Saturday, January 03, 2009

Posting To Your Blog With Relevance And Voice

By Don Bethune

The information you choose to offer in your blog, and how you go about presenting it is ultimately what determines the tone of your website. Doing so properly can be a financially rewarding home based business. What is your personal area of expertise? Is it political in nature, or social? Visitors to your blog demand that you offer concise reports of information as it occurs. Often, they wish to offer their own opinions on the happenings. During this Novembers elections, it was the blogs who were often first to break news. Often, they did so before most major news outlets. Thus, visitors of your blog rely on your updates and opinions to offer them what the aforementioned news outlets are not.

Your blog should consist primarily of up to date reports of information and occurrences. The voice in which you offer this information is what you sets your blog apart. Hopefully, you can be found through affiliate marketing programs, through RSS feeds, or through mobile device updates. Keeping these updates regular and timely is what readers look for in a blog they are confident about visiting regularly.

During Hurricane season, weather blogs compile information from various sources into a format the average reader can understand. Weather blogs stay ahead of typical news cycles and issue informed updates as data comes in. Raw data from National Agencies needs to be interpreted fit readeras expectations. Weather based websites often provide raw data from various reporting agencies for bloggers to compile.

Weather websites generally link to blogs that offer specialized information. Such as a blog about hurricane happenings, or a tropical storm occurrence in a specific area. These blogs update as frequently as new information is available. Especially in areas of information which change constantly in regards to a specific location. Although your readers may not be in this area, they still may have a vested interests in the occurrences taking place there.

At times when important weather events are occurring, meteorological blogs refresh information on the hour to keep up with reader's feedback. A recent hurricane, Hurricane Gustav saw several thousand responses from readers that were not even within areas hit by the storm, or even within the United States. However, their desire to know caused a tremendous rise in feedback. Blogs dealing with topics like a currently occurring hurricane may even draw the attention of people outside of the United Sates.

Technical blogs post new information as soon as any source makes it available. Blogs following occurrences in places like the stock market will update daily. Personal blogs on social networking sites like myspace will update as relevant information occurs to the individual, or when they wish to hear feedback from their readers on a particular subject.

The voice and relevance of your posts is what will keep your readers returning to your blog. Links to affiliates who market through your blog may offer you extra income, but can also distract readers from your information. Readers are ultimately coming to you for this information. However, offering links that relate to mutual interests that you and your reader share can be mutually beneficial.

If you do choose to offer affiliate marketing information, such as personal business opportunities, keep these links in one place where you readers may choose to access it. If your voice consists of staying on topic, continue to stay on topic. If you readers seem to enjoy that you stray off topic, again, attempt to be consistent. It is your personal voice and the relevance of the information you offer that will keep the readers engaged, and ultimately cause them to become regular visitors.

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