In what might be the epitome of the blind leading the blind, I thought I’d take the opportunity this week to give my questionable pearls of wisdom on blog writing. I have been posting weekly for about 5 months now, so I have definitely picked up a few things, which I hope will help out someone considering starting their own blog, because I couldn’t recommend it enough.
Write About Your Biggest Interests
Being your blog, it makes sense that you should write about what makes you tick. There is no point in editing your interests or beliefs to tailor to a certain audience. Writing is far better when there is passion and interest behind it, so write about what you enjoy, and it will invite an audience who share a similar interest, and hopefully, this will create a community of likeminded people, all because of your passionate writing, which I think is a very cool concept.
Spend Time Working On The Aesthetic
As much as the quality of your content is by far the most important thing about anyone’s blog, it also pays off to look good. Find a format that you think looks good, and ask for outside opinions too. Make sure that the format is organised and different types of content can be found on different pages. Explore different blogging websites to find one that you find the most user friendly (I personally use blogger.com which is ran by Google), and pick imagery that you think shows off the content of your blog, and your own personal aesthetic; which will also encourage likeminded people to engage with your stuff.
Post Regularly
When I first started my blog, I only posted as and when I felt like it, which would often mean months of no content. People are not going to even remember that you have a blog or be compelled to visit it regularly if you are not posting on a regular upload schedule. This can be a daunting prospect, but it forces you to be constantly thinking of new ideas. Of course everybody slips up and life can get in the way, but if more often than not you are uploading regularly, the odd delayed post won’t be so bad. The engagement on my blog posts has gone up significantly, and continues to grow due to my regular upload schedule, because people can obviously tell that you are dedicated and will be more intrigued to keep up with your posts.
People Like Personal Content
This is definitely a tricky one because oversharing online is never a good thing. However, looking at the numbers on my blog, the engagement is far higher on more personal posts; ‘I Let My Flatmate Go Through My Phone’ and ‘Twenty Things I Learned In Twenty Years’ being some of my most successful posts. While I don’t agree with getting super personal on here all of the time, people are nosey, it’s just a natural human trait, so it’s ok to sometimes get personal for a post, because it’s almost definitely going to do well. This isn’t about exploiting your viewers or editing your content in order to get the most views, but if you think a post will relate to an audience, or you just have a super interesting story to tell from your life that you know people will read, then go for it - you are writing a personal blog after all, so it’s ok to let your readers get to know you better.
Go The Extra Mile
It’d be pretty easy for anyone to write a couple of hundred words on a topic and whack it up with no real thought or imagery picked out to make it look more presentable and inviting. This is not what blogging is about. Having a blog can often be a very visual thing, so don’t just make all of your posts look like bland word documents. Write in different colours or fonts, space out your writing into various sized sections, seek out appropriate imagery either online, or even better, go out and take your own pictures. People can tell when you have put more effort into a post and haven’t just thrown up the first thing that’s come into your head. The most successful bloggers that I’ve seen dedicate an awful lot of time to each post and that is what makes them so successful.
Take Advantage of Social Media
Whilst there are many an argument for why social media is terrible and rots our brains etc, one thing it is definitely good for is a cheeky bit of self promotion. It would be silly to have all of these accounts on various social media and not use it to let people know about your blog. You have to throw it in people’s faces a bit or no one will ever click. Someone might see your new post on Facebook and think ‘hey I’ll check that out’ and then completely forget as they keep scrolling. BUT if you then share it on your Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter etc, they are bound to come across it again that day, meaning that this time they will click and have a read. If you really want to get it out there, you can remind people various times throughout the week, to make sure you’re always getting the optimum amount of viewing each week. A little bit of pestering never hurt anyone.
Whilst I am still discovering things about blogging all the time and don’t claim to have a complete handle on things, these are definitely tips that I think would benefit anyone thinking of starting a blog. In an age where everyone is constantly online I think it’s really fulfilling to create something that is totally your creative project because the online audience right now is absolutely huge. Plus, writing something that gets good feedback after working hard on it is a hugely rewarding feeling, that I would love as many people as possible to experience.
What are you waiting for? Get writing my dudes
H x
Write About Your Biggest Interests
Being your blog, it makes sense that you should write about what makes you tick. There is no point in editing your interests or beliefs to tailor to a certain audience. Writing is far better when there is passion and interest behind it, so write about what you enjoy, and it will invite an audience who share a similar interest, and hopefully, this will create a community of likeminded people, all because of your passionate writing, which I think is a very cool concept.
Spend Time Working On The Aesthetic
As much as the quality of your content is by far the most important thing about anyone’s blog, it also pays off to look good. Find a format that you think looks good, and ask for outside opinions too. Make sure that the format is organised and different types of content can be found on different pages. Explore different blogging websites to find one that you find the most user friendly (I personally use blogger.com which is ran by Google), and pick imagery that you think shows off the content of your blog, and your own personal aesthetic; which will also encourage likeminded people to engage with your stuff.
Post Regularly
When I first started my blog, I only posted as and when I felt like it, which would often mean months of no content. People are not going to even remember that you have a blog or be compelled to visit it regularly if you are not posting on a regular upload schedule. This can be a daunting prospect, but it forces you to be constantly thinking of new ideas. Of course everybody slips up and life can get in the way, but if more often than not you are uploading regularly, the odd delayed post won’t be so bad. The engagement on my blog posts has gone up significantly, and continues to grow due to my regular upload schedule, because people can obviously tell that you are dedicated and will be more intrigued to keep up with your posts.
People Like Personal Content
This is definitely a tricky one because oversharing online is never a good thing. However, looking at the numbers on my blog, the engagement is far higher on more personal posts; ‘I Let My Flatmate Go Through My Phone’ and ‘Twenty Things I Learned In Twenty Years’ being some of my most successful posts. While I don’t agree with getting super personal on here all of the time, people are nosey, it’s just a natural human trait, so it’s ok to sometimes get personal for a post, because it’s almost definitely going to do well. This isn’t about exploiting your viewers or editing your content in order to get the most views, but if you think a post will relate to an audience, or you just have a super interesting story to tell from your life that you know people will read, then go for it - you are writing a personal blog after all, so it’s ok to let your readers get to know you better.
Go The Extra Mile
It’d be pretty easy for anyone to write a couple of hundred words on a topic and whack it up with no real thought or imagery picked out to make it look more presentable and inviting. This is not what blogging is about. Having a blog can often be a very visual thing, so don’t just make all of your posts look like bland word documents. Write in different colours or fonts, space out your writing into various sized sections, seek out appropriate imagery either online, or even better, go out and take your own pictures. People can tell when you have put more effort into a post and haven’t just thrown up the first thing that’s come into your head. The most successful bloggers that I’ve seen dedicate an awful lot of time to each post and that is what makes them so successful.
Take Advantage of Social Media
Whilst there are many an argument for why social media is terrible and rots our brains etc, one thing it is definitely good for is a cheeky bit of self promotion. It would be silly to have all of these accounts on various social media and not use it to let people know about your blog. You have to throw it in people’s faces a bit or no one will ever click. Someone might see your new post on Facebook and think ‘hey I’ll check that out’ and then completely forget as they keep scrolling. BUT if you then share it on your Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter etc, they are bound to come across it again that day, meaning that this time they will click and have a read. If you really want to get it out there, you can remind people various times throughout the week, to make sure you’re always getting the optimum amount of viewing each week. A little bit of pestering never hurt anyone.
Whilst I am still discovering things about blogging all the time and don’t claim to have a complete handle on things, these are definitely tips that I think would benefit anyone thinking of starting a blog. In an age where everyone is constantly online I think it’s really fulfilling to create something that is totally your creative project because the online audience right now is absolutely huge. Plus, writing something that gets good feedback after working hard on it is a hugely rewarding feeling, that I would love as many people as possible to experience.
What are you waiting for? Get writing my dudes
H x
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