If you’re thinking about starting your first blog, you probably feel passionate about writing and sharing your knowledge with the world. Perhaps you’ve already picked out your blog name, started your website, and think you’re ready to go. But what every experienced blogger would likely tell you is that you have absolutely no idea what you’re getting yourself into – at least until you actually dive into the vast sea of bloggers and explore the blogging world on your own.
There are a lot of writers who will tell you they know everything about running a blog, but that’s because they made mistakes along the way, learned from them, and developed winning strategies over time. No one is born with the innate ability to know everything about any topic, so if you’re feeling confused and scared, don’t be. You can easily learn everything there is to know about blogging – just be patient and focus on one thing at a time.
Here is some advice that can help get you on your way to making it as a professional blogger.
What Goes Online, Stays Online
Before you start creating your content, you need to be aware that everything you publish online will leave a permanent mark on your brand. Therefore, you really need to think about what you’re writing and how you’re presenting it to your readers, since you and only you are responsible for the impressions they will form.
Whether you are going to run a personal blog or write for your company’s blog, you need to make sure you don’t create mediocre content that your readers won’t get real value out of.
If you start big, but get lazy along the way and start creating content only for the sake of creating it, you will lose your credibility and, eventually, your readers.
Subpar content creation can ultimately lead to a loss in revenue for your business. What’s more, your poor-quality content will still be on the web and, once tarnished, a good reputation is difficult to rebuild.
Always make sure to provide high-quality content that will appeal to your readers, and you will be on the path to success.
The Length of Your Content Matters
This doesn’t mean that you should always write extensive articles that reach the 2,000 word mark. Never try to stuff your content with keywords or fill it with fluff in order to create lengthy content. Create content that is informative and relevant and, when the context requires it, be as detailed as you can.
Writing detailed posts that are actually interesting to read and provide all the information you need about a certain topic will not only help your readers, but it will also help you rank higher in search engines. The average content length for websites ranked at the top spots on Google is approximately 2,000 words – which does suggest that Google uses some aspects of content length to determine your ranking (although that’s certainly not the only thing that matters). For example, it’s not hard to imagine that the lengthy content ranking high on search engines is also of very high quality, and that maybe that’s what the SERPs liked so much.
However, remember that you should always write for your readers instead of writing for search engines. You cannot always offer relevant information in a few hundred words; sometimes, you need to provide your readers with detailed and actionable steps to actually help them.
Personalization is Everything
People prefer to read content written in a conversational tone over something that sounds like a high-school lecture. That is why personalizing your content will help you engage your readers and keep them coming back for more.
People love stories, so, regardless of the topic you’re tackling, try to be entertaining and engaging. Provide them with real-world examples and write in first-person narrative to give your content a personal touch that your readers can easily relate to. Write for them as if you are speaking directly to them in person.
Such personalization will give your brand a human touch and help people connect with you more easily. Never be too formal, but incorporate a voice that will show you care about your readers and about helping them, all the while showing that you’re a professional.
Consistency is Key
Consistency is the key to growth, and you always need to keep that in mind. Not being consistent can really hurt your website traffic, which means fewer people reading your content and considering purchasing from your business. Therefore, make sure you publish content regularly or it will be much more difficult to grow your blog – since it is already difficult to gain traffic when you are just starting out.
Also important to remember – it can take years to receive organic search engine traffic from Google since you need to establish your online presence and work on your reputation over time. Nothing happens overnight; a lot of time and effort must be invested first.
Being consistent can be extremely tough if you write about something you are not passionate about. You won’t have the motivation to write, and every previous effort you have invested in won’t pay off. So make sure you write about something that you actually love and none of it will ever feel like work.
However, you must always focus on quality over quantity, since consistently publishing mediocre content won’t do your blog any justice. Balance is everything.
Blogging is Not Free
This is perhaps the most important lesson to learn before you immerse yourself in the blogging world. If you want to do it right, blogging can cost a bit of money.
If you want to run a personal blog, you can make one for free with the help of WordPress. On the other hand, if you want to host it on your own server and with your own domain name, it can cost around $50 per year.
If you’re looking to monetize your blog, you have to invest some money to do so. You need an attractive design that stands out from the generic ones you come across every day, a developer to help you with custom coding, and A/B testing for your methods of monetization, as well as calls-to-action and possibly an investment in social media marketing to boost your web traffic from your social profiles.
These are just some examples of potential expenses when starting your blog. You cannot expect to grow your blog without investing quality time and (at least a little) money into it.
It’s Essential to Be Social
Social media can help you drive traffic to your blog, so you should establish your social media presence the moment you start blogging.
You need to build your social media profiles and always stay active – immerse yourself in the online community, share your stories, and communicate with your followers and other bloggers.
Sharing your content on social media can help you reach a large audience of people interested in your content and, ultimately, help you gain more traffic to your website. Social media can help you build your reputation and increase online visibility, so being social is essential for every blogger.
If you happen to have some money to invest for the purpose of increasing traffic, you can do so with the help of Facebook Ads. If not, just remember that staying active on social media is key to spreading the word about your blog and gaining more traffic. You can also pay to promote your content on Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Conclusion
It can be pretty confusing and daunting at times if you have no idea where to start when it comes to blogging, but the aforementioned tips should help you out and make your blogging venture much easier.
If you need additional information on how to start a blog, make a website, or anything else related to similar topics, you can research online and find numerous guides for web newbies that can show you exactly how to start, run, and grow your online presence.
Always keep in mind that, in order to effectively kickstart your blog, you need to implement one thing at a time instead of trying to do it all at once – because only with patience will you succeed and achieve your goals. Happy blogging!
