The best blogs have the best content- whether generated by outsiders or by the blog editors themselves. For a blog to be of any value, they must be useful, interesting, at times humorous but above all, engaging. And while inspiration for content might be lacking on occasions- that’s actually the easy bit.

Here are five tips we believe that all aspiring bloggers should take into account before they embark on their journey into the world of WordPress and beyond…

1) Find your audience: Before any hopeful blogger begins to dream of a future of star filled skies, overflowing with positive feedback, comments and gazillions of re-tweets, it’s essential that the blog is marketable and spread to a wide an audience as possible.  For all the best will in the world, the expertise and the authority that your words might convey, if nobody sees them, you’ve wasted your time filling the page.

So that means engaging in the very digital sphere that you wish to operate in. Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Google Buzz, Stumbleupon, Yahoo,  myspace, LinkedIn, forums, useful (and more importantly, relevant) comments on other blogs- they’re all examples of sharing facilities in social media- use them. They are your voice.  It may take you a fair few blog posts before you start receiving the credibility you both desire and deserve, but the more you engage with your potential audience, the more likely you will gain followers and a regular audience.

2) Let your audience take part: Uh-oh. You’re about to relinquish control of your page. No matter- you ultimately have editorial control and nothing has to be posted which would undermine the quality of your previous blog posts. It’s good to let outsiders take part, as it allows for varied perspectives and a change in tone.  Once you’ve established a large enough following, you can begin to target specific bloggers who will deliver good quality content.

Sure, you will probably receive a a fair amount of rubbish and a deluge of spam mail to sift through to begin with, but after a while, you should be able to identify the better writers. Collaborating with them will enrich your output and provided you are clear over what you want the content to look like, a team of talented writers will boost your profile.  

3) Keep the posts in check: So many ideas, so many links, so many videos, so much to say! Deep breath… and exhale. Slowly. There’s absolutely no need to hammer out essays every single week, overloaded full of facts and figures. A potential 2000-word blog might contain the internet’s best content but most people will not have the time to sit down and digest it.

It’s fine to mix up the lengths- some days a 2000 word blog will have the desired impact- but on others, a 100 word blog may just as easily go viral, if the right marketing, imagery, video and written content is up to standard. So set realistic targets or boundaries. Try and stick to an average length- but with the flexibility to know that some pieces will naturally fall either sound of the upper and lower boundaries.  It’s the old adage- quality over quantity.

4) Ensure your post has a message: Quite a simple tip really- however, you need to be mindful of straying too far away from your original topic. It’s fine to wander left-field- as long as there’s a purpose behind it and you don’t lose focus as to what you want your audience to know. You’re not a teacher but you’re certainly the host. Engage your audience regardless of whether they’re one time guests or your oldest friends.

5) Links and SEO: You regularly update the blog, you have built a loyal following, but you want to grow. The next step is to strategically place resourceful and helpful links that support the content of your blog. However, don’t adopt a scattergun approach and insert links for the sake of it. Not only does it detract from the strength of your own work, it distracts the reader and takes them away from your work!

SEO words are vital for your place in search engine rankings. Find out the keywords that are relevant to your blog topic and insert them into your headlines, opening paragraphs, and, if possible, place these words inside your text throughout the piece (as long as it isn’t forced and becomes a laborious read for your reader).

That little lot should get you started. And with that, I wish you a weekend of happy blogging!