People blog for many reasons. Some blog to share their ideas and experiences. Some blog because they enjoy writing as a hobby. Others take blogging very seriously and treat it like a business. Whatever reason you are blogging, there is one common factor that people seek – success. Success can be measured in many different ways, such as how many visitors your blog has per month, how many subscribers you have, how much money your blog generates, and so on. In this article I will share 5 simple steps that are crucial to you becoming a successful blogger. Let’s get started!
This article is focused on blogging itself, and how to be successful. To learn about how to generate income from your blog, please read 7 Ways To Turn Your Blog Into $$$.
Step 1: Choose a Niche
I have read this so many times, yet I don’t follow this advice. I am not saying I am doing it the right way, or that there is a right or wrong way to blog. What I do believe in is having a passion for whatever topic or topics you choose to blog about. My blog, The Bittersweet Life, includes articles about many different topics, but they all have one thing in common – Life. I write about life’s issues and challenges people of all ages, genders, race and sexual orientation may face. There’s a little bit of something that everyone can relate to.
A lot of successful bloggers choose only one topic and present themselves as experts in that area. There are sites just dedicated to photography, recipes, parenting, fashion, etc. Those sites do very well, and attract visitors that are only interested in that one topic. This could be great for you because people will come back to see your latest content, knowing that it will be about exactly what they are interested in.
Step 2: Write Awesome (not just ok) Content
Write for the purpose of helping others, which means writing useful posts, not just a bunch of babble or nonsense. Be sure to be honest and real. People can see right through someone who is fake and writing a bunch of b.s. Think carefully about what type of audience you would like to attract, and what you have to offer.
People read blogs to:
- Learn something new
- Get inspired
- Find someone or something they relate to
- Be entertained
- Discover new places to travel
- Receive advice
- Read reviews…and several other reasons
Write from your heart and soul. Again, this is where passion comes in. I have read some people’s articles that are very boring and read like a textbook. That doesn’t capture anyone’s attention for long if they are falling asleep trying to get through it. Let your writing show your enthusiasm for the topic you have chosen. Successful writers evoke emotion in their readers. Create the WOW factor and people will come back for more.
Design and Readability
You have already put so much effort into writing a great post but you need to take it a step further. Your content needs to appear nice and clean so people can read it easily. Break your article into many paragraphs and use actual headings above each one (h2, h3, h4). This helps with search engine optimization as well, which is also of great importance to your success. Look at the examples below:
EXAMPLE 1
Blogging is great and I love it. I am so excited to start my career and possibly work from home one day. My kids are in school so I have the time to do what I want to do now. Blogging is also very therapeutic for me. It releases stress and gives me something else to focus on. My niche for my blog is photography. I love travelling the world and taking pictures of all of the beauty I see. Since I have traveled the world, I have so much to share on this topic. I have been a photographer for 25 years so I feel like I am an expert and have a lot to offer people.
EXAMPLE 2
Blogging
Blogging is great and I love it. I am so excited to start my career and possibly work from home one day. My kids are in school so I have the time to do what I want to do now. Blogging is also very therapeutic for me. It releases stress and gives me something else to focus on.
Niche
My niche for my blog is photography. I love travelling the world and taking pictures of all of the beauty I see. Since I have traveled the world, I have so much to share on this topic. I have been a photographer for 25 years so I feel like I am an expert and have a lot to offer people.
Which is more attractive and easier to read? This is a very brief example. Your article would have hundreds more words and several more sub-topics to be broken down. Can you imagine the entire article looking like the first example? Ugh! Nobody would enjoy reading it and would have no way to find their place where they left off, if they stepped away for a moment.
Step 3: Time and Consistency
Schedule time to give your blog your all. Don’t rush through it because it shows! Take the time to write meaningful content and select nice images that align with your topic. There are tons of people writing about the same topic. Invest your time to make your blog and content stand out. Although the steps to becoming successful are simple, success takes time and is not instant. With that being said, balance is key. You still have a life outside of blogging.
Write fresh content often. You can’t expect to be successful in any part of life if you get lazy. Your purpose for blogging should be to create value in people’s lives. When people value something, they generally want more if it and will seek it out often. Add new posts to your website at least once per week. You may even want to post new content on the same day every week to show consistency, and to let your readers know when to expect it. Consistency builds trust!
Step 4: Promote Your Blog
If the purpose of blogging is to help others, you need people to see it!
Long gone are the times when people picked up a newspaper to find out what’s going on, and sadly, books are not read as often either. The awesome thing is that the internet and social media have exploded. People spend a great deal of their time interacting on various social media sites, so this is where and how your blog will get noticed.
If you aren’t familiar with all of the social media sites to use, there are plenty of articles to learn all of that from. The internet is great for that! The top social media sites people use to promote their blog are:
Facebook Twitter Google+ Instagram Pinterest
There are many others to choose from as well, but these have been reported to be the most popular ones. You don’t have to spend all day tweeting and posting to each site either. There are tools to save you time and increase efficiency. Use a social media scheduling tool that let’s you send out your link/post to various social media sites all at once. You can also schedule your content to be delivered on many sites at a specific time of day, for numerous days. This is awesome since it allows you to do this once a week or month, and spend the rest of your time writing or doing other things with your life. Some examples of services that let you do this are Buffer, HootSuite, Sprout Social and Feedly. There are many more options so again, see what works best for you.
Step 5: Interaction
Blogging opens the doors to communication. If people enjoy, agree, dislike, or disagree with something they have read, they want to express themselves. This is a good thing! This is your way to connect and engage with your audience. It is quite useful to hear what people like and don’t like, to improve your writing skills and/or topics you are writing about. When people share how much they love the topic you chose, you will know there is a genuine interest in this topic so you can write more about it. Also remember, your readers are not just interacting with you, they are interacting with many people in life and are sharing your blog with others.
Reading
Read your comments daily and be sure to respond in a timely manner. Interaction builds relationships which are vital to your success! In addition to interacting with your readers, interacting with your fellow bloggers can really add to your success. Start reading as many blogs as you can in your niche and leave your own comments on them.
Writing
Another tip that can help launch your success as blogger is writing guest posts. Write your very best articles as you would if you were writing an essay, in hopes of receiving a college scholarship. Submit them to many websites, big and small to see what works. This will increase your exposure, as this will send more visitors to your blog! IMPORTANT: You will experience rejection but don’t let that stop you. Rejection is just a part of life. Stay motivated and keep moving forward. YOU CAN DO IT!
Lastly, listen and learn from the feedback and criticism you are receiving, but don’t take it too personal. There are some people out there who are quite negative and never have anything nice to say. Don’t let this bring you down or make you give up. Keep your feedback positive. Praise other bloggers AND YOURSELF, and the results will be rewarding.
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If you’re ready to start generating income from your blog please read
7 Ways To Turn Your Blog Into $$$
If you are brand new to this and need to know how to start/set up a blog please read
Create A Blog In 6 Simple Steps
If you found this article to be useful, please comment below. Thank you!
