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Basic Blog Tips

Basic Blog Tips

Blogging Tips, Social Media Optimization, YouTube Video Tutorials!

How to Improve the Trust Factor of Your Blog

03/16/2013 By Harsh Agrawal

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Trust is a big word and it doesn't come at a cheap price.

Either you can build trust from day one or it takes years to build that trust factor and boost your blog's credibility. How to Improve the Trust Factor of Your Blog

Be it ShoutMeLoud, Problogger, DailyBlogTips, every blog needs to have a trust factor, or in the end you will find it hard to convert visitors into regular readers and customers.

The good thing is, as a blogger most of you are aware of a few factors that increase the trust factor for a blog.

Here is one question that you should ask yourself:

  • What made you subscribe to a blog for the first place?
  • What factors made you hate a website?

If you know the answers to the above question, you are already on the right track. In this article, I will mention a few things which increase the trust factor for your blog, and help you look like an expert in your niche.

How to increase the Trust Factor of Your Blog

Do remember one thing, there is a huge difference between a content Website, and a blog. When it comes to a blog, people look for a Face, a person and someone they can connect to. Before you create your blog, look around, and make a list of the top blogs, every one of these blogs has a face associated with it. This helps people connect and eventually make it easier for them to know like and trust you.

When it comes to Websites, it works differently. For example, a Website selling product, I usually look out for Verisign signature. I prefer to read testimonials, and so on. But with blogs, you can achieve trust factor with following tips:

Pages on your blog:

Every blog needs to have few pages like (About, contact, archive, social/subscribe) and many others. These pages are the building blocks for your blog's trust factor. Specially, when ever I check my analytic, my blog about page is one of the most viewed page on my blog. A good about page is all about you and your blog. It should not be mechanical, and should let your first time visitor know what your blog is all about, who is the person/company behind the blog. In fact, if you have a great about page, you can use it to get more Email subscribers, and more social media fans.

  • Read: Guidelines for writing a good blog about page

Blog design:

Think of your blog design as first impression. A good blog design is a turn-on, and a cluttered design is a turn-off. It doesn't matter if you are using a Premium WordPress theme (like the one used on this blog), free theme or a custom design, if your blog design is not appealing, you are sending your visitors away. If you have never made any major investment on your blog till now, spend money on getting a unique design for your blog. It may cost you anything from $300-1000, but it will be one of the best investment for your blog.

Your Social media accounts:

We all know how important social media marketing is for any blog, and Facebook is one of the best places to market your blog. A simple fan page will do all the magic you need to get started on Facebook. Facebook offers the like box, which will let you add a fan page like button on your blog. This helps your readers to connect with your blog on Facebook and provides a way for you to eventually promote your blog for free. I usually recommend to wait for first 200-300 fans, and than integrate like box on your blog.

I have also tried Facebook page promoter WordPress plugin, which helped a lot in increasing the number of fans on my page. Do remember, your social media profile is all about being social, and connecting socially with your blog readers. So, make sure it's not a ghost town.

Make use of 3rd party apps like Post Planner and Bufferapp to schedule updates, and keep your page engaging. An active social media profile of your blog, certainly helps in increasing the trust factor for your blog.

eBook:

Every blogger have something great about them. I could talk endlessly about Blogging and SEO. Similarly, you can talk something about Email-marketing, raising a child and so on. You might have covered about the topic you write about in different posts, and now how about combine them in one single blog post and giving it away for free. This will not only help you in gaining new readers, but also helps you to establish as an expert.

Creating an eBook might sound like a very tedious task, but you can always follow this simple trick, which will help you create the eBook in no time.

Follow my video called: How to Convert a Webpage into PDF in Mac Without Software

Once you have created a draft of your eBook, hire someone from Fiverr to design an eBook cover or do the final touch-up. You can also use 3-D pack to create free eBook cover. With a mere investment of 2 hours and $30-$50, you are actually creating an asset for your blog, which will give a great ROI over the time.

Author Bio:

Blog is all about connecting with reader. When ever I read an awesome content on any blog, first thing which I want to know about is the author of the blog post. Author bio is one of those thing, that hangs out at the end of blog post, and work as a connecting channel between readers and you.

Depending upon your creativity, you can always spice up your author bio box, and use it to convert visitors into readers.  You don't have to be a coder to add an author box below your blog post, you can use a plugin like this to quickly add with no coding requirement.

Don't forget to update your Google+ profile and register your email with Gravatar then upload a beautiful mugshot of yours.

Internal linking:

To become an expert in a niche, you have to be consistent with your writing. Internal linking will help readers to read other articles on similar topic on your blog. There are more advantages of internal linking, as it reduces the bounce rate, improve avg. time spent on the site, and to get more views. There are many WordPress plugins which helps in internal linking.

Do remember, link when it's necessary, else no linking is better than an irrelevant link.

Treat your blog as a brand:

If you are a professional blogger, you have to suit up like a pro-blogger. If your blog is making money for you, it's time to treat it like a business. For a business to succeed, brand value plays major role. Start treating your blog like a brand. Focus more on branding your blog with logo, videos, design, social media profile and other ways possible. Create a business card for yourself, print your blog logo in a T-Shirt and giveaway for free.

These are some of the basic tips to create a trust factor for your blog. I have tried most of these tips, and they worked great.

Though, by the end it's your honest content, that will win millions of heart.

What other techniques do you use to improve the trust factor for your blog?

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Comments

  1. Ashish Gill

    03/16/2013 at 2:26 AM

    Awesome article Harsh…i really like your knowledge about the SEO & engaging audience onto blogs…keep up the good work.!

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/16/2013 at 11:57 AM

      Thanks for your comment Ashish.. Glad you find this article informative 🙂

      • rakesh kumar

        03/23/2013 at 1:43 PM

        The best part of your whole article was the first line “Trust is a big word and it doesn’t come at a cheap price.” rest of them was only the points to consider. Right now i am also trying to create that trust in my blog, your points will help me to re-inforce that. Thanks for posting this wonderful article harsh.
        For me reading your Guest post on basic blog tricks, has forced me to consider “Guest posting”.

  2. Ehsan U

    03/16/2013 at 3:01 AM

    Hey Harsh, nice to see ya here. Is it your first guest post ever? Never seen your guest post before anywhere.

    Trust one of the most important thing that is needed to make money blogging. You’ve shared some possible ways to increase the trust factor of a blog, thanks for it.

    Ehsan U.

    • Thejas Kamath

      03/16/2013 at 7:44 AM

      Same here bro! I’ve never seen Harsh guest post before.

      Trust is very important in blogging especially when monetizing our blog.

    • Ammar Ali

      03/16/2013 at 10:20 AM

      Same here, I’m also glad to see harsh here. 😀

      Last time I read the post of harsh was on famousbloggers. He had done guest posting in past.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/16/2013 at 1:41 PM

      @Anurag
      I do love to guest post..and I do it but often..
      I have done guest posting on many other blogs, and you will be seeing many more in coming days … 🙂

  3. Jens P. Berget

    03/16/2013 at 3:13 AM

    Great tips Harsh. I agree with all of them, but the one I find to help me the most is to be everywhere and often. If people see your name as a commenter, or as guest posting on many different blogs, and in discussion forums etc.. they’ll automatically start trusting you and your blog (well, depending on your content of course) 🙂

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/16/2013 at 1:44 PM

      @Jens
      I agree….Leave your foot-print everywhere.. Take help of automation..
      For example, use social media automation at times.. Which I usually do when I read a good stuff.. I push it to Pocket…and using IIIFT it get bookmark on multiple social bookmaking sites..!

      One important thing is:

      Use same name
      Use same Gravatar

      Another important thing is: Atleast stay super active on 1-2 network. Be it social media, or be it via guest blogging. Idea is to stay in sight… Else in online marketing “Out of sight is out of mind!”…

      • Koj T. Tajo

        03/17/2013 at 2:39 AM

        Wow! nicely said ‘Out of sight is out of mind’. I love the post for a reason that I too put the trust factor as prime attrbute in any field, be it blogging or and other relationship. Nice to see Ehsan, Amar, Thejas, Amrik all together here and I know its the trust factor of Ileane’s Blog that drags the awesome bloggers here.
        Anyways you just recommended to use 3rd party Apps for engaging the social media presence. But you see, do they do what a person or human can do?
        You have always been my fav Harsh, don’t keep SML’s fan wait for a new post (just a request).

        Ileane great to see Harsh on your list of guest 🙂

        • Harsh Agrawal

          03/28/2013 at 8:59 AM

          @Koj
          The question is: How much automation is perfect automation?
          I use 3rd party tools for automation, but with a different strategy…

          1) I don’t auto publish blog feeds to Social site.. I prefer manual share..with few lines of comments..
          2) Tools like Bufferapp, Postrocket helps you to add your ideas/Social media content with your own comment/remark..

          The benefit of these tools are: You don’t have to generate content for your social media property everyday, and rather you could use that time for engagement.. So in this case, you are doing manual work only…You just taking help of available tools to ease your work.. 🙂

          Yah I know I’m kind of slow with publishing at ShoutMeLoud, but I’m a strong believer of “nothing is better than cover up in content marketing”..

          In last 1 and half year, I focused on writing content after complete research..and this is the reason publishing is slow..but if you will notice every content length is almost 1000 words+ and I try to cover every detail about the topic I’m writing on..!!

          I will try to work on post frequency… and will consider it as a Feedback 🙂
          Thanks for your comment..!!

  4. Sarah

    03/16/2013 at 3:32 AM

    It was a nice read Harsh, I think ebooks and author bio is what makes you more attractive and professional in the visitors point of view. I read this quote awesome somewhere else, “Build a brand name, not a domain name”.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/16/2013 at 1:46 PM

      Thanks for your comment Sarah, and in 2013 and in coming years, it will be brand that will make more sales.. For us, it will be traffic..!! Brand encourage authority…which comes when you create a brand, and work to maintain it.. That’s the reason (Online or offline), we love to associate us with a brand…

  5. Amrik Virdi

    03/16/2013 at 3:34 AM

    Great article Harsh!

    I believe trust factor is very important especially if you are in affiliate marketing. You need to gain trust from your readers and convert them into customers.

    You have shared great tips. I will try to follow some of those and let you know what works.

    Thanks!

    Best regards,
    Amrik Virdi

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/16/2013 at 1:48 PM

      @Amrik
      Trust factor works in any niche… Lets say a gadget blog:
      How likely you going to trust a review from a new gadget blog, compare to what you read on Gizmodo or engadget??

      Which eventually lead to whole concept of branding….

      • Amrik Virdi

        03/16/2013 at 2:38 PM

        So true harsh! I am agree to your concern. I wish to see more quality guest post right here in future.

        Thanks!

  6. Usman

    03/16/2013 at 3:53 AM

    Absolutely right.

    I see alot of blogs without contact us and about us page.

    About us page is very necessary to connect with other bloggers, and no one will see the blog whose owner is unknown, just like basicblogtips, she already have all required pages.

    And I think design should be simple clean and easy to navigate.

  7. James

    03/16/2013 at 5:16 AM

    Great post Harsh,
    Thanks for all the information, I am still reading but it already helped. Some of the factors were missing on my blog too. :p will correct them after reading this valuable information.
    Thanks!

  8. Tanmoy Das

    03/16/2013 at 6:06 AM

    Nice post Harsh !! It will really help me for my blog !! thnx !!

  9. Aisha

    03/16/2013 at 6:20 AM

    Quality content is called for and people are smarter this time. Trust is earned.. so dress the part, I’d say.These tips are priceless! After reading this and talking to a few others I am going to have to fully start putting my face to my name. This is one thing that I have been shy of doing, and it’s time for me to start showing people that I am a real person. After reading this list you have kicked me into action and some real simple steps that.
    Thanks for sharing,

  10. Adam Connell

    03/16/2013 at 7:19 AM

    Hey Harsh,

    Really enjoyed the post – trust is an important thing and I think it’s important to consider trust from readers as well as search engines (if you rely on search traffic that is).

    I’m glad you mentioned the ebook one, that’s something I’ll be focusing on in the future.

  11. anis

    03/16/2013 at 7:25 AM

    Awesome post thanks for sharing keep it comin’ !

    Have a great week ahead !

  12. Edson Hale

    03/16/2013 at 8:07 AM

    This trend is quite common in third world countries not to pay a single penny on blog and aims to earn million. Such people have just one desire to become millionair from the scratch. They might not know that investment is must to earn money from any kind of business. There is no business in this world where you just invest time and get returns in shape of money. A little money you must invest either you want to earn hugely or modestly.
    Very nice post with several such points which we know but forget while making our blogging business plan. Thanks for sharing

  13. Siegfried

    03/16/2013 at 8:10 AM

    interesting… I try to blog in kind of non-personal way… I just present tools I use 😉
    Best Regards!

  14. Heinz

    03/16/2013 at 8:16 AM

    Hello,
    that are really good tipps.
    Trust is very important if you want to have returning visitors. And as you write building trust starts with a good design and with information about yourself (author bio).

  15. Jennifer

    03/16/2013 at 9:51 AM

    I enjoyed the comment about not making your Facebook fan page a ghost town . I working on that. We’ve got to be more social.

  16. Devesh

    03/16/2013 at 10:06 AM

    Excellent article, Harsh. It’s been ages since you did a guest post. I remember, last time you were on FamousBloggers doing some amazing guest posting ;).

    Trust factor is an important thing and blog design plays a essential role in building trust with your readers. I think, a theme should very clean & minimal, maybe something like BasicBlogTips.

    Thanks for sharing this great post, bud.

  17. Nickie

    03/16/2013 at 11:39 AM

    Great article, I will definitely apply these techniques. However, I am yet to find blogs in my niche that use CL.

  18. Tayyab

    03/16/2013 at 1:18 PM

    Great post . If one can make a trust factor for his blog this could be major source of exposure and new visitors for his blog .

  19. Gautam

    03/16/2013 at 1:43 PM

    Building Trust Factor is A Hard Task and a Must Do Thing From The First Day of Blogging and Your points will Help Us Very Much.So Thanks FOr The Post.

  20. Rashmi Sinha

    03/16/2013 at 1:48 PM

    Great post Harsh!!
    A comprehensive list of things that one needs to make it big in the cyber world!!! Have to revamp some of my strategy after reading this post.
    Thanks for share.

  21. Bashir Ahmed

    03/16/2013 at 1:53 PM

    Hi Harsh,

    Good to see you here with your awesome post. You’ve shared valid points that trust is very imoprtant in blogging. We always want to convert our readers to subscribers social followers but without giving them anything special unique we can’t achieve our goal.

    Most important thing is that, you should have About me page and author bio with your reall photo. Second thing is that you should have social profiles to showcase your readers.

  22. Jeff

    03/16/2013 at 3:52 PM

    Nice tips you got here Harsh. I really believe that a well balance great looking blog design can help readers stay on your site and read more articles. There are some blogs whose fonts are irritating to the eyes.

  23. Lisa

    03/16/2013 at 9:22 PM

    Hi Harsh, I learned that fairly early on as I did not have my own photo – I used an icon and when I switched to my photo I did notice a difference. I started adding a little personal stuff into my blog too. People have to feel like they know you to keep coming back. Great post, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/16/2013 at 9:28 PM

      Lisa I know..how it feels when first time you put your picture..and talk about personal you…But it’s just one break we need…Once we know how to put things in the right way…Being personal and without being too personal…It’s the right way to do it… !!
      Wish you success!! 🙂

  24. Gautam Doddamani

    03/16/2013 at 10:16 PM

    some really nice points you have touched here harsh bro 🙂 i believe having an about page as you said is very important…the more content we add and let ppl know of wat we do..the more they will get interested to subscribe.

    i have always kept blog design my top priority…you won’t believe i had to change many themes to get the look i was looking for…finally settled with a premium theme..it was an investment done good.

    i never though i could write an ebook especially when my blog isn’t about blogging so didnt try to write one, hehe.

    i always update my social media accounts and keep them updated…referred to some of your articles about how to keep them updated by using apps like buffer!!

    i also take care of internal linking and use plugins like seo smart links to do that…when we treat a business as a rand, only then will it get recognized.

    thanks for the article man…learnt a lot of ideas i could use.

    Cheers,
    Gautam

  25. Kimsea

    03/17/2013 at 1:18 AM

    Thanks for sharing! This is the good idea for blog engagement and trust flow. I am care only the traffic but now branding. This tip so make me sense.

  26. Gaurav

    03/17/2013 at 6:52 AM

    These tips are cool& must be useful as well, but not sure whether they are as easy as they sound.

  27. Sue Neal

    03/17/2013 at 7:41 AM

    Hello Harsh,

    A great article with so many actionable tips – thank you! I think a lively comment stream (like this one!) is another important factor – encouraging comments and responding to them in a meaningful way is a great way for people to see what you’re like and how you engage with your readers,

    Sue

  28. Ferb

    03/17/2013 at 8:02 AM

    Hi Harsh,

    This is very true, same as I do too, every time I check upon my blog analytic, the about page is one of the pop pages that everybody want to see.

    Author box is very important. After reading a post, readers always love to know who’s great writer wrote this and in the author box, include around 2 to 3 sentences about yourself with a Call-to-Action is the best.

    Thanks – Ferb

  29. Samuel

    03/17/2013 at 8:03 AM

    Happy to see you included blog design in there 🙂

    That is an area I heavily mention that will increase your trust factor really well and the credibility factor as well!

    Building trust will help you in countless ways including the future sales that are coming.

  30. Chiranjeev

    03/17/2013 at 8:39 AM

    Trust is one of the most important factor for a Blog. No doubt, A trusted blog gets more reader attention than others. The all point you have covered to improve Trust Factor of a Blog, As I think, Pages and Social media profile of a Blog are play important role for Trust Factor of a Blog.
    One more thing, According to me, Rankings are also most important for a Blog trust Factor. A high ranking blog such as Good page rank, high Alexa rank etc. gains great attentions than a blog having low rank.
    Anyway, Nice Article.
    Thanks,

  31. Vivek

    03/17/2013 at 10:40 AM

    I personally feel, providing consistent valuable guides along with elegant design matters the most.

    Social media and your authorbox also plays the most vital role. They are the best and the first way for your readers to connect with you.

    Great post..

  32. Mani

    03/17/2013 at 11:50 AM

    Design and E-book may decides the trust of the Blog. Thanks for sharing :)Great article..

  33. Brian

    03/17/2013 at 12:18 PM

    Hey Harsh !
    I totally agree with you on all the points. Specially blog design is most important one. The aesthetic of a website is always going to attract your visitors which can be converted into customers.
    Thanks for valuable tips.
    Brian

  34. Hyptia

    03/18/2013 at 1:50 AM

    This is very difficult task to do in today’s era but on other hand if you will well connect with your readers and in blogger network then you can win trust easily. Beside that you should understand your readers niche as well.

  35. mahadi1971

    03/18/2013 at 2:20 AM

    Hi Harsh,

    Thanks for informative post. This is very true, same as I do too, every time I check upon my blog analytics, the about page is one of the top pages that everybody want to see. On the other hand Author box is very important. Thanks.

  36. Lei Broch

    03/18/2013 at 3:32 AM

    Working on strengthening the trust factor of a blog is crucial in its overall success. And this can only be done if you will learn the essentials of branding and its impact to your target audience. Creating a good impression is vital in strengthening the trust factor of your blog.

  37. tekkaus

    03/18/2013 at 4:06 AM

    I believe that commenting on other people’s blog can also build your blog’s trust factor as it goes to show that you are trying to go “down” to engage with other people. 😀

  38. Nishant Srivastava

    03/18/2013 at 6:11 AM

    Hi Harsh,
    First of all thanks for the awesome post, and you are right, Twitter and Facebook fan pages are very important for your social exposure, and when you interact with your readers through these accounts you can much better results, writing post daily never give anyone readership, readership can build by relations and when we communicate and help our readers they become the loyal fans readers or customers…

    Thanks Ileane and Harsh..

  39. Juan Castillo

    03/18/2013 at 7:17 AM

    Great article, Harsh. It is very important to ensure that your followers and readers trust you. The points you have touched are vital to achieve this factor.

  40. Deepak Mehra

    03/18/2013 at 7:53 AM

    Hi Harsh,

    Really one of the great article there are no doubt it contains lot of learning through this blog. I think the topic you describe about trust factor about blogging are thoughtful and very useful for me.

    Thanks for share me this informative article!!

  41. anis

    03/18/2013 at 7:59 AM

    Awesome post

    keep it coming and thanks for sharing !

  42. Khaja Moin

    03/18/2013 at 12:49 PM

    Trust this is very important. When you want to make money with affiliate links, trust plays vital role.
    Being everywhere is first step to get trust.
    Obviously guest posting which increases trust and bring you to spot light from all the commentators.
    Good to see you here Harsh.

    ~@Khajamoin1

  43. Jaykrishna

    03/18/2013 at 2:41 PM

    trust i really important fact to increase popularity of a blog……..love the post any way thanks for the suggestion

  44. MieleAtlanta

    03/18/2013 at 3:19 PM

    Integrity in posting is probably the most important thing. Your readers need to trust what you are saying is not BS. Don’t sensationalize, attack people for no reason, or post stories just for traffic.

    Or if you are going to do all those things, be blatant enough for people to know you are joking.

  45. Shalu Sharma

    03/18/2013 at 4:25 PM

    I agree fully that building a trust around the blog is important, it makes business sense. Also its about personality, having pictures of yourself, use of videos and voice is extremely important. Over a period of time, people will begin to trust you. Trustworthy blog with sound ethical ways will be the winner. Thanks for mentioning the Facebook page promoter plugin, will use it.

  46. Hamza Sheikh

    03/18/2013 at 6:03 PM

    Hi Harsh,

    Glad to see you here! I guess you finally got sometime for guest-posting on other blogs.

    I am agreed with your point of you, and your tips are as well great for everyone here, who is trying to take a start with blogging stuff.

    I guess, if we use different kind of automation tools on social media, then we can also attract more audience towards our self, or to the face we have connected with our blogs. What do you say?

  47. chaitanya

    03/19/2013 at 2:16 AM

    Thanks For sharing this article harsh.

    nice to see u here

  48. Iteire Apollos

    03/19/2013 at 4:32 AM

    Please stop making me use the word great post, it for spammers, lol. This post was great indeed and i found all tips practical. I have applied most of the tips you mentioned but there is one important tip am still working on, and that is creating an eBook. I love the video on converting page content to pdf but i will like to write my own eBook from scatch because there are some tips i will love to share with my subscribers, although it’s taking longer than i expected, but i hope to finish it soon. Thanks once more for crafting this post.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/28/2013 at 4:05 AM

      Iteire
      I so agree with you on “Great posts”..Half of the time when I see someone commeting with “Great post” “useful post”, I feel they have not even read the article properly or they have very few to add…!!

      Regarding that eBook creation: This is a work around and an easy way to get it done.. Though a proper eBook creation takes time and effort.. Thanks for dropping by and for your valuable comment.
      Harsh

  49. amber snow

    03/19/2013 at 5:11 AM

    This website is really a walk-through for all of the info you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Thanks for sharing this Harsh! this is really useful especially to my fellow budding writers out there. Keep it up!

  50. Suresh Kumar

    03/19/2013 at 5:26 AM

    Hey Harsh,
    Good to see you here, You covered most of the points. How much time do the readers remember you ? People tend to forget so sooner . So how come you overcome this problem ? I am trying to give you a new perspective view.

    Let me know your thoughts on this

  51. Richard

    03/19/2013 at 5:53 AM

    I recently created and eBook for my readers of my blog. I believe this will not only help them to increase their knowledge in that field but will also help my blog grow. moreover, you cans ell you eBook on any shopping site and can earn decent money.

  52. Ravi

    03/19/2013 at 7:43 AM

    Lot of Subscribers and Comments, Big Crowd at the Blog attracts New Readers But Delivering the Quality Regularly maintains the Trust but What if Sometimes Experiments Go Wrong??

  53. Yepi

    03/19/2013 at 9:32 AM

    I realize many things when I have finished reading this articles. My blogs design are not so good and I’ll pay attention to this problem

  54. Riki

    03/19/2013 at 11:03 AM

    Yes, I strongly agree that the internal linking is very important to reduce bounce rate. In addition, internal linking can help the old page to be read by a new reader.
    Thanks so much for the tips.

  55. Adil

    03/19/2013 at 1:24 PM

    Wonderful post! Harsh

    I Really liked the way you differentiated between Blog & website. Moreover your thoughts about adding some essential pages on each blog encouraged me to rethink about adding those page that I didn’t realized to be too much benefiting.

    Thanks.

  56. ved prakash joshi

    03/19/2013 at 6:00 PM

    well said harsh
    pages like (About, contact, archive, social/subscribe) really build trust
    and rich snippets also work to build trust or Authority

  57. Gaurang Joshi

    03/20/2013 at 1:58 AM

    Exactly Harsh.

    I truly agree with your point. Design of the blogs, Distributing Free E books and Activities on Social Media accounts helps a lot in gaining trust of a reader. A;so Branfing is another necessary aspect which should be focused on.

  58. Stacey

    03/20/2013 at 7:40 AM

    When you want to build trust among your followers/readers, you have to provide value first. I see blogs as very effective means to create awareness and identify needs. Initially they should never be used to instantly sell or promote something. Rather, invest in good blogs so you gain more credibility in your chosen niche. Give first what the readers want in terms of information and reliable resources; after that, when you are already able to build trust, that’s only when you slowly introduce income generating online campaigns.

  59. Sudipto

    03/20/2013 at 7:59 AM

    Hey Harish,
    Nice post and Yes, Blog design, About us helps to build trust on others and I think by replying every comments also helps to make good relations with the readers and also increase trust toward the blog. Thanks for sharing this post.

  60. Amal Rafeeq

    03/20/2013 at 8:54 AM

    Hey Harsh bro,
    Excited to see your first post here on BBT. You nailed it.
    Building a strong online presence by Guest Posting and being everywhere is also a great idea to gain some charisma.

    Thanks a lot for sharing 🙂

  61. Hayley

    03/20/2013 at 10:44 AM

    Thanks for an engaging post Harsh. I was drawn to the title expecting to read how to improve the “trust metric” that SEO’s talk about. BUT now im starting to see that gaining users trust by implementing these actions will increase trust with the users and improve this metric naturally.

  62. Dean Saliba

    03/20/2013 at 11:06 AM

    How to build trust? I would say don’t lie in your posts. I show people how much money I make no matter how small it is, I think that helps to build trust with my readers because not only do I mention the small things but I also mention things that fail.

  63. Ankur

    03/21/2013 at 3:08 AM

    You are absolutely right, a blog is all about a person’s facial expressions. It is like a day to day writing. One more thing I would like to add is that a blogger should write anything with I think, I fees, I thought, it means blogger is seriously involved in content and he is drawing all his feelings and thoughts on a page.

  64. Dylann Andre

    03/21/2013 at 3:48 AM

    Trust can’t be gained in just a second. You have to earn it from your readers and you have to be consistent in showing them you ought to be trusted. I’ll definitely follow these tips.

  65. Varsha

    03/21/2013 at 7:56 PM

    Great Post. And I think the most important factor for trusting a blog is that who is the author of a blog. If the author is a famous and honorable person, then the trust factor for the blog is much more.

  66. Leslie Edwards

    03/21/2013 at 9:23 PM

    True. I also believe that in order to build trust, you have to put in a lot of effort within your blog. Also, your goal shouldn’t be to make money, it should be to contribute and actually teach and with that type of content, you will naturally gain trust and your blog won’t look like some sketchy money grabber kinda thing.

  67. Cynthia

    03/22/2013 at 4:05 AM

    I have always been worried about how to get people to trust that my blog is safe and has great content that is worth reading and enjoying. I did not know about the things that you could do to help with that trust like a great about me page, fan page, and twitter pages. I have them but after reading your article, I think I need to put more time into developing them.

  68. Rishabh Misra

    03/22/2013 at 5:35 AM

    Great post yes trust factor is most essential part blogger and other field in the case of blogging mostly people know your content which you included your blog and what is content quality to captivate the readers and how much you are active as a blogger. i think all these things if you implement trust factor you definitely build it.
    Thank you to sharing me this nice post.

  69. Maddy

    03/22/2013 at 1:22 PM

    Please tell me how can i check authority and trust of my blog, i am currently using seomoz site explorer and want any other good tool to tell trust factor of my blog.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/28/2013 at 4:02 AM

      @Maddy
      You talking about MOzrank …And that is mostly from the SEO perspective.. If you want to understand the trust factor of a blog, Basicblogtips is first example..
      You could see engagement level and social media share..Which shows how many people believe in the article posted here and willingly participating via commenting.

  70. Shaun Hoobler

    03/22/2013 at 1:46 PM

    Blog design is the key one for me. I can normally tell at first glance if a blog is one I should trust or not just by looking at it. There are lots of factors, but generally you can always “just tell”.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/28/2013 at 4:00 AM

      @Shaun
      +1 on that..I just said the same thing while answering earlier comments.. Check here: https://basicblogtips.com/blog-trust-factor.html#comment-49960

  71. Raja

    03/23/2013 at 4:14 AM

    Wondering how u write these great articles.,
    Proud to be an Indian.,
    Thank you 🙂

  72. Ashraf

    03/23/2013 at 5:48 AM

    Firstly I’ll say trust is the main key to blogger and audience. I have always been worried about how to get people to trust that my blog is safe and has great content that is worth reading and enjoying. I did not know about the things that you could do to help.

    You did great job by writing all factors. I’ll follow these

  73. Sarbjit Singh

    03/24/2013 at 10:15 AM

    You are right, sometimes it takes year to Build a trust but with very minor mistake we can break that Knot of trust. So we should take care about that trust should not be broken

  74. Anderson

    03/25/2013 at 6:07 AM

    Great post. I know from my experience it is a must for me to get someone to review the post and get trust on a blog !!

  75. vicky

    03/26/2013 at 2:12 AM

    Hi Harsh,

    I am a great fan of your writing. You have raised a very crucial point of building the trust of our blog. It really goes a long way in determining whether our blog will gain success or not. As long as our readers love us and appreciate, we can say that we have alomost won this battle. Having an author bio is very crucial and I made sure I included one in my post. Haven’t tried my hand yet on ebook and will try that soon. Nice post.

  76. vishal verma

    03/27/2013 at 1:35 PM

    nice post…

    But how many pages do you suggest for ebook (more pages- it will be boring)

  77. Jennifer

    03/27/2013 at 10:44 PM

    I just voted on this post at blog eng. I’ve read this several times and am implementing many of the strategies. Thank you for the suggestions. I do need a logo.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/28/2013 at 3:59 AM

      Jenni
      Logo and design of a blog is most crucial aspect of branding and making the first impression. Think of it as, when we go out and see a person, it’s his appearance that makes the first appearance…. and then his talk and level of intellectuality or humor..
      Similarly in a blog: It’s design (Logo + blog theme + typography) works as first impression and later your content..!!

      Hope you get your logo quick..You can try Fiverr if you have limited time and want something in budget…It’s better to have something than nothing..!!
      If money is not issue you can use Freelance.com crowd sourcing or 99designs to get an exclusive logo….

  78. Delia

    03/27/2013 at 10:52 PM

    Really nice tips, Harsh! I would add 2 more:
    1) Ensure your posts are current. May need to schedule some review/revise activities and check that your (older) posts are correct. This applies particularly when you are posting tutorials in any form. It’s really important to check if they look fine, as technology changes really rapidly today.
    2) Reply to your blog commenters, particularly when they added a question, many do. To build trust, you need to answer to those comments and help the best you can.

    • Harsh Agrawal

      03/28/2013 at 3:56 AM

      Delia loved your additional input and this is so true..
      One wrong piece of information can break your brand..so as a blogger it’s our responsibility to keep improving our blog along with improving old articles..!!

      2) Replying to comment is important, but I follow a different theory on it. Since time is constraint, I usually reply to comments when a question is asked..or when a comment add more additional input ..Like the way you did in this article..!!
      Thanks for dropping by and for your comment 🙂

      • Delia

        03/29/2013 at 11:43 AM

        I guess it makes all sense when you have over 100 comments to reply to! Thanks for deciding to answer to my comment. Have a great day 🙂

  79. Lalita Bisht

    03/28/2013 at 3:46 AM

    Thanks for sharing these amazing ideas of improving trust factor of a blog and for such a useful video. I am looking forward to use these tips in my blog. Moreover I will also keep in my ” Treat your blog as a brand”.

  80. Shravan

    03/31/2013 at 2:27 AM

    Very Nice Article harsh. Your articles are always full of exhaustive knowledge and in depth analysis. Regarding the trust factor, I think it is the most important factor for the success of ones blog. I will definitely use your tips from this article in my newly developed blog. Again enjoyed reading your article. Keep it up

  81. Vipin

    03/31/2013 at 2:55 AM

    I never considered Blog design as a important thing and i think it was the biggest mistake i ever committed. Thanks for giving a great suggestion, i hope it’ll help me in affiliate marketing 🙂

  82. Anchit Shethia

    03/31/2013 at 8:09 AM

    Ileane Smith once said me that I should have my own face on my Blog’s about page and Facebook Profiles. There are a few reason’s why I havn’t uploaded it. But I guess its high time I add my own image because rest all methods you mentioned are followed by me leaving this.

  83. Steve Harrison

    04/01/2013 at 5:11 AM

    I’m curious to see how the Google AuthorRank concept will evolve and I imagine ultimately replace the PageRank as an indicator as trust… any views on this Harsh?

    • Harsh Agrawal

      04/01/2013 at 5:51 AM

      @Steve
      Very good question, and yes Author rank is already become a big trust factor in Google search. It will never replace page rank, as both works differently.

      From trust and authority point of view: Yes, Author rank will become one big factor in coming days…

  84. Leeva Brit

    04/01/2013 at 6:32 AM

    Harsh, no doubt you have vast knowledge of SEO. If the visitor of your blog is getting what he was looking for then it becomes a trusted site for him.

  85. Riki

    04/04/2013 at 3:59 AM

    Halo Harsh Agrawal,
    For now, I have two blogs (blog a and blog b). I always optimize blog a and rarely optimize blog b. But for the results, blog b has more visitors and better in search engine. Why it could happen? Thanks before.

  86. Harsh Agrawal

    04/04/2013 at 4:04 AM

    Hey Riki
    It could be because of many factors and one major factor could be:

    Niche of the blog – This is one prime factor for the traffic. If you have a blog on a less competitive niche, you are more likely to get great traffic. For ex: I have a blog call http://cydiaguide.com and this blog gets almost 7K traffic every day from organic search and only 15 blog posts are published, where as my main blog gets only 12K traffic every day with over 2000+ posts. Infact, after panda updates, I have noticed quality niche blogs perform way better than a blog with multi-topics. My main blog talks about SEO, WordPress, Blogging and if you look from one angle, every category is a niche itself.
    For example, when it comes to ranking a website for SEO related topics, Google will always favor a website like SEOMoz, Search engine land as they are dedicated blog for search engine optimization and marketing.

  87. sudha

    04/07/2013 at 1:53 PM

    Hi Harsh,

    I agree with you that building up the trust factor is very important. People tend to connect to the author in case of a blog and if they find their feelings in sync with the blog, then they will stay. The brand building tip is great and I will try that out. Giving away freebies with logos of my site will definitely help in building the brand and consequently trust of our site.

  88. Rajkumar Jonnala

    04/10/2013 at 6:32 AM

    trust is best way increase online marketing and of course blogging that also helps in building reputation among other bloggers

  89. adi kurniawan

    04/17/2013 at 4:34 AM

    i think google now make it easy to get trust factor
    just sign up google+ make a much circle and get circle back then complete your profile

    voila you get more authority and trust

    and your post only pointed in on page thing
    nice post btw

  90. Mahendra Chhimwal

    04/22/2013 at 6:49 AM

    Hello Harsh…
    You said right winning trust of someone is really a very hard task.It takes weeks,months even years for getting trust.The tips you share above will really helpful in getting trust of readers. Blog design and pages like about Us and Contact us are most critical factor for getting readers trust.

  91. Rohit kabdwal

    04/23/2013 at 2:38 PM

    hi, harsh its been pleasure to me that i am commenting on your guest article, you had always motivated me a lot. i read your interview in “orangecopper” and since then i am a big fan of yours..,
    BTW a very nice article.., in my opinion to gain the trust of readers guest post and blog commenting are the best ways..

  92. Alex

    05/03/2013 at 7:25 AM

    Good post Harsh, you mention some nice points which i were ignoring. Thanks.

  93. Akshay

    05/17/2013 at 5:17 AM

    Another amazing post by Harsh sir,
    Sir, i totally agree with you.. blog design and social media accounts are really required to build a trust among the users. Also a blog changing its theme of its social meadia appearance will loose a huge amount of loyal visitors!!





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