Dear New Blogger: 7 Things I Would Like You To Know

Many people will take the wonderful decision to start a blog this year. If you are one of such people or you have recently started a blog, I will like you to know some things which will help you in the blogging journey.

I have been writing this blog for some time now. So I am qualified to share a few helpful thoughts with you. Consider them words of encouragement from someone who has been further down the road you are starting out on.

7 Simple things I would like you to know if you are a new blogger

1. Your decision to start a blog is a step in the right direction

Some people would start a blog and then begin to wonder if they are doing the right thing. If you are thinking like that, then the following words are for you.

I wouldn’t know the reason you started your blog, but one assurance I can give you is that starting a blog is a good step you have taken. So don’t give in to self-doubt!

However, if you are not sure why you started a blog in the first place, take some time off to get that settled. You don’t want your blog to be directionless and purposeless. Do you?

Once you have defined the purpose of your blog, believe in it strongly. Having a firm belief in your blog’s mission will empower you, encourage you, enlarge you  and deepen your expectations.

When I started this blog, I saw it as an avenue to share my thoughts with the world and also to explore my writing skill which has remained latent over the years of my life. But I soon discovered that blogging is also a journey of personal development.

Apart from the many other benefits you will get to enjoy from starting a blog, you will get to discover that blogging will help your personal development in many ways. I don’t want to over-flog this point because as you know, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. So ride right ahead on your blogging journey.

2. Read and write extensively

As you have embarked on the blogging journey, know that you have headed in the writing direction. In other words, a blogging journey is largely a writing journey.

One notable thing that writers do is that they read a lot. So if you want to go far with your blogging experience, you have to read and write extensively. By so doing, you will gain more knowledge, have fresh ideas and improve on your writing skills.

If you have the dream to be a published author one day, know that your writing blog is a veritable platform to hone your skills. You get the point?

3. Take some steps to make your blog more visible

Let me shock you with this little statement: despite all the efforts you have put in it, many people who should be reading your blog do not even know that it exists in the first place. That’s harsh, I know but it is the reality you are face with!

Your blog is new on the block hence I concede that it will take some time for it to gain due popularity. But if you think the world should read your blog because you have something valuable to share, I think it is worth it for you to take some steps to make the blog more visible than it is right now so that more and more people can discover it to read.

For instance, you should make sure your blog is indexed as ‘public’ rather than as ‘private’ to make it discoverable by search engines. Also when you publish a post on your blog, don’t go to sleep. Promote it on social media and encourage your readers to share it as well.

Those are just a few tips on how to make your blog more visible. You can find out others for yourself.

4. You need to interact with other blogs regularly

I already said you should read very extensively. Part of what you should be reading regularly are posts on other blogs – whether they are in your area of niche or not. I know from my own experience that there are many benefits of reading other people’s blogs.

Don’t be an island to yourself. Reach out and interact with other bloggers. Follow their blogs. Read their posts. Hit the like button on the posts you have read and liked.

Most importantly, leave meaningful comments on other blogs’ posts you have read. Both the writers of the blogs you comment on as well as some of their other readers may follow your trail to your blog to read your posts as well. And please, for goodness sake, don’t tell me you don’t care if no one reads your blog, because that would be a lie!

5.You will face some negative criticisms on your blog

Let no one deceive you, blogging is not a piece of cake. There would be times the feedback you get would seem like a bitter pill to swallow. But it is up to you how you would react to it.

Apart from the hard-work and personal discipline that your blog requires from you, know also that some people will harshly criticise you for it. There are those who will question your decision to start a blog. Some will dismiss your posts as irrelevant and some others will even attack your person.

Whatever kind of criticisms you may face, do not be discouraged and do not give up on your blogging mission. Just stay focused on your blogging objectives and use the criticisms to improve on your game. I tell you what, there are some good things about the negative criticisms you will get on your blog. Find them and use them.

Photo by Valeria-zoncoll on Unsplash

6. If you leave your blog, your blog will leave you

I don’t mean that to be taken so literally. But I do want to emphasise on the need to stay ‘close’ to your blog.  I have a personal rule that no day passes without me checking up on my blog. That way I am able to make draft posts, review pending posts,  or catch up with responses on  my readers’ comments.

I am not saying you should be like me; follow the pattern that works for you. The important thing is that you don’t leave your blog ‘unattended’ to for weeks or months. Your faithful readers will be left hanging if you do that!

In a way, having a blog is like having a baby. You have to nurture it, feed it regularly and ensure that it remains healthy. That’s what you should do to your blog too.

Respond to readers comments your posts. Write new posts regularly. If you choose to post daily, weekly or monthly as the case may be, please be consistent about it. To keep your readers coming back, you have to give them something good to regularly come back to.

7. You might see the need to start a second blog too

I already assured you that your decision to start a blog is a step in the right direction. So I take it that we are settled on that.

What about starting a second or even a third blog? That’s not a bad idea either. But you have to wait until there is a compelling need for it. Otherwise, your energy might be spread out too thinly across multiple blogs and you might stifle your main one to death.

When I started Victors’ Corner, I didn’t see the need for another blog until three years after. Being a personal blog, I had about six categories of posts I crammed into it. But I have recently seen the need to create a separate blog from the Poems’ Category. That has given rise to Living Poems blog.

As as you make progress with your current blog, you might sense the need to set up another blog, that’s okay. You are not doing that with the aim of shutting down your current blog but with the purpose of furthering another blogging objective.

Thank you for reading my suggestions to new bloggers. Let the conversation continue in the comment section. What will be your advice to a new blogger?

---

©Copyright 2019 | Victor Uyanwanne