Blogging is one of the most creative mechanisms for self-expression in the 21st century, but it’s more than that. It’s almost a lifestyle choice, like journalism or painting gigantic wall murals on impressive buildings.
How do you create a popular blog?
First, establish some ground rules of best practices; second, choose the most suitable platform for your type of blog; and third, use an editorial calendar to stay consistent about blogging.
Let’s take a quick look at each of these 3 key ideas:
- Blogging Best Practice
While there are many possible best practices, 3 ideas that will be simple to remember and that will make a significant difference are mindset, maintenance, and relationship building.
- Mindset
Top bloggers treat blogging with respect. They consider it an art form. For them, blogging is about writing a theme that develops over time. They also clarify their message through the perfect selection of graphics.
While it’s easy to be casual about blogging, it should be treated as seriously as if you were a novelist or fine arts painter. It is this reverent attitude toward blogging — treating it as an art form — that is responsible for the success of those blogs that attract a million or more readers a year and earn 7 figures.
- Maintenance
A novelist has to work at tidying up his research notes after an evening of intense writing. A fine arts painter has to clean up her studio after a morning of inspired work. Without these housekeeping rituals, a chaotic environment would destroy their creative output.
In a similar way, a blogger has to do housekeeping. Essentially, this consists of updating platform versions, antivirus definitions, and plugins and backing up files. A conscientious blogger will have all the tools they need at their immediate disposal – like an external hard drive or a Secure USB to protect files or the website from malware when making site backups or moving files between computers.
- Relationship Building
A blog is different from most traditional media in that readers can immediately respond to the author. This is a powerful feedback loop. The audience gets to share their reaction while the writer gets to know his or her audience better.
It’s also possible to deepen the relationship with the audience when the writer comments on their comments. This creates a dialogue and a sense of community around a shared interest.
In addition, a relationship can be built through an email newsletter that informs subscribers about new posts.
- A Content Marketing System
Insisting that one content marketing system is the best is like telling someone who loves a Mercedes that all other cars are not worth buying. If you happen to be a Tesla aficionado, these are fighting words.
With that said, out of the thousands of Content Marketing Systems available, Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress stand out as the most popular by a substantial margin. Still, while these get the highest votes on any blog discussing the best CMS platforms, it’s important to remember that there are other platforms that are easier for new bloggers, better for complicated projects that require a more sophisticated framework, and more convenient for users who need a blog for multilingual purposes.
Joomla
Joomla is popular because it’s easy to build out a basic blog with only a few computer skills and it’s easy to get online fast with a professional looking site. In addition, it has many templates, huge community support, and extensions that can do almost anything.
Drupal
Drupal is popular because it’s simple to set up a basic site with many features that make it easy to get going quickly. It has a solid framework with superb internal APIs. It’s robust enough to do complicated things without coding from scratch.
WordPress
WordPress is popular because like Joomla and Drupal it’s easy to setup, even if you have few computer skills and no idea how to code. In addition, users like the plugin stability, autonomy, functionality, and versatility. WordPress also offers a multisite option, is easy to use, and offers a staggering range of themes.
A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar
A content marketing editorial calendar makes it easier to be highly strategic about regular blog posting. It differs from a traditional calendar in that it works more like an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), giving you the versatility to do the following things:
- · Note down great post ideas that occur to you in the middle of the night.
- · Assign all writing and editorial tasks to your team.
- · Map out a publishing schedule that helps improve SEO and build an audience through consistent content creation.
- · Make any adjustments to your blogging process with ease.
- · Provide a visual tool for your marketing strategy that even non-technical staff members can understand at a glance.
- · Act like a bulletin board in a cafeteria that informs everyone about the latest updates.
It’s like Owning Your Own Newspaper
Owning a blog is a little like having your own newspaper. It’s a place one where you not only get to share your ideas on your favorite theme to a receptive audience but where you also get to deepen your knowledge by researching and writing about something in-depth. Besides writing, you can add value to your blog by making videos and offering informative e-books.
