How to make blogs successful

I just got an email request for an interview - the second over the past few months. No idea what happened over the first as I was never updated, so I’ll repost my answers here.

The basic gist was - what makes for a successful blog?

Obviously ibrian.co.uk isn’t a particularly successful blog - but I’m not making any effort to push it in that regard. It’s a pot pourri of personal and business, and a place to vent and throw out a few real tips to people.

My real focus in the blogosphere is in news site development, built on blog platforms:

1. What is your most successful blog (maybe you have other blogs as well)?

The most successful blogs I run operate as news sites – effectively on the basis of “we, the media”. Interestingly enough, the more niche the topic area, and the most emergent the topic area, then the easier it is to generate traffic and position yourself as a market leader. General subject sites I find too easily swamped by established media.

2. How long have been working with it?

I work with a stable of blog-built sites, and have done so for about 3 years. I think experimentation is a great way to learn, not least in topic area covered.

3. What was your biggest mistake/failure with this blog?

Biggest failures include poor targeting, poor updating of content, and generally running out of energy. Security is also worth mentioning – one of my most successfully blogs these days is 3 years old, but was hacked at least twice during the first year – but was updated so irregularly that I probably didn’t realise for weeks on the first occasion.

4. How often do you update content on your blog?

My personal blog I update infrequently because I’m so damn busy! News blogs pretty much need updating each day, usually multiple times. The better you can cover a topic area, the better you can position yourself.

5. Do you do any search engine optimization for your blog?

My day job is SEO – so on-page SEO is always a prerequisite, while link development is prioritised for those sites which start off well through the gate, and therefore show good potential.

6. How do you monetize your blog?

Poorly, usually via adsense, though there are some link sales. I think the key is to invest in developing a presence first, and worry about monetisation second. If you can develop real traffic, multiple monetisation opportunities can open up. Because ads can be quite off-putting, I put them off for as long as possible.

7. What is the key to success with blogs in your understanding of it? (2-3 sentences maximum)

Target a specific topic area, niche if possible; really focus on coverage of that niche; let the subject write the story; don’t try to cash in quickly; build up relationships with similar topic sites; push on updating the site as regularly as possible.

8. What tools/solutions/plugins/platforms do you find to be the most useful for your blog?

Wordpress is my default install, with a whole range of plugins used, usually to help present information better (popular, daily read, related, etc) as well as presentational tweaks which can help make the blog more professional, such as email & print options.

Hope that helps. :)