What Every New Blogger Needs For A Successful Blog
When I started out as a new blogger, I knew nothing about blogging, and I certainly didn’t have a clue about how to run a successful blog. Yes, I could string sentences together and had a natural talent for writing in a very conversational and engaging way, but other than that this was all new territory.
There were far less people blogging back then, which had its pros and cons. On the plus side, it meant there was less competition and so ranking was a whole lot easier, but the downside was that because there were less people doing it there wasn’t really anyone to learn and take advice from. It was a case of feeling my way in the dark, making mistakes, and going on a very steep learning curve.
The good news for you is that because I’ve been on my own blog journey for a while now, I have plenty of useful advice to share with you so that you can create a successful blog too.
6 Essential Insights Every New Blogger Needs For A Successful Blog
There are many different ways a blog can be considered successful. As a new blogger it is up to you to decide what success means to you.
It could be that a successful blog is one that:
- Makes you money – If you’d like to learn more about this, you can download my free eBook for advice.
- Sets your business apart from others – A blog on your business website can help with your online visibility.
- People are talking about – It feels great to be noticed and have your blog posts commented on and shared.
- Helps people in some way – Knowing that what you have written has helped someone is the best.
- Ranks well – Having your blog appear on the first page of Google is a massive achievement.
Whatever your definition of success, I will help you achieve it with my 6 essential blogging insights. These will take you from being a new blogger to becoming a blogging pro and will help you on your way to having a successful blog.
1. Your Reader Is More Important Than You
Blogging has changed massively over the years. It used to be that you could write about what happened to you that day, a funny story you overheard on the bus, or share extracts from your teenage diary (I totally did this btw and it got me a lot of traffic and social engagement at the time). People were fully invested in reading these real life stories.
These days however, people give far less of a crap, because quite honestly the market is saturated. There are too many people sharing inane stuff about their lives and no one cares any more, not unless your famous. Plus, why spend time reading about something that’s happened to someone random when you can hop on over to TikTok and get the same story presented to you in a much more visually engaging way and it will only take up 30 seconds of your precious time.
A successful blog should be all about your reader. It is there to provide a service to your reader, to help them in some way by answering a question or solving a problem. They want actionable tips and advice that they can use to help them. Think about what you search for yourself on Google. You want information and you want it fast. It is your job as a blogger to provide your reader with the information they’re looking for.
2. Learn Some Basic SEO
This is an area of blogging that can put some new bloggers off. But it’s well worth starting good SEO practices from the moment you start blogging, as it will help build up your traffic and get you ranking quicker. You only need a very basic level of SEO knowledge in order to create a successful blog.
Over the years, I have picked up a few easy SEO tips, which I implement whenever I write a new blog post. Simple things like optimizing images, using keywords, writing a meta description, using header tags correctly, inserting internal and external links all contribute towards helping your blog post, and therefore your blog, to rank well in search engines. If you would like to learn more about SEO and some of the ways you can use it to help make your website more visible online, get in touch.
3. Be Consistent
I often get asked the question – how many blog posts should I publish each week? It’s basically the same as asking me how long a piece of string is. There is no definitive answer. And whilst it goes without saying that the more posts you publish the higher your traffic will be (after all there is a bit of a numbers game going on) quality will always out rank quantity.
A better factor to consider is consistency. Two good quality, useful, informative, well researched, SEO optimized blog posts per month will always do better than five low quality, run of the mill blog posts shared each week. It is up to you to work out how much time you can devote to writing blog posts and then stick to that schedule. If you only have time to share one a month, that’s fine, as long as you are consistent with that. Sure, it will take longer to get results, but you will get the results if you stick to publishing good quality content rather than bashing out rushed half-hearted posts.
4. Find A Way To Connect
Spend time mastering your own unique blog writing style. Find a blog voice that your audience relates to. Write your posts in the same way that you would make conversation in person. Make the connection with your readers in this way and show off why you’re the expert in your field. Give them a good reason to read what you’ve written and to keep them coming back for more.
A successful blog will always include lots of calls to action. By adding these calls to action in your blog posts you encourage readers to engage and connect with you. Ask them a question, invite them to share their opinion, include links to similar posts that may interest them, and always add ways for them to contact you, whether that’s linking your social media accounts, email, or through a contact form etc.
Remember, your blog is a showcase of your work, so make sure you use it as a way to connect with brands who are looking to work with bloggers. Don’t be afraid to reach out to brands or PR companies asking them if they would like to work with you in some way. Even if initially it is for free, for example by offering to do a product review, as this is a great way to build a relationship that could lead to future paid work.
You can also use your blog to connect with other bloggers and this is a great way to tap into someone else’s audience and help grow your own. Find blogs in your niche, or blogs that you enjoy reading because they’re about something you find interesting or enjoy, and start engaging with their posts. Find out if they would allow you to write a guest post for them to share on their blog. This will give you the opportunity to gain a backlink to your site, which will not only get your posts seen by more people but will also help improve your SEO in the process.
5. Success Won’t Happen Overnight
I would love to tell you that all you have to do is publish a couple of blog posts and bam you’ll have a successful blog. But that would be a massive lie. Success does not happen overnight in the blogging world, despite what anyone may promise you. You’ll need to work hard and you’ll need to do it for some time before your posts even start getting found and noticed.
It takes time for Google to index your posts. It takes even more time for the algorithms to get their hands on your posts and do their thing. Patience is the key word when you’re a new blogger. Having the tenacity to stick at it when it may sometimes feel as though you’re getting nowhere, is what sets successful bloggers apart from those who fail. Success will come if you just keep on writing, publishing, and optimizing your blog posts.
6. Love What You Do
If you aren’t enjoying the whole blogging thing, stop. There is nothing that stands out more than a blog post that’s written without passion or interest. Readers can spot it a mile off. The writing will be lack lustre, the subject matter mundane, and it will be very clear that the only reason you’re sharing blog posts is because you know it’s a way to help your business.
The thing is, blogging only works as an effective marketing tool if you enjoy it and have fun with what you’re creating. Your blog is a unique online space to be whoever you want to be and to show off your business in the best light, so have fun with it!
Final Thoughts
Building a successful blog takes time and effort, but it is well worth doing for the positive effects it can have on helping your business to increase its online presence. These 6 points will start you off on the right foot, giving you actionable advice you can implement from now on as well as more realistic viewpoint of what’s involved when building up a successful blog.
If you’d like more help with your blog, if you have a question about a particular area of blogging that you’re stuck on, or even if you’d just like to reach out, connect and say hi, you can find me in the following places:
- Email – info@blogwell.co.uk
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