How To Be A Popular Blogger

By Gloria

The world's best and most popular blogs are the product of someone's passion. Bloggers let their obsessions show! Blogs become successful because of the blogger's personality, knowledge and expertise. When you blog, use first person ("I")and be authentic.

Content and good writing are important. Some of the best blogs have won major journalism awards--a good example is Talking Post Memo. Another highly regarded blog is The Huffington Post , called the “most powerful blog in the world.” Co-founded by socialite Arianna Huffington in 2005, HuffPost has a highly successful business model: its hundreds of guest bloggers don't get paid for their posts at all, yet they include celebrities, politicians, and well-known academic and business leaders.

Other blogs that consistently make the "top blog" lists are the New York Times’ Freakonomics ; the geek blog BoingBoing ; the political Crooks and Liars by "Vlogfather" John Amato; Mashable , the largest and most popular blog focused on social networking; a favorite site for movie buffs called /Film (Slashfilm); and, of course, Seth Godin’s Blog .

Characteristics of Top Blogs

Top blogs ask questions and engage readers in an interactive way. Top bloggers do not shy away from controversy. They are always be civil but state their opinions forcefully. And they are original!

The most interesting blogs include other media--photos, artwork, charts and videos. It is important to use headers and/or numbered/bulleted lists for search engine optimization (SEO) reasons.

The best blogs link to other bloggers all the time. Link to other bloggers in your profession or industry--hopefully they will reciprocate. For the same reason, comment on other bloggers' blogs! The blogosphere is a place for dialog, not a soap box.

Hmmn. What's YOUR favorite blog? Mine is my own company’s blog, Be Heard . No kidding! Not only does it cover a topic I'm passionate about--public relations--but it's written by nine other people besides me. And they all have interesting things to say.