When you’re just getting started in the world of blogging, it can be easy to immerse yourself in it. That blank page staring at you seems to be making fun of you; Try as you can, you can’t recall the words for your first post, and you don’t know how to market or organize your blog either. Rest assured that this is a problem many bloggers face, and we are here to help you solve it. Here are 10 essential tips for first time bloggers to help you overcome your “blog fears” and create the perfect blog for you!
1. Build your expertise first
You don’t have to enter the professional blogging world until you are confident that you have the right level of experience. Blogging is built on the basis of knowledge and reliability about your topic, and if you can’t say you’re confident talking about your chosen field, you probably won’t make it very far. Research your topic extensively and make sure you’re ready for the challenge whenever you write a post, because it’s almost certain to happen.
2. Don’t quit your day job
Blogging is almost not immediately profitable. Ask any professional blogger and they will tell you that the money will eventually come, but you will probably need to wait a bit until you get it. As such, you shouldn’t quit your day job at first; Instead, use the income to supplement your blogging endeavors. If you absolutely have to step away from your job, make sure that you claim any benefits owed to you as you write down, and know that you can always take advantage of loans on benefits if you need to.
3. Connect with other bloggers
If there is one thing that will help propel you into the big leagues when it comes to blogging, it is networking with other aspiring writers. Meeting other people who are looking to break into the same industry as always is a good thing; You can share tips on how best to engage with clients and who is accepting freelance work at the moment, and you can collaborate with each other in order to support your audience as well.
4. Define your audience
Different audiences require different records. This is how Twas has always been in the world of writing, so one of the best things you can do as a blogger is to identify your audience and figure out how best to write for them. Of course, you should still always “write like you”; Don’t try to fit or adapt someone else’s style, because you won’t develop a coherent sound of your own. Think carefully about what your audience wants from you and how you can change your writing style to suit that audience.
5. Focus on the content at first
While you tend to get your graphics and branding right, the most important thing about a blog is getting great content. First and foremost, people visit your blog to read what you write, and while an attractive aesthetic will help attract more people, it won’t create fans in the long run. Your writing will do that, so make sure the content is okay before you start worrying about things like branding (which you’ll still need to focus on eventually!).
6. Optimize your blog for SEO
Google’s best SEO practices are constantly changing and changing, but it is definitely in your best interest to keep up with these practices and know what they are at all times. By going through with this, you will be able to improve every piece of content to rank as high on Google as possible. This also applies to photos; Make sure your alt text is clear and your images are the correct size (and make sure you enter images in the first place, as this can be a huge boon for SEO).
7. Watch Your Analytics, But Don’t Live It
As with any type of content creation, your analytics is important, but it shouldn’t be all that drives you to keep creating new content. After all, your analyzes may tell you that a particular post is doing well, but it won’t necessarily tell you why that post is doing so well. Analytics can also discourage you from trying new things and taking creative risks with your blog, which can be a mistake, as these risks are what can take you to the next level.
8. Explore monetization
One of the most thorny issues for bloggers is monetization. How will you translate your passion into a career? There are a number of different ways you can go about monetizing your content, including asking people to subscribe, holding back some content for premium subscribers, and even freelancing for other blogs. However you decide to monetize your blog, be sure to do extensive research on whether this strategy will work in your chosen niche.
9. Don’t delete old content
If a blog post isn’t performing particularly well, you may be tempted to simply get rid of it and move on. However, you should never do that. You never know when a piece of evergreen content might be rediscovered and shared for whatever reason, but you can be sure that if you delete it, it definitely won’t. Even if you write news posts or content dealing with current affairs, don’t delete it if it doesn’t work; You may be able to link back to it later.
10. Perseverance
Blogging is perhaps one of the hardest jobs to do consistently well, and even tougher to make a living from. With that in mind, if you are fully committed to blogging as a job, the most important advantage you can get is persistence. Make sure that you don’t give up, even when things seem a little bleak, because you never know when your monetization strategy will pay off or the right person will discover your content.