What might have looked like a fad a few years ago is now a phenomenon. A few years ago you might have been guaranteed a readership just because blogging was so new. These days there are thousands of blogs to choose from. If you want to be read, if you want the traffic, you have to spice things up. Here are seven simple ways to spice up your blog and increase your traffic.

Be entertaining

Ask yourself: why do people read blogs? They don’t read them to get the news. There are other internet news sources available that provide news far faster than any blogger ever could. People don’t read blogs because they enjoy reading other peoples diaries. The only reason any of us ever stole our big sisters’ diaries was either to make her mad or to get fodder for blackmail (See, that’s funny unless you happen to be a big sister). People read blogs because they enjoy hearing other folk’s clever opinions on a given topic.

Your brand

A brand is a promise, a promise to your reader. When a person is familiar with a brand, that person knows exactly what to expect. A devoted reader expects a certain level of quality. There are two ways to build your brand: interior and exterior. You fortify the interior of your brand by making sure each of your blog posts maintains your level of quality. The exterior development can be fun. Let your creativity go. Are you happy with your current logo?

Tools

Get the right tools. If you don’t already have it, get WordPress and a good analytics tool. Both are free. Right out of the box WordPress has good SEO capability. An analytics tool will allow you to see how many readers are reading which posts, and you can use that information to figure out what the audience wants in the future.

Find your niche

Stick to what you know or what you’re passionate about. Sure, always try and stay in tune with what the readers want, but don’t let your audience analysis go too far. Let’s say I’m an avid gardener, and you own and fly your own private plane. We both have our own blogs. I have a friend that’s a pilot, and I notice that he and the other pilots like reading your blog. Your blog gets a lot more traffic than mine. Should I try my hand at blogging about flying? Not unless I have a real knack for interviewing pilots and re-spinning their stories. My efforts would be better spend learning ways to spice up my own gardening blog.

Stay informed

If you’re going to keep your words of wisdom fresh and clever, you have to know what’s going on around you. Read other blogs, and read the news every day.

Don’t rely on gimmicks

Stay away from the hackneyed done-to-death gimmicks. No one wants to read another blogger who refers to himself in the third person. And even if you name is Jim, you don’t need to refer to yourself as Jimbodaddy or the Jimnyst.

Join the community

Don’t go as far as buying links, but do occasionally link other blogs, acknowledge other bloggers, and post guest blogs.