by C.V.Rajan

Created on: November 15, 2009   Last Updated: March 18, 2012

Blogging has evolved considerably over time. Writing something off the cuff and posting it somewhere in the web without any editorial scrutiny and thus becoming an "instantly published author" was how blogging started off and caught the imagination of the whole world. While this originally evolved form of blogging is still alive, blogging has also evolved into a serious money-making business for many.Naturally, the practical tips for successful blogging are also wide and varying based on the status at which the blogger is.

To learn tips for successful blogging, it is important to know what type of blogger you are and what  "success" means to you in blogging.

1) Does posting your ideas, opinions, views, thoughts, stories, poetry or criticisms in a community-based blogging website where many others like you are members and getting lots of comments and feedback from many members on your posts mean success to you?

If the answer is yes to the above question, the best practical tips are: Write humorously. Or, write in strong worded terms to whip up controversy. Throw an unusual light from an unexpected angle on a currently raging topic. Read plenty of others' blogs and make positive comments and be goody-goody with fellow bloggers. Alternatively, make bitter criticism and throw up tantrums, so that you become "popular" and consequently "successful" in the blogging site.

2) Does writing well thought out articles and stories in web-content sites like Helium, AC, Hubpages etc (whose activities are on the borderline of blogging, but cannot be truly called blogging) and earning some good pocket money in the bargain mean success to you?

If your answer is yes to this question, then improve your writing skills. Do a good research on the topic you are writing and write legibly and interestingly on your own style. Learn SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques. Try to get as many incoming links to your articles as possible from other websites (like social book marking sites etc).

3) Or does creating your own blog pages in free blogging sites (like Google's Blogger or Wordpress), calling friends and relatives to read them and getting a few words of appreciation from them (and also from occasional stray visitors from search engines) mean success to you?

If your answer is yes to the above question, the best suggestion is to write your well intended and meaningful original articles in sites like Helium, AC etc and re-post your articles in your your own Blogger or Wordpress blogs. This way, you can earn your little money from both the places (provided you get visitors who come and click the ads!).

4) Or is creation of your own full fledged exclusive blog site by paying money for creating the website, writing information-rich content regularly, placing advertisements there, getting lots of visitors to read your niche content and make some good money through advertisements a measure of success to you?

If your answer is yes to this question, then be prepared for hard and arduous work. It is extremely important that what you are going to write in your own blog is unique, very rich in content - not a run-of-the-mill stuff. You have to keep adding content very regularly, update old content periodically, maintain your site impeccably, do lots of work in tweaking the contents for Search Engine Optimization and make your site really attractive and worthy for new advertisers (other than/ in addition to Google).

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