Blogging Tips from the World's Most Meh Blogger
Guys, even though I'm not a huge, fancy blogger, I have been at it for awhile. As such, I've picked up a few different tips during my time in the blogosphere that me, the world's most meh blogger, will be sharing with you today.*
*disclaimer, just because I'm offering up these tips doesn't necessarily mean I do them myself (what, you expect me to take my own advice?? Haha)
This is what I'm talking about when I say I don't take my own advice. Guys, when you're on the internet, who really has time to look at an ugly thing? Nobody. Especially the type of people who actively read blogs. People like clean, pretty, aesthetic blogging spaces, not messy things with gross colors and unfashionable styles. So, don't make your blog look as horrendous as mine. I am well aware of its less than eye-pleasing nature, but I'm really bad with coding and designing things on computers. However, I'm hoping to find some help to fix this sometime this spring and actually make my blog visually appealing, so if you or someone you know is good at that stuff, let me know! Anyway, we humans are pretty shallow and generally if we see something that doesn't appeal to us visually we won't bother sticking around. That's just how it is. My advice is to make your blog look as nice as you possibly can, and maybe even ask for help if you are needy like me. :P
I think I keep to this pretty well (though it isn't always easy). Posting regularly is a biggie if you want people to stick around. Why should they stay subscribed to you if you seem to only exist once or twice a year? Posting often and at a regular time will keep people expectant and keep you on their radar. Psychologically work in them so you are impossible to forget! Mwahaha...
If you're a writer and running a blog, you'll be kind of expected to talk about writing. Or possibly some close companions of writing (reading, and maybe even blogging itself for instance). Not that it's ever bad to veer off track once in awhile. But, if you're a writer advertising yourself as a writer to other writers, it'd be to your benefit to write posts about...well, writing! However, if you have a couple side-interests or focuses (your faith, book reviews, cooking, photography, sports, travel, etc) there's nothing wrong with writing about those things too. They make you unique! And who knows, maybe they'll attract some special people of like-mind with you!
It's also worth mentioning that, as a writer, you may have a primary blogging audience of readers, in which case, remember to write a little bit for them too. Since you're posting on the internet, you're not just writing for yourself, but for an audience. So take that into consideration!
This can be hard, especially when managing your own blog takes up the social media time, but it's pretty essential to a good blogging experience. You will get very little from this venture if you choose to stick in your own corner and never venture out into the great community surrounding you. Particularly if you are a young writer there is a large and awesome group of people to meet with great blogs to read and it is so worth your time to do so! Not to mention no one will ever find you on your lonely blog-island if you don't step out and socialize with us!
If you're doing everything right but finding you aren't getting many comments on your posts, you might want to consider including a call to action, basically reaching out to people at the end of your post, asking them questions and encouraging interaction. It sounds unnecessary, but it really works surprisingly well. INVITE comments, questions, and discussion and you are much more likely to get it.
And there you have it! Blogging tips from me, the World's Most Meh Blogger! I'm sure you all feel SOOO enlightened right now. Do you have any blogging tips? Anything you've learned from your blogging journey to share? Or did anything stand out to you? Do you have questions? I would love to try and answer any I can! Let me know in the comments below!
(And if anyone knows of a great blog designer, send them my way!)
*disclaimer, just because I'm offering up these tips doesn't necessarily mean I do them myself (what, you expect me to take my own advice?? Haha)
1. MAKE IT PRETTY
This is what I'm talking about when I say I don't take my own advice. Guys, when you're on the internet, who really has time to look at an ugly thing? Nobody. Especially the type of people who actively read blogs. People like clean, pretty, aesthetic blogging spaces, not messy things with gross colors and unfashionable styles. So, don't make your blog look as horrendous as mine. I am well aware of its less than eye-pleasing nature, but I'm really bad with coding and designing things on computers. However, I'm hoping to find some help to fix this sometime this spring and actually make my blog visually appealing, so if you or someone you know is good at that stuff, let me know! Anyway, we humans are pretty shallow and generally if we see something that doesn't appeal to us visually we won't bother sticking around. That's just how it is. My advice is to make your blog look as nice as you possibly can, and maybe even ask for help if you are needy like me. :P
2. POST REGULARLY
3. STICK TO A PARTICULAR BRAND OF CONTENT (MOSTLY)
It's also worth mentioning that, as a writer, you may have a primary blogging audience of readers, in which case, remember to write a little bit for them too. Since you're posting on the internet, you're not just writing for yourself, but for an audience. So take that into consideration!
4. INTERACT WITH OTHER BLOGS
This can be hard, especially when managing your own blog takes up the social media time, but it's pretty essential to a good blogging experience. You will get very little from this venture if you choose to stick in your own corner and never venture out into the great community surrounding you. Particularly if you are a young writer there is a large and awesome group of people to meet with great blogs to read and it is so worth your time to do so! Not to mention no one will ever find you on your lonely blog-island if you don't step out and socialize with us!
5. HAVE A CALL TO ACTION AT THE END OF POSTS
And there you have it! Blogging tips from me, the World's Most Meh Blogger! I'm sure you all feel SOOO enlightened right now. Do you have any blogging tips? Anything you've learned from your blogging journey to share? Or did anything stand out to you? Do you have questions? I would love to try and answer any I can! Let me know in the comments below!
(And if anyone knows of a great blog designer, send them my way!)
WELL HI I'D LOVE TO HELP IF YOU EVER NEED IT. Cos lol I've only been at it for half a year, but my blog has gone through some pretty big changes ^.^ so gimme a shout if you can't find a better expert XD but like ... I HAVE STUCKK AROUND SINCE THE FIRST TIME I FOUND YOU SO I'D SAY YOU DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB??! But I do agree with all your tips :D
ReplyDelete- lisa @ inkwell
Yes! That'd be great - I'm hopeless with anything relating to graphic design, despite being somewhat of an artist. :P Something is clearly wrong with me.
DeleteAw, thank you! I'm so glad you have stuck around - definitely one of my favorite fellow bloggers! :DD
I love your new blog!! And all these tips are fantastic. It's definitely hard to manage posting regularly + interacting with other blogs + life. But they are all very important, so you just have to find a groove and stick with it.
ReplyDeleteI've used Kotryna Bass Designs! She has blogger and wordpress, and I've used two of her designs (probably a third when I want to change up the design in the future). They're mid range ($39), but worth it in my opinion. good luck!
Thank you! Yes, the balance to strike can be very difficult to find. I have 3 big activities/hobbies/passions in life that could all very well take the entirety of my time but I want to do ALLLL of them and balance is so hard. *cries*
DeleteThank you for the tips! Your blog looks awesome so I am totally up for taking your advice. ;)
hi! Your blog actually impresses me because it has more of a fancy Wordpress feel. At first it is hard to note this is a .blogspot address. I almost naturally stick to what I do, poetry. Sometimes I go off topic but for the most part, I use my poetry to tell a story . So I have a poetry based blog, BUT, I think if it just is posting your posts or wring indirectly to the point a blogger feels like you don't think they exist, that is where things need to be balanced out. This is just my personal experience. ALSO , in point 2, your final sentence amused me and I found it kinda funny. Keep up your good work you are doing on your blog. I found out about your blog today from a fellow blogger's blog and decided to visit.
DeleteHi Evan! Thanks for your compliments. Ooh, poetry! I'll have to check it out. I enjoy poetry and can produce some decent pieces (I think) when I try really hard, unfortunately I rarely do. I agree, thank you very much! I'm so glad you dropped by. :D
Deletethese are great tips. also, I love your blog design. (and not just because we literally have the same template. lol. no bias. it's just a great, minimalist look.)
ReplyDeletepicking a blog "brand" is rough. it looks me forever to be able to learn that, and honestly, I'm still not good at it. lol. I have no idea what I write about or how to market my blog. and I've been at it for like, 6 years.
but these are actually great. I try to implement these as much as I can. (except posting regularly. lol. oops. sue me.)
GREAT POST THANKS FOR THE TIPS
Haha, thank you! Minimalism ftw!
DeleteSAMEEE. I am probably the worst at marketing, like ever. I've been getting a bit better in the last year or so, more from posting regularly and more relevantly I think.
Posting regularly is kinda the worst sometimes, especially trying to come up with ideas of things to post regularly, no blame laid. XD
Thank you for reading!
I like how your blog does not have 500 popups and such also. A blog filled with pop ups, ads, and giveaway ads showing up drives me crazy because the blog's main content ( the posts.) is confusing and hard to read
DeleteUgh, yes, I totally feel the same. Any webpage with too many pop-ups is something I instantly click away from.
DeleteThis, in my opinion, was AWESOME. You had me nodding along with your tips and chuckling out loud in a few places. Well done.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I prefer the minimalist look compared to some of the garish color combos I've seen out there. And yeah, they definitely don't entice a return visit. I suppose mine isn't fantastic, but it suits me.
Thanks very much, I'm glad I could make a reader laugh! Don't think I've seen you around the blogosphere before, nice to meet you. :D
DeleteI agree, I actually had been utilizing a garish color combo right before posting this, I just switched cause I thought I'd look into new templates Blogger had and lo and behold, this one worked and looked decent. I like it quite a bit better on the whole. Ooh, I like your design (and LOVE your blog title)!
Nice to meet you too! And thank you for the compliments. ^_^
DeleteYeah, I've only recently decided to expand my blogging circles. I'm the one who posted to the Facebook group asking for blog links, so you probably got bombarded with notifications after replying. But I do better in a blog-visiting environment, and I wanted to make more friends with other fantasy authors. And hey, it worked! I found you!
Ah yes! I remember! I'm very happy you found me too!
DeleteSuch good tips! I think that really, consistency and reaching out are key. Even if you're the world's most consistent blogger, without reaching out, people won't know your name and won't read any of your posts. Conversely, if you reach out all the time and don't actually write consistent posts, people may check out your blog but they won't actually stay. It's a balance. :)
ReplyDelete