The Difference: Smart Blogging v/s Ordinary Blogging

Smart is what everyone strives to be! Nobody likes to be branded as plain vanilla when there are numerous other possibilities. Yesterday I received an email from one of my readers asking how to become a smart blogger. Wow, great question; because that got my brain cells tingling and here I am with a detailed post on smart blogging.

Why All Blogging Is Not Smart Blogging?

There are over a billion blogs in the blogosphere, but make me say the names of just 100 of them and I fail miserably. You can try this experiment yourself. Try recalling names of 100 blogs, and you won’t go beyond 20 at the most. The reason is quite simple-only these 20 bloggers are blogging smartly, while the rest of the billions are indulging in what I call plain old boring vanilla blogging.

Get Smart

It sounds scary at first, but give it deep thought and you realize that it is so easy to fall into the ordinary bloggers category. But let me warn you right away. Don’t take that route, because it is a point of no return. Haven’t you heard of the millions of blogs that are started with much fanfare but get dumped and abandoned soon by their owners? Ordinary does not last long and you sure do not want your blog to end up in the ‘blog obituary’ list, do you?

How to Become a Smart Blogger?

Yeah, now you are talking! This is what makes me excited. I simply love it when you show enthusiasm to improve and progress rather than whining at your losses and failures. To answer this question accurately I need you to do 3 things. First make a note of the top 20 blogs that you adore.

Second, take some time and visit each of them one after the other. Third, take out your pen and notebook and jot down the most attractive points about each blog.

You can do all these things as soon as you finish reading this post, okay? That is your blogging homework for today. Meanwhile let me make it easier for you and tell you what makes these guys and gals smarter than the other bloggers (in my opinion).

1) Great Design

The first thing that catches your attention on visiting a smart blogger’s site is the design. I am not saying that it is always catchy or tacky. Instead the design is always functional, minimalistic and user friendly.

You won’t find depressing color themes or fancy widgets and side bars all across the site. There is usually a lot of white space and the navigation is quite easy for even a first time visitor.

2) Useful Content

The next best thing that you notice is that you cannot get enough of the useful content on such blogs. You want to hang on such blogs and keep reading one post after another, because each of the posts seem to be so power packed. Each post solves some or the other problem for its readers.

And the info appears to be well researched, practically applicable and tested over and over with brilliant results. Nothing is left incomplete, all the tips or info are comprehensive and explained in detail. The writing style is so magnetic, simple and to the point.

3) Well Planned Marketing

You can see clearly that the smart blogger has planned out an awesome marketing / monetization plan for his / her blog. There is a clear call to action. He / she knows exactly what they want their readers / visitors to do after visiting their blog. It might be a call to subscribe to their newsletter, download their free eBook or buy their guide. Whatever the call to action, they make sure that it is communicated loud and clear.

4) Great Social Standing

Smart bloggers have an active social standing. Wherever you turn, you find them networking actively with their readers, other bloggers and customers. You can spot their active profile pages on all the top social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Stumble Upon etc.

5) Great Interaction

Readers on such blogs seem to be happy and eager to share their comments and opinions after each of the posts. The smart blog owner makes it a point to leave no comment un-replied. You can see great interactions, enthusiastic discussions and lots of shares, re-tweets and likes on posts here

Synopsis

Smart blogging is all about being genuinely interested in your niche and in your readers. If you are focused on providing great value to your readers and customers you are a smart blogger. If you know how to compete with other bloggers in your niche without being nasty or mean, you definitely are a smart blogger. And smart blogging is what everyone wants now- your readers, Matt Cutts, Google and all the search engines out there. So better gear up to the challenge!

Tags: beginner bloggers, blog, bloggers, Blogging, smart, smart blogger, smart blogging

Category: Blogging