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The Perfect Blog

by: Gene DeFazzio

What is a Blog?

Blogs come in many shapes and sizes. The present trend is a proliferation of websites that are intended as online journals by which individuals and/or organizations express their thoughts and opinions. That in a nut shell is a Blog. Or to put it another way;

A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary), displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical Blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although many focus on photograph (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting).

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Creating a Blog

There are many ways to present your Blog. Basically you can use your own imagination to create the type of Blog that suits your fancy. However, the following guidelines will enhance your Blog and provide your visitors with a pleasant experience that increases the probability that they will return.

1.) Stick to your theme.

A Blog should have a central theme. It is the information contained in your content that your visitors will be interested in. If you ramble and deviate from the main topic of your Blog they will leave. Decide on a topic and stay with it. This will help you to create a following of interested readers.

2.) Be informative.

Your visitors are looking for information not some egocentric ramblings on your pet peeve. If you want to express an opinion do so in an informed manner. Use current events to underscore your views or provide references to bolster your opinions.

3.) Stay current.

No matter what you are trying to say on your Blog keep your content fresh and up to date. Don't rehash old stories or previous entries unless your visitors request it or it ties into some current event. Old news is not very interesting.

4.) Be dependable.

Update your Blog on a regular basis. Don't allow long lapses to occur between new entries. Have some sort of schedule for your Blog. It isn't necessary to do a daily update but you should never exceed a week between posts. You visitors expect as much. If your Blog content is updated on a regular basis, search engines will tend to spider the pages at regular intervals.

5.) Be clear and simple.

Always strive to keep your content clear and simply stated. Your visitors are from all walks of life and are composed of many nationalities. Keeping your message simple and straightforward will help to reach the most people.

6.) Use keywords.

Whatever the subject of your Blog may be use the keywords that best represent your theme. Your title should contain keywords that tie into your content and your content should contain your keywords as well. The search engines will be better able to index your Blog if they find your keywords easily.

7.) Blog quality.

Just any old content will not do. Strive to keep your content well written. Study the rules of essay writing and apply them always. Search engines have become more sophisticated and can tell the poorly written Blogs from the well written ones. Practice and apply good writing skills to be successful. Also, include an archive of past posts for the search engines to index and for your visitors to refer to.

8.) Proof read and check spelling.

Keep your content polished and accurate. To gain respect you must write with respect. Poor spelling and awkward sentences will turn most people off. Have pride in what you present and it will show in the number of followers that you will gain.

Summary

Most Blogs start out small with only a few regular visitors. But, if you follow the above guidelines your audience will grow over time. Don't expect an overnight success but stay the course and keep growing your Blog. In the end I think you will be glad you did.

Gene DeFazzio is the webmaster and author of the Rocketface® Workshop. (http:www.rocketface.com) A website dedicated to the new and aspiring webmaster and home of the award winning webmasters tutorial, "How to Design a Website".

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