12 Blogging Tips for Beginners
I hear people discuss the idea of starting a blog all the time. Some folks think it’s more complicated than it is. Anybody can blog if they are serious about it. There is work that will need to be done. Some people believe you can create a post that goes viral. It doesn’t work like that. I’ve been blogging for several years and have learned quite a bit. Today’s post offers some blogging tips for beginners.
Blogging Tips For Beginners
Find a Niche
This is a crucial step when creating a new blog. You should come up with a niche or two and discuss topics concerning them. This should make it easier for you to keep and gain new readers. It’s hard for most people to follow a blog that takes you all over the place. You must choose a couple of topics and roll with them.
For example, it was all over the place when I started my website. Over time, I’ve niched down. Mostly, you will see me talking about personal finance, side hustles, and travel on My Money Chronicles.
Related Reading: 50 Unique Blog Post Ideas
Try it Out First
Next on the list of blogging tips for beginners is to try it out first. Try blogging for a few weeks before you go into it 100%. You may be reading that statement and wondering why you should do that. The reason that I say try it out first is that blogging isn’t for everyone. Some people don’t like to write. Others start blogging and eventually realize they don’t like it. Some don’t have the time. There are a lot of reasons that blogging doesn’t work for everyone. I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve seen start strong and disappear within 5 or 6 months.
Free Blog Hosting Platform or Self-Hosted
Decide if you want to have a self-hosted or free blog hosting platform. There is no investment involved with a free blogging platform. You sign up on the platform, and then you can start writing. Many people start that route and then go the self-hosted way. I knew that blogging was something I wanted to do, so I started with my blog being self-hosted.
You will need to purchase the domain name and hosting with self-hosted blogs. Self-hosted blogs are the way to go. They are more professional, and you have 100% control over them. They are also easier to monetize when you decide to go that route. Go Daddy has domain name deals from time to time. I’ve purchased several domains from them over the years. There are tons of hosting companies out there. In the beginning, I used Bluehost. They are a good web hosting company to start with. My sites were hosted with Bluehost for eight years.
Related Reading: How to Start a Blog
A couple of years ago, I switched hosting companies. While I had no problems with Bluehost, I wanted to take things to the next level. I now use BigScoots as my hosting provider. My site is much faster now. If you want to learn more about BigScoots, click this link.
Whether you use a free or paid platform, you want to ensure that you use WordPress.
Have a Posting Schedule
Having a posting schedule is very important. Your readers will get used to looking for your new articles each week. You don’t want to be that blogger who posts an article at the beginning of the month and then has their next article go live two months later. That’s not a good way to get new readers. You have to post consistently. Once you have a posting schedule, the number of people who read it will increase.
I post articles several times per week. This is one of the blogging tips people forget about. Your posting schedule can be one of the things that make or break your blog.
Lazy Days
Some days, you will feel lazy as hell. You won’t feel like writing. That’s perfectly fine. Take a couple of days to regroup and get your mind back in the game. I’ve had my share of lazy days. One thing you can do to combat those lazy days is to try and write ahead. That means that you can write multiple articles and schedule them in advance.
Network With Other Bloggers
One thing that you have to do is network with other bloggers. Initially, I reached out to a few of them on Twitter and LinkedIn from time to time to ask questions. They were very friendly. Now, I’m friends with a lot of them. I see them every year at events like FinCon. Other bloggers motivate me to do better. Knowing that they made their sites and businesses grow from nothing to something gave me the confidence that I could do the same thing. The same can happen to you if you network with other bloggers.
Promote Your Blog
Next on the blogging tips list is to ensure you promote your blog. People are not going to find out about your website magically. It would be good if that happened, but it won’t. You have to promote it. If you don’t feel confident about promoting your stuff, you may need to rethink if you’ve made the right decision.
There are a lot of different ways that you can promote your blog. Some of the ways I promote mine are through social media and word of mouth. I’ve also had shirts made with my website name on them. Decide how you want to promote your site and make it happen.
Do Some Keyword Research
Keyword research is a critical practice that most bloggers tend to neglect. As a newbie, you cannot ignore this practice if you wish to grow your blog and get more views on your posts.
Keyword research is finding and researching keywords or search terms used on search engines when looking for information, products, or services. Knowing and using these keywords in your posts will go a long way to boost your search engine optimization (SEO).
If you pick the wrong keywords and use them in your posts, it could cost you a lot of readers and time. Keyword research isn’t hard to do; invest your time learning it, and you’ll be glad you did. You can use some tools to help you with your keyword research. Google Search Console, Google Trends, Ubersuggest, and KeySearch are a few that you can start with.
Use a Good Theme for your Blog
You should do this during your blog creation process, although it can be changed later if you feel like it. Your blog theme has a strong effect on your website. Don’t just go for how beautiful or how colorful the theme looks. Make sure that your blog theme is SEO-friendly.
Blog themes play an essential role in your SEO. Finding such themes sometimes means you have to purchase one on WordPress. This is a small price to pay for the rewards you’ll be getting.
Also, ensure your blog design is user-friendly and manageable for the reader when navigating the website. You should also make sure it is pretty attractive.
Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Starting a new blog can be a little hectic, especially because you don’t have popularity yet, so you get a significantly low amount of traffic, which can be very frustrating. But there is hope around the corner because it won’t take time to get some traffic to your website; you’ve just got to put in the effort.
There are several ways to drive traffic to your blog, which are grouped into two. You’ve got organic traffic, which involves SEO optimization, and inorganic traffic, which involves other means like marketing, email listing, social media engagements, etc. Take time to learn these methods, as they will grow your blog.
Use a Good Headline
As a new blogger, do not underestimate the power of a killer headline or subheading. Ensure that your headline carries a strong message that would attract readers to your site. Your headline is like a door to your post and also your website. If you capture the readers’ attention with your headlines, they will likely take time to check out your work.
Build an Email List
Building an email list should be your priority as a new blogger. Sometimes, bloggers make the mistake of just focusing on social media websites like Facebook or Twitter to boost their following. However, this is not so safe as your social media accounts could get banned due to policies.
Building an email list is a sure way to ensure you can always reach out to your readers and communicate with them anytime. The first step to creating an email list is to write high-value content and get them to subscribe for more updates at the end of the post.
This way, you can slowly build an efficient email list over time. Mailchimp and ConvertKit are two email marketing software companies that you should consider.
If you decide to start your blog or already have one, I hope these blog tips help you.
Jason Butler is the owner of My Money Chronicles, a website where he discusses personal finance, side hustles, travel, and more. Jason is from Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Savannah State University with his BA in Marketing. Jason has been featured in Forbes, Discover, and Investopedia.