4 little blogging lessons I’ve learnt

I have pretty much bootstrapped my way to being a creative copywriter and strategic freelance marketer via studying, reading and experimenting. I wouldn’t have clients or make money if my approach didn’t work and for a long time there, it didn’t. I also cocked up on more than a few occasions.

So I’d like to fast forward you past the crap bits and get you to the heart of what it takes to make a good blog with the 4 little blogging lessons I’ve learnt (sometimes the hard way).

You with me? Great!

Blog Lesson #1: Plan ahead.

There is no point to a blog if no one discovers it, comments on it or it fails to generate leads for your business…unless you want an online diary.

So if you want a blog and not a tumbleweed collector, you need to have a wee think about what you will do to get it ready.

If you haven’t done so already, please read my sneaky tips to help you create blog posts.

Blog Lesson #2: Run your blog on your site

There is no contest in the “should the blog be on the site or hosted elsewhere?” stakes- put it on your site!

Why?

• Google LOVES fresh content and blogging gives you the chance to make that fresh content on a regular basis.
• It’s a simple way to keep your SEO alive by integrating it into the blog and therefore boosting the site in rankings.
• Search engines love social media and are becoming more and more enamoured with the social abilities of your content. So having your blog on your site with Tweets and Likes, Pins and other bookmarks also helps your site’s rankings.
• You want people to stay on your site, not go elsewhere. Think of your website as your own little experience to create. You don’t want to send them away, down back alleys to get the full Monty do you?

Blog Lesson #3: Make it easy to blog.

Everyone has a super magic formula they will try to sell you based on days you post, time you post, word limits, when you should respond to comments, what tags to use and so on. One thing I have noticed in first time bloggers is that trying to follow too many rules takes the joy out of creating the blog in the first place.
The ONLY magic formula is the one that promotes the most regular and relevant blogging.

The more comfortable you are, the more sure of yourself you sound and the more regular you are with your content the better off you will be. So if you feel like you are drowning under rules or are starting to dread blogging, strip it down to a place where you feel comfortable again.
If you like videos or podcasts, put them on your blog with descriptions. If you love writing big long essays, write them- but just work out ways to break them down to suit your audience because people don’t like to read big long essays off a computer (sorry!). If you want it to be quirky, fine, just make sure you put down some context around it to make it relevant.

Blog Lesson #4: Respect the audience.

You need to remain relevant to your audience so you can keep building trust. Think about who is reading what you write and pretend you are having a chat or helping them out with something and go from there.

Be yourself. Be controversial if you really believe what you are saying, be funny, clever or whatever.

Just make sure you write in a way that is authentic because I cannot stress how awful it is to read stuff where writers are pretending to be all that and a bag of chips. It’s cringe worthy!

Bottom Line:

The best blogging lessons can be summed up in one sentence-

An active blog with heaps of relevant content that is easy to find is a really helpful thing to have.

If you need another special confidence booster, check this out.