When you publish a blog post, you want people to come and read that post. It can take you anywhere from 2-4 hours or even more to create a blog post that you love. That is a lot of time dedicated to creating that perfect post for your readers.
At the beginning of my blogging journey, I had no rhyme or reason to my blog posts. I just wrote what came pouring out of me. At the beginning that suited me just fine because I had a lot of things to say.
That also meant that I didn’t have a plan for writing my posts. It meant that I was inconsistent. It meant that I was leaving my blogging up to inspiration and if I didn’t have inspiration, I didn’t write. Not a good way to blog.
Over the past 12 months, I have gotten serious about my blog. I have changed directions but when I was in the process of doing that, I was terrified that I wouldn’t know what to blog about. I was stuck in the creative process because I thought that my inspiration wouldn’t serve me. I thought that it was going to dry up and that I would have a hard time writing.
I avoided making a plan. I avoided completely switching my blog until 6 months later when I realized that the advice I got 6 months earlier was right. I needed to focus. I wasn’t choosing 1 part of me and leaving the other part behind. I was still able to combine all the pieces of me into a blogging blog.
You are probably wondering what this has to do with getting better blogging results. Well, EVERYTHING. You can learn from my struggle. You don’t have to make the same mistakes (even though you may just do that and it is completely ok).
3 SIMPLE STEPS TO GET BETTER BLOG RESULTS
Before I completely rebranded in June of this year, I was writing a combination of self-care/self-love blog posts and blogging blog posts. I always saw these as 2 huge parts of me and I didn’t want to have to say goodbye to one to be good at what I do.
Despite advice telling me that I needed to choose, I held onto both with all my might and in June, I finally realized that I needed to make a change.
1| I needed to change to focus on 1 niche. For me, that meant deciding if I wanted to continue with teaching women how to blog and grow that business or deciding if I wanted to continue with self-care/self-love blogging and somehow make a business from that. I couldn’t do both.
I couldn’t do both because they were 2 different audiences. I was at the point that I was confusing my readers and needed to focus on one or the other. That didn’t mean that I had to get rid of the self-care portion at all. It meant that the focus was on blogging with self-care sprinkled in.
It made such a difference. I was able to focus on how I wanted to grow my business. Focusing on a niche helped me choose how to communicate more efficiently with my readers. Choosing a niche will help you to build your blog with your ideal reader.
Remember that your niche can change. You can find that throughout the months or even years of blogging about one thing, you know that there is a better niche option. Do not be afraid to change. If you are looking for ways to narrow down your blogging list, here are 5 lists to create.
2| Up your blogging game. By this step, I mean that you need to increase the amount you are blogging. Now that you have been consistent with the number of posts you are currently writing, increase that. Of course, this will all depend on how much more you can do.
Let’s say that you are currently writing once a week, try and up it to 2 times a week. You could even go 1 blog post 1 week and then 2 blog posts the next week and rotate between that schedule.
Let’s say that you are currently writing twice a week, try and up it to 3 times a week. Again you could do the rotation like above where you write 2 blog posts one week and 3 blog posts the next week.
Any way that you can, try and fit in more blog posts per month. Start small. Increase by 1 every other week and see how you are doing with that. Consistency means that you are putting more content out there for your readers. Make sure that you continue with quality content. Quality matters more than quantity.
3| Be yourself. I know! I say this over and over again. Don’t be the blogger that just puts words on her website without any life behind them. You will lose readers. Readers want to be entertained, encouraged and respected when they come to a site. They want to get to know the reader.
When my readers come to my website, I hope that they leave knowing who I really am. How I talk in my blog posts is how I talk in real life. I am honest and open. I will share the unpleasant with you. I will share my wins with you.
My blog posts are dripping in me. They are who I am and they represent my business perfectly. Let your readers get to know who you are. Don’t focus only on the facts. Yes, they are important but so is the life that you put behind those facts.
BLOGGING DOESN’T END WHEN YOU HIT PUBLISH
The most important part of blogging comes after you hit publish. I am sure we all wish that we would hit the publish button and flocks of readers would descend on our site to read our words. But in reality, that is NOT at all what blogging is like.
Yes, I have readers that come back to read every post but I still have to remind them that my post is there. Everyone is busy. Everyone has a life to live and it doesn’t revolve around your blog.
Make sure that you are putting your hard work out there. You are sharing with your social media. You are sharing to Facebook groups that allow you to. You are sharing with your personal FB page if you can. Ask friends and family to share that post for you.
The work begins after you hit publish. Let the world know what you are writing about. Be proud and don’t be afraid to share EVERYWHERE that you can. If you think a friend will benefit from a post, send it directly to her.
BECOMING A BETTER BLOGGER
You will become a better blogger with time. Keep moving forward and every month you will begin to see how much better you are doing. Don’t give up. Blogging isn’t an overnight success. Blogging takes time and dedication.
Keep showing up.
Keep being brave.
Keep being yourself.
If you are looking for a way to organize your thoughts when writing your blog posts. Join my newsletter (I only send you a post once a week) and you can get my FREE blog post creation map. It helps you organize your thoughts before you even begin writing your blog post.
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