My blogging tips for first-time bloggers

So you’re thinking about starting your own blog but you think you won’t be able to do it? Don’t worry, all it takes to start a blog is a few good ideas and some spare time. I launched my travel blog three years ago without any previous knowledge about blogging. I’ve been reading several travel & lifestyle blogs for a while and one day a thought came to my mind: Why don’t I start blogging about my travels too? I had no knowledge about website design or SEO or any other technical part of blogging but honestly you really don’t need those things when you’re just starting. You just need some free time to learn the basics of how to set up your blog. Of course, you’ll need to make several decisions at the beginning such as which blogging platform to choose, whether to go free or self-hosted, whether to buy your own domain or not…. But I won’t be talking about that here. If you need that kind of advice, look further. Here are tips that will help you to grow your blog once you’ve set it up.

My blogging tips for first-time bloggers

 

Blog about what interests you

You might be into fishing or boxing but for some reason you think that nobody would be interested to read about that so you decide to write about cats even if you don’t particularly like them, but hey  everybody wants to read about cats, right? Wrong! If you’re not interested in what you’re blogging about, whether that’s fishing or fashion or cats, your readers will soon feel that and won’t follow your blog. Write/blog about what interests you and you’ll soon find readers who are equally passionate about your topic as you are and they’ll follow your blog.

 

Be persistent

It takes time to get noticed and to gain readers and followers. Don’t worry, if you just focus on your writing and continue to hit that publish button you will get noticed. Don’t quit just because you’ve posted 10 posts and have no likes/comments yet. Continue to blog and follow the tips below and your blog will grow.

 

Be consistent

Don’t write 15 posts in a month and then forget about your blog for months and then start blogging again. This is a big NO NO when you are just starting to blog. Of course, there’ll be periods later on when you won’t have enough time for your blog but at the very beginning you need to be consistent in order to grow your blog and gain followers. You don’t need to blog every day. Maybe you can blog once or twice a week, or four times a month. What really matters is that you have a sort of schedule at the beginning so that your readers don’t forget about your blog. It’s a good idea to have a number of posts already written before you set up your blog so you don’t have to worry if you don’t feel inspired or don’t have time for a new post.

 

Be sociable

Find blogs that you’re interested in and don’t be afraid to leave a comment on a blog post that you’ve liked. Read and read and read other people’s blogs and leave comments. Share their posts on your social media. And you know what? Some of these bloggers will read your posts too and leave comments and start to follow you back. The best way to get noticed at the beginning is to join a linkup party. What’s a linkup? It’s a link on a blog which allows other bloggers to post their links to their old or recent posts, whether it’s topic specific or not.  You’ll discover new blogs and perhaps even make new blogging friends by joining a linkup. I regularly join different linkups and that has helped me in the beginning to get noticed. 🙂 Check here for a list of travel linkups and here for a comprehensive list of blogging linkups.

 

Utilize social media

You need to promote your blog. That’s a fact. You need to write and publish your posts but you also need to share them on different social media channels to grow your blog. You need to set up your blog’s Facebook page or Twitter account or Instagram or utilize any other social media that you want. My advice is to set up at least two social media channels for your blog right at the start and to use them regularly. Don’t spend all of your time on them but try to grow your social media presence through time.

I am not an expert or a professional blogger. But I have been blogging for 3 years and I wrote this from my experience. Hope this post helps you too!:)

 

Happy blogging!

 

 

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