(Business 2.0) -- Focus intently on a narrow niche, ideally one whose audience has a predilection for high-margin products. That will appeal to advertisers.

Set up your blog so that each post gets its own permanent URL, or permalink, and its heading becomes part of its permalink and page title. Write descriptive, keyword-heavy headings, and be sure the homepage and all archives have links on every page.

Think of your blog as a database, not a newspaper-like collection of dispatches. Your archived posts should be easy to find through Google and Technorati, so cite authors and publications by name, and use tags, categories, and keywords consistently.

Blog frequently and regularly--if possible, at least half a dozen posts every weekday before lunchtime, when many readers take a break from work and check out the blogosphere.

Use striking images in your posts. They liven up the page and attract readers, and if you use captions, you'll gain additional traffic by making it easy for Google Image Search and other visual search engines to index your illustrations.

Enable comments and interact with readers; cultivate your audience--that's what advertisers will be paying you for.

Make friends with other bloggers, online and off. Link to their posts and they'll return the favor. Other blogs may well send you most of your traffic.