Aditya Mahesh wrote a post on how to build blog credibility by guest posting a few days ago. I figured I would throw in seven additional tips since credibility is something most bloggers lack. This is especially true in the make money online niche, with thousands of blogs talking about making money online but the authors have never actually made any money online.
1 – Use Your About Page
Your bog’s credibility starts with your about page. Credibility is about being transparent. The more transparent you are, the more credible you are. The more information you disclose, the more your readers will trust you. Trust is the biggest part of credibility. I’ve read about pages where the author used his nickname or his first name only. Would you trust a blog that doesn’t reveal who the owner is?
Your about page should have as a minimum your full name, a photo of yourself and where you’re located. Including information about your background and why you are the authority on the topic you’re blogging about would be even better.
2 – Blog About Something You Have Authority On
Don’t start a make money online blog if you have never made money online. It’s really hard to fake it and most readers will see right through it. If you have never made any money online but still want to do a make money online blog, then it’s best to make that blog a journal of your online adventure and blog about the trials and tribulations of escaping that 9 to 5 job.
3 – Join a Related Trade Organizations/Groups
Being able to list in your about page that you are part of some related trade organization with some fancy sounding name can help to built credibility. Often time, that is the only reason people join these organizations.
4 – Associate with The Top People In Your Niche
John Chow with Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek
Every year at Blog World Expo, I receive numerous requests from fellow bloggers asking to take a picture with me. While I’m sure most just wanted a picture with someone who is well know in the blogging, some will use the photo to boost their credibility. This comes back to my Guilty By Association post. Birds of a feather flock together and if you can post a picture of you flocking with a successful bird in your about page, you are seen as a successful bird.
5- Get On The Cover of a Magazine
Nothing build credibility faster than being featured on the cover of a newsstand magazine.
On the cover of the Ming Pao magazine
The only problem is you need credibility to get the cover. However, getting the cover (or featured inside any print media) will help to boost the high credibility you’ve already established.
6 – Write a Book
My free make money online eBook has been one of my best credibility building tools. Having a document that you can give to your readers which clearly demonstrates your authority on the subject is something you should work on. It doesn’t have to take much time or resources either. I wrote my eBook by using all my past made money online blog posts.
If you really want to take things to the next level, consider writing a real book instead of an ebook. The change in status is amazing. My friend Joel Comm went from “eBook peddler” to New York Times best selling author when he wrote The AdSense Code. Even if you don’t hit the best seller list, the fact that you are a “published author” just adds to your credibility.
BTW – my book should be out in January 2010.
7 – Give a Speech at a University
Being able to say you’ve spoken at the University can greatly add to your credibility. Don’t let the fact that the university will never invite you to speak stop you. Just rent one of their classrooms for a few hours, plaster posters all over the school about your seminar and hope one or two people show up. Now you can say you were the keynote speaker on [insert topic] at [insert university] in your about page. 😈