My insecurity about blogging leads me to give advice about blogging.

Yesterday, I got an email from fellow blogger and writer buddy, Michael Ignacio, and he wrote,

Hello there. It's been a long time. I am trying to return to the world of blogging after being away for so long. I wanted to connect with you because you were kind to me before. I have finished several great projects and realize I need to blog in order to gather more support. I know you are very successful and I would like to seek advice from you from time to time in order to become a better blog jedi like you. Thank you for showing me kindness before.

But here's the thing: I've never really thought of myself as a successful blogger (do others think I have a successful blog?). But I guess to him, I was successful (how does one define success?), which kinda highlights an insecurity I have about writing. But because of his kind email, I felt the need to respond. Here's what I wrote:

Thank you for the kind words regarding blogging. I don't really call myself "successful" as my blog only generates about a thousand pageviews a day. The blogs that actually make money generate 100X that on a daily basis, but here's my advice if you want "genuine" traffic and not just authors hitting you back because you visited their blog and now they're under an obligation to visit yours:

1) Content is king. The more often you blog the better your search results will be (super successful blogs that generate a million views a day generally post ten times a day). And you want as much original content as possible. Posting ten times a day is unrealistic for one person, however, if you got a website together (like io9) with a bunch of other people, you could totally do that. Also keep in mind that when a blog launches for the first time, it needs content right away. Website io9 that I use as a "go to" example of blogging done right launched on day one with 400 articles.

2) Make big titles for your blog. You can look to mine as an example. Titles give you more keywords to strike google optimization results and drive traffic to your blog.

3) Get your blog linked on other blogs and on other websites. Work out a deal with site administrators. The more places where your blog is featured, the more your online importance moves up as far as algorithms are concerned (algorithms that drive search results).

4) Know your audience. Blog about things that interest your audience. Try to offer something of value that isn't being said by a million other people at the same time. Blogs about writing are a dime a dozen. You want your blog to be a destination and not a chore to visit.

5) Be realistic about what you want. If you just want to connect with authors, I honestly think having a simple website that features examples of your work, links to your books and your projects, and an occasional blog post would be perfect. To connect with others visit their pages, and then they'll know who you are and will help you out if you require their assistance. Connecting with authors is all about "tagging," meaning I tag your article with a meaningful comment and then I expect you to tag mine at some point. It's a back and forth thing, or quid pro quo for lack of a better term. 

6) Write, write, write. Write some articles, write some books, and keep writing and keep publishing it all. The most important thing is to always write.

So yeah, my insecurity about blogging led me to give advice about blogging. Irony much? Today's post is part of the Insecure Writer's Support group. Go here to sign up because it's a great way to connect with fellow authors, and...you know...blog. :)