5 Ways To Help You Get Started On Your First Blog Post
You’ve decided you want to start a blog. You’ve bought a domain name, sorted out your web hosting, you’ve even made yourself a logo on Canva. It’s now time to start writing your first blog post…
But something’s stopping you.
What if nobody reads it? What if I get a bad comment on it? What if it’s not good enough? What if there are spelling mistakes? Why would someone be interested in what I have to say, there are other bloggers out there who are way better than me?
Sound familiar?
For many new bloggers, taking that initial scary step to writing and publishing their first blog post is a huge deal. So much so that many will often fall at the first hurdle and give up before they’ve evenly properly started.
Well, I’m not going to let that happen to you!
I’ve got 5 ways to help get you started with your first blog post so that you have the confidence to write it, publish it, and go on to write many, many more.
1. Accept Your First Blog Post Won’t Be Perfect
The one thing that can hold bloggers back from publishing their first blog post is the fear that what they’ve written isn’t good enough. Whether it’s a concern that their grammar and spelling isn’t up to scratch, that they can’t find their unique voice and writing style, that the words don’t flow, that it doesn’t look good, that it’s not interesting enough, or that people won’t care. Whatever it is, I totally get it, because I had those exact same worries when I wrote my first blog post.
The big lesson I learnt, is that nobody notices these things but you. We are our own biggest critics, so whereas we’ll write something and then go over it looking for things that are wrong, the reader won’t care. So what if there’s the odd spelling mistake here or there? That’s what spell check’s for. Plus, you’re human, mistakes happen, it’s not the end of the world. And grammar… grammar schmammer. Like seriously, who these days knows good grammar anyways!?!
The beautiful thing about writing for your own blog is that you get to set the rules. I regularly use slang, made up words, swear words, extra exclamation marks etc. It’s what makes my blog posts unique to me and has helped me develop a writing style that is recognizable and familiar to my reader.
So accept your first blog post won’t be perfect, fully embrace that fact, because aside from the fact that perfect quite literally doesn’t exist, putting your first blog post out there, warts and all, is all part of the blogging process.
2. Write From The Heart
When I read a blog post I can always tell whether the blogger is truly passionate about what they’re writing about. It somehow just shines through in the writing. And when I spot that passion, I am instantly more engaged with the blog post and way more likely to return to a blog to read future posts.
If you’re struggling to get started or to know what to write about, think about the thing that puts fire in your belly. When you write about something you love, or that fires you up in some way, it shows. And your writing is much better for it. It’s somehow more animated and alive than if you’re writing about something mundane. Use that passion and inject it into your writing, just as you would if you were talking to a friend about it.
3. Find Your Inspiration
Research is key when it comes to blogging. It’s really important you get your facts right when you write. Search engines love information packed blog posts that are backed up with links to information sources, as it shows your blog can be trusted as an authority source. Plus, doing some research can help give you further ideas of things to include in both the blog post you’re working on as well as future blog posts too.
There’s no real need to get bogged down with doing keyword research at this stage. I don’t want to put you off by telling you all the things you need to include to result in a fully SEO optimized blog that will get you loads of traffic and see you ranking on those sought after top pages. Yes, this matters, but what matters most at this time is getting you to complete your first blog post.
It’s always a good idea to follow other bloggers in the same niche as you. Not to copy what they’re doing, because let’s face it that’s proper shady, but as a means to expand your network and to get inspiration from them. By seeing what other bloggers are writing about you can figure out what subject areas have worked for them in terms of whether readers have commented and how much interaction the posts have generated. This will show you what it is your readers want, what questions they want answered, and what the hot topics are.
4. Get Mind Mapping
For some bloggers, the hardest bit to getting started is either coming up with an idea for a blog post or knowing which idea to write about first. Let’s take each scenario…
How to come up with an idea for your first blog post
Whenever I’m going through a bit of a blogging ideas drought I schedule in some brainstorming time. The ideas are always in there, it just sometimes takes me sitting down and consciously spending time to help get them from brain onto paper. I find the best thing for me to do is to mind map.
Mind mapping is basically pimped up spider diagrams (remember them from school?). I draw a big circle in the middle of a plain piece of paper, then off of that I draw lots of lines. At the end of the lines, I write any ideas, themes, questions etc. that could be in some way related to my blog niche.
So, for example, one of my blogs is a sleep blog. It covers sleep hygiene, sleep quality, sleepover ideas, and sleep issues. I will think of absolutely anything and everything related to sleep and fill it into my mind map. I then colour code these based on what category they fit into and add extra details if I can think of any.
Once you get started, you will be absolutely amazed at how many ideas you have. And they will keep on coming. Most importantly, please remember that no idea is a bad idea.
How to choose which of my ideas to write as my first blog post
Once you have a load of ideas on your mind map, and trust me you will, how do you then know which idea is the best one to start off with? The best thing you can do is to write about the subject you’re most interested in, that’s the easiest for you to write about, and that you feel as though you know that much about you could more or less write it in your sleep.
You don’t need to worry about writing an introductory post for your readers or thinking that there must be one blog post that’s more important than another. A blog is generally not linear. Unless you’re writing about your progress with something, for example if you’re tracking your weight loss journey or your experience of doing couch to 5K, then it really doesn’t matter what order you write your blog posts in.
Once you’ve written more posts, your blog will become a library, that readers can dip in an out of, reading the posts that interest them the most. So, make life easier for yourself and choose something that you want to write about. This will help get you started and is much more likely to see you completing the process of writing to publishing.
5. Just Write!
The biggest tip I can give you is to just write. The more writing you do, the more confident you’ll get, and the more you’ll improve and fine tune your blog posts. Get yourself a brand new notebook and schedule in 20 minutes every day to write. It doesn’t matter what you write, just write for 20 minutes. If you want to carry on writing because you’re on a roll, then by all means carry on, but make sure you write for the whole 20 minutes before stopping.
This is a great exercise to loosen you up and get you writing more freely and will help you to find your writing voice. I’ll say it one more time, so that it sinks in, if you can do one thing to help you get started on your blog, just write!
Final thoughts
Getting started on your first blog post should be exciting. This is you writing about the things you love and putting yourself out there into the world. Your own corner of the internet where you can say what you want, help others, share valuable information, and connect with your readers. And how exciting is that? You’ve essentially created your own online book, this is you self-publishing your content on whatever you like and whenever you like. This is creative freedom at its best, and you’ve got it right here at your fingertips. So, take this advice, put those niggling worries to bed, and get cracking with your first blog post. I totally believe in you!
Want to be a part of our supportive BlogWell community?
Join the FREE Facebook Group —> HERE
Author Bio
Bex Stafferton is a blogger who started off writing her blog The Art of Healthy Living as a hobby when she was a stay at home mum and caring for her two young children. The same blog now earns her a full time salary while working part time hours.
Bex is on a mission to help teach businesses how having a blog on their website is a valuable marketing tool. Helping to build a strong online presence, grow an engaged audience, and increase sales.
When she’s not blogging, Bex spends her time hiking up mountains, trail running, cuddling her two cockapoos, and volunteering at a local wildlife rescue centre.
