Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
Are goals for your blog important? I suppose that depends on if you want to build a popular site and generate a solid revenue stream. But what kind of goals are the best for beginners when setting up a blog?
Now, I’ve seen a lot of blogs without a specific plan that wind up generating a lot of interest. However, most of those are the exception rather than the rule.
If you want to use a website to replace a full-time income, though, you need to have a good plan in place. Because no matter which blogging niche you choose, you’re going to have competition.
I’ve also seen a lot of people set uncontrollable goals in the hopes of making it big. These, unfortunately, often lead to frustration and eventually someone giving up on their website.
10 Goals Beginners Should Use for a Blog
I’m all about creating realistic goals. Too many people focus intently on the wrong things. Today, we’re going to focus on goals that you have absolute control over that will help you build on success.
And the quicker you can get these done, the better off you’ll be.
1. Have a Plan for the Website (optional-ish)
Having an idea of what you want to blog about is one thing. Having a plan in place for what you want your website to become is another.
It is possible to build up a website without really having a plan. But it’s exceptionally more difficult, especially when you consider the sheer volume of blogs that are out there on the Internet.
Spend a bit of time and write out what you want your blog to accomplish at the end and the type of audience you’re trying to attract. It may help to even create a blog’s visitor persona to give you ideas for future content.
2. Experiment with Keyword Tools to Find Yours
There are a lot of keyword tools on the Internet, and most will come with free versions for you to use. Try out several until you find one that fits your specific needs.
Why are these tools valuable in the beginning? Because they will help you find topics to write about, which gives you the strongest start to your blog. It’s all about knowing what people want to read and then giving it to them.
You don’t need to be an expert right off the bat. Building a successful blog is more about the long game than trying to turn over a dime today. Spend some time with these tools to find the best one for you.
3. Publish 10, High-Quality Posts
This is part of why I suggest finding good keyword tools. You’re going to want amazing content to kickstart your blog. Don’t think that writing something willy-nilly is going to drive a massive audience.
See how long it takes you to write 10, amazing, researched, well-craft posts to set the tone of your blog. Afterward, you can get a feel for how long it takes you to write, the effect each post has on an audience, and where you might want to change up your writing strategy.
What if you don’t know how to write a good blog post? Find a keyphrase or topic you want to write about and search for it in Google. Then, see how other people are writing those articles. What can you do to make them better?
4. Set Up a Good Publishing Schedule (optional-ish)
You probably don’t need a good publishing schedule in the very beginning. However, it should be part of your future goals for the blog, something a lot of beginners gloss over.
This is because a routine publishing schedule keeps subscribers and followers coming back for more. This is especially effective if you were to install push notifications for whenever you publish a new post.
Not to mention that Google loves consistency. If your blog remains active, it’ll appear higher on the search results page.
5. Interact on Social Media at Least Once per Day
A lot of people don’t like the idea of using social media. Nonetheless, it’s an integral part of life for many of your potential visitors. It’s good to build your blog’s presence on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
If you don’t want to use social media, you can always do what I do. I have Jetpack’s Publicize feature enabled. Any time a post is published on my sites, their social accounts are automatically updated with a link and comment that I add directly from WordPress.
Theoretically, I wouldn’t have to even load into any of those social sites to keep the accounts active.
On the other side of the coin, though, you could network and meet some amazing people if you’re somewhat active on social media. I gained a new client recently because of someone I know on Twitter.
6. Set Up Your Email Subscription List
This one is a bit ironic for me. I know that I need to add email subscriptions to the blog, but I just haven’t done it yet. In truth, email subscriptions can work wonders for keeping your target audience coming back for more content.
I think I haven’t really set it up yet because I use push notifications, WordPress followers, and social media. Rest assured, though, it is something I plan on adding soon.
In any case, most email subscription services are free up to a certain point. For example, Mailchimp lets you send 2,000 emails per month for free. And if you have that many subscriptions, your blog is doing pretty well.
7. Use AdSense in the Beginning
Should you use AdSense? Yes. Although it doesn’t pay a lot, those pennies start to add up over time. In fact, I suggest all beginners make AdSense as part of their blog goals.
This is because AdSense is incredibly easy to join and add to your blog. In fact, you don’t need a lot of content to join AdSense, as opposed to some platforms that require 10,000 visitors per month.
Just remember that you’ll make a few cents per month at the start. But the more people who start visiting your site, the more money you’ll make. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with removing AdSense later for a better platform.
8. Write at Least One Guest Post for Another Website
Part of running your blog is making sure you have proper marketing. This means making sure that you can get as many people to see it as possible, which is why I suggest using social media.
Anyway, guest posting on another blog usually entails getting a link back to your own. This helps other people find your site while improving your rankings on Google.
Think of each link to any one of your pages as a vote. The more votes a page has, the more Google thinks it’s of high quality. Then, those pages will appear higher in search results.
Just make sure you’re guest-writing for blogs that are similar to your own. If you have a site about caring for gardens, it wouldn’t make sense to write for a muscle car blog. Google takes a dim view of irrelevant backlinks.
9. Put Aside Some Time to Learn SEO Content Writing
One of the most important things you need to learn about building a successful blog is SEO content writing. How your posts are structured, optimized for search intent, and readability are vastly valuable things to understand at the start.
You won’t learn everything all at once. Hell, I’ve been doing this for a decade and I am still learning new things on a weekly basis. But the more you incorporate search engine optimization into your content, the more visitors you’ll attract at the end.
I suppose this is connected to the keyword tools above, as they will help improve some of that content writing. But there is a lot more to hammering out a good piece of content aside from keywords.
10. Set Up Google Search Console and Analytics
Setting up Google’s Search Console is imperative. This is because Search Console is where you submit your sitemap while getting actionable data regarding how your content performs on the largest search engine in the world.
On that note, creating an Analytics account helps you identify what content you create is most prominent, where those visitors are coming from, and which posts need a bit of re-working.
These two tools can save you a lot of trouble while giving you valuable data for writing future blog posts.
BONUS: Have Fun!
One of the best niches you could pick for your blog is one in which you have an interest. This is because if you find the topics boring or mundane, your emotions will reflect in the content. Meaning, you won’t write as well.
Not to mention how much more productive you could be by writing about something you thoroughly enjoy.
Have fun with the experience while sharing your opinions, facts, and knowledge with the rest of the world.
The Wrong Types of Blog Goals for Beginners
If you notice, all of the goals above are centered around one theme: you control them.
The best goals for you to make are those which you can directly affect. Otherwise, you’re putting success or failure in the hands of others.
For example, the wrong types of goals to set up in the beginning include:
- Anything to do with “traffic”
You cannot force people to visit or read your blog. By writing quality content, the visitors will come. You can keep an eye on traffic, but understand it’s directly the result of good writing. - Anything to do with income
Much like reading your blog, you cannot control what people click or buy. You can focus on good reviews and content to coax them, though. - Anything to do with subscribers or followers
Looking to hit 20 followers of your blog? As with the other two points above, it relies on your content. You cannot force people to sign up for email lists or subscribe to your RSS feed.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having any of the above as a kind of secondary goal. Just make sure it’s not your primary focus.
For instance, let’s say that I want to reach 1,000 visitors this month. OK, but how am I going to go about getting to that goal? By writing high-quality content people want to read.
When you focus on things you can control, such as writing content, you’re less frustrated when you don’t hit that 1,000 visitors per month.
It sounds simple, but I know a lot of people who gave up on websites because they didn’t get thousands of visits within the first 30 days. Coincidentally, they also didn’t write much in terms of content.
Examples of Blog Goals for Beginners
With all of the above in mind, let’s set up some examples of proper blog goals that beginners can start focusing on right now. Of course, it really depends on just how committed you are to developing your blog.
For example, you can set a blogging goal for:
- Consistently publishing at least one article per week for the next month. Then, see if you can publish two per week.
- Writing at least 1,000 words per article. This means you might have to do a bit of research to give it “meat.”
- Setting aside at least three hours per week learning about SEO and blogging in general.
- Aiming to write and publish 12,000 words per month. It may sound like a lot, but that’s only 3,000 words per week or 429 words per day.
Start small and build momentum. It’s perhaps the easiest way to get into a good groove and find your personal limits. You don’t want to set goals that are too high, which can set you up for failure.
But remember, goals and challenges are meant to help you grow. Setting these too low is counterproductive.
What Kind of Goals Do You Set?
As beginners, you don’t need to set a lot of grandiose goals for your blog. The simple and easy-to-obtain objectives can lay the groundwork while giving you a sense of accomplishment to be successful.
Just make sure you’re creating goals of things you can actually influence. Words per post, published articles per month, and even keeping track of videos you watch to help you are valid goals.
It all boils down to the amount of effort you can put into making your site awesome for your visitors.
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