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Posted by
Cheryl Majeski on May 24, 2015 - 4:40pm Edited 5/24 at 4:46pm
Looking for ways to up your readership for your blog and get more visitors to your website? Well, of course you are!
Read on and start employing some or all of these tips and improve upon what it is you’re currently doing.
Branding, Anyone? Ever notice how certain brands are immediately recognizable without even mentioning their names? If you see a cylindrical container with an older man wearing a hat with his gray wavy longish hair showing, what company do you associate it with? Quaker, right? A muscular bald-headed man with a white t-shirt and pants? Mr. Clean, right? A caped crusader with bat wings emblazoned across his chest? Batman to the rescue! I think you get the picture!If you don’t have a logo or other identifying moniker for yourself or your business, create one. Without even knowing your name, people will begin to associate that image or phrase with you.Begin using it everywhere -- across all your social media platforms, in your email signature, etc. The more people see it, the sooner they begin to identify it with you/your business.Many people, for some unknown reason, (anonymity?) prefer using their pet’s picture or an avatar instead of their own picture on social media platforms. That’s fine for the casual commenter but if you’re trying to develop a business presence and brand yourself and your company so it becomes a known commodity, you need to find something that becomes easily identifiable with it. While you’re pet might be really cute, most people want to see the person they’re dealing with, as it’s the foundation to building trusting relationships. Color Your World
Did you know that there have been many studies done on how people are affected by color?Colors evoke certain feelings. How your body responds to different colors also plays a role in triggering various emotions when you enter a room, choose clothing, etc. Much has been written on the way color can influence buying decisions so you might want to consider your color scheme as you plan the various components of your blog or website.For example, Blues evoke a sense of peacefulness, tranquility; Greens are associated with the earth, environment and money; Yellow represents happiness and joy; Purple – luxury and wealth; Pink – healthy and playful; Red – love, power, passion, strength; Orange – confidence and success; Brown – earthiness and the outdoors; Gold – wealth and prosperity and Silver – high tech and sleek. When you create content for your blog, consider using colored text to highlight important points and passages. This does two things for your reader – it breaks up the monotony of seeing only black and white words and it gives the eyes something interesting to focus on. Also, you can bring attention to your words by bolding text too! FYI – do you know the reason why Facebook is blue – it’s because Mark Zuckerberg is somewhat colorblind and sees the color blue best!When you choose color combinations for your website and/or blog, consider the way colors interact and their meanings. Your goal is to get your reader to stay and look around and investigate what you have to offer so make their experience as pleasing to the eyes as possible.Times New Roman, Bookman Old Style – What to Choose, What to Choose?Another area to concern yourself with on your website/blog is the kind of typeface you’re using. You’ll want to choose a font that’s easy to read. I read somewhere that Times New Roman is the most readable font type but personally, I like to use variety with my typeface so I’d suggest trying a few different ones to see what you like best. I also use “12” as my font size and then “14” for areas that I want to bring more attention to. Remember, you want your site to be reader-centric so use fonts and sizes that are pleasing to the eye and easy to read. Use “Content Appeal” to Draw Readers InJust like spiffing up your yard for that curb appeal quotient (planting flowers and shrubs, adding decorative pieces to your garden or installing fencing or stonework), the same premise applies to your website or blog.You can make your content standout by using some tricks that are both eye-friendly and appealing so your information is easy to read and find.Bullet points and images dress up your message and for readers with little time to spend, they can easily zero in on key points that you’re discussing. Incidentally, you can make small images to use as bullets instead of the standard black dot or dash to add more pizzaz and interest. Depending upon what you’re writing about, lists are a very popular way to convey information, especially if you’re reviewing products or making comparisons. Also, according to experts, they’re very sharable so consider using this method for various content areas on your website or blog.Headings for your content also sum up what your paragraphs are about and again, make it easy for the two-second reader to jump to important parts of your article.
To spring board the sharing of information contained in your articles, consider using a “Click to Tweet” link in portions of your content so readers can quickly send it to their Twitter friends.If you were under the impression that images can only be used to “pretty up” your text, then let me clue you in – images can also be used to direct someone’s attention to what you’d like them to do – an opt-in form, a call to action, etc. 
A reader’s eye movement follows a pattern from top to bottom and left to right (like reading a book). If you use images of people or a person gazing in the direction of an actionable item, then you’re subliminally leading your reader to do something like sign up for your newsletter or enter their email address to receive a free report, etc.Become a Trusted Resource in Your Readers’ EyesYou’re probably familiar with the old joke on how to get to Carnegie Hall – practice, practice, practice! Some of that same philosophy holds true for the content you write. Remember, your number one goal is to develop relationships with your readers so they’ll be open to doing business with you. When they come to your site or blog, they want to feel comfortable knowing that the information you’re providing them is correct and truthful.The best way to deliver that information to them is to RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Learn as much as you can about your topic so you can give a clear representation of the subject matter. When you write your content, keep in mind what you’re trying to accomplish with it – convey a message, educate, etc. You need to become the expert in your readers’ eyes. You want them to leave your site or blog feeling like they’ve taken something important away and learned something they didn’t know. Gaining your readers’ confidence and providing them with valuable content will continue to pave the way for your business success. It’s a win/win proposition for everyone.One more important point about content that you should keep in mind is that no matter what you write about, use easy to understand language. You’re not writing a research paper, so unless it’s critical to what you’re conveying, make your content readable. Most of us what to read content that flows easily and gets the point across in easy to understand terms so keep this in mind as you write. 
I know, the mind reels with all this information and quite frankly, its things that you probably wouldn’t think about (colors, fonts, images, oh my!) unless someone points them out to you. Having said that, use these tips as another important addition to your success tool bag. Creating an attractive, informative web presence that people flock to is important so gather as much upfront knowledge as you can and then actually APPLY what you learn.
