55 Essential Articles Every Serious Blogger Should Read

After blogging for some time now, I’ve encountered countless articles that have truly helped to refine many aspects of my blog. This includes the visual structure, layout and types of advertising and affiliate programs utilized, plug-ins implemented for ease of use, search engine optimization and overall productivity, and much more.

Many of these articles would have been helpful before starting my own blog, but I also doubt that I would have been successful in putting most of these tips to use right away. Like me, I’m sure many of you are always looking for ways to improve your blogs. And since blogs are constantly growing and changing, it’s always a good time to do whatever you can to make your blog the very best.

With that said, here are 55 essential articles I’ve come across that have positively influenced my blog decision-making and will undoubtedly help you too. I’ve also included a select few of my own past articles that are of relevance in order to “pay it forward.”

Blogging Basics: Getting Started

1. Can You Make a Living Blogging? (Graywolf SEO)
2. Five Beginner’s Blogging Tips (John Chow)
3. The First 7 Days of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
4. Put on Your Game Face (Pronet Advertising)
5. How to “Announce” a Blog (Blog Traffic School)
   

Building Meaningful Content

6. How to Use Social News Aggregators as a Source for Content Ideas (Dosh Dosh)
7. 5 Ways to Building a Better Blog (Pronet Advertising)
8. Bring Your A-game to Write for Blogs (Freelance Switch)
9. What Are You Learning from Leading Edge SEO Bloggers? (Graywolf SEO)
10. How Great Headlines Score Traffic (Copyblogger)
11. 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas that Work (Copyblogger)
12. Declaring War on Blogger Apathy (ProBlogger)

Increasing Traffic & Retaining Readers

13. How to Market Your Blog in 2007 (ProBlogger)
14. 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic (SEOmoz)
15. Five Steps to a Truly Unique Blog That Attracts Readers and Revenue (Copyblogger)
16. 10 Simple Ways to Retain Blog Readership (Matt Huggins)
17. How to Get Traffic for Your Blog (Seth Godin)
18. 10 Effective Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers (Copyblogger)
19. How to Develop “Stickyness” to Your Blog (Blogging Tips)
20. A Very Simple Way to Increase Your RSS Subscribers & MyBlogLog Community Members (Dosh Dosh)

Linkbaiting, SEO, & Social Networks

21. 12 Different Types of Links and How to Get Them (Stuntdubl)
22. 101 Ways to Build Links in 2006 (SEOBook)
23. 66 Ways to Build Links in 2007 (Brandon Hopkins)
24. Getting Noticed by A-list Bloggers vs. Getting on Digg Front Pages (Digital Inspiration)
25. Do You Digg This Headline? (Copyblogger)
26. Why Too Many Little Icons Can Easily Distract Your Visitors (Pronet Advertising)
27. How to Generate Targeted Site Traffic Without Search Engines (Scoreboard Media Group)
28. Linkbait, Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exagerated (Graywolf SEO)
29. SEP Advice: Linkbait and Linkbaiting (Matt Cutts)
30. Blogging SEO Basics (Matt Huggins)
31. Search Engine Optimization for Blogs (ProBlogger)
32. 8 Simple SEO Tips for Blogs (JohnTP)
33. How to Enhance Your Blog’s SEO and Attract Relevant Traffic in One Easy Step (Technosailor)
34. Is it OK to Write for Digg? (Copyblogger)
35. Get Your Blog Out of the Google Supplemental Index (Not So Boring Life)

Building a Community

36. 5 Simple Ways to Encourage Blog Participation (Matt Huggins)
37. 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
38. 10 Quick Methods to Increase Blog Comments (Legal Andrew)
39. Top 5 WordPress Plugins That Help Increase Comments (JohnTP)

Blog Monetization

40. 8 Tips to Optimize AdSense Units (Daily Blog Tips)
41. Google AdSense Tips, Tricks, and Secrets (Graywolf SEO)
42. Why AdSense is Not Suitable for All Blog Topics (ProBlogger)
43. Make Money from Your Blog (Matt Huggins)
44. Six Powerful Blog Strategies that will Rapidly Increase Your Affiliate Referrals (Dosh Dosh)
45. 10 Tips for Using Affiliate Programs on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
46. 10 Ways to Make Your Blog More Attractive to Advertisers (ProBlogger)

Miscellaneous Blogging Advice

47. 27 Lessons Learned on the Way to 3000 Visits a Day and 2200 RSS Subscribers (Pick the Brain)
48. 10 Ways to Become a Better Blogger (TechRepublic)
49. 101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger (LifeHack.org)
50. The 5 Deadly Sins of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
51. 10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid (John Chow)
52. 10 Reasons Why Blogging is Like Dating (Romance Tracker)
53. 6 Lessons Britney Spears Can Teach You About Blogging (Kumiko’s Cash Quest)
54. Why Everything You Think You Know About Blog Architecture is Wrong (Pearsonified)
55. Help! I’m Addicted to Checking My Blog’s Stats! (ProBlogger)

Vía: Mat Huggins