Starting a blog is exciting, but consistently producing high-quality content can be challenging. If you’re struggling to stay focused and write great blog posts, read on for some helpful tips.
The tips I’m about to share are based on my own experience starting a blog a few years ago. Blogging can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re treating it like a business.
Here’s the truth: there are no shortcuts to success, and blogging will require hard work. However, with the right mindset and strategies, you can produce great content time and time again.
Stay Focused
This is the very first step you need to take when you start a blog. What are you writing about? Who is your target audience?
It’s perfectly OK to have a bunch of hobbies and interest in life, that’s what makes life so great in the first place. But when it comes to blogging, make sure you figure out the answers to these three questions first:
- How is your blog going to look like?
- Who is going to read your blog?
- What are you going to write about?
But nevertheless, don’t get caught up in “analysis paralysis”! I have been in your shoes more than once and I know exactly how confusing and overwhelming it may feel to start a blog. That’s why I’m here to help you start yours by sharing everything I’ve learned with you!
So, if you have some idea about your topic but you’re not quite sure where it’s headed, just start writing. (Especially if your head is bursting with ideas for potential blog posts for the future!)
Once you get your ideas out of your head, it’s so much easier to get a better overview of what your blog is going to be all about.
Make a Plan and Stick to It
Once your blog is up and running, your readers slowly become loyal visitors, finding their way to your blog time after time. They have certain expectations on what they’ll find on your blog. I mean, that’s what turned them into returning readers in the first place, right?
So whatever your niche is, remember to stick to it in the future, too.
In case your mind is wondering elsewhere and you keep getting ideas for new topics, just start another blog on that topic! Nothing is keeping you from exploring new areas of interest and writing great blog posts on a second topic you are passionate about!
But: only start one blog first! Focus all your energy on it and give it your all. That’s the best way to learn everything there is to making a blog successful.
Once you’ve achieved your goals with one blog, it’s so much easier to make it happen with a second one – and much quicker, too!
Respond to Blog Comments
Blogging is a great way to start discussions on the topic you write posts about. Your readers can share their thoughts and ideas about each post in the comments section at the end of your posts.
If you haven’t already, make sure you activate the commenting function on your blog!
Reading comments and responding to them is a great way to connect directly with your readers. They’re the people who are taking their time to read your posts and engage in an online conversation with everyone else who is reading them, including you, the author.
Surely, not every comment needs a response, but make sure you reply to the ones that do. It’s the best way to keep your readers coming back and making them feel like their feedback and comments are appreciated.
Use Images in Your Blog Posts
Even though blogging is all about writing great content, i.e. text for your readers, make sure you spice it up with some beautiful images.
Choosing great images for your blog posts can help you create a more pleasant atmosphere for your blog, too:
- Using light-colored, low-contrast images is a great way to make your blog look and appear airy and easy for the eye. That’s why most lifestyle bloggers go for this look. It just fits together nicely with topics like fashion, makeup, or interior design, for example.
- Choosing darker, more high-contrast images makes your posts look more dynamic and intense. This sort of look could be used for blogs about music, sports, or technology, for instance.
Set Yourself Realistic Goals
Starting a blog can be somewhat intimidating (yes, I’m speaking from my own experience!).
But at the same time, you’re probably coming up with new ideas for blog posts all the time and you’d just like to share them with your readers as quickly as possible. And that’s a good thing! It means you’re definitely on the right track with your blog and you’re passionate about your topic. Congratulations!
However, don’t underestimate the time and effort that goes into blogging in the long run.
It’s perfectly OK to have big goals (and I encourage you to have them, too!), but be aware of your schedule and how much time you’re able to invest into blogging on a regular basis.
You don’t have to publish a blog post every day if you don’t have the time. And that’s perfectly fine!
What matters most is that you have plenty of good ideas for posts and you can publish in a consistent pace.
When I started my first blog, my head was just bursting with ideas. I was writing every day (and almost every night, too). The more I wrote, the more ideas I got for new posts for the future.
But soon I realised that I had to set myself some realistic goals for the amount of content I was producing.
So, I got myself a notebook for writing down all ideas I had. Whenever I had an extra minute to spare, I would flip it open and pick one idea to write about.
Streamlining my writing process was so helpful! It helped me establish a regular writing habit, and when I had more time, I would also write a bit more and publish the posts later.
Use Social Media to Boost Your Traffic
So you’ve just hit the publish button and you can’t wait for your post to go viral, right?
You’ve poured your heart and soul into the post and you’re hoping it will be the next big hit on your blog.
I know exactly how exciting it is, time after time, to publish a new post on your own blog. It’s like you’re sharing a piece of yourself with the world and with your readers.
But what if your post bombs and doesn’t get any readers?
To avoid that, make sure you harness the power of social media to attract more traffic to each new post you publish.
Make your blog posts more shareable for your readers, too.
Add social sharing buttons to your articles using a plugin like Social Warfare. That’s what I’m using and I just love how easy it is to install and setup. The free version is perfect for beginners, so you don’t have to spend a dime on it!