If you’re going to write a blog, then make it have an impact. The goal is to drive people to your site. Create helpful or entertaining content that identifies you as an authority and you’ll gain a following. Sounds easy? Follow these tips and make sure your blog is all it can be.

Write on a Schedule

Be consistent with your blogging. The best way to make that happen is to create a schedule. Post two to three times a week. This keeps people interested and coming back without being too much for them.

More Solutions and Less Sales

If visitors like your posts, they will buy your products. You don’t have to tell them to. Pick a problem that your readers may have, describe it, and give them a solution. Or several. When visitors understand you’re there to help them, they’ll be back.

Quality Not Quantity

If your blog contains helpful information and is a high-quality piece of work, you’ll gain a following. Use your spell checker. Write to the level of your visitors. Never write down to them. Connect with your visitors through the quality of your writing.

Become an Authority

Focus on a small handful of topics. Write clear and confidently. Provide multiple solutions to problems. Your goal is for visitors to read your post and think “This guy knows what he’s talking about.” They’ll be back and they’ll bring their friends.

Invite Guests

When used correctly, a guest can add information to a point you’ve already made. Following your blog post on how to create content that meets Google’s requirements, have a guest poster talk about how search engine companies come up with their algorithms. This is information that your visitors will enjoy reading that supplements your posts and doesn’t distract from your work.

Social Media

Get your posts on as many social media platforms as you can. To attract followers, you need to go where your audience congregates. Know your audience and the platforms they favor. Posts about the latest trends in mobile VPN technology are likely not a good fit for Pinterest. But posts on catering and event planning will connect with the right people on that social media.

Embrace Multimedia

For the mobile-ready population, multimedia is a great way to get messages across to people. Videos, images and infographics have become popular ways to connect with people who only have a few minutes to receive your message. They may not read a 1,000-word post on their smartphone but they will watch a video while waiting in line at the fast-food drive through.

Link Sparingly to the Right Places

Link only to authoritative sites. Make the link relevant to your post and a way to give the viewer more information. This enhances your image as an authority. Random, irrelevant links to boost your SEO just sends visitors out into the Internet never to return to your blog.

Comments

These give your viewers the opportunity to voice their opinions. Not allowing comments cam make people wonder why you’re not open to feedback, and you can lose followers.