How many bloggers are there online today? Lots and lots. Do they all write compelling content? Not really.

There are certain principles and guidelines to follow when blogging that are based on experience and people’s expectations. There’s been a lot of talk about what makes for a good blog lately, so I felt it was important to reinstate or reinforce the underlying virtues of good blogging—the four C’s of blogging to be remembered:

1. Community:

“Are you PARTICIPATING in social media networks or passively READING content?”

2. Content:

You have to have pleasure in writing. And that pleasure comes from writing on topics that you are passionate about. Before too long, blog readers sense the difference between “forced and stagnant” writing versus writing with great enthusiasm and energy. Are you interested in what you write? Will other people be interested?

3. Clarity:

Your blog must be crystal clear with its vision outlined. What makes you different and special as a writer? Readers should have an idea of what your blog project is about.

4. Consistency:

Is your “blog personality” CONSISTENT with who YOU are? Are you offering a consistent EXPERIENCE to your community?

These are purely and simply tools for planning and organization of your writing. Yes, I really use them … and really think about them. And I encourage you to refer to the four C’s when you are blogging.

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Blog “optimization” is not the same type of optimization used in websites at all.  Sure, you’ll want to create keyword rich category tags, to alert the search engines to your presence, but most visits and conversation to high trafficked blogs comes from regular visitors, and referrals. 

Get Stickier

The most important thing you can to do optimize your blog is to make it “sticky” when readers arrive, they may not be hooked on your most recent post, but you want to make it easy for them to find posts that are interesting.  For a list of sticky plugins, check out this post on ProBlogger titled: WordPress Plugins to Make Your Blog Sticky.

Link Love

One of the best ways to get other bloggers to know that you exist is to link to other blogs.  Speaking of link love, here’s a great post about the value of link love.

Socialize

Adding social widgets to your blog and participating in social communities like MyBlogLog and StumbleUpon are great ways to connect with likeminded bloggers and other websites.  If you haven’t tried one of these communities, I’d suggest checking them out and making some connections with people. 

Happy Blogging!

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