7 Critical Success Factors for Blogs
Every blogging niche is different and each individual blogger has his or her own approach, but in the vast majority of cases there are a few factors that are absolutely critical to the long-term health of a blog. Some of these are obvious, but it can be a good starting point for new bloggers, or a refresher for those of us who have been blogging for a while. Getting back to basics and focusing on the critical success factors can lead to more productive use of our time and a more effective, streamlined approach to blogging.
1. High Quality, Unique Content
The no-brainer number one factor is the content itself. Blogs are all about content, and that’s what readers want more than anything. Regardless of what topic you cover or what angle you take, provide your readers with original, interesting content that they can’t get just anywhere, and you’ll be well ahead of most bloggers in your niche.
Without quality content you can only go so far. Even if you do an excellent job with all of the other critical success factors, your success will still be limited. Whatever you are doing to build and promote your blog, be sure that you’re always focused on providing the best content possible.
2. A Network
Relationships with other bloggers are invaluable. When I first started blogging I had no understanding of how personal it is, and how much your network will have a hand in your success. From the time you start blogging (if not before) you should make a strong effort to interact with other bloggers, especially those in your niche.
A network can help you in so many different ways, including link building, promotion, exposure with guest posts, social media, and more. Networking is so critical that I challenge you to find one truly successful blogger that does not have a strong network of contacts.
3. Consistent Effort
Simply having great content isn’t enough. For a blog to succeed long-term you need to produce it on a consistent basis. That doesn’t mean you need daily posts or you have to constantly be writing. However, you do need to show some consistency to readers and avoid long breaks with no posts.
I have seen a number of blogs over the past year that have put out some really nice content, but they have struggled with consistency. In most cases these bloggers lost interest and moved on to something else (which is fine). But if you want to be successful in the longrun, consistency is a must.
4. Conversion of Visitors into Subscribers
A lot of us bloggers (me included) tend to check our stats on a regular basis. Personally, I set goals for myself each month and I use stats as one of my measuring sticks. However, visitors really mean very little aside from maybe earning you some advertising revenue. Ultimately, you’ll need to find ways to convert those visitors into subscribers.
Subscribers become repeat visitors and loyal readers. They are the lifeblood of blogs. Without subscribers, what would blogs be? Getting traffic is great, but don’t forget about finding ways to convert those visitors into subscribers.
5. Community Atmosphere
One of the reasons readers enjoy blogs so much more than static websites is because of the interaction and engagement that is possible. Successful blogs will effectively build a strong community around the blog. When readers feel like they know the blogger and fellow readers personally, they’ll be much more likely to come back on a regular basis.
Long-term traffic and repeat visitors are key to blogging success, and building a community is one of the best ways to encourage repeat visits. It’s what sets you apart.
6. Diversity In Traffic
Regardless of which sources send you the most visitors, you need to make an effort to diversify. Putting all you eggs in one basket is not safe. Rely too heavily on Google and you’ll see your income drop when your rankings fall unexpectedly. Are you getting a high percentage of visitors from social media? Make an effort to also build up some other significant sources of traffic for stability.
7. Inbound Links
Gaining diversity in traffic is much easier when you have a lot of inbound links coming your way. Links will bring click-through traffic (especially links from major websites and blogs), and they’ll also serve to improve your search engine rankings.
As a new blogger you may need to spend a good deal of time building links to your blogger. Although it can take some time, there are substantial long-term benefits. Any blog that’s generating buzz and drawing attention will be getting some links.
What Factors Do You Think Are Most Important?
Do you agree that these 7 factors are all critical? What would you add or take away from the list?
Great advice! I’m glad I stumbled on your blog. I will definitely try to apply these principals with my new blog…I’ve really seen that networking is a big plus and there seems to be alot of great folks out there in the ’sphere’.
The biggest challenge, for me, will be consitency. I can see it being a challenge to come up with new and fresh topic ideas after the first year or two.
One more factor : Dedication of Blogger.
@Desmond: isn’t that the same as “consistent effort”?
But yes, I must agree that consistency, dedication, and patience really mean a lot.
After blogging for a year, I started to get the feeling that maybe this is it then. I have reached an OK status in the blogosphere - made it through the dreaded first 3, 6, 9, 12 months… Was I ready?
That’s a scary thought because it stops you from moving. When I thought about it more, I realized that the first year was just the beginning, maybe even just the beginning of the beginning
So, here I am, reading your advice again, being reminded that I should build networks, chat with you guys, and put in a consistent effort. That’s blogging.
Good point on converting new visitors in subscribers. We have to remember though - this isn’t very realistic in most niches - like the niche I’m in: entertainment and celebrity blogs.
Readers are usually bored 18-34 men that have relatively high amounts of testosterone and have little knowledge of technology. That’s what I’ve been dabbling with - how to keep this kind of visitors coming back..
Nice post,
Allen
Jarkko,
I find that it’s hard to look at what you have already been able to accomplish and to really understand where it stands in terms of reaching your potential. I often think that with consistent effort and a refusal to give up you can’t lose in the long run. Like you said, a year is just the beginning. I can’t imagine any blogger that works hard and keeps learning would not be able to achieve a ton of success after several years. I like to look at a blog as an asset that’s value is always growing if you’re working on it.
Allen,
I agree with you that certain audiences are harder than others to convert, but I think that’s where we have to be more creative. If an audience doesn’t respond well to simple RSS subscription links, there’s always other ideas like giveaways to encourage signups of something like that. Like you said, you just have to find ways to keep them coming back.
Hi,
Nice tips! Your #4 - converting visitors into subscribers is, to me, one of the most difficult task…
Cheers!
Great tips there. They are critical for blogging success!
This is useful stuff, I’ve recently started a blog and I’m finding it hard to get visits.
I post short posts about random things as and when they cross my mind, occasionally I post longer ones, but essentially the reason I started the blog was for short nuggets.
I’m trying to find relevant blogs to comment on and hopefully build up a few regular readers, but its harder than it sounds!
I would have to put Quality content at the Drivers seat and the other items, can take a backseat, some even a spot in the trunk, just until you have proven that you can hack blogging. There are so many that start today and will be finished by Friday.
This is an excellent list, and certainly gives me fodder for seeking how I can expand my own blog’s reputation. Right now I think I’ve hit 1 and 7, but I’m too new a blog (only a week and a half old) to have yet developed a “community”.
But… we’ll see.
I’d welcome any thoughts on what I can improve over at affpreneur.com
I agree quality content with regular update is the key for success of any blog.
I would not put inbound links at the last place. They can get you traffic in two ways: via search engines and via sites where the links are at.
This is the best way to get fresh readers who may like what you have to offer. You need to spread in order to stay alive, so I would give inbound links more important role.
All depends on your definition of success. If you just want to make money, you just need consistent decent posts, and comment on other posts in your niche.
That is about it …
@ NooB:Nice tips! Your #4 - converting visitors into subscribers is, to me, one of the most difficult task…
I think that you’ve touched a very critcal aspect for bloggers to note. I have just started a blog and I’ll be refering to this site.
Great information. I just started blogging and I’m trying to learn everything I can, thanks for the information and great article.
Love the post! Successful Entrepreneurs create plans and goals for their success, they Plan Their Work and Work Their Plan. Successful Entrepreneurs break down general ideas into individual steps and goals to achieve. They do a lot of planning and researching for their business which requires time, discipline, and hard work!
Focus that leads to consistent effort. That’s my pick. Of course, bloggers also need to be flexible and adopt more strategies to grow their blog.
That’s all , but the biggest is EFFORT…, you can’t achieve nothing whit out any effort..stay focus and never give up.
I would add: The ability to express yourself. In a round about way, you say this when you talk about High Quality Content. However, if a blogger cannot express themselves through their blogging, then it is in vain. Not everyone can be successful in blogging for that reason.
I would have to say that producing high quality content along with keeping it consistent are the two top keys to having a successful blog. If you write bad, poorly written posts, nobody will want to read them and you will never have a steady source of readers.
I agree that networking is so important, with all of my blogs I contact related sites and either beg them for a link or offer a link exchange.
Well at the risk of sounding like I’m just jumping on the bandwagon, I agree with all the comments that have been written here prior to mine!
Blogging is a solitary occupation and ironically can be isolating (even though we are publishing to the whole wide,waiting , world - or at least we like to think we think we are!) So the concept of networking with bloggers is a new one for me, but one that I shall be chasing up… Thanks!
Diversity in traffic is interesting because one takes notice of the different kinds of people that are arriving. It also causes the owner of the site to think about how to adapt his material for individuals from certain cultures.
You haven’t really mentioned monetization - I think this is quite important for keeping the blogger engaged. I reckon it’d be quite hard to stay motivated over the long term without this. I guess there are other incentives that may work for some, but I think money is the most obvious one.
Quality content on a consistent basis I think is the key to success. If you are putting out informative posts, every day or two days, then you’ll get readers, and then those readers will turn into subcribers, and those subcribers into links. It’s all about just having enough time to put in the effort in making a quality post.
Jonathan Muller
Converting visitors into RSS readers is the most important for me. What I would like to know is what is a good ratio for visitors to readers? I’d like to know how I measure up.
Some great advice there. I would like to add “search engine optimistation”. Sure quality content goes a long way, but you also need to make sure Google is indexing your site properly. Wordpress and other blogging platforms have many SEO plugins that are easy to use and can have a huge impact on search engine rankings.
I think converting visitors into subscribers is the most important factor after quality content. A lot of bloggers forget about that.
Daniel
The 2nd point about Network is really important, bcoz you must have connection with other bloggers.
In my experience the biggest success factor in blogging is being able to get enough positive feedback for what you’re doing to want to keep going. If you’re blogging for money, they can be even harder to get started because the rewards are so small they might as will work a fast food job than blog.
Passion is truly a prerequisite in blogging, and it definitely takes a special kind of person to be able work hard enough and long enough at a blog to really make it profitable.
Do you want to know the best part about this list? He hit the two main reasons why people become successful at blogging and pretty much everything else.
All you you need to do is put forth a consistent effort and make sure you’re trying your best (post consistently and write effectively).
Great stuff.
Over the years I think I’ve had 20 or more blogs, each of them on a different topic that interested me at the time. After several weeks or months, I forgot about each of them or posted much less often. Making a consistent effort is probably the most important factor in the success of your blog. Trust me on this one.
I agree that networking is so important, with all of my blogs I contact related sites and either beg them for a link or offer a link exchange.
Converting visitors into subscribed readers is the most important for me. What I would like to know is what is a good ratio for visitors to readers? I’d like to know how I measure up.I need them to be hooked with my posts..
Some great food for thought here - can anyone recommend a good “subscribe to my blog” plug in for wordpress?
Hi, I particularly appreciate your last point on Links. Indeed links are very important, not just for the visitors they can bring but also because Google will rank you higher if you have many links pointing to your site!