It’s scary stepping into a world that many people have been navigating through for years. But that should not stop you. Yes, there are tons of blogs already out there. But you can never have too many blogs. Go ahead and add your voice into that mix and allow people to discover something fresh and true to you. But before you do that, here are some essential blogging tips that will help you start your blog. Because after all, blogging is more than just checking your grammar and using a free word counter tool. There’s a lot of planning, marketing, and strategy involved. But don’t worry. This guide will help you navigate the exciting world of blogging.
1. Establish a Brand
Having a consistent branding will help audiences remember you. It leaves an impression on your readers and promotes recognition. It also helps you stand out from your competition. To build strong branding, you must have a unique design and logo. Brand design is more than just picking a color and font. It includes the site’s layout and overall aesthetic. It should contribute to the brand’s identity and effectively display the blog’s voice and personality. Make sure to write in your voice to bring out your personality in your blog. Also, try to keep your writing style distinct and true to you so that readers can easily identify if a post is yours solely based on the style.
2. Produce Creative and Engaging Content
It is given that you should always produce quality content for your readers. At first, you’ll probably have a long list of ideas to write about. But eventually, you’ll find yourself scouring for a topic you haven’t written about already. You need to keep your readers engaged in what you put out. Rely on your unique voice and tell a story. Write as if you’re conversing with them. Don’t use difficult language. Write simply, yet effectively, that way you won’t lose your readers halfway through that long article of yours. And when you write, always keep your audience in mind. Find out which topics have the most engagement and try writing posts that cater to your readers’ interests.
3. Follow a Content Plan
Having a sense of organization will really help you in managing your blog. Make a list of topics to write about, their focus keywords, and their titles. Create a calendar for posting these articles so you will have a guide on which articles to prioritize writing. And make it a point to strictly follow your schedule so you won’t have a backlog. It’s also nice to keep a title bank for times that you have nothing scheduled to write. These should be topics that are not time-sensitive so it would be fine to put them on hold.
4. Incorporate Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
With so many blogs out there and even more blog posts, it’s a challenge to have your blog noticed. Applying SEO to your posts will help your blog rank higher on search engines. When you write your content, make sure that they are not only reader-friendly but also SEO-friendly. Use effective titles that grab the reader’s attention and also include keywords that people will type on search engines. When you’re thinking up articles to write, do keyword research to find out what people search online and write around that topic, making sure to incorporate the keywords in your content. Also, ensure that you have effective meta descriptions (short description of the article below the title as seen on the search results) so that people will click through your link.
5. Build Engagement
Make your content more engaging for your readers. Use visual aids, highlight important stuff, and make use of lists. Also, try your best to reply to every comment. This increases engagement. It also helps to make your posts easily shareable on social media.
6. Have a Social Media Marketing Strategy
Nowadays, who isn’t on social media? Using social media as a platform to market will help increase your traffic and visibility. To boost social media engagement, make sure your article includes shareable images. Someone scrolling on social media would more likely notice a post if there is a picture attached to it. It is also important that people can easily comment on your posts. On Facebook, for example, people tend to leave comments, which include questions and suggestions regarding the post. There is also an opportunity for readers to interact with each other in the comment section, and this increases engagement. Also, cater to your posts to the platform you will be posting them on. If you’re on Twitter or Instagram, make sure to add the appropriate hashtags so people can easily find your tweet or post.
7. Make Use of Link Building
In link building, you’re trying to get links to your site. Link building will increase your visibility on the search results and increase traffic to your site from other sites. One of the strategies for link building is to write about trendy topics or current events. This will bring in the clicks. Infographics and other visual aids will also bring in traffic. Another link building strategy is to have content featuring influencers or other bloggers since they will be sharing the link to your post on their sites.
8. Do Article Marketing
In article marketing, you market yourself through articles. Before you can market articles to other sites, you must first write for your site. You need something to draw readers in and make them stay when they discover your site. Marketing on other sites will be useless if you don’t have anything to show on your site. And when you submit articles on article submission directories, make sure that you write topics related to the ones in your blog so it can be backlinked to your site.
9. Try Guest Posting
Guest posting is when you write for other blogs as a guest writer. This helps build good relations with other bloggers, which in turn increases your influence in the blogging world. In guest posts, a link to your site will be included in the content you will be posting on the other person’s blog. This will allow loyal readers of that blogger to discover your blog through your guest post on their site.
10. Always Consider Reader-Friendly Designs
Lastly, your site should have a clean layout that is easy to navigate, whether the reader is viewing it on a desktop browser or their phone. It is important to consider the mobile view of the site since cool features on the desktop might not work so well on a smartphone. And don’t forget to make the search bar easily accessible to your readers. The search bar is one of the tools readers can use to explore your site and discover articles on topics they like. Make sure they know where it is with the layout you’ve chosen and also make it a point to use colors that are not harsh on the eyes and fonts that make the text easy to read.  
