Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Sharpen your own style and voice
• Method 2 of 3: Choose the format
• Method 3 of 3: Engage readers
• Tips
• Warnings

Are you considering joining the ranks of the blogosphere? Starting your own blog is a great way to keep your friends and family up to date with news, share your expertise with the world, or advertise your writing skills for professional purposes. To keep readers coming back, it's important to be expressive and add content regularly. For example via a blog planner.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Sharpen your own style and voice

1. Choose a genre. If your goal is to attract readers outside of your friends and family, it's a good idea to choose a blogging genre, no matter how broad. Making a name for yourself as someone with an interesting opinion on a particular set of topics will keep people who share your interests coming back for more. What's so important in your life that you want to discuss it publicly? People blog about absolutely everything: family, food, cars, professions, the Apocalypse, gardening, etc. Think about your own priorities in life and decide what your blog will fall into.
   • Just because you want to be a "food blogger" or "fashion blogger" doesn't mean that all of your content will have to be in that particular category. You can be a food blogger who also talks about what it's like to be a single mom, or a sports blogger who writes about politics from time to time.
   • Read other blogs that fall in the same genre to get a feel for the community already built around that particular topic. Entering the blogosphere is like entering a large group conversation. What will you contribute? What is unique about your story?
2. Write like an expert. The most compelling writing sounds confident and authoritative no matter the topic. People who take the time to read your story will want to feel like they are learning from you. Offering your expert opinion on an issue, expert tips on how to do something, or expert information not readily available from other sources will make your blog a worthwhile read.
   • You don't need to have a PhD to sound like an expert. There are already areas in which you have expertise: your own life, for starters. Your taste, your opinion, your experience. Everyone is an expert at something, and blogs are a great way for people to share their knowledge with the world.
   • Your expertise must be reflected in your tone. Write in assertive prose, rather than passive language. Support yourself with anecdotes and, where necessary, research.
   • Think of creative ways to share your knowledge with your readers. You could tell a hilarious story that anyone can relate to and learn from, share a tutorial on how to do something with your eyes closed, give an overview of little-known musicians or artists in need of some promotion , discuss ways to calm a screaming toddler in a restaurant ... the possibilities are endless.
3. Write as you speak. Blogs, unlike most traditional writing methods, tend to be casual, talkative and put things into perspective. When you're writing a blog entry, it can help to pretend you're talking to your sister or best friend. Use the same storytelling point in all your posts so that they appear coherent and represent you as a person. A common response from readers to popular blogs is that they feel they "know the person." When you hit a tone and style that gives people you've never met a sense of familiarity, you've got bloggers' gold in your hands.
   • Many bloggers express themselves "friendly" to their readers, but there are other forms of familiarity that can also bring success. For example, you could write as if you are a teacher and your readers are your students, radiating inspiring wisdom that will keep them coming back. Find the relationship that works best for you.
   • It can be difficult to use the same words on paper that we use in our colloquial language. If you're not sure how your voice comes across, read your message to yourself. Are you able to read it in a natural, reliable way, or does it sound rather stiff? If the latter is true, go back and change the language and syntax to make it more conversational.
4. Share details. Let's face it: blogging is writing what reality TV is to television. Like the best reality shows, the most compelling blogs are those with a lot of juicy personal information. If your blog is dry and formal, you will have a hard time retaining readers. Share as much of your life as you feel comfortable with; you will build trust with readers and strengthen that "relationship" as we discussed in the previous step.
   • How much do you have to share? A good measure is sharing the amount of information you would share with someone you know fairly well. Your personality and unique experiences should come out clearly.
   • Know your limits and stick to them. There will always be some details that you keep to yourself or only share with close friends and family members, and it should be. Once you publish something on the internet, it is difficult to take it back, so don't force yourself to step out of your personal comfort zone.

Method 2 of 3: Choose the format

1. Choose a subject. Every blog post you write should have a topic, no matter how broad or loose, around which the post is built. Publishing a series of incoherent thoughts can be the occasional bother, but make sure every post you post isn't as unfocused as a daily journal entry. Think of each post as a mini essay; you must have a thesis to keep the text moving and make it interesting enough to read. If the topic is something you are interested in and passionate about, it can have a positive effect on the quality of the text you are writing, so think carefully about what you want to blog about.
   • The topic may be clear, such as "What I thought about it." Wicked for the first time, "or it could be a subtle theme that makes the message unexpectedly cohesive at the end. Be creative with the organization and presentation of your thoughts.
   • Some bloggers like to repeat topics that are popular with the readers.For example, you can have a "Music Monday" as a recurring topic, discussing new music that you would like to share.
2. Write an eye-catching headline. The headline or title of your blog post should immediately grab the reader's attention. Be creative with your headlines and make them funny, mysterious, artistic, surprising or otherwise very interesting. Your headline is the start of your post and will help the reader decide whether or not to keep reading, so it shouldn't be neglected.
3. Write in short paragraphs. Online writing is characterized by short paragraphs of no more than 3-4 sentences, and sometimes less. The paragraphs should be split into lines and not dashes. This style is much more conducive to online reading, which is done top to bottom rather than left to right. You will lose readers if you make it too difficult for them to scan the page quickly.
4. Use section titles and bold words. Breaking up the text with section titles is a good way to keep your post from resembling a long, hard-to-work essay. Section titles are usually written in a thicker, larger, or completely different font than the rest of the text, drawing attention to them when they might otherwise wander. If you don't want to split your post into categories and section titles, consider adding an important phrase here and there to make the post more visually interesting.
   • Another way to make the post more visually interesting is to play around with other types of formatting. Bold or italic, experiment with different font sizes and use different colors.
   • This strategy can certainly be taken too far, so make sure you don't overdo it. You want your message to be legible and too many fonts or colors can cause visual catastrophe if you're not careful.
5. Consider including a manual or step-by-step list. Many bloggers include a guide or step list as part of their posts, usually with steps in bold. This gives the readers something concrete to learn that will keep people on the page longer. Items on a list can also serve as a substitute for section titles when it comes to breaking up the text to make it more interesting.
   • If you include a tutorial, make sure your tutorial is easy to follow and entertaining. Don't switch completely to the typical tone of a manual; it should still be written in your own style.
   • Lists are a great way to organize thoughts that seem to be incoherent. For example, you could write a list of "Five Ways to Mentally Prepare for the New Year," and add five funny anecdotes about things you have been thinking about as the year draws to a close. You have essentially created a structure for your blog text where it would previously be just a series of unrelated stories.
6. Use links. Some bloggers use more links than others, but most always place a few here and there in every blog post. Linking to other articles is one of the hallmarks of online writing. It's a great way to connect your blog to the greater online world. Links also make what you write more relevant and up to date - a huge bonus when it comes to attracting readers who open blogs because they want to be kept up to date on a number of different topics.
   • Link to other people's blogs. They will also link to yours, and you can share each other's internet traffic.
   • Link to fascinating topics people may not have seen. Readers will come to your blog for great information they can't find elsewhere.
7. Don't forget the pictures. Some bloggers use as many as eight images in one post, while others use one or even none. Whether or not you include images in your blog is entirely up to you, but it's worth experimenting with a few images to see if they increase your web traffic and make your blog more interesting. Don't forget to follow the same rules as when writing: keep the photos relevant, offer something unique and, if necessary, make it personal.
   • You don't have to use professional looking photos on your blog; photos taken with the camera on your phone work just as well in most cases.
   • If you're starting a blog about food or another topic that works best with photos, consider putting some money into a good camera and learn how to edit photos for web use.

Method 3 of 3: Engage readers

1. Update your blog often. Blogs compete with a lot of other content on the web. It's important to stay relevant and up to date to keep readers coming back or else your blog will be quickly forgotten. Keep yourself in readers' inboxes by updating at least once a week, and ideally more often.
   • When a writer's block takes over and you find it difficult to consistently come up with good posts, remember that not every post needs to be high quality and well thought out. You can update a few times a week with shorter posts or thoughts just to let your readers know you're still here.
   • Updating often is especially important if you are first starting out and trying to get an audience. As your popularity increases, you will be less likely to be forgotten after a week or two without messages.
   • Publishing a coherent list of "favorites" is a great way to post without having to write it. Consider ending the week with a list of links that have inspired you, for example.
2. Encourage responses. The great thing about writing online is that your readers can join the conversation at the same time. You know exactly what people think of your blog because they let you know in the comments. This form of participation should be encouraged as it makes people feel welcome in your blog's "community", which creates a sense of friendship and intimacy and leads fans to tell others about your blog.
   • One way to encourage comments is to ask people questions in your posts. For example, you can close a message about your vacation with the question: "What is your favorite vacation spot?". When people are encouraged to participate, they usually do.
   • Prepare to get some negative or mean comments every now and then. Don't try to take them personally; anyone who has a blog that is not only read by friends or family will have the occasional troll. You can delete or ignore the comment, it's up to you.
3. Reply to comments, emails and tweets. When you first start out, taking time to correspond with people will help build a loyal readership by increasing the sense of connection people will feel with you. Ultimately, it won't be possible to respond to every comment or email, but dedicating a certain amount of time to this task will pay off in the end.
4. Pay attention to your readers. If a particular topic or style of blog post seems to be hurting your web traffic or to inspire fewer responses, try something new next time. This is not to say that you should focus entirely on your readership, but if you don't offer something that readers like, it will be difficult for you to get them to stick with you.

Tips

• Listen to feedback. People will comment on your blog, and it's always good to read them.

Warnings

• Do not steal from other people's blogs or texts. If someone discusses an idea on their own page, feel free to discuss it, but don't copy the other person's work. Make sure you correctly quote any passage or quote you use from someone else.