We talked in the last hub about how to drive traffic to your website using "White Hat Techniques" and why in the long run they work so much better than "Black Hat Techniques". Many of you noticed we completely left out any discussion about blogs.

But, having a good and effective blog can make the difference in generating traffic to your website and it can help you earn even more money that you imagined!

Let's look at some of the ways to really promote your blog and still keep in line with White Hat Marketing Techniques.

A blog is in reality a 'diary' that is available online. Your blog may be personal in nature that discusses your family, friend and your life adventures. If this is the case, you probably are not too interested in marketing it world wide.

However, many of us use blogs as a means of generating traffic to our website. So, a blog then becomes one of the marketing tools we use to generate traffic to our wealthy affiliate website, to our Hub Pages, to Squidoo Pages and more.

If used properly, a blog can help you generate a small amount of money through adsense and affiliate links on a monthly basis. Don't be fooled however, this is not passive income. Blogs require care and feeding and must be well maintained and well thought out in order to drive traffic, keep traffic and more importantly to generate revenue.

The theory of a good blog is very simple. Original, informative, regular content!

Often people take the stance that if they put together a Wealthy Affiliate Blog that they can just build the blog and let it sit. This simply is not the case. To keep your blog relevant you must contribute original and informative content on a regular basis.

Let us discuss what makes a good blog - and what components affect a good blog.

A) People want to read your blog

Obviously if no-one is reading your blog it quickly becomes irrelevant. So your first goal is to get people to read it. How do you do that? You do that by providing a topic that is near and dear to people's hearts. Something that will keep them coming back for more! Whether it's pets, children or making money, you want your Wealthy Affiliate articles blog to be read by peoplewho are interested in what you are marketing!

B) People want to return to your blog

Well it's all well and good if someone stops by your blog and reads your very first post, likes it and then goes away for a week - as long as they come back! But, when they come back next week, are you going to be ready with fresh, relevant information for them? You better be! If not, they will quickly lose interest!

C) People want to tell their friends!

Make it easy - you can use a web plug-in that says 'Tell a Friend' about this site! This will encourage your users to promote your blog to their friends and family! Whether you add this to the top of your blog or you add it on individual postings, make sure it's there!

D) People expect Expert Advice

Make sure that the information you are providing on your blog is accurate. Make sure you establish yourself as an expert in what you are promoting. If your blog posts are riddled with factual errors, you will lose credibility and people will stay away.

One of the biggest challenges with your blog is keeping your content fresh and original. Don't hesitate to hire someone to post to your blog for you!

Not everyone is a great writer! Your blog content should be:

• Well Written
• Informative
• Free of grammatical and typographical errors
• Provide new weekly posts
• Provide relevant links to other websites (besides your own)
• Have a clean and professional look

If you are unclear as to how to set up a blog on your own, hire someone to do it for you. In the long run, the money will be more than well spent. If keeping your blog active and accurate means that you will gain traffic, then having a professional handle it for you can make you hundreds of dollars over what you are paying them!

Good luck with your blog!