How to get better at blogging
It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post related to blogging; I’ve been so busy on all my travel adventures that I haven’t had the time to sit down and publish informative blogging-related content. In the years since I’ve been working as a travel blogger, there have been so many aspiring blog writers and owners visiting this site that I thought I’d go back to basics and share some of my ideas on how to get better at blogging.
For sure, I’m a member of the camp that thinks of blogging as a mixture of an art form and a science, especially if it’s something you want to do to earn a living. It doesn’t matter what kind of blog is in question, there is no one right way to go about blogging; however, there are some critical things that are needed to turn a blog into a real success.
How to get better at blogging
Content Strategy
Creating a solid content strategy for your blog is the first step on the ladder to success; you could even significantly increase your chances of reaching the readers that you want with this valuable tool. According to a recent Content Marketing Institute report, which looked at the content marketing habits of B2B organizations, 60 percent of those surveyed who make use of a defined content strategy believe that it makes their efforts much more effective.
Although it takes some work, in the beginning, the benefits of properly defining a content strategy will more than outweigh the effort, saving you more time in the long run and increasing the amount of traffic you could generate.
You can create a content strategy for your blog by following these four simple steps (they apply to all kinds of blogs and bloggers, so don’t worry if you’re not planning to run a travel blog!)
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Define your goals – What do you want to achieve with your blog? Who are you trying to reach? Which brands, organizations or individual influencers would whom you like to collaborate?
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Market research – Find a couple of blogs that have achieved the goals you’ve defined above and research as much about them as you can.
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Generate post ideas and keywords – Your blog needs structure, which you can create by generating different ideas for posts and content. Doing a bit of research into the kind of keywords you should target to keep it at the top of search engine results will also pay off in the long run.
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Set a schedule and stick to it – No matter how great your content reads, sounds or looks, it needs to be scheduled properly. The last thing you want to happen is to lose valuable readers because of sporadic posts.
Responsive Layouts
When it comes to blogging in style, it’s also vital to make sure your website is responsive and adaptable so it can be viewed on any device, especially mobiles. Templates created with CSS3/HTML5 are typically the best ones, as unlike ones built with Adobe Flash, they are viewable on any device, even troublesome iPhones and iPads.
HTML5 powers all kinds of mobile-focused content, from YouTube videos to specialized games.
My Top Tips
Here are a handful of the tips I’ve picked up throughout my career as a blogger. I’m sure you’ll find them as valuable as I have!
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Get post ideas from your followers – If you’ve run out of things to blog about or are worried that your content is beginning to stagnate, get on social media and take a look at what your followers are asking of you. Maybe there are some questions that you could answer in an “ask me anything” post or a specific item that you could review; either way, if the idea originates with your audiences, you can guarantee they will read it.
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Vary the length of your posts – Although we all love reading an in-depth article, it’s critical to keep a certain percentage of your blog posts short enough to be read within the 1-2 minutes mark.
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Always be true to who you are – Remember that people don’t follow websites, they follow people! When it comes to writing and creating content, always make sure you stay true to your voice. Don’t try to be like anyone out there other than yourself!
