Blogging is dead. I know that’s true because I read it on a blog. The truth is that while social networking and microblogging sites have grown drastically in the past year, blogs remain a central part of the global cyberspace landscape. Blogs remain popular and important, especially when it comes to dedicated niche communities gathered around a specific topic of interest. But blogs do not have to be stuck in 2007. Bring your blog into the new decade with a few of these crucial 2011 blogging trends.
1. Single user access to multiple sites is growing in popularity all over the web, and that applies to your blog too. That means that users can comment and interact with your blog using their log-in information from other popular sites like Facebook and Gmail. Facebook Connect is widely used across the Internet as a way to make commenting and promoting content easier and quicker for all users, while Blogger software makes it easy for commenters to use their Gmail identities.
2. With the recent rise of smartphones and now tablet computers, it is more important than ever that your blog be optimized for mobile viewing. Treat your mobile audience as equal, if not primary, to your desktop audience, and make sure that every element of your design functions and looks good when viewed on a tiny screen. If you have a stunning picture of gold engagement rings on your wedding planning blog, don’t force your busy mobile audience to wait five minutes for it to load over a slow wireless connection, offer a smaller version of the photo for ease of use.
3. The once-popular RSS feed is slowly being phased out by many blogging hosts, so make sure you have a plan in place for how to reach your audience with new content. Besides for acquiring subscriptions, followers, and a healthy mutual blogroll, you can spread the news about a hot new post through Facebook, Twitter, and even email.
4. Building off the success of crowdsourced consumer review sites, new question and answer sites are turning to the wisdom of the masses as well. You can promote your blog through popular Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers and Quora. Tag your answers with your website to build viewership as you establish credibility.
5. Every year brings new social networking tools that the well-connected blogger must utilize to stay in touch with his readers. It can get overwhelming. Luckily, new meta tools are available to help you publish on multiple platforms at once. You can broaden your reach and maintain your original blog, plus a Twitter account, Facebook page, and a Google+ identity.
6. Just because you continue to use a traditional blog does not mean you should not explore some of the many new microblogging tools available to you. Besides for Twitter and its famous 140-character limit, you also have Tumblr, Posterous, and several other brand-new sites that can help you express your viewpoint and connect with readers in short bursts instead of long-winded posts. You can still promote the same kind of content that you would in a traditional blog. For example, you can still blog about the Four C’s that are used to choose ideal loose diamonds, you would just do it one C at a time!
7. You no longer have to go it alone. Multiple author blogs, in which two or more people share blogging duties, are increasing in popularity in recent years. By opening the blog to a variety of people with different perspectives and levels of expertise, you make your blog more interesting and also make it easier to post often.
8. Blogging is no longer just about the young cool crowd. Older folks, especially those over 40, are heading to the blogosphere en masse, as popular columnists from newspapers and magazines start their own blogs. In addition, as younger Internet users migrate towards sites geared more towards their attention-span-deprived mindset. Blogging should now appeal to older readers with easy-to-navigate designs and jargon-free language.
9. Don’t get stuck on the same design and layout that worked for your blog in 2007. Two of the biggest blogs in the world, Vulture and Gawker, both redesigned their sites in 2011. With fresh graphics, navigation, and features, your blog can continue to attract new readers and even get your recurring readers newly excited about your site.
10. One of the most important features of a good blog has not changed in 2011: hard work. No matter what, getting your blog noticed and read will take constant effort and hard work. Keep blogging about what you love, and keep promoting those posts, and your blog will reach new levels of success in 2011.
Guest article written by Whiteflash.com – best provider of diamond jewelry.