The first step to creating a successful blog that resonates with your audience is identifying whom that includes. It sounds like an obvious step, but it's one that many new bloggers overlook or rush through.

It will take a bit of reflection and some research, but it will be well worth the time and effort. Here are some questions to consider.

1. Who is your intended audience?

Are you speaking to a predominantly male or female audience? Are they from a certain part of the world or country? Do they have a certain level of income or education? How ready are they to buy when they land on your blog?

Google Analytics is the easiest way to answer some of these questions. Plus, you should already have it setup from the previous section. It will give you a better understanding of where your website audience is from, what languages they speak, what web browsers they use, how they interact with your website and more.

2. What do they like to do online?

What other websites, blogs specifically, are they visiting online? How much time do they spend online? What type of pages do they like on Facebook? Do they spend time on other social networks?

Again, use Google Analytics to help you answer these questions. It will tell you where your traffic is coming from, what search terms they're using to find you, what pages they're spending the most time on, how long they're spending on your website and more.

3. What do they want to do online?

What's missing from their online experience? What are they looking to gain from your blog? What questions do they have? What value are they searching for? What interests them?

You guessed it. Google Analytics can help answer many of these questions as well. However, it cannot answer all of them. A quick alternative is making a list of competing

blogs. What are they talking about? What posts are most popular (consider social sharing numbers, comments and views)?

Finally, you could use Qualaroo to get early feedback from thirty visitors for free. It allows you to ask a simple multiple-choice question right on your blog or website.

4. Why does the audience matter so much?

Knowing as much as possible about your audience is important. How can you connect with a group of people you know nothing about? Think of it the same way a job applicant thinks of doing some background research on a company before an interview.

Once you have the research done, keep your audience in mind at all times. They should be at the forefront of your mind when you're developing personas, creating a voice, brainstorming topics and even actually writing. It's all about providing value to them, so understand what they want and use personas and voice to give it to them.