10 Popular Blog Questions Answered

If you are interested in blogging, there are a few things that you might want to know before you do so. Read through these 10 popular blog questions and their answers and expand your blog-knowledge!

1. What is a Blog?

Blogging has become a phenomenon---giving ordinary people the power of the media. In the old way, people get news from limited sources. Blogging helped individuals transcend such limitation.

Blogs are a summary of various news from different people for any audience. Blogs are organized by blog posts like articles in a newspaper. It archive all news written overtime and what is extraordinary is it allow readers to interact with the news makers (bloggers). Thus, helping build relationships with readers and better understanding of the issues discussed.

But where did the word "blog" come from? The world Blog comes from 'web log' which emerged as online journals. Being written by individuals, and not necessarily professionals, blogs are borne from a diverse group of people. Thus, blogs range from a simple personal diary to a business promotional campaign. In this context, however, I would like to discuss about Business Blogs and how this internet communications tool can affect your business since this has become a common trend of marketing online. There have been many success stories on how blogs dramatically increased sales. What's making blogs click is that its revolutionary way of reaching and actually talking to customers are giving businessmen real, credible hints of what customers like. It's almost as if conducting FGDs where you wish to derive honest answers so you can better your product. But what's more is that it's savvy, budget-friendly and an enjoyable method of asking customers what they want, need and expect. It's not even directly selling products or services but engaging in conversations where both customers and businessmen can fully understand what the business and their relationship is all about.

2. What Can Blogging do for me?

For valid reasons, people are considering blogging as a profession or business. If you are a business wishing to improve sales, this could work for you. Or if you consider your writing talent as a way to earn you some cash--you're in the game, too.

However, as casual as blogging may sound, successful and effective bloggers have not only dedicated time but have also diligently learnt and practised the principles of blogging to make it work. The www is proliferated with countless of bloggers. But sad to say, most deliver rubbish content. So, before you ask yourself what the blogging business can do for you, it would be wise if you also counter check with yourself if you are willing to take the risks and give sufficient time to make it work for you.

If you think you can be committed, then, let's give it a headstart. So, what can blogging do for you if say, you are an entrepreneur? Educate the market about your products and services. Increase your sales Understand your market and in effect, you are able to make wiser future business decisions. Develop real relationships with your customers Increase traffic to your website (if you have one) As some blogs are replacing websites -- just because they are more regularly updated than static sites, this becomes a more effective alternative for web presence. Thus, you save costs on building or maintaining a website.

3. Can blogging be good for my business?

Yes-- if you are willing to invest time and commitment into it; and Yes -- if you are serious about making it work.

If you are NOT, blogging may not be the thing for you.

4. What do I write in a Blog?

This is a topic that will need to be written in one article for it to be discussed comprehensively. But what you have to keep in mind is your purpose on why you want to put up that blog in the first place. Is it to advertise and sell? to educate consumers about what they are missing? to understand what and how they think? or a combination of all these? A good blog should have a purpose. It's not simply posting unplanned, messy write ups on the web. Make sure you talk about what you want to accomplish and make it inviting to your readers so they can leave comments to it. That's the whole point anyway -- to have them talking!

Carefully plan your posts. Make them readable too! That includes the font size and styles you use. How's your layout? Always put yourself in your readers' shoes when you decide on these points.

Make each post strong and with the ability to build your reputation. This will increase its readership.

5. How do I expand my blog's readership?

Yes, readership! That means: Is my content like-able? Or does it shoo my visitors away? Is it interesting enough? Do I get enough exposure? Is it easy to manipulate? Is it bland and non-dynamic? Consider these questions when you think about readership again. Allow users to publish their content. Making this possible is one way to expand your blogs reach. However, have editors to moderate the contents. Remember that you are still responsible of everything found on your blogs so make sure you do not raise any red flags then. Localize Your Blog. This is tantamount to saying that you have to carefully identify your niche. Build a Blog Network. If you already have one or two blogs, create a few more and use each blog to drive traffic to the other. Set up a Forum/Social Network. Provide a corner for your readers to discuss issues. Apart from your content, interactivity will entice visitors to populate your blog. Clone Your Blog. This would be great if you plan to explore other niches. If you already have an existing, successful blog -- give it a shot to offer the same to another niche. Say, you have your blog set up with working moms, the same might work for home-based mothers. Participate in a Social Community. The key idea here is to establish your network within these social communities that you participate in. You can aim to build your reputation and when you do, link them to your blogs. Create Premium content. Everything does not have to be public. You can make exclusive offers to members only: either for free or for a fee. Create a members only private blog or subsection on your site and promote paid subscriptions alongside your free content. Examples of these are: detailed tutorials, tools, free members-only products (ebooks), user generated content and efficient customer support on your end will make premium content attractive. Create buzz. How about an industry event such as an annual competition? This would unbelieavably swarm readers to your site. Partner with Other Blogs. Working together with other blogs is an incredibly easy way to expand your sites reach. Work together with a few other bloggers for an initiative such as a social network, collaborative writing project, awards ceremony or application. Co-brand this product and use to get attention. This builds your blog/personal brand and drives targeted traffic to your site. Make Your Blog Mobile. Some readers like to access blogs through mobile devices like PDAs or cellphones so making your blog mobile may help you to reach more people.

6. How do I get subscribers for my blog? Offer subscription options to your blogs and make it visible (preferably at the bottom of your post). Do you have an email alternative to RSS? Give away freebies! Take advantage of your mailing list. The only way you can regularly keep in touch with them is if you have something to offer that is free and interesting to them. If you have a newsletter or an e-book, you could opt to give them away. Become a guest blogger. You gain connections by so doing. Ask the blog owner if you can link back his/her readers to your site. Post intriguing or controversial issues to make readers follow you! Network. There are many options to network: from posting in forums to building partnerships with other bloggers. Establish a real relationship and keep it in good faith. The more they trust you, the more they will feel that you have something authentic to offer them.

The more you routine yourself towards these tasks makes you more subscriber-friendly. Putting up a blog aims to market your business but you can't make blogs work if you don't market them as well!

7. What is responsible blogging?

Prevent the RED FLAGS from being raised. That's the idea. As your posts are open to the public (think world-wide), you might want to be a little more careful with what you put out in the open. Here's a few DO's in blogging: Respect copyright law. It is unlawful to copy what is not yours. Ever heard the term "plagiarism"? Check your information before you publish them. Knowing your facts is important as we don't wish to deceive our readers. Be responsible of what you write ( consider the implications of what you write. An extension of this task would be to manage comments coming from your readers. You are responsible for everything on your site. It is critical that you avoid libel/defamation and copyright infringement in your readers posts. So, it may be necessary to create a blog policy that your readers can agree on before they can start blogging away. Reference your sources . Yes, and you know why!

8. How do I Optimize my blog?

Unfortunately, optimizing blogs is one step that most bloggers skip. Optimizing means making readers and the search engines find you quickly.

Here's a few tips on how to do it: Make your blog look unique. First impression lasts! However, make templates look easy on your readers. Always keep in mind user experience (what they want your blog to look like) Make sure you have RSS and Feed Subscription Buttons available. These allow people to subscribe to your blog. Also offer that subscribers can receive your blogs via email.

9. How do I come up with effective titles for my blogs?

Peoples attention span is getting shorter and shorter. Thus, it is wise to come up with titles that would: a)grab people's attention and b) reflect what is in the content and be search engine friendly.

Therefore, it is vital that you weave your post's title into something material and catchy or your readers may just skip it. Not only that, it has to be something that search engines will love as well. Having said that, it might not be wise to get a little creative with your titles on this one. Creative titles usually are not something that net surfers would type in a search engine.

They type in direct phrases of what the content is all about. So, write descriptive titles that tell your reader what the post is all about.

How about... considering to make your blog post title a question? Think of common search query phrases that a researcher would type in the search engine. Adding "How to" or "Review" or "Best Practice" in your titles as these are commonly used phrase/word (but of course, that depends on what your post is about). A catchy title that says it all.

10. Are there helpful tips in blog writing?

Now that you have asked for it, you're getting it. Read these few lines to help you get started: Use the active voice when you write. Consider these sentences: Smart bloggers carefully avoid the red flags of blogging. The red flags of blogging are carefully avoided by smart bloggers.

The first one(written in active voice) actually sounds more appealing than the second sentence (written in passive). It is not that it is wrong to write in the passive voice but making it active brings more power and life to your words because it is clearer and shorter. Write briefly. You are not writing a novel. Remember that your readers are busy people and that they will find it difficult to keep up with your blogs if they are lengthy. Spelling, grammar and punctuation do matter! You build reputation with your blogs. And believe me---you don't want yourself tagged as erroneous. So, go an extra mile and do some proofreading before you make your post live. Use appealing words. When they are repetitive, they become boring. Check your lexical resources and make the Thesaurus handy. This is especially useful when you decide on your post titles too! Plan your thoughts. To attract readership, spice your content with new information, honesty and controversy.

James Pitt helps people use technology and build relationships to make sales. He helps build and implement marketing and sales strategies which are 80% cheaper and 100% more effective.

E: info@ultro.co.uk http://www.james-pitt.com