Is Design Really Important for a Blog?

Is really important for a blog? I feel that a good design can get more people to respect your website or blog and it will also help you get more subscribers for your feed and newsletters. But there are some blogs out there and those designs are not too good. So how do they still manage to get so much traffic and subscribers. May be good content is all that is important. But a good design will always be of use to you. A blog with a good design and good content will always be in the good books of it's readers.

5 Tips to Become a Famous Blogger

Many of us want to be among the top bloggers in the world. We see a lot of bloggers become popular in their niche and they are called the experts. So we begin to wonder...what would turn ordinary bloggers into popular ones? Well, this cannot be answered in one point or something like that. But I'm listing a few points on this. These points are what I think would make a blog and the blogger famous.

• Social networking - A blogger needs to be a social networking addict when he starts out. Find new friends all the time.
• Emailing popular bloggers - Keep emailing popular bloggers with questions, suggestions and thankful notes. Most of them will get back. It's good to have popular friends.
• Guest writing - Writing guest posts for other blogs will help you develop a friendship with the bloggers for whom you write. And what's more, you gain a bigger audience as many of the readers of their blog might like your content.
• Advertising - Use advertising well. It will have positive effects on your blog. PPC Advertising is highly recommended for targeted traffic.
• Be different - Grab attention and make sure people pause for a moment and read what you've got to say. Most people decide what to do in the first few seconds of their visit to your blog. Keep that in mind.

Bonus tip! Always use the same image on all social networking sites with the same username. You can also use your blog's name as your username. This is to make sure that your face becomes familiar and recognizable in your niche.

Do you have any more ideas on making a blog and a blogger famous? If so, please leave your comments.

5 Simple Ways to Build More Traffic for Your Blog Without Spending a Dime

I have been in this industry for a while now and I have learnt a few things about traffic generation. I will share them here and some may really help you build substancial traffic for your blog.

• Use social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit. Be more active in these sites and befriend as many people as possible. My personal favourite is StumbleUpon.
• Create an account in forums that already have huge traffic. Use the forums everyday to connect with people of your taste and ideas. Don't forget to add your blog address in your signature.
• Link to other bloggers as much as you can. You are sure to get noticed.
• When someone comments about one of your posts, make sure that you reply in the comments section and through email.
• Write guest posts for other bloggers. A bunch of readers from the other blog might like your blog as well. You can gain more subscribers when you do guest posts.

Follow these five simple and free techniques for a few months and you are sure to attract a lot of readers.

The Bloggers that I Would Like to Meet

I like a lot of bloggers. I have always wanted to meet many of them in person to share and gain knowledge. So here's a list of people that I would like to meet in the near future.

Darren Rowse - He is the guy behind Problogger, the blog that inspired a lot of people to start blogging as a business.

Brian Clark - He is the blogger at COpyblogger and Brian has always given fantastic articles on copywriting and marketing your services.

Colis Ta'eed - Colis is the man behind FreelanceSwitch and PSDtuts. He is a really good web designer and blogger.

Michael Arrington - The guy who came up with TechCrunch.

Steve Pavlina - An inspiration for a lot of bloggers and internet entrepreneurs. I would definitely love to meet Steve to share a few thoughts.

So, these are 5 people that I can think of now. I will update the list with new posts on other fantastic and famous bloggers and entrepreneurs.

The Ultimate List of Blogs That One Should Read

Today I have come up with a list of blogs that everyone should read. There are many millions of blogs out there and one might be overwhelmed by the sheer number and will surely be confused about what to read and what to avoid. These blogs below are the ones that I follow. If you think there is some blog that needs mentioning in the list, please drop me a line in the comments section! So let's take a look at the ultimate list of blogs that one should read!

Problogger

Copyblogger

Freelanceswitch

Zenhabits

Stevepavlina

Lifehack

Jonathanmead

Ririanproject

TechCrunch

Skelliewag

TechCrunch going strong - 614K Subscribers and Still Counting

I am a daily follower of the technology blog, TechCrunch. TechCrunch was started by Michael Arrington and the blog features good technology updates everyday. On some days they even post upto 30 articles! A few years ago when it was started only Michael Arrington blogged in it. But later on as the blog got popular, they have employed a team of members who write about the world of technology. There are many technology blogs on the internet but what makes TechCrunch special is that they also provide good information about the web companies that they're talking about. A lot of investors will find the blog useful. When you look at the number of subscribers of TechCrunch you might feel overwhelmed. The blog now has nearly 614000 RSS subscribers and the number gets better day by day. It is unquestionably one of the most useful and popular blogs on the internet. Their design is also very good. TechCruch provides the latest information all facets of technology, be it windows and mac updates, new softwares or web 2.0 related articles. I guess the subscriber count for TechCrunch will grow at a rapid rate in the near future. After all, it's a really good weblog.

March to be the Web 2.0 Month on ActionZoneMagazine

ActionZoneMagazine has been a good vent for all that I have to say for the past two or three months. And this month, our readers can expect some articles related to the world of blogging and internet marketing. While the magazine will feature other types of articles as well, it will focus on publishing web related articles. So March is the Web 2.0 month on ActionZoneMagazine! Fellow bloggers can share their views about the articles published.