10 ways to Make your Blog More Authoritative

This is a guest post by James Adams.

If you are struggling to get more readers and traffic to your blog, then you have probably tried many different techniques. Although it may seem as if the stardom that comes with having a top blog is out of reach, it actually is not that hard to achieve. One of the easiest ways to get there is to emulate the style of the blogs that are already authoritative in their respective niches.

 Tiger Attak by Claudio Gennari

Read on for 10 common practices that you should be using to make your blog more authoritative.

1. Speak Like a Teacher

Since blogs mostly deal with communicating content, it may be useful to look into the real world to see who has the most authority when it comes to content and information. In the offline world, these are the teachers and professors. They speak from experience and with confidence. You should take the same approach when you are communicating to your readers through your blog.

2. Post At Least Twice Per Day

When Technorati released the statistics of all the blogs they track on the Internet, one fact was striking. The average posting frequency for the top 4000 authoritative blogs was more than twice as much as the posting frequency of blogs with less authority. The more you post, the more authority you will be perceived to have.

3. Keep at It

The average life of the blogs in Technorati's top 4000 was almost three years. While it's possible to grow your blog's popularity in a much shorter period of time, it's probably a good idea to be realistic and assume that you're going to need to stick with it for a few years.

4. Have a Passion for Your Blog

It sounds trite, but it's true. Without actually loving your blog for the sake of writing and communicating with your readers, it will be quite tough to achieve any authority. Eventually, it will feel like too much work and you'll be tempted to stop blogging.

5. Design

It's important that your blog is pleasing to the eye if you want readers to stay or to keep coming back. Most often, this means a blog with a clean, crisp layout.

6. Go Easy on the Ads

Occasionally, bloggers try to fit as many ads as they possibly can onto their blogs, trying to earn the maximum amount of money. This may be understandable, but the presence of too many ads takes attention away from the content of your blog and makes your overall site appear spammy. Try focusing on your content at first and put the ads on after a period of time. If you manage the amount of ads that you put on your site, you’ll find that visitors are much more tolerant and will take the time to look around your site, rather than instantly dismiss it.

7. Make it Easy to Subscribe

While ads are frowned upon, what is more acceptable in the blogosphere is to ask people to subscribe to your blog. This is usually done by RSS or email. If you are looking to monetize your blog, then these subscribers could be more valuable in the future.

8. Get Your Own Domain

If you want your blog to look more professional, then it is crucial that you get your own domain name. It is rare to find an authoritative blog that has a WordPress or Blogger sub-domain. A domain name typically only costs around $10 per year, which is a small investment compared to the degree by which your reputation will increase.

9. Highlight Your Top Posts

When many Internet users come across a new blog, they love to check out the "Top Posts" section if there is one. Put your top posts section in a prominent area of your blog, and select your absolute best content to give a great first impression.

10. Tell About Yourself

You want your blog readers to be able to find out about you. New readers will want to know who is writing the blog, and your longtime readers will become even more curious to learn more about you. The most authoritative bloggers aren't afraid to show themselves to their readers: They are quite often extremely visible personalities.

Creating an authoritative blog is no walk in the park. It is a bit like becoming a rock musician. A lot more people would like to be a rock star than those that actually achieve it. It will probably take at least a couple years to build up a large readership. However, if you implement the above tips, then you will set yourself up for a much higher probability of success.

About the author
James Adams is a UK-based blogger and writer who works at Cartridge Save where he writes in-depth reviews of HP supplies and many other types of office supplies from various top brands.