The next installment of my series on blogging will have to do with how to become a better blogger. These are some things I’ve noticed over the past few years since I’ve started blogging.

Talk to a Friend

I’ve learned that an engaging, friendly style is best when it comes to blog posts. You should be able to hear the bloggers voice, as if they’re talking to a friend or emailing someone they know very well. Now that’s not to say the writing should be sloppy. I find myself ignoring punctuation every now and then when emailing my sister, for example, but one can’t fall into that trap while blogging. The style needs to be friendly but still professional.

Don’t Overdo the Ads

I don’t like visiting blogs that have Adsense all over the place. A pet peeve is scrolling down a half a page just to skip past the ads. I don’t mind if the ads are in the posts, as long I can still see the text. In other words, I understand that you may be trying to make money from your blog - most of us are! Just make sure the ads are tasteful.

Reply to the Comments

I like a blogger who will reply to my comments - it makes me want to return to the blog. If I see that they ignore their comments, I am less likely to visit the blog often. Make the blog interactive and people will respond to that!

Build Up Your Links

This is something that I didn’t do at first, and now I am playing catchup. Building up your arsenal of links coming in to your blog is important because it helps increase traffic and also helps with the search engines. You can do it yourself by doing the following:

• Article marketing using sites like ezinearticles.com and goarticles.com
• Creating a Squidoo Lens - or several!
• Do the same with Hub Pages
• Create free blogs at sites like blogger.com and wordpress.com and linking back to your blog.

Start a List

Yes, having a list makes you a better blogger because it allows you to interact with your readers more. Plus, if they liked your blog enough to sign up, they’ll want to return - and they may need a gentle reminder. Make it worth their while by handing out something for free, like an ebook in a subject that they’ll find useful.

I’m interested in hearing from all of you. Feel free to share with me your thoughts and what you’ve learned as a blogger.

Like this tips? Check out Blogging to the Bank for even more great ideas on making money as a blogger.