Everyone knows that to have a successful blog you need to have lots and lots of quality links, as well as heaps of unique and remarkable content. And you don’t get the former without the latter

Links help to add authority and so, drive up traffic to your website. But just how do you create a “link-worthy” post? I have just read a good post by SeoMoz who go over some of the main factors which help create a successful blog. Below is my own top 10…

1. Length of post title: Research carried out by seomoz.org suggests post titles that are between 14 and 16 words are more likely to get linked to than their shorter or longer alternatives.

2. Post lengths: Aim for posts between 1800 and 3000 to attract links, according to some research, posts with this many words are more likely, on average to get linked to. This may not be possible and it is important to note that if possible, you should be blogging everyday, so that Google frequently caches your site.

3. Media effects: Results show that containing media elements in your post will, undoubtedly, affect the amount of links you receive. Use media to support your post and add to points. Containing all three media elements: videos, lists and images will make your post more attractive to the user. Try and use an image as often as possible.

4. Authority: This might seem like an obvious one, but if you are an authority in your niche you’ll attract more links. Authority comes from creating remarkable content, from which quality links will follow.

5. Opinion If you are able to express reasoned argument and opinion about something, you are more likely to get noticed. Rewriting the news in the same form it is available elsewhere will be less enticing. Compare the blog titles “Microsoft launch Bing search engine” to “Microsoft squander millions of dollars on new search venture”.

6. Link out If you are citing relevant sources, make sure you link to them, this will make it easier for those seeking other sources on a topic.

7. Be controversial Everyone likes a s**t stirrer, but make sure your opinions / arguments are well founded, rational and based on evidence, else you’ll be perceived as a openly trying to bait for traffic and links. Not good!

8. Build a brand Try and differentiate your blog from others in the same industry, create a niche, you want to build up an army of subscribers, so you need to stand out from the crowd.

9. Top 10 / 100 lists These are popular as they are easy to digest for the reader, which is why they become popular social networks such as digg, sphinn, etc.

10 Be negative Bad news is often more interesting that good news. Instead of creating a list of the “Top 10 SEO Tips” why not try the “Top 10 worst SEO tips in history”

So there you have it. I told you it was pretty simple! What are you waiting for?

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