5 Tips for Successful Blogging for Writers

 

The Internet has made it possible for writers to be their own one-made shop. You can write your book, publish it, sell it, and market it all on your own. You reap all the profits, and you can former closer relationships with your readers.

Blogging is one of the best marketing tools available to writers. You can use it to promote your work and to connect directly with your fans. You can reveal insights into your process, share news about upcoming publications or sales, and participate in a direct conversation with your readers.

However, blogging may not be like the writing you're used to doing. You need to take a special approach in order to make your blogging successful (and, therefore, a useful tool in marketing yourself). Here are a few tips:

Be Yourself

In their quest to put on a professional, public face in their blogs, many writers lose their own voice and fail to connect with readers. It is important to be yourself when you write -- just like you would in your professional writing. Being yourself will help you to stand out and will help readers to feel a connection with you, which will encourage them to read your blog and your published writing.

Offer Value

Blogging is a great tool to promote yourself and your work, but if all you ever do is promote yourself, you'll alienate your audience. You must offer your readers something of value in order to keep them coming back to your site (where they can learn more about you and your work). You can offer value by sharing useful information (perhaps some writing tips or some information about the publishing industry) or by writing entertaining content. Strive to create a healthy mix of promotional content and content that creates value for your readers.

Adapt to the Format

Every type of writing has a very specific format. So does blogging. Some guidelines include:

·       Short sentences.

·       Short paragraphs of only 2-3 sentences each.

·       Bulleted points.

·       Bold headers and other elements to break up the page and improve readability.

If you're a novelist, it may be hard to break up your long paragraphs, and if you're a poet, it may be difficult to pare back the descriptions. Be aware of your format, and adapt as necessary.

Use SEO

One of the best ways to get your blog noticed is to optimize it for search engine results. That way, when someone searches for something in your niche, they are more likely to find your blog. SEO incorporates a large number of elements, but the key strategies involve identifying the right keywords for your blog and then using them in your content, headers, and other page elements Other basic strategies include link building, increasing page loading times and optimizing your design.

Get Social

Social media is a great compliment to your blog. You should be sharing all your blog posts on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and should be striving to expand the conversation with followers there. Social networking can help you to reach a larger audience and can increase the page rank for your blog (getting you more exposure and more traffic).

Blogging is a great way for writers to promote themselves and to build relationships with their readers. If you are new to blogging, or if you aren't seeing the results you would like from blogging, consider these tips for success to start reaching your goals.

Are you blogging to promote your work? Share your best tips for success in the comments!

Bio:

Chloe Trogden is a researcher focusing on school grants who writes on specific opportunities such as grants for nursing students. Her leisure activities include camping, swimming and playing her guitar.