Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
Having a successful blog is all in a matter of perception. Whether you’re trying to make money or just want to connect with readers, your idea of success is probably going to be different than others. However, using the best blogging tips for writers can easily boost your chances.
In fact, there are many that I wish I knew when I first got the idea to put myself on the Internet.
Sure, a lot of methods and tactics have changed over the years. But there are some blogging tips and tricks that transcend time. And if I knew then what I know now, I would be much farther along in blogging.
And yes, I get a little bummed out when I realize I missed out on a lot of potential branding of my blogs.
14 Successful Blogging Tips for Writers
So, these are things I’ve learned over the years which have proven to work out. Not only have these blogging tips helped my websites, but my clients have experienced incredible booms in traffic because of them.
Let’s take a look at 14 blogging tips for writers that will vastly improve the performance of your content.
1. Be Consistent
Perhaps one of the most vital of blogging tips for writers is being consistent. Not only does this demonstrate to Google that your blog is active, but your fans and readers will appreciate the content.
That is, as long as you continue to offer high-quality material.
Every time I followed a set schedule for publishing posts, it was followed by a rise in the search volume of the entire website. So it seems the more content I produce, the more all of my articles appear in search results.
If I had a lull in producing content one month, blog impressions would drop the next.
And if you have avid readers and followers, you’ll want to keep giving them something valuable on a regular basis. Otherwise, you could lose some of them down the road.
Whether you produce one article a week or push out one per day, it’s important to maintain consistency.
Of course, the best publication schedule is going to depend on your audience. Some blogs do exceptionally well with a few posts per month while others thrive on a daily post.
2. Pay Close Attention to Google’s Updates
Another vastly important aspect of blogging is keeping an eye on what Google does to its search engine. A simple algorithm change can eliminate any progress you’ve made.
For instance, I have a health and fitness blog that was continuously growing and doing very well. Then, Google launched an algorithm update that affected most health sites in August of 2018 and June of 2019.
Since those updates, I lost 500% of my traffic overnight! Literally.
In many cases, these algorithm changes will only affect certain industries or topics. In my case, the health and weight loss blog sunk like a stone in the ocean of the Internet.
You can keep an eye on Google’s updates by following the search engine’s blog or by keeping an eye on its Twitter feed. There are also a lot of experts who built websites for the sole purpose of Google algorithm changes.
A good blog to follow is SearchEngineLand.com.
At any rate, it’s in your best interest to keep an eye on how search engines view your content. You wouldn’t want to lose all of your traffic simply because of the industry you write about.
3. Length Doesn’t Always Matter
Some experts would have you believe that your posts “need” to be over 2500 words long to score well in search results. There’s lots of data to show how the average top-ranking page is full of content.
That’s not entirely accurate. Keep in mind that most of these studies are looking at the “average” of many.
In reality, there are posts out there with fewer than 1000 words that score in the number one position of Google. That’s because the posts are full of rich, high-quality information.
In fact, I’ve seen articles with 700 words get added as a Featured Snippet in search results.
If you can answer a question or provide facts in a quick and succinct way, Google and visitors will hold the blog in higher regard.
When it comes to blogging tips for writers, don’t try to pad the content to reach a certain number of words. This is called, “filler,” and it could hurt your search engine rankings. It could also affect someone’s impression of your blog in a negative way.
Let your audience dictate the perfect length of articles. You can see this in Google Analytics under on-page time and bounce rate.
Heatmapping is another good method as it allows you to see just how much of your content visitors are reading.
4. Pay Close Attention to the Competition
The chances of you having a completely unique blog are slim to none. However, putting your own spin on a topic or industry will set you apart. With that being said, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the competition.
After all, anyone who isn’t reading your blog is reading another for the same topics.
Take a look at how the other blogs are set up, the kind of content produced and how social accounts are used. This will give you an idea of how to engage your target audience while helping you build a strategy that works for you.
Like I said earlier, you want to be unique. What works perfectly for one blog may not work for your own.
Use the competition to develop a strategy specific to the people you are targetting. With the right content and information, you could surpass even the most long-standing blog.
5. You Don’t Need a Thesaurus
When I began my career as a freelance writer, I was accused of being, “too clinical.” I assumed you needed to flex your literary muscles to impress clients and use long words and college-level terminology.
Boy, was I wrong.
In reality, the average person in the US has a reading equivalent of 7th or 8th grade. This means advanced terms and word use is a waste on the Internet in most cases.
And this also plays into Google search as you need to make content readable and relevant.
Now, I’m not saying that you absolutely have to make everything super easy to read. In fact, your specific target audience will dictate what terms and words you can use.
But making content much easier to absorb expands your reach to who can benefit from your blog.
So before you start writing, have an idea of what your target audience will want in terms of the context. Let your readers help you fine-tune blogging tips for writers in terms of verbiage.
If you make it too difficult to read, people will spend less time on your site.
6. Be Personable
Personality goes a long way when it comes to blogging tips. Just look at some of the most popular bloggers on the Internet. Some of them are dripping with personality.
It gives the reader a sense of familiarity while making the author, you, seem more approachable. Think of creating content more like talking to a friend.
Being more familiar, friendly, and engaging is what turns a one-time reader into a newsletter subscriber. The same process is effective if you create a YouTube channel to accompany the blog.
Many people will absorb your content merely because of the type of person you are. And if you write as you speak, it helps demonstrate being personable. This is because you’re inflections and mannerisms are apparent.
Do you have a favorite blogger? If you do, why is that person your favorite? Often times, it’s because the author creates content that resonates within you.
It’s also why you prefer to read one expert over another even if they are writing about the same topic.
7. Do Some Networking
One of the biggest blogging tips for writers that I missed out on was networking. I am a bit of an introvert, so I really never put myself out there to connect with other bloggers or freelance writers.
Networking can do so much when building your website. And I’m talking about more than just doing a guest blog post for someone to get a backlink.
Meeting the right people can open a lot of different doors you probably didn’t even know where there. Collaborations, inspiration, sharing visitor-bases and much more can be found by connecting with others.
I’m starting this aspect pretty late. But I’ve already seen the impact of making new friends and connections that networking promotes.
For instance, I recently did a video with Chris Desatoff. Not only did we have a great time and talked to a few people, but he shared the video with his own audience as well.
This is aside from the professional connections I am making while going to WordCamps.[template id=”2087″]
8. Put Effort Into Being Social
One of my biggest issues today is not being social enough on sites like Twitter and Facebook. These sites are a treasure trove of new blog readers if you engage the right audience.
In fact, I’ve watched a new YouTuber quickly grow her target audience over the span of a month just by being active on Twitter.
As a blogger, you’re essentially building your own brand. For me, it’s WriterSanctuary.com. And one of the best ways to get your brand out to the public is to join in conversations on social media.
But what if Facebook and Twitter are not your things?
Never underestimate the value of MeetUp.com. Sites like this are all about connecting people in a myriad of ways. And putting yourself out there in the public, especially in person, can do wonders for your online presence.
And groups like this are exceptionally valuable as tips for writers. For one thing, you can connect with other authors like yourself.
Even if you’re not trying to reach celebrity status, being social goes a long way to boost the chances of success. Plus, it gives you a great chance to come up with new ideas for your blog and how you can take it to the next level.
9. Practice Good Time-Management Skills
Throughout the years, I’ve learned that time management is among the best blogging tips for writers. This is especially true if you’re a freelance writer. Without being able to schedule your day, managing the blog could easily become chaotic.
This is something that I still struggle with, and it’s been almost eight years since I started writing. That’s because my life is pretty chaotic as it is and things keep changing rapidly.
However, I found by scheduling my day better and getting rid of time-sinks is greatly beneficial. For one thing, I get more content up on the blog while still managing my client’s work.
Time management can come in the form of blogging schedules, managing chores or just making sure you set a specific time of day for writing.
An online tool I recently started using is Asana. When it comes to managing my career and my blogging projects, Asana works exceptionally well for maintaining productivity! And the best part is that it’s free and near perfect for someone who has one or two blogs.
I manage four and my YouTube channels from Asana.
10. Pay Close Attention to Search Console and Make Updates
Tools like Google Search Console have come a long way since I began this blog. And today, Search Console is one of my favorite tools to see how people are finding my content. Not only that, but Google will also give insights if something is wrong.
What makes this tool great for bloggers is how it will show keyphrases used to find your content, how often those articles are clicked and the average position of specific posts.
This will give you a chance to revamp articles to make them better. And one of the factors in Google today is keeping content “updated.” You want to deliver content that is relevant to today’s audience and information.
Spend a bit of time comparing the performance of one blog post against another. It can help you find common elements and make improvements.
For instance, if a blog post has a low click-through rate, or CTR, then you know you need to work on titles and meta descriptions.
What keyphrases are you missing in blog content? What devices are people using when your content comes up in search? These are questions you can answer in Google Search Console.
11. Don’t Focus too Much on Monetizing the Blog
One thing a lot of beginner bloggers focus on is how to make money from the site. Unfortunately, putting too much emphasis on bringing in money can lead to a variety of problems.
The odds of becoming an overnight success as a blogger are very slim. And since it takes an incredible amount of traffic to make a decent amount of money, it could take months if not years to reach financial goals.
This can be disheartening and sap your motivation to maintain a good blog. And some of the best tips for writers involve keeping yourself motivated.
Also, keep in mind how things like Adsense and affiliate marketing can affect the performance of your site. These systems use third-party data, which means visitors to your site need to wait for images and other things to come from another location.
It’s probably best to build an audience first and find out what products or services they would like to see on your blog. Solidify your target market before adding monetization.
12. Don’t Stress on Getting Instant Traffic
Among the best tips for beginner bloggers is not to stress over instant traffic. Until you build yourself as an authority in your industry or niche, it may take a while before people start coming in.
You’ll see expert articles or videos about how you can get 4 million visits per month. But what these experts often don’t tell you is that it takes a while to get that traffic.
They can do it because they already have an established brand.
Even if your blog grows by 100 visits per month, it’s still a success. Focus more on monthly improvements and don’t sweat the sheer numbers.
Instead of focusing on visits per month, try to improve on-page time and click-through rates. These, together, will then contribute to how many people see your blog every month.
That’s because the two elements contribute to visitor satisfaction and engagement. And the happier visitors are, the more attention your site gets from Google.
What can you do to improve the content? What kind of information are you lacking in a blog post? Are people clicking your page in Google search results? Find the answers to these questions and they will come.
13. Put in the Effort to Grow
Effort is the cornerstone of success in anything you wish to accomplish. And the more effort you put into building your blog, the faster it will develop.
I wish I would have put in the effort to maintain my blogs better over the years. Who knows what they may have become if I did. But the lack of effort made it far more difficult to really drive traffic or make money.
I’m not saying you should quit your regular job and dump all your time and energy into the blog. But, managing it on a regular basis will prove beneficial.
This goes beyond just creating content, though. You need to put in the effort to build content strategies, have ideas for marketing on social media and set goals for what you want the blog to become.
The amount of time you spend maintaining the site is relative to its overall success.
Case in point, WriterSanctuary.com has seen a huge growth in traffic since I started putting in the effort to build it up. In fact, traffic has doubled since April…just four months ago.
14. Experts Aren’t Always Right
And the last of the best blogging tips for writers is to understand that experts aren’t always right. Most experts will go off of base average statistics. While this is good to give you an idea of how to build a blog, they are merely averages.
Each blog is different.
From content to marketing methods, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all platform. You need to discover what works best for your blog. Perhaps you’ll find Pinterest to be more effective than Facebook for a target audience.
It’s OK to listen to the advice of experts. Just don’t put all of your faith into the experiences of these people. They have a different style, method and niche than your own.
In the end, it all comes down to your own target audience and what they want to read. Whether it’s long and drawn-out posts to short and succinct articles, let them guide you to better content.
And the better you are at addressing what your readers want, the more likely you’ll gain a following and repeat visitors.
Keep Track of Your Own Blogging Tips
A list of tips and tricks is good, but not everything will work the same way for everyone. It’s important to discover your own blogging tips for writers as you grow. You might find a few that turn your content viral.
Always keep growing and learning.
- How to Write, Edit, and Publish a Decent Book for Free - December 2, 2024
- Breaking My Record of 95,393 Words in a Single Month - November 29, 2024
- How Long Does It Realy Take to Write a Good Book? - November 27, 2024