Building trust as a blogger
May 03, 2008
Source: Catina Jane
Trust is something you cannot take for granted especially on the Internet where you can find a fraud at almost every step. It is not that people doing business on the Internet are untrustworthy; due to the reach of the Internet cheating becomes a lot easier than in the three-dimensional world.
A blog post at the Bokardo social web design blog talks about a recent survey conducted by reputed market research companies that revealed that people don’t trust bloggers. I’m not surprised by this finding; I mean why must somebody trust me just because I happen to publish a blog — there are millions of bloggers out there and it is simply not possible to trust every blogger. But does it mean it is not possible to build trust by blogging? It is not so; in fact your blog can be the only reason why people trust you. This is how:
Develop a community around your blog
Blogging is an interactive exercise and it shouldn’t be practiced in isolation. When you publish a regular blog try to build a community around the subject of your blog. Encourage your readers to participate in the ongoing discussion through your comments section. Ask them questions and give answers when they ask you questions. Help your readers grow and give to them something useful on a regular basis. Openness and helpfulness always instills trust.
Publish your blog regularly
When you are regular with your blog it is easier for your readers to remember you and keep track of your philosophy. If there are big gaps between individual blog posts the visitors start visiting your blog randomly and soon — unless you provide something incredibly useful — they lose interest or find another blog on the same topic that is published regularly. Regular postings also encourage regular debates and this provides you an opportunity to interact with your readers on a greater frequency. Frequent postings, I have noticed, also bring the search engine crawlers to your blog more frequently.
Be active on other blogs and forums
Again, blogging doesn’t flourish in isolation. You should go to other blogs and leave constructive comments over there. This not only brings more traffic to your blog it also enhances your credibility.
Share, don’t preach
Blogging is about sharing; you share your experiences, you share the things that you learn and the wisdom you acquire while carrying out your personal and professional chores. This enriches the lives of your readers. Live by example. Don’t just preach to your readers. For example if you publish a web design blog don’t just keep telling your readers how to create accessible, optimized and well-designed websites; create such websites for your clients and then share the experience with your readers.
Be persistent
Persistence is at the core of your blogging success. There are very few bloggers who can practice persistent and those who can yield great rewards in terms of fan following and trust. When you are persistent it shows to your readers that you are serious about your endeavors whether it is publishing your blog or doing business through your website.
Posted by Amrit Hallan | Tags: Blogging Tips
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May 4th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Hi Amrit, thanks for pushing further with this post. Your recommendations are spot on…I think the notion of persistence is especially important…it’s what you do over time that matters…delivering consistent quality.
Cheers,
Josh