Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Creating Blogs That Stand The Test Of Time

While it may certainly be easy enough to generate some activity in your blog by making attractive headlines and covering important news stories, it never lasts. Many bloggers make the mistake of relying only on large traffic influxes by writing about hot topics; such an approach can only be valid in the short-term, and even then its efficiency is often questionable. On the other hand though, blogs that are more focused on offering their visitors helpful tips and practical information tend to not only last much longer, but also yield more profits in the long run. And so, here are a few pieces of advice you can use in order to create a blog that will truly stand the test of time.

Steer Clear of Specific Brands and Names



Naturally, if your blog is centered around a topic such as mobile phone technology (for example), it will be hard to get by without mentioning any brand names. However, when possible, try not to make any mentions of specific brands, products, or product versions. Yes, it can be quite tempting to write up a fast review of the latest gadget to hit the market, but the truth is that within a short amount of time (when the next model comes out) that article will fade and will become dead weight on your blog. When your article turns into dead weight, people who run into it will see that you are talking about outdated products, making you less relevant in their eyes.

Avoid Discussing News Stories, Celebrities and Politics

Even though it is true that covering a popular news story or famous personality will drive a lot of people to visit your blog, it is a tactic which, once again, only pays off in the short run. This type of content will stop being fresh a few days (a couple of weeks at best), being pushed out of the picture by more current and relevant events. Your goal is to write the type of content that will always remain fresh, stuff that people will always want to read regardless of what is happening in the world.

This mostly goes for sensational news stories, articles about celebrities, political figures, and really anything else that only draws attention in the moment. Before writing about something, ask yourself if the information will still be useful and relevant within three months from now.

Expand your Content

Writing content that will always be fresh isn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's also far from being the hardest. It is important to direct your writing in accordance with popular and universal themes; things that people always seem to be searching for. For example, people are always going to be interested in an article which tells them how they can manage their stress on a day-to-day basis, or how they can deal with back pain. In other words, you need to write about things that will continue to exist and be important to many people in the foreseeable future.

Make your Content Actually UsefulHaving useless content full of fluff is one of the greatest sins committed by bloggers, with some doing it intentionally out of laziness and others not even realize they are doing it. If your content doesn't provide people with practical advice, if it doesn't tell them how they can solve at least one problem they are facing, chances are that no one will care about it. When most people read blogs they don't simply want to be entertained. They are also searching for some kind of solution to their problem. Also, make sure that the advice you give isn't specific to one case or person; it needs to be applicable to the majority of your readers at practically any time during the year. For instance, articles that teach people how to clean their homes without the use of chemicals provide timeless information the readers may find quite useful.

And so, to give a quick recap of what has been discussed, when you are creating content for your blog, don't simply talk about the hottest news stories or famous political figures; while you may get a traffic influx for a day or two, the content will soon become irrelevant and hurt you in the long run. You want to create content that will always be useful to your readers and help them solve their problems. In the long run, content that doesn't rely on time will contribute to building a large reader base and netting your blog a high search engine ranking.

Jason Smith is an online manager for SEO company. Jason likes blogging about online strategies that are related to SEO, Content, PPC & Lead generation.

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