With data protection making many a front page recently, and certain social media websites being questioned over how secure our personal information actually is, the obvious question to ask is, how much information should you share on your blog?
Bloggers are a dime a dozen and make up a large proportion of the World Wide Web, including those that have long since been abandoned. If you have your own personal blog, you likely have an about me page that incorporates a brief introduction as to who you are, where your interests lay and an anecdote as to why you started your blog.
But it doesn’t end there, however, with other pieces of information regularly shared through blog posts and social media. Soon, your life – or at least the parts of which you are comfortable with – is broadcast to the world.
Blogging as a Business
The most successful bloggers have turned their once upon a time hobby into a full-time job, with several streams of revenue stemming from their blog page. Whether this is through affiliate marketing schemes, sponsored posts or other forms of advertising, if you know what you are doing there is a lot of earning potential.
With this in mind, how much of your personal life should you be sharing? On the one hand, this might be what your readership keeps coming back for but, on the other hand, could this be you providing information that advertisers can exploit or be put off by?
What do Advertisers Look For?
Before examining the content of a blog, advertisers will analyse the website from a technical perspective. This means collating analytical data such as traffic, search visibility and other metrics aim to provide an insight into how the website is perceived by the search engines.
Once your blog has passed these initial reviews, your content is then reviewed for anything that could go against the business’ moral and ethical values. If any personal views or stories that you shared on your blog go against a potential advertiser, who would rather not be connected, this could be costing you potential income.
If your blog is deemed unsuitable by an advertiser within your target audience, how many more could you be isolating? It is important to market yourself correctly and, as a blogger, you are just as much marketing yourself as you are the website itself. If you are interested in more information regarding online marketing for your blog, then you can go here for some more information.
Does Your Content Affect Anyone Else?
Those who document their daily lives will often include other members of their family or friends who, in the eyes of the reader, quickly become characters in your story. How you portray them in your blog posts can have a knock-on effect as to how they are perceived in the real world, especially if you refer to them by their real names.
Have you ever asked for their permission before referencing them, or even posting their picture online? If not, it is good practice to do so, not mention being the decent thing. You have chosen to put yourself in the public eye, while others may prefer to keep a more private manner.
When it comes to blogging, before posting anything, consider the impact it may have on you, friends and family and any future business opportunities. If you are to earn an income from your blog, you want it to remain open to anyone and everyone.
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