SEO Hosting Blog

I’ve been blogging now for a few years at various sites around the web. Some of the blogs I write on are for pay (I’m a freelance writer for hire) and others are my personal pet projects on blogs I’m trying to grow myself.

During the past few years, I’ve learned quite a bit about blogging. Hell, I’m still learning things today, and I’m sure a couple of years from now, I’ll still be learning even more stuff I wish I’d known earlier.

There are a lot of things I wish I’d known when I was just starting out as a blogger, but as they say, experience is the best teacher. Hopefully though, there are some newbie bloggers out there reading this post who can learn something from my experiences.

Here are 5 lessons I’ve learned as a blogger.

1. The “design” of your posts matters—I’ve heard the phrase “content is king” so many times that it makes me want to put my head through a wall. Yes, content is important. Very important. But good content alone will not be enough to bring in readers by the droves. This is especially true if you’re trying to get a post to go hot on a site like Digg or ReddIt.

Simply put, the look of your posts matters too. You need to have a clean blog design, and your posts should contain images and be laid out in an easy-to-read manner.

2. Overnight success just isn’t realistic—Sure, we’ve all heard of blogs that have come out of nowhere to grab instant success (e.g. People of Walmart), but for the typical blogger, that’s just not how it goes. Unless you have a really special idea, it’s going to take you several months before you start building up a good audience. It might take even longer. You need to understand this in the beginning so that you don’t lose hope and give up.

(more…)

For the past few years, I’ve been blogging on a daily basis. I don’t just blog here on the SEO Hosting blog; I also contribute to many other marketing blogs. I even write for some blogs in totally other subjects (health, shipping, real estate, and more). Of course, getting paid to blog is certainly one reason I’ve been so active.

But blogging is more than a job for me. It’s something I truly love to do. I’m passionate about it, and I’m always trying to improve my blogging skills. I still have a lot of improving to do, but I think I’ve learned quite a bit over the past few years. Today, I want to share some of the blogging lessons I’ve picked up along the way.

Lesson #1: You have to write regularly if you want to get better

Michael Jordan didn’t become the world’s greatest basketball player by sitting on his butt all day long. He was famous for his work ethic. He practiced longer than everyone else, and as a result, he became better than all of his peers.

The same concept applies to blogging. You can’t expect to become a better blogger if you don’t spend time writing. I’m not saying you have to write a new post every day, but you need to blog on a regular basis. You don’t even have to post everything you write. Just write and push yourself so you can grow into a strong writer.

On a side note, you should also be reading other blogs to see what works for other people. Don’t rip off their style, but you can pick up helpful traits from others that will make you into a better-rounded blogger.

Lesson #2: It’s important to mix things up so you don’t fall in a rut

I admit it. I tend to fall back on the list style post a little too often. Hell, I’m doing it right now, but I have been making an effort to mix things up. I try to write differently formatted posts, and I try to play around with different styles of writing (e.g. straightforward vs. telling a story).

Don’t be afraid to try something new. It’s the best way to grow into the blogger you want to become.

Lesson #3: Passion is more important than knowledge

A while back, I wrote a post talking about the importance of passion in blogging. Rather than repeat everything I said in that post (I encourage you to go back and read it), let me just say that I truly believe passion trumps even knowledge in terms of blogging skills. That’s not to say you can be successful by writing about things you don’t know about, but my point is that even if you’re an expert, if you lack passion for your subject, your blog won’t last. You won’t be able to create quality, interesting content on a daily basis for years to come.

Lesson #4: Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come

Too many new bloggers think that blogging is some miracle tool that will get their company in front of millions of eager customers with just a few short posts. That’s not how it works. There are hundreds of millions of blogs out there. Whatever subject you’re blogging about, you can be sure there is plenty of competition. So, just starting your blog isn’t enough to get results.

You have to put the time and effort into truly promoting your blog. This means not only writing quality content, but also networking with social media influencers who can help you promote your posts far and wide.

Lesson #5: Readers do judge a book (blog) by its cover (design)

Your blog’s design is important. You can’t expect to draw readers in with a boring, poorly designed website. That’s not to say you need to drop thousands of dollars on a custom WordPress theme, but you do need to use a catchy, creative theme that fits the tone and personality of your blog. Check out these 5 SEO friendly WordPress themes for some ideas.

How long have you been blogging? What have you learned during this time?