The Long Journey of Blogging: 35 Tips for Beginner Bloggers

You finally did it – you registered your shiny new blog and are ready to start creating content. Congratulations, this is worth celebrating! However, with great platforms comes great responsibility. Blogging is rewarding but requires patience and diligence to grow.

Before you publish your first post, let’s overview 50 tips to set you up for blogging success:

Have Patience – Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

Building an audience and authority takes time. Create content consistently for at least a year before expecting significant organic traffic. Don’t get discouraged by initial low viewership.

Patience is key in the long journey of blogging. It can take months or even years to build a sizable, engaged audience. Stay committed even when growth seems slow initially.

Avoid Overusing AI Content

While AI tools such as ChatGPT can help generate blog post ideas and paragraphs, rely too heavily on artificial intelligence and risk decreasing quality or hitting duplicate filters. Produce the majority of your content original. AI can be a useful assistant, but should not be the main creator.

Utilize Free SEO Tools

Subscription SEO tools promise the world yet free alternatives like Google Search Console and SEMrush’s and Ahref’s free versions will suffice initially. Invest later once earning revenue. Focus first on creating great content rather than expensive toolsets.

Install Google Analytics

Understanding your blog traffic is key to growth. Google Analytics offers insights on visitors, sources, site content effectiveness, and more. Install it early before launching your first post. Analytics should be set up from day one to inform content efforts.

Produce Long-Form Content

Posts over 1,500 words not only play favorably with search engine algorithms but allow you to explore topics more thoroughly while establishing expertise. Think long-term value. Long-form, in-depth posts should make up the majority of content.

Also, Create Some Short Snackable Content

Not every post needs to be epic length. Well-placed, short, and useful 500-700 words articles provide easily digestible value while showcasing your versatility as a blogger. Short posts have their place too for quick learning.

Emphasize E-E-A-T

Google ranks pages higher demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Research extensively, cite qualified sources, and write authoritatively to improve E-E-A-T signals. Build knowledge and cite sources to earn ranking trust.

Avoid the Lure of Shortcuts

Buying backlinks, stuffing keywords, and publishing low-quality recycled content may temporarily boost views but jeopardize search rankings long-term. Take it slow and steady. Authentic content and audience building are always worth the effort.

Study Your Competitors

Learn both positive and negative lessons from blogs successfully serving your target audience. What content resonates? How is their site designed? Where might they be missing opportunities? Analyze competitors for strategic insights to apply.

Diversify Traffic Sources

While organic search should provide the majority of visitors over time, also promote early content on social channels like Pinterest, seek collaborations, and guest post on industry sites to generate initial non-Google traffic. Don’t rely solely on Google long-term.

Start with One Primary Blog

Juggling multiple blogs as a beginner risks spreading efforts too thin. Perfect your craft and audience targeting with one site first before expanding your blogging empire. Give full focus to one blog until skills justify more.

Be Selective About Plugins

Resist plugging in every cool code snippet or plugin just because. Limit to essential functionalities like security, speed, SEO, and analytics until blog revenue justifies more. Too many plugins slows performance. Prioritize.

Structure Content Intentionally

Guide readers smoothly through posts with ample paragraph breaks, clear descriptive headings, useful subheadings, nicely chunked sections and supplemental visuals scattered strategically. Make skimming easy through strong structure and formatting.

Get Specific About Keywords

Build content around one primary keyword or phrase supplemented with related secondary terms. This helps focus relevancy while expanding semantic richness to improve rankings. Target one primary and a few related keywords per post.

Link Internally Liberally

Organically referencing other relevant articles from your blog strengthens topical authority while enabling readers to easily navigate to additional resources once interested. Feature other on-topic posts from your site frequently.

Format Images Properly

Not all photos are created equal. Compress file sizes, rewrite filenames for clarity, add descriptive alt text, use width and height specs for proper loading, and legally source/attribute images. Optimize visual assets for performance and accessibility.

Feature Multi-Media Elements

Augment text-based content with infographics, statistics, quotes, polls, charts and videos. These interactive elements break up lengthy posts while providing value. Engage readers in multiple ways like visuals and social sharing.

Write Conversationally

Stodgy, overly formal content doesn’t cultivate readership emotional connections. Write like you speak to directly engage visitors as you educate them on topics you’re passionate about. Build rapport and trust through an approachable style.

Update and Refresh Old Content

Just because a post is years old doesn’t mean it can’t still attract visitors. Freshen archived content by checking facts, expanding sections, answering questions and linking related newer articles. Show readers your older content is still valuable and relevant.

Make Site Accessible for All

Compose posts readable at an 8th grade level, enable alt text for visuals, use descriptive link anchor text, ensure color contrast passes standards and enable closed captioning where applicable. Prioritize inclusive UX and content delivery.

Promote Smartly on Social

Random blasting links on social rarely convert. Instead, share snippets and summaries tailored to the specific platform community tendencies and stagger posts throughout the day when fans are active. Strategically showcase your best material socially.

Guest Post – But Avoid Spamming

Securing a few posts on reputable industry sites can widen exposure among new audiences yet be selective about outlets and create tailored, valuable content – no duplicated articles. Pitch guest posting opportunities selectively for targeted amplification.

Make Site Mobile-Friendly

Enable a responsive theme allowing optimal viewing on smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Confirm elements resize, fonts adjust easily without pinching/scrolling and pages load quickly on mobile. Mobile optimization is absolutely necessary in the modern age.

Measure Meaningful Metrics

Judging success simply by views misses the opportunity for improvement. Monitor dwell time, bounce rate, conversions, and other behavior data through Google Analytics beyond vanity metrics. Understand precisely how visitors engage with content.

Schedule and Plan Content in Advance

While spontaneity leads to some great articles, having a bank of thoroughly planned and outlined posts ready to publish ensures you always have valuable content in the queue, especially around busy periods. Use editorial calendar tools to map out upcoming posts weeks or months ahead to maintain consistent publishing.

Explore Different Post Formats

Beyond the traditional written article style, consider mixing up formats with list posts, product reviews, video essays, interviews, research studies breakdowns, case studies analyses, how-to tutorials, or commentary response posts. Cater to different learning preferences.

Pay Attention to Readability

An intimidating dense wall of text overwhelms readers, decreasing engagement. Break content into digestible sections with ample paragraph spacing and increase your font size slightly if needed. Review Flesch-Kincaid readability metrics. Your goal is to inform clearly, not impress through the complexity of prose.

Highlight Key Takeaways

While in-depth content has its place, many readers want easily actionable knowledge extracted for them too. After exploring a topic, provide concise numbered, bulleted or bold font highlighted key takeaways summing up crucial lessons learned to maximize retainment.

Backlink to Referenced Research

Increase credibility by linking directly to referenced research papers, case studies, statistics, or quotes referenced within the article text. This shows accountability to proper due diligence done while making follow-up reading easy for those interested in examining source material firsthand.

Compose Evergreen Content

While real-time trending stories have appeal, focus more posts around topics of recurring interest less dependent on fleeting headlines that retain value months or years later. Answer common questions and address widespread concerns facing your niche audience consistently over time.

Dive Deeper with a Series

Rather than constantly covering new ground in isolated posts, explore select themes extensively across multiple installments like a miniseries. Link posts backward and forward while providing broad value individually or collective takeaways when read sequentially. Series journey deeper inviting binge consumption.

Outline Prior to Drafting

Beyond a defined headline and opening hook, formally outline key sections with supporting points to expound upon later. This provides guardrails preventing the writer from wandering off course in early draft stages, maintaining topical clarity and continuity from start to finish before a single word gets written minimizing rework downstream correcting deviations.

Add Personality Through Voice

While factual information is essential, infuse posts with some appropriate humor, emotion, passion, or positivity. This authenticity forges connections with readers who relate more deeply to the real person behind the content instead of emotionally detached cold analysis. Let true feelings for topics emerge.

Craft Content Around Questions

Ground posts around common inquiries and pain point your audience poses either directly or expressed indirectly through behaviors. Posts solving frustrations phrase as questions readers likely ask serve well for search engine optimization while showcasing your dedication addressing needs.

Start with examining their most pressing knowledge gaps impeding progress. What confuses them? Where do they struggle? Base helpful content off addressing those opportunities.

Persist Through Early Challenges

Launching an effective blog with a sizable readership doesn’t occur linearly without some missteps, technical hassles, or posts missing their potential along the way. Stay determined through initial shortcomings realizing these unfortunate frustrations and setbacks that accompany any endeavor eventually give way to improved skills and processes born from weathering those storms.

Patience and persistence set apart those who realize long-term blogging success. This too shall pass. Stay positive. The road to blogging prosperity unfolds one step after another.

Next Steps:

Now that you’re equipped with fundamental tips and best practices, it’s time to start applying them through your blossoming blogging journey. Remember, blogging is a marathon requiring commitment, consistency, and patience.

But by providing consistent value to your audience, building relationships, and continuously honing your craft, you will reap the personal and professional rewards over time. Consider this the first leg of a lifelong, rewarding blogging adventure that can change lives. Time to start writing!