Anyone can write content for a blog, but in order to make your blog the central hub for your industries know-how you need to come up with something a bit special. A blog has to be informative and captivating and this isn’t something which comes naturally to everyone. This article looks at the various different directions in which you can take your blog and how to make a success of it.
News Blogs
The basic blog setup for any budding would be journalist. Everyone wants to catch the latest scoop and this can be a bit difficult if you’re not a journalist for a major tabloid. What is critical here is that you know your industry. Whether it’s search engine optimisation, sport or politics, people interested in that industry will pick up pretty quickly if you don’t know what you’re talking about. As such, with news blogs it’s vital to stay up to date with any developments and post regularly. The only thing worse than being late to a story, is missing it completely. On a final note, try to remain as impartial as possible. Professional journalists don’t let personal opinion cloud the quality of a news story and neither should you.
Opinion Blogs
On the other side of the coin is the opinion blog. Here you can feel free to voice your opinion on the type of topic that your blog covers. This type of blog is most likely to spark debate so make sure that you have a comments section available. Just be sure to have a filter in place for the comments as controversy is never too far away. One common problem with opinion blogs is that they fail to keep themselves in check. You’ll find you develop your own unique style of writing, but be sure that in doing so you don’t become preachy or offensive. This is one sure-fire way to put people off.
Funny Blogs
The key to a funny blog is actually being funny. Once again the style and content will very much depend on your area of interest. You could end up with a bit of witty political satire or even a bizarre parody of recent news stories. Whichever way you take it is up to you, the important thing is to be creative and keep the content fresh and original. If you start to feel like your articles are getting tired and uncreative then perhaps it’s time for a change.
Industry Blogs
This is a very common form of blog as it is easier to be vague about the limits of your content and it allows you to keep the potential options for your posts open. This is a fairly common thing for an online business to provide as it allows them to showcase their skill and knowledge within their industry. This is all the more reason for you to be one step ahead by providing the most comprehensive and high quality content available. It is often the case that online businesses begin to neglect their blog due to a lack of time or understanding of the importance of their blog. As a result you can boost your appeal and strength by posting regularly with unique insights and developments.
Help and How-To Blogs
This is a pretty useful type blog, in that, in many cases people come across blogs because they are trying to find help with something. People commonly make searches for things like “what is SEO?” OR “how to cook beef wellington?” The unfortunate flip side of this for you is that many of these questions have already been answered countless times already. Answers that are too general are unlikely to be picked up over long running posts and as such it’s important to come up with something truly original but helpful. If you go too obscure no one will be searching for that answer. Use your industry know-how as the jumping-off point. Think of common questions asked often in your industry and expand on them.
Once you start to build a portfolio you’ll find it easier to pick out the areas of interest. Once again ensure that you provide a comments section so that people can ask for further clarification. Responding to visitor queries will provide invaluable interaction with your users and allow you to build your profile and respectability in your industry.
Cartoons and Comic Strips
One of the more unusual areas of blog content creation requires some artistic skills, whether it be in Photoshop or just hand drawn images scanned onto the computer. These can also be sent as weekly emails to subscribers, showing the lighter side of your blog while also keeping people engaged. Whether your area of expertise is political opinions or website design there will always be an abundance of news or topics available for humorous satire or parody.
Conclusion
No matter where your expertise lies, you should always be able to come up with something unique and interesting as long as you are passionate about it. The most important aspect of creating and maintaining a blog is being invested in it and once the passion is gone you may want to start considering a change so that it doesn’t become stale. Another important fact is that you don’t have to be a professional to develop a great blog. Some of the most successful blogs where created by people who just wanted to have their say online and happened to have a great understanding of their medium.
If you want to take a blog forward then there are three key areas to consider. Passion, Understanding and Relevance. If you don’t care about the subject people will notice; if you don’t understand the subject people will definitely notice and if the subject isn’t relevant, people won’t care for it. For information on the benefit of a blog to your business, see our post on how to blog your way to online business success.
Sketch Image by Arvind Balaraman courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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