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I have been running a successful blog for quite a few years now, my blog helps me connect with my readers and also helps me build my business and my brand. In my opinion your blog is the most important site you will ever create, here are a few tips to help you become a successful blogger.

 1, It’s all about content.

People visit your blog to read your content so try to avoid using your blog to pitch tons of products, it’s fine to advertise your own products and services, after all your blog is about you, but don’t make each post a shameless plug for something else. Sure, if you are talking about a particular product or service feel free to link to it via an affiliate link but make sure delivering great content is your number one priority.

2, Update your content on a regular basis.

No one likes seeing a blog that isn’t updated regularly so try to update your blog as often as possible and at the very least at least once per calendar month. This means your archives will always display every month in your blog post history, so even as little as 12 posts per year written once per month can give the impression of a busy blog, but of course try to write more often.

3, Write for people, not search engines.

There is nothing worse than reading content that was designed to get better rankings in the search engines, so when writing try to forget about keywords and SEO. People visit your blog to read your content. If you forget about keywords and SEO your content will read better and you will probably get better long term search engine rankings.

 4, Don’t be afraid to be controversial.

A controversial blog post can split opinions but this can lead to a ton of interaction and traffic. In fact if someone heavily disagrees with what you write they will probably end up driving a ton of traffic for you. Ask yourself if you have read an article that made you angry or you strongly disagreed with. Were you more compelled to add your opinion? If the answer is yes then you already know how well this works.

 5, Capture leads.

When someone visits your blog it would be a shame to let them go without at least offering a bribe to have them opt-in to your mailing list. I actually have three opt-in forms on my blog, a pop up and three static opt-in forms. See if you can spot them all. People can also connect with me via Facebook and RSS. If people like what you are doing they will want to connect with you so make sure it’s easy to do so.

 6, Keep your blog up to date.

WordPress is constantly changing, make sure you keep up to date and always update your blog when updates are available as sometimes updates are to protect you from security risks.

 7, Appearance is everything.

I have to be honest, I have seen some shocking looking blogs over the years, we don’t need to see flashing images, audio, bells, whistles and the like. People visit your blog because of your content, not because it has a nice flashy logo. Keep things simple and also make sure that any graphics you use on your blog are professionally created. I hate to break it to you but unless you have major experience in graphic design your logo probably wont look professional despite your best attempts. So pay a designer to create your blog graphics. I can recommend GFX-1.

8, Use images in your posts.

Have you noticed I tend to add an image to most of my posts? I feel this breaks up the text in your posts and makes your blog look more visually appealing. Try to add at least one image to each post you write. Make sure you have the rights to use any images you add to your posts, just doing a Google image search and downloading isn’t enough and could land you in a lot of trouble. I usually download my images from Fotolia and I would recommend you use a similar service.

9, Spell check.

Make sure your blog is free from spelling and grammatical errors. The spell checker in your browser isn’t enough as it’s usually very hard to spot your own errors, so make sure you get someone else to proofread everything you write. You can get away with the odd error but if your posts are full of errors people wont stick around for long.

10, Get social.

Make sure you interact your blog with the likes of Facebook and Twitter. If you write good content your followers will want to share it and the best way to do this is via social media sharing tools. Sharebar is a great tool to encourage social sharing.

11, Share your secrets.

Some people think it’s wrong to share ‘secrets’ via a blog thinking that giving away great content should be kept for a product that people will need to buy. My take on that is if you share your best stuff for free people will be falling over themselves to get at your paid material. If you discover something that works don’t keep it to yourself, share it with your followers. I promise you will earn more as a result.

12, Encourage interaction.

Most people won’t leave a comment on your blog but the more you encourage it the more comments your blog will receive. Ask your readers for their opinions and ideas, respond to their questions and try to build a community.

Can you add anything to this post? If so please share what’s working for you in your blogging world.