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They say that hindsight is always 20/20 and that definitely rings true when you’re a blogger. Whether you’re a seasoned vet or brand new in the blogosphere, learning from your experience and the experience of others is always helpful. When it comes to starting a blog, it’s all about finding a balance between planning ahead and learning as you go.

It’s safe to say here at Influence IT Consulting (IITC) we’re always learning about what makes our blog thrive so we’ve put together a list of our takeaways and helpful hints just for you.

You’ll Never Run Out of Ideas

That’s right, we said never. You may think you’ll eventually hit a wall, but it’s just not possible. Something is always happening in your industry or business and there is always a new trend to write about or an old theory to revisit and update with a more modern twist. Keep this fact in the back of your mind so you can relax and churn out some seriously killer content.

You Don’t Need to Have Experience

But you do need to have skills! There’s more to blogging than just writing and editing. For example, you need to have marketing skills if you want to get your blog out there. Spend time learning about what makes content readable, stay up to date on social media and email marketing trends and dare we say it, start to familiarise yourself with Google Analytics so you can learn important numbers like how many unique visitors you have or where your traffic is coming from.

Design Matters

The look and feel of your blog sets the tone for your visitors, so it’s important to create a blog that is beautifully designed and easy to read. Start by choosing a beautiful blog template (if your website provider doesn’t supply one, ask), add categories to make your content easy to find and tags to categorise your blog posts. Sticking to a theme that’s connected to your blog’s focus is the way you’ll begin to brand yourself.

Be Specific

You’ve heard that content is king,  but niche content is what really helps you to succeed. Hone in on what you want to be talking about and deliver specific and high-quality content. Master the topic that you’re focusing in on while still staying down to earth. You can be an expert and still speak to your audience at eye level. Remember, most readers don’t like jargon, so keep your writing simple and clear.

Never Underestimate the Power of Good Images

When it comes to blogging, there’s a good chance someone out there is blogging about the same topic as you. To stand out, make sure you’re producing a variety of content. Have everything from interviews, guest blog posts and of course, stunning images. The power of high-quality images goes a long way in how you present yourself to your audience. Behind the screen you may be one person blogging away, but to your audience, you’ll appear to have a full-on blogging team when you’ve a beautiful blog with gorgeous images to boot.

Think Long Term

While it’s important to create content that is pertinent to the moment, it’s also important to think of your content staying relevant over time. If your SEO is spot-on then your blog posts will always have high search results. Incorporate long tail keywords that will likely garner more search on Google, like ‘How to’ or ‘What is’. And of course, stay up to date on Google’s rules and look to boost your blog with an app designed to drive more traffic to your site.

Be Social

We’re talking more than social media! Of course, the best place to start is by opening a page on the social media channel that has an audience most in-line with your own and share your blog posts in order to reach a larger audience. Sure, sharing your content on social media is important, but so is having a newsletter to keep your audience engaged.  Email marketing isn’t just about sales for eCommerce, it’s also a wonderful way to let your loyal readers know you have a new article they should look at. Spend time coming up with compelling subject lines for your emails and a strong intro to get your readers hooked.  Consider an application platform designed to help your content get even more eyes on it.

Being social also means staying up to date on social media trends and looking for new ways to boost your engagement. Find creative ways to get your name out there, like guest blogging on partner sites. Build a social media strategy that will hit every vein of your industry and will increase your blog’s presence.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Just because you published one piece of content doesn’t mean your blog is going to be the talk of the town. Create a content calendar and develop a strategy you can stick to.  Publish frequently to increase your traffic and note the times you’re scheduling to see when your audience is interacting with your content the most.

Haters Will Hate

As a blogger, you’ll need to embrace both the good and the bad. It’s important to listen to your commentators and take constructive criticism as valuable feedback, but don’t get discouraged because there will always be someone, somewhere with something to say. Using a comments app is a great way to interact with your visitors and gives your readership a place to communicate with you, proving that you can stand the heat!

You’re Not Alone!

Bloggers have a community to turn to for support, so make sure you join the conversation. Check out different online forums and Facebook groups. Communicate with your peers about helpful tools and trending topics and share your blog with other bloggers to get feedback.

Ready to blog with all your heart? Create your blog easily on your IITC or QuikstartWeb sites now or message us here.