There are blogs with lots of good, well written and interesting information that are not succeeding. They almost always lack an element or two. Like when I find a great blog post that I want to share, and I can't because there are no sharing buttons.  That frustrates me because I now have to add a step or two to share the post on social media, but it also shows me that the blog post author is not looking to increase his/her audience.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"]<a title="You_Must_See by kokogiak, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kokogiak/3912439/"><img src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/2/3912439_bab01dc601.jpg" alt="You_Must_See" width="500" height="333" /></a> Photo by kokogiak on Flickr.[/caption]

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Here are the five items your blog must absolutely, positively have:

<strong>1. Sharing buttons.</strong> There are so many services and plug-ins--find one you like and that shares your post to the main social networks.

<strong>2. Robust about page</strong>.  People want to know who is writing the content. A shady or incomplete author profile does not create confidence that your content is valid.

<strong>3. Subscription capabilities</strong>. Give people the option to subscribe to your blog, either by email or by RSS feed.

<strong>4. Contact information.</strong> Give your readers the ability to contact you beyond your comments.

<strong>5. Print (or PDF) button</strong>. Some readers need to read things on paper, or want to print to save for posterity that amazing insight you wrote.

Does your blog have these? Why or why not? Anything you would add? Let me know! (Oh, another thing your blog should have is a way to comment!!!!)

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