5 Tips For Young Bloggers

Making your voice heard

Way back when WWW was an embarrassing typo, publishing your work was about as easy as convincing a panther to become a vegetarian. Many different “gatekeepers” (as we call them) stood between the common man and the world at large.

Then the wall came down. WWW came to mean World Wide Web and letting your voice be heard online became easier than getting new credit card applications. It wasn’t long after the Internet started becoming widespread that web logs or “blogs” also became popular. Anyone from anywhere can create a blog. In fact, it is estimated that more than 150 million public blogs exist.

Nevertheless, not all blogs are created equal. Early in my Internet career, I myself started a blog. After all, it’s both easy and free. Why not? I thought. So I sat down and did it! I went to www.blog.com and within minutes I had my own blog. I wrote my first post and . . . there it sat for days . . . then weeks . . . then months . . . and finally years. I would give you the link but I don’t remember it. I don’t think I ever got any followers either. My blog was a pretty lame.

So how do you make a “non-lame” blog? How can you boost the number of people that follow it? How can you make your blog appear more readily in search engines?

5 Tips for Young Bloggers

1. Keep your readers in mind — While writing your blog entries, remember who you are writing to. Are you writing to teenagers wanting to jazz up their skateboards or to retired people researching different types of dentures? You will certainly use a different style of writing for grandparents than you will for high school students. Even in a certain age demographic, your style will vary. My roommate knows what a cytoplasmic membrane is and might be interested in reading about your recent frog dissection. I, on the other hand, might recognize that cytoplasmic membrane was a biology term and would have no interest at all in whether or not the appendicular region was present in the frog you recently dissected.
2. Don’t “wax eloquent” — Most people don’t like reading online epistles. It is better to write seven one-paragraph posts in one week than to write one seven-paragraph post in a week. Break up your text into paragraphs to make it more readable. Keep your paragraphs short; seven sentences tops. It helps to stick to one topic per blog post.
3. Develop relationships with other bloggers — Find blogs that are similar to yours or that cover topics that interest you. There are many different places where you can search for other blogs and also list your site. These include Blogdex, DayPop, Digg, and Technorati. Comment on the blog posts of others. Ask questions, give compliments. Once you’ve developed good relationships with other bloggers, set up cross-links between your blogs. This will help increase both your readership and the readership of your friend’s blog by making your sites rank higher on different search engines.
4. Use multimedia — Adding a picture, video or other link makes your blog more interesting and give your blog a little more variety. Linking to other articles keeps your blog fresh and can introduce other voices to your site. It also shows your readers that you are making an effort to research the topic you are writing about and adds credibility to your blog.
5. Keep writing! — My first blog (the one I mentioned earlier) could have revolutionized the world . . . but it didn’t because I didn’t keep it up. Start a habit of writing just a little bit each day. As mentioned earlier, you don’t have to write a novel each time you open your blog. Write a few paragraphs and call it good.

Blogging is a satisfying way to share your experiences online. It can also be a rewarding way to connect with others and read more about topics you are passionate about. Following these five simple tips will help you connect with the world.

Good luck!

Guest post by: Derek Gurr is a writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them understand which online courses and online schools they can choose from to reach their goals.

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