10 Ways to Make Your Blog More ‘Alive’

Posted on 07. Aug, 2009 by Isaac Yassar in Blogging

aliveDo you want your blog to appear more ‘alive’ to the eyes of your visitors?

Making your blog more ‘alive’ is useful to transform new visitors into loyal readers, especially when your blog is growing. Lively atmosphere also makes your audience feels comfortable to hang around your blog a little longer, knowing that it is ‘alive’.

So, here are 10 simple ways to make your blog more ‘alive’:

1. Write new posts regularly

Publishing new posts regularly creates a sense that you are still there and your blog is still running healthily. One new post everyday or five posts every week is a good period to start. The famous six-figure blogger Steve Pavlina aimed to write five quality posts per week when he started his website.

2. Respond to comments

Responding to comments makes your visitors feels like talking to a living being, not to a dead tree. Replying to each comment is good for new blogs to build warm connections. For established blog with a great number of new comments everyday, adaptation is required.

3. Put a recent-comments widget

A recent comments widget informs your audience that conversations are going on somewhere in your site. This is very constructive for growing blogs to create a lively atmosphere. It can also encourage new visitors to join the existing conversations.

4. Engage in Social Media

Being active in social media tells the world that you are not stranded in a nowhere island called “your blog”. You are an active being and you love to communicate socially. Facebook and Twitter is always a good place to start, if you haven’t.

5. Put a recent-tweets widget

If you are active in Twitter, having a dynamic recent-tweet widget on your sidebar is a good way to show that you are a healthy living ‘bird’ and tweeting sweet ‘melodies’ now and then. Your visitors can also see when the last time you voiced your tweet, giving you more sense of existence and personality.

6. Write an ‘about’ page

Tell your reader that a living human is behind your blog using an ‘about’ page. Alternatively, you can write shorter description about you in your sidebar or footer. To increase the positive impact, always express yourself as if you are a real human being ;-)

7. Provide a ‘contact’ page

To live is to communicate. A ‘contact’ page gives your readers a feeling that they can talk to you and you will respond. Maybe only a handful of your visitors will actually use it, but knowing its existence is enough to render your blog more ‘alive’.

8. Archive your posts

Archiving makes your old posts stay ‘alive’ and accessible. If your blog has so many posts and you have no archive, your old posts will be cut off from the rest of the world, forgotten, and finally die.

9. Use a unique theme

What would happen if we humans all had the same face? We wouldn’t feel alive. It also applies in the appearance of your blog. The more unique your blog, the more ‘alive’ it is.

Uniqueness varies. Having a professional web designer pimping your blog gives you a maximum uniqueness. No blog will look the same with yours. If it’s too expensive, using a premium theme is your next option. Only a few people will have the same visual scheme as yours. If you can’t afford a premium theme, get a nice free theme and customize it.

10. Integrate a forum

After your site grows big and has a great number of visitors, it is wise to integrate a forum. Forum enables your loyal readers to discuss things around your blog topics inside your blog. Setting up a forum needs some effort, but it certainly makes your blog much more ‘alive’.

Do you want your blog to be more ‘alive’? What methods do you use to accomplish it?

Tags: Blogging

11 Responses to “10 Ways to Make Your Blog More ‘Alive’”

  1. Surender Sharma

    07. Aug, 2009

    Who doesn’t want to alive his blog?
    These are the greatest methods you have shown.
    Thanks

    Reply to this comment

  2. KPerrone

    07. Aug, 2009

    Very useful. I need to work on an about page myself. Thanks for the reminder ;)

    Reply to this comment

  3. Greg Ellison

    08. Aug, 2009

    You have to be more alive or you are not going to go anywhere. You came up with a nice list. You got to work on them all of the time just don’t stop. Thanks Greg Ellison

    Reply to this comment

  4. Isaac Yassar

    08. Aug, 2009

    Thanks for your wonderful words S-Sharma, KPerrone, and Greg. Having an ‘alive’ atmosphere in our blog is indeed a jumping stone to enter positive and profitable blogging realm.

    Reply to this comment

  5. Jared | The Money Cult

    08. Aug, 2009

    Great list. I have a few things I need to do but 7,8,9,10 but there on my list. Number 1 and 2 are great. I love Steve’s stuff he was one of the 1st blog’s I read love his podcasts.

    Reply to this comment

  6. Doug Dillard

    08. Aug, 2009

    I was doing good until I got down to #10. Definitely something we want to add in the near future for sure. Forums if run right can bring you a ton of traffic… but do take up quite a bit of time, unless you have others moderate it for you. Great points Isaac!

    Reply to this comment

    • Isaac Yassar

      09. Aug, 2009

      Thanks Jared and Doug. Steve Pavlina is a success figure of blogging, but few people know that he had been trying to make money online for 10 years before starting his stevepavlina.com . Steve and Darren Rowse (ProBlogger.net) both have forum integrated on their site, I doubt if they do it all by themselves ;-)

      Reply to this comment

  7. Jim Hardin

    10. Aug, 2009

    Hey Isaac!
    I have to say I like your wordpress theme. If you remember we had the same theme at one point. Then one day I came to your blog and you had this Frugal Theme. I think it looks great. It looks professional, clean and unique. Great job! I have been searching for a different theme myself. I have a few that I have been looking at and I am just trying to narrow it down. I just want to say you got great content here. Keep up the good work! and thanks for continually coming to my blog. I appreciate it.

    Reply to this comment

    • Isaac Yassar

      11. Aug, 2009

      You’re welcome Jim. Yes, I still remember, the free iNove theme. I still have it here on my WP, I haven’t deleted it yet. A nice appearance is indeed important to build impressions on our blog. I hope you will find the right theme for your blog soon. Good luck :-)

      Reply to this comment

  8. Andrei

    15. Aug, 2009

    I think the 2 most important things when blogging are: The looks of your blog (like food, clothing, cars, and all that stuff, it has to be visually appealing to get your interest), and content.. regular posts, unique posts..

    Reply to this comment

    • Isaac Yassar

      16. Aug, 2009

      Yes Andrei. Those two things are also important. It’s just like a daily business e.g. a food court. If the place looks good and the product is also good, people will like it.

      Reply to this comment

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