The 5 Steps Guide For New Bloggers

By Lior Levin

It certainly doesn’t take long before something hot on the Internet spreads like wildfire then the newbies joining the web only get to see the smoke. Take blogging for example, it has become so sophisticated that a newcomer interested in blogging is almost overwhelmed with all the information and where to start.

It is true that one can find anything on the Internet, and how to start blogging advice is no different. Another problem that arises though is that the interested party is often so enthusiastic about all there is to learn, that many times they are reading advice and information that dates back several years and they don’t even realize it.

Then when they go to apply what they have learned, it makes no sense and doesn’t work. This creates the makings for a real dilemma. What ends up happening is the would be blogger gives up and looks for something else to become confused about.

So what is the moral of the story here? Start at the beginning and say hello to blogging. Here are just a few basics to get the ball rolling. Once a newbie gets past this stage then they can consider themselves a blogger and leave some smoke behind for the next novice that comes along.

Step One:
Read some current articles and information that has a date on it about what blogging is about in general. Get a feel for it, then you will immediately start to generate your own blogging ideas about what you want to blog about.

Step Two:
Now you need to find some place to put your blog, so you need a blogging provider. Again do your homework. There are lots of them around and some are easier than others to use. Once thing you want is ease of use. This means they will have templates that you can use which is basically just filling in the blanks. Once you become a pro at blogging then you can progress onto the more elaborate concepts.

Step Three:
The easiest way to learn about blogging is from the pros. Once you have determined what it is you want to blog about then visit blogging sites that are in this niche. See how these established sites do it. If you have never posted to a blog before then now is the time to get your feet wet. You have a virtual voice so use it.

Step Four:
Once you get your blogging site set up then go back and visit the ones you were at in the above step and invite them to visit your blog, provided it is not a private blog site. Do it via comments, contact forms or messaging through twitter or facebook.

Step Five:
Research all the innovative ways to get your blog known. After all, blogging is not much fun if you are only blogging to yourself, its like a one way conversation.

When you look at it this way, blogging is not quite so overwhelming. There is a whole world out there waiting to hear about what you have to say, about anything you want to blog about, so go for it, here is your chance. Welcome to the world of blogging!

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO company working with a nursing wear brand called Milk Nursingwear and also working with a task management start-up.

The Trials & Tribulations of Guest Blogging

With a little effort, you can score a guest blogging shot.

“So how is all that guest posting working out for you?” was the message emailed to me early one morning.

Yeah, that was it. A good friend of mine, not too well known in SEO circles–but very effective in what he does nonetheless—wanted to find out if I was still as bullish about guest blogging as I was earlier this year when I joined Ann Smarty’s MyBlogGuest.com site. Ann’s site brings people together to offer and receive guest posts, at least that is her intention with her bustling community.

My friend knew I had written and shared a few articles of mine own, but that wasn’t what he was writing to me about. Instead, the question was directed toward all the articles I have been posting on five blogs I manage and/or own. Just in the past two months alone I had accepted at least two dozen guest appearances, something not lost on my friend.

I had to pause for several minutes to reflect on his question before crafting my reply. Heck, I knew that there was too much stuff bouncing around in my mind and decided to connect with him by phone instead of sending scads of emails back and forth.

Sometimes you have to just talk directly to people if you want to cut to the chase. And that conversation certainly wasn’t conducive to email exchanges or instant messaging, so I picked up the phone and gave my friend a buzz.

I’m terrible about remembering exact words people say. If I’m ever called to testify in court, I know that I’ll give generalized answers, but usually nothing too specific unless something is said and repeated often. So don’t call me as a witness—my version of the events may be too conceptual, lacking specifics. You’ll do hard time in the pokey if I’m called to the stand on your behalf!

But I did come away from our conversation with some points, based partly on my friend’s advice in addition to my observations. Together, we came up with four one-word fundamentals when accepting what we agreed make for a “winning” guest article:

1. Relevant – Seems like an obvious point, right? Well, yes. But, you can write a story relative to a blog, but miss the mark. Allow me give you an example. On Auto Trends, my car blog, I frequently run news-based stories telling my readers about this new model or product available or soon-to-arrive on the market. That angle has helped my site immensely, drawing the attention of car manufacturers, parts suppliers, technology providers and publicists who want me to publish their news.

In most cases related articles from guest bloggers are spot on, but on occasion they miss an all important point: telling readers why the product is important to them. I thought about what my friend said and agreed. It isn’t enough to tell them about your product, but to explain why it could improve their lives. A rudimentary marketing concept, but something often forgotten.

2. Newsy – I probably should use the word newsworthy here, but that term sounds too broad. Newsy is lighter and doesn’t carry the baggage of a press release. But it does convey something my friend insists people really want to know: how is what they’re saying relevant to what is going on in the reader’s world right now? Offering car insurance tips is fine, but what are some of the current trends impacting rates? Specifically, how are today’s safety technologies such as crash ratings lowering the cost of auto insurance?

3. Meaty – I mentioned to my friend a recent article I received and rejected that was 214 words long. Sure, with the author biography it pushed past 300 words, but it lacked even the basics of what I require when accepting an article and that basic is meat. I tossed the article back, explaining to the writer where he fell short.

Yes, we both agreed that a lot can be said with just a few words, but you still need about 400 words to form a conclusive article. Beyond your juicy title and teaer you must offer a killer introduction; three or four meaty, information-filled paragraphs; and conclude it with a worthy summation. Leave that out and your article will be incoherent; your readers won’t even get past the opening paragraph.

4. Provocative – On this point, I had the upper hand in the conversation. Said friend scored well on the first three points, but I shut him up long enough for him to listen and agree that our last point should include a measure of intrigue.

Allow me to explain: Lots of guest articles give out good information and may be solid on the first three points, but do little to stimulate conversation. And conversation is best stimulated by saying something challenging, thought-provoking or even inflammatory. Why? Because that is what blogging is all about: engaging your readers and encouraging them to respond. We all know that SEO basics require us to write good articles, but those articles packed with lots of related and stimulating comments tend to get bookmarked, shared through social media sites and pick up good links.

And it is those links which raise your visibility with your readers, customers and the search engines.

Before ending our call I told my friend that I wasn’t going to single him out by name in this article. That’s probably good because he regularly employs a number of gray hat techniques that could get him in trouble with his customers. Still, when it comes to white hat SEO he knows his stuff, but if you think I’m going to pay him for his advice you got another thing coming.

He’ll have to settle for my guest blogging as a ghost writer in order to receive payment in kind.