Creating a Successful Blog - Quality Content

So you've created a blog, and now you want to generate traffic and keep readers coming back. After all, this is the best way to generate that online revenue, correct? Content is the absolute king when it comes to determining the ultimate success of a blog. Quality is essential, and it must deliver something useful to the reader.

I'm sure many of you have been to different sites on how to make money blogging, or how to earn money online, many of which are preaching that quality blog content leads to blogger success. Sadly, they rarely delve deeper than that, often focusing on content on a much broader scale. The articles just don't hit to the depth of what the average blogger needs, which is pinpointing certain dynamic details.

My goal for this article is to provide a more thorough resource for how important blog content is to its overall success, ultimately leading to blog revenue.

Theme, Subjects and Topics

One of the fatal blog killing mistakes is to have a blog with too many scattered subjects. The subject of your blog needs to be focused on a consistent theme. The blog posts and topics you write about need to be related to this subject matter. If you don't follow this simple protocol, you are likely to lose readers.

First pick your topic, such as this one, which is focused on making money online by blogging. Primarily I use Adsense, so my subjects are:

• Blogging
• Making Money Online
• Adsense
• Blogging Tips and Code Help

All of these are intricately linked and function within the parameters of each other. If I were to suddenly post about an online game I play, readers would likely jump off my page as quickly as they came on. This is a horrible first impression for readers that found my blog through search engines. I'd wager a good deal they probably wouldn't be back.

When creating your blog, brainstorm what your blog will be about, and include sub-categories that you can post and write content on. Try and stick to this outline, as readers are much more likely to read other posts you have written, increasing the likelihood they will help contribute to your online revenue.

Grammar and Punctuation

Here is a commonly overlooked aspect of blogging: you must have good grammar and punctuation skills. Spell checking is also a plus. I cannot tell you how many blogs and sites I have left because I couldn't stand to read their unfiltered, uneducated sounding mess of an article or post.
When you are reading something, keep in mind what you yourself pay attention to. Someone who is knowledgable about their topics, and someone who is well versed in their writings will often command more attention from their readers. Someone who writes clearly, and provides detailed and valuable information is someone you will listen to. Aim to be that type of blogger and author.

Style

Every blogger has their unique writing style. It more or less slowly evolves as you continue to write. Make sure to stay true to your style.
Imitating others and how they write will ultimately result in failure, because you are not writing from yourself. Eventually, you will lose steam, and the creativity that is required for this task will not evolve as you continue writing.
For instance, I like to write to readers like yourself as if you were tright in front of me. Very rarely will you see me writing in third person. I believe this approach is more personal, and can encourage more interaction from you on my site.
I myself, find that I love blogs where the author goes into specific details on topics they cover. I love reading examples and real-life applications. These types of bloggers are the ones I tend to follow most.

The 'Quality' of Posts

The most crucial part of blog success is actually what is being written. The content MUST have value to the reader. The goal of each of my posts is to leave blog readers like you with a little bit more of an understanding on what I am writing about. Maybe you learned a lot, and maybe you leanred a little. Maybe I presented something to you in a way you had not thought of before. Regardless, I hope you take something from this site that will help you, and in the future will return to see what more I have to offer.
I am going to direct you now to a couple of blogs that I have been following for quite some time. Both of these bloggers have very successful blogs, and they both have great content to offer.

• First, I would like you to head on over to Steve Pavlina's blog. His self-improvement site is packed with great self-help posts, and you could literally spend hours at a time reading through his material (trust me, I have on several occasions).
  
• And second, I would like you to take a peek at a type of blog that is on the rise, a Mom Blog. I know this is a bit off topic, but as a stay-at-home dad, I find a variety of blogs appeal to me now. Check out MckMama's blog, and read a few of her posts. You will be surprised at how quickly she can draw you in.
  
  The focus of visiting her blog is to read her content. She is one of the top mom bloggers in the nation, so don't scoff at what she has to offer. Take notes and learn. See how her writing style and content reaches out to her readers. I have seen daily posts of hers drawing in over 800 comments each. She is doing something right.

Take time on your posts and make sure what you are blogging about is something that someone else will want to read. People are smart and can tell when you half-ass a blog post, so make sure you are putting forth genuine effort.

Tips

Some helpful tips should be included here, some of which you might have heard before. These can help with creating content, leading to ideas for current and future posts.

• Break news - You hear this all the time in how to make a successful blog articles. But what I would encourage is if you aren't actually 'breaking' news, like many of us will not, report on it and offer a good, genuine opinion of it. The Yahoo / Bing search engine deal is a prime example of something a ton of bloggers have been writing about recently. They didn't break the news, but they are all offering their opinions on how it will compete with Google, and how it will affect Adsense and advertising, and so on and so forth.
• Write How To's - Write an article on how to do something. My most recent how-to is how to add a related posts widget to Blogger. Blogger can be very restrictive on some of their html flexibilities, so this is a nice bit of information for those who may be struggling with adding this to their blogs.
  
  
• Personal accounts - Write about an actual experience you had, including what led up to it and what became of it. One such example I can think of, that I have seen time and time again, is when bloggers received their first Adsense checks in the mail. They will often post how they went about earning that first $100, and include photos of themselves with their checks. I love reading these because a) it offers encouragement to those trying to make money with adsense, and b) I love reading success stories, showing that making money online actually does work. It just takes time and effort.

Regardless of how you crewate your content, make sure to use a wide variety, as that leads to enticing a much wider audience.

Content is King

Yes, content is king. Every other factor that contributes to blog success and making money online is important, but none comes close to touching how imperative it is to creating good, quality content.
From me to you, blogging for money does take some work, and it can be hard work. Don't let other people, or other blogs tell you that making money online is easy. As with any job, success comes with a little blood and sweat. As you establish success, yes, it becomes easier, but everyone has to go through the growing pains.

Focus on your blog content, and ultimately, that will be what draws your readers to you. It is the pristine gem behind all blogging success, and ultimately, blogging revenue.