Today I am sharing my Top 10 Blogging Tips which I have learned in my (almost) year of running this blog!
Whether you blog once a day, week or month or any other timeframe it is worth being consistent with your publishing calendar. If readers know when you post then they will keep coming back for more and know when to expect a post from you. As a reader of many blogs, it can be frustrating to think you may have missed a post from someone, only to check and find that there isn’t a new post for you to read.
Writing posts in advance is a great way to ensure that you post consistently, the scheduler on WordPress is brilliant for writing posts and then being able to set when the post goes live on your blog.
The other type of schedule that is also important is a posting schedule which can be as simple or complex as you like. Once you know when you want to post items, grab a calendar and make note of all the days you want the content to go out then start assigning blog titles or ideas to those days. This can help you to stay focused and can help you to avoid bloggers block.
Always check your work for spelling and grammar mistakes! I use Grammarly to check my blog posts before hitting the publish button. Sometimes the wrong word may be used but in all, I find this program to be a really useful tool. It can also be used to check for any grammar mistakes too such as missing commas or full stops.
I find it really useful to add links when I am talking about products, and I really love it when other bloggers include links as it gives me the chance to check out the products they are talking about. I have read about how adding links can increase your SEO and website ranking, but, for me as a blogger, I am more interested in giving my reader a link so they can view what I am talking about. Remember, if you are using affiliate links to let people know. I was using affiliate links but don’t anymore as I only want to link to things I have used or believe in (and Amazon kicked me off of their Affiliates program as I never got a sale through it…).
Always make sure you utilize the categories and tags function! Categories help your reader to find other posts that are similar in nature or theme on your blog and tags help new readers to find your blog posts. For best visibility in the Reader section, I tend to use between 3 and 10 tags for my post to show up in WordPress searches.
Choose a layout that is easy to navigate. I read once that you should think of an older relative visiting your site and trying to navigate around it, you want to make it simple for them to use and find what they are looking for. Choose a font that is easy to read and not to light in a tone that it starts to disappear into the background. You want your readers to easily be able to read what you have written and stay on your site reading other posts, not struggle to read one line of text and then leave!
Think about what you want to say and stick to the point. People have clicked onto your blog post to read something but they don’t want to have to read all of your thoughts that you have had in the day to get there. This tip ties in really well with the Schedule tip, as with the right schedule and a little pre-planning you will know what it is that you want to say before you even write it thus eliminating the dreaded waffle!
It is ok not to have social media for your blog, and it is ok if you do but don’t use it regularly, and it’s equally as ok if you use social media constantly when it comes to your blog. I have had facebook then came off of it at the beginning of the year, I have a Twitter account for the blog and Instagram, and while I tried for a while with Instagram I just found it hard work to keep sharing on there, and I’ve never really understood Twitter, and that is ok. I have a few ideas planned for those channels but I’m not that bothered. Don’t feel that you have to be on every social media platform available and don’t put pressure on yourself to post to those accounts if you do.
- Read, Comment and Follow.
I have a wonderful group of friends on here that I have made over time, most of them I have found when searching for interesting posts to read. I always look forward to reading their posts. Find blogs that are in a similar niche to you and follow them, comment on their blogs from time to time and get to know them, blogging can be tough if you don’t have friends to support.
Writing a blog post about something that interests you, that you are passionate about, love or know about is a whole lot easier than forcing yourself to write about something you dislike or have no idea about, this is why you will never find a post about quantum physics on this blog! If you love or enjoy something it is much easier to write about and I have found that reading a post that someone has written with a genuine passion for the subject is a joy to read and I can feel how much they enjoy that subject. Readers can always tell if a post has been forced or if it comes from enjoyment!
What blogging tips do you have? I’d really love to know in the comments!
