Viral Storytelling with The Story Lady, Ronda Del Boccio

If you are new to blogging and want to get started by creating your blog, these are 10 tips (plus a bonus tip) that will get you started blogging.

I am working from the idea that you already know what you want to blog about and that you have a blog in place.  You want to attract a following of people who read your blog regularly.  So let’s get you started writing your own blog posts!

1.  Post often:  bare minimum is once per week.  And before the avid bloggers jump down my throat, YES it should be more, but someone starting may have all they can manage to post once a week.  And what you’ll write about on your blog is whatever is relevant to your purpose for the blog.

2.  Blog post titles function like headlines.  Their job is to make you want to read the first paragraph.  They should grab attention and speak to relevance.  This is no time to be vague.

3.  Remember that titles are your chance to use the keywords that attract the right people to your post.  So a title like this one that I’ve seen numerous times is ineffective:  "what if It Was Simple".  How about "The Simplest Way to Get Started Blogging."    

"A Frustrating Experience" as a title doesn’t tell me what to expect or entice me to read the article.

4.  Write the post first, then the headline (title).  This will ensure you’re in the moment with what the post turns out to be about (which may be different than your original intention).

5.  Write small paragraphs.  Nobody wants to read huge blocks of text.  6 lines or less is good for a blog post.

6.  It’s ok - even recommended - to break up a big topic into a series and, in fact, gives you more relevant posts that way.

7.  Use tags, as these are indexed by Google, and be sure they are the words someone would put into Google or their favorite search engine.  A post about the law of attraction should have that phrase in the title, the body and the tags.

8.  Liberally use the key words for which you want traffic frequently in your post.  This isn’t the time to worry about using synonyms or saying something in a different way.  It’s about attracting people to your blog using the terms they’re hunting.

9.  Stick to one topic per post.  Be relevant and stay on point.  People will easily lose attention when you ramble.