the air

I have spent numerous weeks searching for ways to construct and start a successful blog. I define a successful blog as one that has some readers and the author consistently posts regardless of how many readers actually subscribe or read the blog. I started this blog with practically no readers. Knock on wood, I have a few readers who have subscribed to this blog. I know I am not qualified to write about how to begin a successful blog because my blog is definitely not very popular at the time of this writing. However, I am confident that I know enough information to assist others in developing the foundations for a successful blog.

I have a strong belief that a blog should be an extension of your mind and your personality. It should be able to reflect your point of view while at the same catering to a general population. So how do I define my blog and personality? Here are some factors I used to determine how to design and create my blog:

• Simple and functional layout
• Flexibility
• Quick loading and not CPU/GPU intensive
• Professional yet personal
• Fun to use

Simple and functional layout

I feel that when you are making a blog, you should ensure that your site layout is easy to navigate. Many bloggers make use of advertising on their website. While there is nothing wrong with such a tactic, it is completely pointless if your blog is hard to navigate and difficult to use. First and foremost, you want to ensure that your readers can easily access key information throughout your blog quickly and efficiently. At times, I’ve noticed that it takes a few trial runs with different templates before you can settle on a good template for your blog.

Flexibility

You also want your blog capable of quick changes and new additions. There are numerous plugins out there for your use in your blog. However, you want to make sure that your blog template can handle these plugins without any problems. In addition, you want your blog template to be easy to manipulate, allowing you to easily tailor it to your needs. My view of flexibility mostly stems from my own mindset. I believe that it is in your interests to try new things and “experiment” with your blog. Some might argue that once you have a solid reader base, it would be detrimental to implement drastic changes. However, that is a decision that you ultimately have to make. It doesn’t hurt to ask your reader base what they think of some possible changes. Remember, no blog is going to ever have the perfect template and layout. However, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs out there that are pretty darn close. Since your blog is yours, feel free to try new things.

Quick Loading

This is something of a controversial issue for some bloggers. I realize that I have mentioned that your blog should be an extension of your thoughts and personality. However, if you wish to use your blog for income or professional use, it is advisable for you to refrain from too many graphics or distractions on your blog. This means, stay away from extensive Flash-based banner ads and numerous videos on your blog. I have come across dozens of blogs that take forever to load on my computer because they have too many elements that are graphically intensive. Granted that my computer isn’t the best and is already outdated, I should still be able to read your blog without having to wait minutes at a time for it to load completely. This brings me to my next point. If you are going to use ads, please make sure that the server serving the ads on your website is also very fast. I’ve noticed hundreds of websites that normally would load quickly, but stall due to some ad server taking its jolly time to load up ads. This is one reason why I try to stay away from using any ads on my blog. However, I have nothing against any person or organization that uses ads. Let’s face, those ads put food on the table for some folks. Kudos to them.

Professional yet personal

So you are interested in blogging with the pros? With the existence of thousands of blogs on the internet, it is hard to drive traffic to your blog. However, some of us bloggers are looking to write not only for fun, but also for actual readership. From my experience, I don’t enjoy reading blogs that contain unprofessional attitude throughout their posts. I think it is ok to talk about your personal feelings from time to time on your blog, but do try to keep your blog professional. At the same time, your blog is also personal. That means, don’t be shy about yourself in the blog as well. In other words, it is perfectly acceptable for your blog to host your opinions. Just make sure that your opinions are coherent and convey respect. I know that there are some popular blogs out there that are quite intense and passionate, however, I strongly believe that a nicely written blog will keep your readers interest longer than those that simply seem to be written by a pre-school child.

Fun is the key

You should only blog if you plan on enjoying it. I don’t encourage users to blog because they have to. You should write and update your blog because you want to. If you cannot find blogging fun, how can you expect people to read your blog? Many bloggers forget to even update their blogs often and simply neglect their own blog. However, blogging should also be considered a commitment. A fun commitment it should be, however, a commitment nonetheless. That means, UPDATE YOUR BLOG REGULARLY. I cannot emphasize that enough. You can ask any serious blogger out there and they will ALL tell you that you must post to your blog regularly. That does not mean you should blog every single day, but, it does mean that you should have a consistent posting schedule, in my opinion. My goal for this blog is to update it once a day at least. In turn, I want to average about one post a day per month. So just remember, post regularly and you will continue to attract and retain users. Most of all, do it because you like it, not because you have to.

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