Your Blog: Use Your Blog to Establish Your Credibility Online
If you are just starting out online, or maybe in the first three months you may be considered a ‘young online entrepreneur”. You probably feel intimidated much like a young child who starts attending a new school in the middle of the semester. Everyone seems to know someone else or have a large following, but no one knows who you are.
I can relate to how you feel because I felt the same way when I started my online business. What I found out, through observation and training, is that if you are willing to do what it takes, you can expand your reach and establish your credibility online fairly quickly. Unfortunately I was not aware of some of the points I'm about to share until quite some time after I'd started my first blog.
1.  Start or re-commit to your blog: Many people, including offline small business owners or entrepreneurs, hear the word blog and it conjures images of what blogs originally were: somewhat like an ongoing diary of events, or blurbs of what you're doing. Not anymore. Blogs have evolved into valuable websites managed by people who have information to share with others.
2.  Your blog is your hub or can be compared to your ‘home' on the internet. Just as you would want to keep you home attractive and appealing so that guests will want to visit with you and return, so you'll want to make your blog visually appealing and easy to navigate. Make sure that your name is somewhere on your blog as the author. It can be frustrating to visit a blog and find no information on the owner and the posts just say “by Admin.”
3.  Creating great content is essential. Build the “wow!” factor by giving your readers valuable information in your posts.
4.  When your readers leave a comment, acknowledge and thank them. They did not have to do this. If someone asks a question, no matter how trite it may appear to be to you, make sure to reply as this will show that you really care about people and respect those who choose to visit your blog and are looking to you for more information. At the same time, you establish your own credibility when you do so.
5.  Become a part of the blogosphere. You may find this confusing because it's understood at this point that you have a blog; but there is more involved. The blogosphere is made up of many bloggers in various niches where people with similar or complimentary niches connect or link with each other.
To be part of the blogosphere you will need to leave your ‘home' and visit other people's ‘homes', which means visiting other blogs, leave meaningful comments, and place your link on their blogs. You'll find that many of these bloggers will reciprocate by visiting your blog and leaving comments as well.
This is a great way to establish your credibility and help others to get to know you. When I visit other blogs I often take the time to read comments on a post. I'll sometimes click on the name of someone whose comment I found interesting to learn more about them and I'm usually taken to their blog. The same will be true for you. Think of this as one aspect of networking on the internet.
Would you like to discover more tips on how easy it is to build a blog to give you massive visibility, attract people and establish your credibility online? Click on https://mysuccesscircleonline.com/VideoSeries now then share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
Hey, this is a tremendously helpful post! Funny, I came over just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything and I come across a really worthwhile post 🙂
1Hi Aleksander, Having a blog is really the best place to start your online business. Even if you start with affiliate marketing your blog will allow people to get to know who you are. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment and I’m glad you found the post helpful 🙂
2I agree, no matter what niche you are in, or what business you are in, a blog can establish credibility.
The term “hub” is a perfect word for a blog. Using you blog as a home base really does work.
3Certainly a blog is the first consideration for an online business. It’s building your home on the web so folks can come visit anytime of day. Posting regularly invites your readers to your home often. They should feel welcomed by strong fresh content. It’s like offering them a treat… so they will come back to visit.
Thanks for all the tips!
4Sheila and Kathryn, I really wish there was a way to convince some persons who want to make money online that having a blog is extremely valuable. I’ve heard comments like, “I don’t have time to write posts” or “I really don’t like writing” etc. It’s a little like being homeless, isn’t it. No fixed place for someone to get to know you. Thanks for your comments. You both add value to the post.
5Right on the money, Yvonne!
I’m so pleased that you mentioned in #2 the importance of having your “name” on your blog. I was about to craft a link-up post this afternoon for a fellow blog challenge member. I went over to her blog because I didn’t know her last name and thought FOR SURE I would instantly see it on her blog. Nope. I must have spent close to twenty minutes clicking on every tab she has there and her name was nowhere to be found.
It’s pretty difficult to refer to someone else on your blog when you don’t even know the person’s name! 🙂
Another thing that I think is absolutely critical to have on your blog are social media icons or links or some obvious ways that people can find you on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. And you’d be surprised by the number of bloggers who don’t offer readers alternate ways to connect with them.
G-R-E-A-T post,
6Melanie
And that person has the lost the opportunity to perhaps have a different audience read their blog. I appreciate that point about providing other means to keep in contact on other platforms, Melanie. That’s an area that I also need to look into adding to my blog as my posts can be forwarded to different platforms but keeping in contact…. Thanks for the reminder as well 🙂
7You’re welcome, Yvonne. When visitors come knocking on your door for the first time, their eyes will immediately scan the overall picture and feel of your blog. Savvy online marketers and avid bloggers train their eyes to look for a means to subscribe to your blog, a free offer and opt-in box, and ways to connect with you on social media venues.
Isn’t that interesting?
You would think the very FIRST thing new visitors would want to do when they land on your blog is read your post/s! Makes sense, right? But NO. Reading your awesome post/s is the last thing they’ll do. 🙂
8Hmmm, that’s food for thought, isn’t it? And I would love to see you write a post on that, Melanie. I think it’s so important that more people should have access to the information. Howe about it? 🙂
9Blog post fodder … I love it! 🙂
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