5 Newbie Blogging Tips for Success

Blogging tips from a new blogger?!?!?

What kind of blogging tips could a new blogger possibly teach me about blogging??

I have been thinking about this post for awhile now and wasn’t sure about writing it because I kept thinking, “No one wants advice about blogging from someone who is still learning themselves!”

Well, it turns out, that about 3:30 this morning my brain decided that I was uniquely qualified to share some of these blogging tips that have made my blogging venture, this second time around, a little bit more successful. I may not have thousands of followers on my blog or on social media but I have learned lots and maybe other bloggers might find something to inspire or encourage them to continue with their blogging adventures.

Blogging Background

Both of my ventures into the blogosphere have been mainly because I wanted to learn about a particular blogging platform.

Back in August of 2009, I up and decided it was time to blog and so created my very first blog on Blogger. I had no idea what blogging really was or why the sudden need to do it had hit me, but nevertheless, I did it. I learned the ins and outs of working with Blogger. I played with various themes. I learned some HTML so that I could make some minor tweaks to those themes. And I even hooked up with a blogging team on Etsy, where we supported and promoted each other’s handmade items and shops, trying to bring more awareness about Etsy and each other. That journey lasted til November of 2011…and continues to linger out there in the interwebs and surprisingly still has some traffic!

Then in June of 2015, I decided it was time to learn WordPress, so Scribbles & Musings was born!

And again, I have enjoyed the journey of learning the ins and outs of using WordPress as a blogging platform. Trying on and customizing lots of different themes. Using plugins to add various functionality to my site. Learning more about SEO, social media sharing and other blogging best practices.

5 Newbie Blogging Tips

Here are just a few of the things that I have learned so far on my blogging journey:

1. Blog about things that you enjoy. One of the key aspects of a successful blog is having regular and consistent content. Give your readers a reason to keep coming back. And one of the easiest ways to accomplish that is to enjoy what you are writing about. Write about things you are passionate about. If you dread the thought of sitting down to write about your chosen topic you are probably not going to enjoy blogging very much.  My blog is filled with things I like or things I enjoy doing, whether it is my love of animals or my obsession with gnomes or my dorky tech learning thrills…these things inspire me. Will these things make me a successful blogger, in a blogging world that is filled with mommy bloggers and DIY craft bloggers and amazing cooking bloggers? Who knows!? But I am enjoying my blogging journey…and isn’t that what it should be about?
2. Never stop learning or be afraid to try different things. Learning is what got me into this blogging thing! Granted, I am a bit of a dork and enjoy learning about things, especially tech things, so when the urge to learn about a blogging platform presented itself, I used that as a jumping off point. For me, I enjoy poking around the dashboard and finding what options and tweaks are available and I try them out. Just the other day I was poking around in the Settings, under the General tab and realized there was this new little option to have it snow on your blog til Jan. 4th?!?!? When did that show up?? You know I jumped all over that option and tried it out…and hence, it is snowing on my blog! Which is nice since it has been record high temps here in CT and does not look like we will be having a white Christmas this year.
3. Google is your friend. I am always amazed when people tell me, “Gee, I didn’t think to Google that.” Really?? I Google everything! I need to learn a new knitting stitch…I Google it! Have a question about how to care for one of the many animals that fill my house…I Google it! Decided to learn how to hula hoop…I Googled it! Want to learn how to take better photographs…I Google it! Want to get all fancy with my blog and change the font for my blog titles…I Google it! Chances are if you have thought about something…so has someone else…and it is out there, just waiting for you, in the World Wide Web. And I realize some people have issues with Google for one reason or another (I don’t particularly get it…but to each’s own) Use some other search engine…Bing or Yahoo or Duck Duck Go (ok, I may have to try Duck Duck Go just cause that is an adorable name that I had never heard of!) or some other alternative search engine and find out how to do things!
4. Build community. Make friends in the blogging community. Read other blogs and comment on them. Create a connection! And yes, this advice is coming from an introvert…I don’t do people!! At least not in the large, extroverted way…but getting to know people through my computer screen…that is something I can manage.  I think this may be one of those key things to succeeding in the blogosphere. Don’t be worried about the numbers of followers…create real connections…create friendships. I may never be truly successful with blogging in that I can quit my day job and make a living by blogging but if I can develop friendships with other people who enjoy some of the same things I enjoy and I can learn from them and get to know them and find a meaningful connection with some of them…then I have been successful in my blogging pursuits!
5. Be yourself. If you want to create engaging content that connects with your readers, chances are you just need to be yourself. Write as if you were talking to your friend. Tell them a story as if you just ran into one of your good friends and you want to catch up on what has been going on in your life…tell them about your trip to the seashore, what you got for your birthday or about the book you just read or how your day went. I think these are the posts that make the connections and create the friendships. They let your reader get a glimpse of who you are and what your life is about and they feel connected. They want to come back and check in and see what you have been up to.

These are just a few blogging tips I think that will help in your journey to being a better blogger…or maybe even living a better life. These days lots of life seems to be connected in some way to technology…but things like being yourself and building community and never stop learning…these things can cross over into life and make our world a better place to live in.

What are some of the blogging tips you have learned on your blogging journey?