With this in mind it is a great idea to establish a standard for blog commenting on your sites. For instance, you may not want profanity or adult content/information listed on your site. If you do not, you may need to enforce this by either suspending or permanently removing a member from your list.

Monitoring your site regularly is also a factor to consider. At times readers’ comments can be off topic or follow an inappropriate agenda. By having a notification sent to your e-mail every time new comments have been posted it will help you to be on top of anything that is problematic and you can then delete it.

Blog comment registration can also help monitor your site’s comments. That way would be to require people to register (or at least give their e-mail) before they can add comments. You can then monitor these registrants by way of e-mail. You can also subject every comment to approval and post them yourself.

These suggestions are meant to help those that are creating sites that primarily seek to educate and build up without any provocative bias. Yet it must be admitted that many people today are looking for ways to garner attention through outrageous behavior. The choice is personal, but bear in mind that if you are looking for long lasting success, for the most part, quality outlasts superficiality. The effort you make to raise the bar for your chosen topic will stand in good stead for you and will endear you to a host of loyal readers.

In a way, getting your current viewers to view your new blog is somewhat like starting from the beginning; so then, if this is your desire, here are a few guidelines that will help fan the flames of interest and build the regular and much needed traffic to your sites, both old and new.

• Add an RSS feed to it. RSS feeds are the way content can be automatically delivered to someone via desktop or e-mail. These feeds are usually read with an aggregator or feed reader. When you place one of these on your site, you’re helping people keep track of you without having to remember where your site is; and by receiving the latest blog entries automatically they will never miss a new entry. This helps keep their interest fresh. And if you are not able to post daily, this is one method by which people who have a habit of checking blogs regularly will not be tempted position to give up. Your feed will reassure them that you haven’t ‘left the building’ while working on your new site.
• Make an attractive and creative environment. Appearance and function are equally important factors. You will want to have a blog that, while visually appealing, is not so overdone that it makes navigation awkward and slow. If you anticipate that your visitor may be only spending a few precious minutes with you, it will be important to give them your best info efficiently. This can definitely include streaming video or audio as a means of rich entertainment or teaching purposes.
• Entries should be brief. Your challenge again will to balance two objectives. One – to explain your subject matter in a thorough fashion yet – Two – keep it brief enough that your reader does not become bored. One way to achieve this is to narrow the focus of your subject to one aspect at a time. The reader will gain some very specific information and will be encourage to return for more again and again.
• Promotion. You need to advertise your site. If you have an RSS feed you can put it in an RSS feed directory. In addition, you can place it in blog directory links and work on submitting the blog to search engines. Also, any way that you can ethically place your link, such as at a free website content site where they allow you do so, you can do that.
• Link to a site. If you create a blog and you also have a website you will want to not forget to link to your own website. Seems obvious, right? But always a good reminder. You may also want to link to other sites as well to help bring credibility to what you are writing about. Being linked with other sites of similar interest can bring along many new readers. Use links with caution, however, and make sure to get permission to use them whenever necessary.

• Make your entries as current as possible. This will mean doing a bit of research to find the latest information out there. If you are referencing past events try to make it relevant to what may be happening now.
• Know the purpose of your blog. Sounds simple but given the crazy world we live in it can be too easy to veer off topic. Your readers are coming by for a reason and whatever that may be, you will want to give them exactly what they came for.
• Make your entries reader friendly. Be natural and conversational. This will reinforce the personal connection and make your information easy to follow and understand.
• Keep your entries short. An average word count of three to four hundred is about right for someone making a quick stop.
• Organize your entries well. Your site should be easy to navigate and the point of your blog should be easy to grasp.
• Edit your entries. Check for grammatical and/or spelling errors which can detract from your message. Keep the spacing of paragraphs uniform. Usually writing is single spaced with two spaces between paragraphs.
• When possible, make entries search engine accessible. This means researching and using keywords in your articles that the search engine will target and thus help to bring readers to your site.
• Keep those blog entries interesting! You’re aiming to show your audience that you care about them and that you appreciate them stopping by. So take some time on the graphics and layout of your site as well to make it visually pleasing and easy to load and navigate.

Next time we will discuss a few practical tips that can build the traffic to your web site.

For those among us who are passionate about a subject they may find it a bit easier to fan the flames. And if you’re are targeting a very particular niche market your following may prove to be more loyal readers than average. However, for everyone consistency is key – so if you’re just starting to build a business and are having a hard time to be consistent with your writing a few suggestions may help.

First, fix yourself a reasonable goal that will not be too daunting initially. You may wish to keep the word count low to begin with so that you’re inclined to post more often. Many bloggers intersperse their entries with interesting photos or brief videos that promote their subject. This can give you a day off from writing but keeps your blog current.

Next, take a few minutes at the beginning of your week or month to sketch an overall plan or direction for your blog, perhaps noting down a few ideas that will build around your main topic. Referencing this guideline can help to ease the pressure of trying to decide each day what you are going to write about. It’ll also keep your blog moving forward by focusing you on your initial purpose of writing and which is the reason people have stopped by in the first place.

As always, try to get inside the mind of your readers. What are they looking for when then visit your site? The answers to some questions? Or is it solely entertainment? Take a look at which of your postings garnered the most comments or interest. What was the catalyst? Can you build on that in some way?

And take a look around at sites that have appealed to you personally. What kept you coming back? Can you incorporate that into your site?

Initially it will require some thoughtful analysis to build a structure you are comfortable with and that you can maintain over the time it takes to build a readership but soon you will find the pace and tone that suits you and this in turn will be reflected in growing success!

Naturally then, one option is to find products that you genuinely use or can recommend. In doing so, you may be able to give a frank appraisal or review that your readers can have confidence in. This is what will lead to sales. The more consistent you are in doing so, the more loyal your followers will be.

Keep in mind that affiliate marketing requires you to set up an arrangement with the company whose product you wish to promote. Many companies will have something in place for this very purpose and will gladly provide you with promotional information that you can incorporate into your blog postings.
If you are really gung ho for some product or service you may even try developing an informational blog that links directly to their site and which will be designed to send traffic your way.

The key to success is to consistently demonstrate that you have your reader’s interests at heart. Engaging enthusiasm is catchy. And by posting often the reader feels that your recommendations are current and valid. So, start by assessing some of the sites you have gone to and have possibly purchased from. Do they offer affiliate marketing? First hand experience will give you a lot of insight to pass along to others and the best possible recommendation that can lead to more sales. From there you can branch out to other companies that may interest you. Also by varying the companies and subjects you write about you keep things fresh and interesting for yourself. And since from time to time a company may stop their affiliate program or even fold in today’s economy you will not be stuck suddenly switching midstream, or wishing that you had not put all your eggs in one basket.

Yes, affiliate marketing can be quite profitable, so once you have built a reasonable readership you may well be on your way to sustaining a successful and not so stressful living!

Right! So what you need to consider next is how to ‘monetize’ your site so that the traffic that heads your way starts to count. Initially this can be through the provision of Google Adsense. This is where you allow other businesses and small companies to post ads on your page. Every time someone visits and clicks through one of the ads, Adsense will pay you a small amount of money. It may not be much at first but as more people visit each month and click through it will begin to add up to a decent amount. As well, you will enjoy the added bonus of improving your rankings on line as Web spiders will be able to follow the trail back to you. And as your ‘presence’ grows so will your traffic. This is the start of a profitable cycle.

Remember to always keep your readers in mind. So when choosing the type of ads and businesses that will post try and select those that are more in sync with the focus of your blog and writing and/or the product or service you are offering. This is to avoid the risk of offending your visitors and lend itself to encouraging them to click through on something that is in line with what THEY are interested in. You will also have to make a decision on how many ads you will permit. This is important in that too many may give the impression that your site is more a billboard than an actual honest-to-goodness blog that is interested in its readership. The ads are usually small and you will have the option of where to place them on your site to maximize their impact.

As well, you have the opportunity of using Adsense to bring visitors in to your site. This will cost you a small amount of money and it may take a few months to balance the amount you put out to what you will get in return. Some businesses will also buy ad space on search engine result pages and small business web listings to get more attention. Whatever you may be able to afford as an initial outlay will be helpful to your success here. This means focusing on the the long term benefits – that this interaction with other sites and companies will definitely quicken the exposure you are looking for and bring you the visitors that will give you revenue.

Ultimately the success of any advertising is having a product to back up the hype. By keeping your writing interesting and engaging your visitors will be more inclined to support you, whether it be by clicking through the ads you’ve posted or using your product and services. This comes back to the very basics of successful blogging. The unchanging rule of consistency and passion for what you are writing about. Others have proven successful and you can too!