By : Nidhi Gupta

1. Choose the right blog software
   For example: WordPress, Blogger, MovableType, Typepad and/or etc.

2. Host your blog directly on your domain
   I’ve always preferred to host my blog on a dedicated domain. And surprisingly doing so can actually attract links, attention, publicity, trust and search rankings.

3. Pick the right title tag
   Title tags that are short, snappy, on-topic and catchy are vital. You also want to think about search engines when you title your posts, since the engines can help to drive traffic to your blog.

4. Participate at related forums, blogs and blog directory
   It’s something like self promotion. The more participation, the more awareness is created.

5. Tag your content
   The first place you wanna consider tagging your post at would be Technorati. In fact, I recommend having the tags right on your page, pointing to the Technorati searches that you’re targeting. There are other good places to “ping” – Ping.sg (Singapore), del.icio.us and so on…

6. Link intelligently
   Not every issue you discuss or site you mention needs a link. There’s a fine line between overlinking and underlinking. The best advice I can give is to think of the post from the standpoint of a relatively uninformed reader. If you mention Wikipedia, everyone is familar and no link is required. If you mention a specific page at Wikipedia, a link is necessary and important. Simple as that.

7. Go beyond text in your posts
   Can you imagine a blog that contains nothing but line after line of text? These kind of blogs tend to be more difficult to read and less consistently interesting than those that offer images, interactive elements, the occassional multimedia content and some clever charts and graphs. If you’re having a tough time with non-text content, think about how you can format the text using blockquotes, indentation, bulllet points, and etc. to create a more visually appealing and digestable block of content.

8. Cover topics that need attention
   In every niche, there are certain topics and questions that are frequently asked or pondered, but rarely have definitive answers. While this recommendation applies to nearly every content-based site, it’s particularly easy to leverage with a blog.

9. Pay attention to your analytics
   With a visitor tracking application, it can tell you which posts your readers likes best, which ones don’t get viewed, and how the search engines are delivering traffic. Make full use of these clues to react and improve your strategies.

10. Use a human voice
    Having “charisma” is a valuable quality, both online as well as off. Through a blog, it’s most often judged by the voice you present to your readers. People like empathy, compassion, authority and honesty. Keep these in the forefront of your mind when writing and you’ll be in a good position to succeed. It’s also critical that you maintain a level of humility in your blogging and stick to your roots. When users start to feel that a blog is taking itself too seriously or losing the characteristics that made it unique, they start to seek new places for content.

11. Archive effectively
    Need I say more? If you’ve picked “the right blogging software” this is already automated.

12. Reveal as much as possible
    The so-called “blogosphere” is in love with the idea of an open source world on the world-wide-web. Sharing vast stores of what might ordinarily be considered “private information” is the rule, rather than the exception. It’s all about sharing with the world?

13. Make effective use of “high traffic days”
    If by chance you do have linkbait, whether by design or by accident, make sure to capitalize. If you happen to hit the front page of Digg, Reddit, or, on a smaller scale, attract a couple hundred visitors from a bigger blog or site in your space, you need to put your best foot forward. You have to make sure to follow up on a high traffic time period with 2-3 high quality posts that can possibly show off your skills as a writer, and let readers know that this is content they should be sticking around to see more of!

14. Create expectations and fulfill them
    Whenever you’re writing for your readers, your content focus, post timing and areas of interest will all become associated with your persona. If you vary widely from that style, you risk alienating folks who’ve come to know you and rely on you for specific data. Thus, if you build a blog around the idea of being an analytical expert in your field, don’t ignore the latest release of industry figures only to chat about an emotional issue – deliver what your readers expect of you and crunch the numbers.

15. Build ‘your’ brand
    Possibly one of the most important aspects of “blogging” is brand-building. You need to be a brand that people want to associate themselves with and a brand that people feel they derive value from being a member. Exclusivity, insider jokes, emails with regulars, the occassional cat post and references to your previous experiences can be offputting for new readers. However, these can be solid gold for keeping your loyal base feeling good about their brand experience with you. Remeber to keep to your “branding”. The moment you have a definition that people like and are comfortable with your “branding”, it’s very hard to break that mold without severe repercussions.

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