Most bloggers wonder whether their blogs are really successful. They ask themselves what the yardstick of a good blog is? Is it in the magical number of readers and page visits? Or is there a special something that makes their blog really successful?
Well… there are many important points that can actually make or break your blog. Just writing aimlessly is not enough. One has to be intuitive, focused and smart about what is actually going on the blog so that it separates itself from the mediocre to become a success. Here are a few points that perhaps can tell whether your blog is a success or a failure. Read on…
19 Key Essentials for Successful Blog:
1. Content Rules:
Your content still remains the king. And even if you are a marketing genius, you need to have precise, informative and catchy content that can hold the readers. And if the readers keep coming back for more, you know that you’ve nailed it. Secondly, if your content is smart, savvy and even a little sassy, and even the most bone dry serious article is written in a communicative manner, your readers will immediately connect.
2. Create An Identity:
A successful blog is like a magnet… it keeps the readers hooked. And by doing so, you’d have managed to create a unique brand by which your blog is easily recognizable through its look, content and topics. If all this is achieved, you have obviously created a successful platform. For instance, Nigella Lawson, the queen of food porn, known all over for her sensuous food show, is actually a known blogger. Her blog on food has millions of visitors who swear by her easy to make, workable recipes. Obviously, her blog is a resounding success. And her identity is easily recognized and formed.
3. Your Page Views Are Escalating:
The page view numbers are racing up. That is a sure sign that your blog is doing well. It is essentially a measure by which you know which topics interest your readers. For instance, if a particular blog writes about celebrities, food, fashion and style, and it is found that food and Bollywood stars are extremely popular on the site and readers keep coming back to read more about these topics. The page visits also help gauge which topics are popular with the readers. So if your blog cleverly caters to the likes and dislikes of its readers, it will automatically climb the ladder of success,
4. Bring Your Blog In The Spotlight:
For instance, Fox Travel has a show which revolves around bloggers who have now become mini-celebrities themselves in the eyes of the media. They have channelized their blogs in such a way that it has grabbed eyeballs. Their blogs have become popular and they too have become media magnets. Needless to say, their blogs are a success. The mantra here is projection. They have managed to get their blogs in the spotlight through their smart marketing, and now they need no yardstick to state their blogs are a success. They KNOW their blogs are successful and appeal to their followers.
5. Page Per View:
Another important yardstick is a page per view. This notifies you whether your blog is interesting for the readers. Did they find the blog informative? Smart? Helpful? And the numbers of visitors dashing back to your blog show how successful your blog actually is.
6. Animated Discussions:
For instance, a beautifully written article analyzing US Presidential candidate Donald Trump on a popular blog got several animated discussions started. It continued for several days and even got quoted by the national media. The page visits to this blog have since then escalated like raging fire. Getting an animated discussion going is the best way to pull traffic to your blog. It gets the juices flowing and the visitors connect through debate, dialogue and conversation.
7. Traffic Measure:
The number of visitors making the rounds to your blog is another huge yardstick to a successful blog. Do you have many loyal visitors rewarding you with likes and comments quick as a flash, the minute you publish a new article? If yes, sit back and relax! Your blog sure is successful and how! Virtual foot falls measure the popularity of the blog. And if you have managed to keep your visitors engaged in not only your informative content but also animated discussions, you have just raced ahead in the blog race.
8. Time Spent:
Here the metrics would include: Time spent on the site: How long did the visitor spend on your blog? Did your blog make him stop and read? And perhaps spend time on commenting on a certain topic. Along with that topic, did he also end up reading the other content on the blog too?
9. Ratings & Questions Asked:
Here again, there are some important things to ponder on: Content rating: Good, bad and more… Ratings do matter. And if your ratings help you stand head and shoulders above others, good for you!
Questions asked: okay, so your visitor is engaged enough to be curious about a topic. And queries and suggestions are made; again, this is a wonderful sign. For it means, the visitor will be interested enough to visit again if not for anything, at least to get an answer. And more footfalls add to the success of a blog.
10. Comments & More:
Good, bad, ugly… Comments are the yardstick to success. You can use the comments as a critical review and improve on your matter or change your topics. They also help you see things according to another perspective. And if you find more good comments then you are obviously doing something good. So keep your eyes peeled on those one line critical reviews, and use them as a rule setter to what your visitors are thinking.
11. Number Of Shares:
Obviously, your blog should be linked to the social media too. Social media is the quickest way to get famous. If your blog is being liked and shared, go ahead, do that whoopie dance, it shows that your blog is doing extremely well. Social media can escalate the foot falls onto your blog. And if there are many who are referring your blog to others, say yippee! Your blog is a raging success. So don’t hesitate to tap Facebook, tumbler, Twitter and other social media platforms, the more your blog gets shared and referred, the closer you get to be a successful blogger.
12. Which Social Media Is a Better Platform:
Check out which platform garners you maximum followers and likes, For instance if it is Twitter, tweet more there. Adrian Brody blogged about his dancing pet dog and he uploaded the video of it on Twitter and in the first hour itself, it garnered more than a million views. And the traffic also got channelized to his blog, so automatically, his blog got that many views, adding to the success of his blog.
13. Keywords Magic:
Check out which keywords are used by your visitors on the SEO to get to your blog. And by repeating them, you can bring in many visitors. So get those hashtags creative, precise and smart. But what do these magical keywords actually do? Why should you hashtag your keywords before you publish your blog? Keywords are actually the cornerstone of every SEO strategy. It is used to optimize and promote content. With the right keywords, one can target the right visitors. For instance, you hashtag food or the name of a celebrity or even a type of a dance, automatically people who click on that particular keywords has your blog spiraling in the queue. This again gets your blog in the spotlight as fans or curious visitors will click on your blog to know more.
14. Awareness Galore:
Find out who your target audience is. Get to know what makes them tick. What makes their adrenalin rush and get a free flowing animated discussion on? And if your content can boost this by clever out-of-the-box topics, you know you are on the right track. The thumb rule for this is simple. For instance, if you write about organic farming, and you find that you get more visitors when you write topics pertaining to that. So perhaps your target audience comprises farming enthusiasts. And if you feel that’s your target audience, stick to writing articles on that subject. You can also gauge your target by checking out metrics like:
- RSS feeds.
- Search rankings.
- A number of page views and visits, fans and followers.
- Links – inbound, outbound and media.
- CPM.
15. Sales & More:
If your blog is making money, well, obviously, it is doing well. But the question arises, how do you manage to push sales related exercises through your blog. Clever content is the key here. If your content can subtly be able to sell even ice to an Eskimo, your blog will definitely be a part of a marketing manual. Work on business ideas that sell well. Be sure about what you are writing about and who your target audience is, and if you can convince sales through your blog, you are on the right track! In this case, registration, the number of downloads and clicks can help boost the popularity of your blog.
16. Rankings:
You seem to have got all your boxes ticked right and you are heading the right way. But now go one step ahead, get your blog listed with publicists, PR groups and corporate communication departments. More and more PR groups are getting bloggers on board. For instance, the Northern Ireland Tourism group got more and more bloggers from all across the globe for its recent food and wine FAM trip. And in this FAM, there was Jo, blog name cook sister from South Africa who runs a very popular blog on food. Her ratings as a blogger are extremely high as she had more than 75,000 followers and innumerable likes from visitors, so what made her so popular? Well, she insists, “No gimmicks. Just clean, clear and new content.” And if like her, you know actually how or what your blog should be, you will always know that your blog is successful. Earnest and sincere intents win more battles than you can imagine.
17. Boosts:
This is definitely an important feature. According to social media analysis, the percentage of visitors coming to a blog is boosted by original content. If the content generated is refreshingly new, hits a chord and creates knowledge, automatically, new visitors will queue in. But what is essential is: People know that your blog generates content that makes sense. And if they drop in to read, think and even research, then your blog seems to be doing its job. It also ends up becoming a brand in terms of people recognizing it for its unique content.
The community is driven: it helps society and social consciousness. It helps people base their opinions and hence act on them.
18. Standing Out Amongst the Miles:
There are millions of bloggers all around the globe. So what makes you stand out? What makes your blogs USP better than the rest? There are so many other blogs which try to catch the eye by resorting to gimmickry and marketing tactics. How do you stand head and shoulder above the rest? You need to have good content, intuitiveness and good intent on what readers like and the ability to market your blog successfully.
19. To Sum Up:
So the moot question rears its head again: how do you truly know if your blog is successful? Well, if you have adhered to all the above and find yourself nodding in approval to all the subheadings, then you sure are a successful blogger. You do know the ways and means to make your blog a roaring success, and you are on the right track. So now there’s no stopping you, go ahead, and spread meaningful content, and be the best. Happy blogging!