Many people think the hardest part of becoming a blogger is getting started, but that part is easy. The hard part is setting up your blog in such a way that you can keep it updated regularly.
In this post we are going to explore how you can become a successful blogger by exploring ways to keep your blog constantly active. In other words how to be creative and inspired on a reliable enough basis to be able to maintain an active blog!
Tips for become a Successful Blogger
Decide On a Theme
This may seem obvious but many people ignore it. Deciding on a theme or a topic that your blog will revolve around is the most important thing you can do to become a successful blogger and use your blogging “pastime” to your advantage.
Having a theme narrows your focus which in the long run will make you more creative and increase your blog post output. This may sound counter-intuitive but creativity needs boundaries in which to work; your blog theme operates as this boundary. This doesn’t mean your blog can only focus on one thing but you should know what would fit in with your blog.
Many people have personal blogs where they discuss what they are doing, what they are interested in and their life in general. This may look like they have no theme in mind but look closer and you will see there are some rigid structures in place. These blogs are related to the blogger personally, something they find interesting on a given day.
This drastically reduces the superfluous options and adds a timeframe that also acts as a structure. These structures enable a lot of scope but give crucial guidance on a day-by-day basis. When it comes to blogs that are on a topic, such as teaching or online marketing for example, the structures become even more beneficial.
Decide Where You Want to Host Your Blog
So, do you start your blog on WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr or even host it yourself?
While the most important thing for a blog is its content, where it is hosted and shared is also an important factor.
- WordPress can be expanded to become a fully independent blog
- Blogger is seen as a great place for personal blogs
- Tumblr is also more personal but is more fast paced and is more of a social media site as opposed to a blog in the classic sense. It also revolves more around images and media than predominately text
You will need to decide how your theme would best be served by each platform. Also, you should follow the best SEO practices in order to rank your blogs and reach to a maximum audience.
Just Write
While you may have great expectations of writing a grand opus as your first piece you should keep it simple. Keep it short, introduce yourself and what your blog will be examining and leave it at that!
For the first month you need to keep your morale up by celebrating every post no matter how small or insignificant you think it may be. Once you get yourself into a rhythm you’ll be able to write longer and better posts and will thus be on your way to becoming a successful blogger.
And Keep Writing!
‘Just Keep Writing’ should be your mantra. Having the persistence to keep writing is one of the most important things a blogger can have. The structures you have in place will only go so far if you don’t have that drive.
Seth Godin is a perfect example of someone who does short concise posts to ensure his blog remains active.
Carry a Notepad With You Everywhere
It doesn’t have to be pen and paper—you could use your phone if you prefer—but you should always have something with you to help track any ideas or questions you have. Then when you need to write a new post look through your notepad and see which idea or question still interests you. Then research it and write about it!
Share With Friends
Once your blog is live, share it with your friends. To begin with your friends are most likely going to be your only readers—a fact that will make you sad for a while but this is always how it is. You need to get your friends, family, co-workers, whoever you can, to become advocates for you. When you post something you want them to share it as well. This will increase your initial audience to a much greater number. Hopefully if your content is good it will engage people. This isn’t a viable approach by itself in the long run but for getting the ball rolling on your blog it is a necessity.
Leverage Social Media Channels
Having a presence on social media and enabling your readers to share your posts is invaluable to becoming a successful blogger. Of course, it goes without saying that you should also share your posts on your social media channels. Another tip is that you can search for #hashtags on both Twitter and Facebook now. So if you have written an awesome post about #puppies, mark it as such and everyone who is interested in #puppies will find it!
Engage With Your Readers and Other Bloggers
Social media also helps you reach out to potential readers and other bloggers. These are people who you think would be interested in your blog or even just a specific post you have written. Look for other bloggers who talk about similar stuff to you, comment and share other people’s stuff, give your ideas and opinions freely and eventually people will return the favour by engaging with your blog.
Focus On the Content
Above all else simply focus on creating good, useful and engaging blogs. Do this and slowly but surely the word will get out. This is not to say that you don’t need to focus on sharing, promoting and engaging new readers but rather that without good content everything you do after won’t really matter that much!
By incorporating these ideas into your approach when you first start out you will dramatically increase the likelihood of you becoming a successful blogger. There are of course a lot of other things you could so and you should always follow your instincts and pursue these.
