features. Keep it easy on the attention and you will please your blog visitors and have them returning for more.
Get social
Don't neglect social media elsewhere like Twitter and Facebook. confirm you hook these up to your blog's RSS feed and update your followers and fans together with your latest post. Twitterfeed may be a useful gizmo that automatic publishes your posts to your Twitter and Facebook accounts — great for Twitter but looks a touch spammy for Facebook at the present . Test everything first and confirm you're proud of the automated updates and tweets you're putting out there.
Keep an eye fixed on analytics
Keep track of how people are landing on your blog and the way they're finding you. you'll then tailor your blog posts to your readers' needs also as making best use of these external sources that are really drawing people in. If you invest in any online advertising, your analytics also will help determine your ROI (return of investment) and whether it's working or not. Keep an eye fixed on your web analytics and ensure your blog is functioning as powerfully because it should be.
Allow easy following
Place "follow" badges on your blog wherever possible. for instance , on Blogger you'll add a free widget which inspires people to "follow your blog" in their own Google readers. Tumblr has something similar but this is often already integrated. confirm you provide a simple follow option on your own blog, albeit it's just clear links to your RSS feed.
Get personal
Reveal more about who you're in your posts and your audience will love you for it. People want to follow people, not brands. Include an "about" section if possible and a photograph of yourself. By offering a private slant, you will be encouraging people to love you and by tapping into their emotions you'll encourage loyalty hence happy, returning visitors.
A really great example is Ana Kinsella, a fashion blogger from Ireland. Her Ripped Knees blog is mixed with many fashion news, but the private slant is when she posts pictures of her own outfits. Stylebubble is extremely similar and hugely popular. Add a private touch to your own blog.
Spell checking and proof-reading
Finally, before you hit the "publish" button, it's crucial you check your spelling and proofread your article again and again. Bad spelling won't only ruin your credibility, it'll damage your SEO because the search engines won't appreciate poor copy. confirm you check everything before you go live.
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