After receiving many inquiries asking to write on what makes a successful blog, I decided to share what I call the essentials of a good writer and a path to driving traffic to your blog. In the age of modern technology and ocean of ideas, where every one is competing to bring their thoughts to the limelight, to give magic to your words or create attraction to your blog, the writer must consider implementing the following essentials or writing might not be a perfect choice.
To be successful with your blog you must be a diligent writer. My definition of a good writer is likely not what you think. A writer is not one who specializes in a particular area of writing like; entertainment, biography, politics and so forth. The writer is one who writes on any subject irrespective of how difficult or whether it is his/her area of specialization or not.
While it is not uncommon being an expert in a specific area of writing, a good writer knows that writing is about research, it involves creativity and therefore, is ready to bring something to the table no matter how difficult the subject area. There is nothing bad in being hired to blog on a particular subject but to write for the world and fit the profile of a good writer, the author must go outside his or her domain.
Blogging as is known opens a writer to the world and places unimaginable. To blog successfully, you must learn to follow the news and know what is going on around you. At the same time, learn to “be the news” that is, post your own news and not posting links to other people’s news every time. The idea is to get known and show your platform so, while it is good to share other people’s stories, it will be difficult to showcase your work or inform your readers, if you have nothing to share.
To obtain success with a blog, the writer must think genuinely and originally. Those who understand the power of words know the difference between unique writing, conscious writing, and duplicating. To improve the value of a blog or the author’s words, the writings needs be original and be author’s own thoughts. However, this does not mean as a writer, you cannot write on issues and developing stories in your specialty but in doing so, you must present new ideas, make all take on the story original and attractive to your reader.
One cannot be a good writer or blogger if all he or she does put out is big grammar. A writer must communicate with the reader and remember you are not only writing for America, you are writing for the world. To communicate effectively, the writer must blog in a language those in other countries that speak some English can understand. Believe this, it is possible to be a bad talker but a great writer same time, since writing is about being able to communicate your words to create understanding.
A good writer will do everything to avoid grammatical mistakes and typos. While sometimes mistake do occur, too much of it can damage a blog and drive readers away. Therefore, some basic literacy is necessary to write successfully. Use word documents if it suits your demand but don’t rely too much on it. Edit and use proofread software for a final editing before publishing. While mistakes are not impossible, a minimal one is easily forgiven.
Arrangement of your thoughts and ideas are key to making a blog and writing successful. The thoughts must be logical and coherent to drive home the subject of the author’s thoughts. You must arrange them such that someone with a basic knowledge will understand what you are communicating. Create juice through proper word arrangement and make the reader catch the most important concept.
There are many good blog spots out there but one that is good is WordPress. While Facebook and Twitter are great places to get the words out, a writer cannot depend too much on them. instead, focus on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and the like to reach readers. A great way to do that is by signing up for a WordPress account and then, start blogging.
A unique feature of WordPress is that seconds after publishing your blog, their system shares it with various search engines around the world and within minutes of posting people are able to read the blog as they search. While Twitter is good, there is a culture of “following” and “followers.” Some people will not click on your post because they don’t recognize your name and if fortunate, some of your “followers” will check your post but there is possibility they won’t.
As for Facebook, you only get traffic to your blog if your friends, care to check what you have to say and when they do, the traffic is not as you would get from Google and other major search engines. For example I wrote a blog on the Michael Jackson‘s case titled “Involuntary Manslaughter: Meaning of the Charge in re- Michael Jackson.” The blog generated a lot of traffic worldwide. At first I posted a link to it on Twitter and Facebook however, I realized most of the traffic came from Google and web searches.
At the just concluded Iowa Caucuses, I wrote a blog titled “Iowa Caucuses: Meaning of the Caucus Campaign in American Politics,” It got published on WordPress and I sent the link to Twitter and Facebook, at 12:00 A.M., when most are either sleeping or going to bed in the U.S.. Less than an hour after posting, it generated more than 100 hits and based on the time frame, I found that two third of the traffic came from abroad via Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Considering a site like WordPress to help you get the word out will do a lot of good. Also, persistence and diligence are qualities a good writer cannot do without. Sometimes, you may experience what is known as a “writer’s block.” It is when you just don’t know what to write or you ran out of ideas. Never allow that to wear you down, look around, search for news and see if there is something you can write about that may help others. Check CNN, FOX News and the like for breaking stories. Look through your bookshelf for subjects you can write about to share on your blog.
One thing a writer must not do, is rely too much on comments from readers as the only way to know if people read your blog. Some people are reluctant to leave comments because they don’t have the time or they want to move on. This does not mean they don’t appreciate your blog. A perfect way to check traffic to your site is through graphical data on visits to your blog. Most hosts have a place where you can check for example, WordPress gives you daily, weekly and monthly updates on views to your site.
A diligent writer is one who thinks about something new and captivating to write every time. News get outdated quick therefore, the writer must think about something new every time . When you write, consider writing for the future as well and if the story is old, write it in a way to make it available for future use.
Most of all, research for your posts diligently and document your facts for reference purposes if necessary. It is better you don’t write than write and have no facts to back it up. Whenever you write on subjects such as Medicine, Law, and non-fiction, better have your facts right to avoid misleading your readers or passing on wrong information.
Dr. Adeyemi Oshunrinade [E. JD] is an expert in general law, foreign relations, and the United Nations. He is the author of ‘Murder of Diplomacy (2010) and “Wills Law and Contests’ (2011).
Categories: Education and Writing
Gettysburg Institute Post 
blogs are definitely needed with exactly proper and right feeded nouns and with a good writing skills
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