Want to know how to become a professional blogger?
Want to know the secret recipe used by all those pro-bloggers?
OK then... I will tell you the top secret recipe to blog like a pro!
Shhh.... But remember! Don't share this secret with anyone else! OK? Especially not on Facebook, twitter or Google+ ?!? OK?
Are you ready? Then let us start mixing the ingredients!
Write Like A Magnet
What attracts iron pieces from far away? Magnet.
What attracts lots of readers to your blog posts? A blogger's magnetic writing!
Whether your latest blog post gets hit or flop, viral or unnoticed, it all depends on your writing skills. And why do I use the word magnet with writing skills? Because I have always said that 'people don't prefer reading an encyclopedia'. If your blog post doesn't have the power to attract a stranger and to get involved, then your blog would lose most of the potential visitors.
The first step to writing attractive magnetic blog posts is 'writing magnetic headlines'. Use attracting phrases, surprising negations or even place a question in the title.
Eg- If a blog post is about some tips to make your blog post go viral, you can give it a title - 'How To Make Your Blog Post Go Gangnam Style'! This is what I did in one of my blog posts and this attracted a lot of people to my post.
After magnetic headlines, the second most crucial thing is the beginning of your blog post.
In the very first paragraph of your blog post, you must make your concept clear. Convince your audience that whatever they had been searching for, is available on this very page. That is because you have very less time to convince your new visitors that your blog is different than other article directories and that it really has something worth reading.
In another approach, you can make things so mysterious that your visitors are forced to stick to your blog post, to find the answers.
But whatever you do, don't let the first paragraph make your whole post go unclear.
Sprinkle Your Posts All Over The Field (Internet)
If a farmer sprinkles seeds only on one square feet area of his farm, how many plants would he be able to grow?
Same is the case with your blog! If you don't share your blog posts all over the internet, you will miss many potential visitors.
Have a profile of your blog ready on all major social networks with a strong followers base and regularly share updates from your blog on these networks. Some of the most important social networks and bookmarking sites for a blogger are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Bloggers.com and Digg.
Maybe I missed some names. Do remind me in the comments, please, OK?
Social networks play a large role in popularizing your blog. So start wasting some time on social networks too from now on ;)
Don't Be The Mr.Lonely
Admit it. Blogging is like building a community. You can't live here while keeping yourself isolated from the rest of the bloggers.
Don't ever think that all you need to bring traffic to your blog is Google search! And don't even think that successful blogging is all about traffic and money, OK?
What is the use of lots of search engine traffic if no other blogger even knows your name? Wouldn't you like to become the gurus for those beginners out there? Wouldn't you like to get yourself recognized as 'The owner of so-and-so blog'?
My dear friend, blogging is about building an online reputation, learning something and teaching something. Do interact with other bloggers out there. You would get to learn a lot from them.
Comment on other blogs that you like to read. Tell them that you like their blog. This will encourage others to have a look at your blog too. And who knows, maybe you can get many followers too in a similar way!
Don't Try To Build Another Wikipedia
I am a fan of Wikipedia myself, but please! If you make your blog very very serious, using ultra sophisticated words and dictionary references all over...then you are probably building a 'website' not a 'blog'.
It is the interaction and the human touch that separates a blog from a website.
And the most important part of interaction is the 'comment section'.
It is suggested that a very new blog with little traffic must not place a comments box so that its few visitors don't get to see a '0 comments' status, because this '0 comments' status sets a low impression about the blog and even if the visitor was interested in subscribing to the blog, he may refrain from it. But I won't recommend any blog which has started to get some regular visitors to avoid using a comment section at their blogs.
That is because comments build a lot of interaction in a blog. Through your comments section, you can get to know about the feelings of your visitors, you will understand whether you are doing a great job or not. Sometimes when you make mistakes, your readers will try to correct them using comments.
In any condition, the comment section is a MUST have for any blog.
Next is the human touch.
If you are reading this post carefully, you would have noticed that I use the words 'I' and 'You' to talk with you. Right?
Because such a language creates a sense of interaction and gives a human touch to your blog.
You can feel this too, right? I, Mahaveer Verma, am talking to you!
This is what creates a lot of interaction and adds much feelings to your blog. Otherwise what would be the difference between your blog and Wikipedia?
Blogging In The Frontend, SEO In The Backend
SEO is just too important to be neglected when it comes to blogging like a pro. But don't let SEO ruin your reader's mood and interest.
Whetever SEO you want to perform, just do it in the backend and don't disturb your readers.
Because any pro-blogger would say - 'Reader first, search engine second'.
Don't let any of your SEO methods make your readers remain unsatisfied with your writing. Proper SEO involves decent keyword density, proper anchor text, heading tags and all that. But remember that your readers won't like to read the same keyword phrase again and again everywhere sometimes even without any meaning.
And then, what is the use of lots of search engine traffic if people just come and then run away from your blog?
Less but targeted, interested and loyal readers are better than lots of people who come to your blog by mistake.
So whenever you work on your blog, remember to give preference to your readers in the frontend and restrict SEO to the backend.
I Know You Have Some Pro-Blogging Tips Too, Right?
Yes, I know there are lots of other things one should consider to blog like a pro. And I know that you have something running in your mind now!
Stop thinking and start commenting now! Let me know what you think about this post and also about the top secret recipe!
And once again... Shhh.... Don't share it with anyone else ;)
Image courtesy of depositphotos, Stuart Miles and stockimages from Freedigitalphotos.net
