Blogging does not come naturally to me. But I want to succeed as a blogger. So this weekend I did what I do really well. Breakdown a goal to smaller steps and then go about getting each of those tasks done. That is how I came up with my roadmap to blogging success.
Having done so I realized that many of my regular readers may find it useful, it can be improved further with your comments and publishing it online will motivate me to stick to it longer. Hence here is the roadmap that I have created for myself. Detailed breakdown is available below the fold.
- Create great/ useful content
- Make the posts interesting and easy to read
- Use tools to improve efficiency
- Participate on other blogs
- Make efforts to get more readers to the blog
- Even more effort to convert them to long term users
- Think beyond adsense
Great / Useful posts
I have come up with some posts that my readers have liked a lot. The problem is I have come up with too many mediocore posts. So any first time visitor to the blog doe not form a good opinion about the blog.
From now on every post to be published on binaryday must be something unique , thoght provoking OR useful. Observe the word “or” there. If a post is useful it need not be great/ unique. However if it is just some theory or viewpoint then it will be posted only if I am impressed with it myself. The problem is I get impressed with my own ideas all too often. 
I expect this to reduce the number of posts that are published which in turn will take the pressure off. More importantly, I am increasingly feeling that small number of good posts are better than regular dose of not-so-good posts in the long run.
Make the post interesting and easy to read
In the past I have never bothered about images/headline etc. That will change. It will definitely take time before I perfect the art but the effort is going to be there. If you are also planning to do something similar then you will do well to read http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/, Make your articles scannable.
Use tools to improve efficiency
Tools can help to reduce the time spent for keeping track of your favorite topic, going other blogs, searching for images for your posts, writing posts and promoting your blog post. Think of google alert, feed readers, image search engines, blog editors etc. A detailed post about my experience on this topic to follow.
Participate on other blogs
What makes me like blogging more than other type of websites that I create? Definitely not the money. I make way more money with my other websites compared to binaryday. What attracts me to binaryday is the constant inetraction that it allows me to have through the comments, the awesome people that I have got to know through it and the respect that a well researched post brings in. It should have been natural for me to participate more on other blogs and blogging forums. Expect more comments from me on your blogs. There is no guarantee that it will be sweet though 
Make efforts to get more readers to the blog
My best freind Google is not that helpful in getting traffic to my posts about blogging. That means I have to think of other ways of promoting these posts.
- Social media promotions
- Encourage users to spread the word
- Create content good enough for others to link to
Even more efforts to keep the reader for longer
This is one area which is given a lot less importance than what it deserves. A regular user is far more likely to
- Recommend your blog to others
- Link to your post
- Buy a product recommended by you
Fortunately each step outlined here i.e useful content, increased participation in other blogs and thinking beyond adsense will help me get more long term users. However I need to make it easier for the users to become long term users
- Make the feed subscription option even more prominent
- Respond to comments
- Maintain quality
- Reward long term readers
Think beyond adsense
No explanation is necessary. A good quality blog with quality posts can not be monetized well with adsense. So we need to come up with some other methods of monetization including affiliate marketing and consulting services.
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