Blogging: If you build it, they will come…

by Robb Sutton

When it comes to building a blog and increasing traffic, the “Field of Dreams” if you build it, they will come pipe dream is no longer a reality. As much as we wish we could just throw up our mind blowing, life changing content on a screen and the readers will come in large masses to soak it up like lemonade on a hot day…that just is not reality. There was a time when you were able to see a glimpse of this when blogs were new and quality bloggers were scarce, but now we have hundreds of thousands of blogs with thousands of quality writers all competing for the same readers day in and day out. So as you start your new blog with dreams of making the big time, what can you do to increase your chances of success?

Time to be Unique

If you are expecting to copy another bloggers successful formula with the hope that it will work for you as well…you are sorely mistaken. The #1 reason that blogger was successful and you will not be is because he or she was unique in their niche. They found a way, probably through a lot of testing, to find their own voice that attracted readers. By copying this success, you are just becoming another run of the mill copycat that will eventually fall off the end of the web.

Blogging is a form of self expression, and you need to bring yourself into your blog as much as you can. Find your own voice and unique way of presenting your content. The more transparent you are…the better results you will see as readers are attracted to you and your thoughts. In your blogging, you are going to be your greatest asset, so you need to start treading yourself in that manner.

High Quality, Link Bait Content

You are never going to reach a large audience without high quality, link bait content. High quality content is a no brain’er when it comes to blogging. If you don’t plan on taking serious time shaping your brand and providing reliable content, you might as well not waste your time deleting the “hello world” article. Your sole focus in the beginning of your blogging career should be on content and consistently delivering that content to that very special 10 readers you have a day (I know…2 are your parents, 6 are your friends who don’t really care and the remaining 2 are what you are building your blog on…they are probably your most important 2 readers ever). Once you have a proven track record, you are going to start to see other blogs and media sources link to your content.

Quality back-links, in my opinion, are still going to be your most important source of search engine traffic. As far as I can tell, back-links still have the greatest affect on search engine rankings, so the more quality back-links you have to your blog…the more new readers you will attract through search engine results.

You can’t do it alone…

Kevin Costner even had some help from his family when building the baseball field, and you are going to need the help of other bloggers in your quest to make it to the big time. Start interacting with other bloggers in your niche through Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets. As you begin to see some positive results of your work and build enough of a good reputation in your niche, you are going to want to start submitting guest posts to other top blogs to increase your spread on the web. If you already have a positive relationship with these bloggers, it will be easier to step forward and ask for a little help by providing quality content for their blog.

It is also a great idea to start conversing with the technical minded individuals in web design. You are going to need to call upon their services in the future and give and take relationships are much more beneficial in the long run. Start looking for ways to help out others in the industry because that good web karma is going to pay back to you 10 fold.

Welcome to the Big Leagues

If you repeat that formula…over and over again…you should start to see a pretty significant following. A lot of beginning bloggers look at the incomes brought in by the world’s top 1% and think…

Wow…that looks easy…I could do it too! In one month I am going to quit my job and make a killing blogging!

Ha! I wish it was that easy and the #1 main reason that these top bloggers make it look so easy is because they are very good at blogging. Time and practice makes perfect, so remember that in your quest to become a top blogger. Nothing comes overnight and building anything that is truly successful takes time and hard work…

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1 comment

Mike July 8, 2009 - 6:39 am

Other than having the saying from Field Of Dreams in my head for the rest of the day, great post.

I find all of those are really helping to make my blog stand out and start to get traction in my niche. Being unique and putting my own voice, instead of trying to be like every other coffee site has really help me get attention, or at least be memorable enough where people want to come back to my blog.

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