I started my blog at the end of July 2009. This is the first blog I have ever had, and although I was fairly techie, the world of blogging and social media was completely new to me. I have learnt some useful lessons that I wanted to share here.

Spend a little time getting acquainted

I spent a little getting to know other bloggers and many of them were really helpful with giving advice about how to set my blog up and sharing their experiences. I made a point of commenting on the sites I enjoyed and also let people know my site was going to be live soon.

Be passionate about your subject matter

I heard this time and time again, when researching about how to set my blog up. Blog about something you are passionate about because, you will be writing about your subject matter a lot! Luckily I have found my passion and to date, I have enjoyed running my blog immensely, but I can see that this is great advice. Setting up a blog about mortgages just because this is a popular area for example isn’t going to last long if you are not genuinely interested in this area. Think of the bigger picture and whether or not you can see yourself writing about your subject matter in a years time.

Set up your blog

I did a fair bit of research beforehand about how to set my website up. I set it up thought WordPress and I haven’t looked back since! There are many resources online to help you with this and some bloggers who set up sites for free (usually if you but hosting as an affiliate through them).This is useful too, but personally I have enjoyed learning these skills for myself. See what your priorities are, to decide what is best for you.

Get on Twitter

Twitter a great way to meet fellow bloggers and network and let other people know about your blog. When I first started I was a bit shy, and it took me a little while to get my head around how it worked but I have found using it as a way to chat to people and have fun works really well. Be natural and reach out to people too. Also link to your new posts (you can make the links smaller here.) I might tweet about my own posts a few times a day – don’t do it too often and spam people but share at different times of the day to reach different audiences. Also others that enjoy your posts will retweet them and I also do this for posts I enjoy.

Be genuine

Interacting with people online is different to offline, but being genuine and real as with real life, makes the difference. Help others and don’t be afraid to ask for help. I have been amazed at the support and help other bloggers have given me and try and help others when they ask for it too.

Find your own rhythm

We are all different and have different schedules and commitments. I read a lot of good advice about how to build a successful blog but I am careful to only take what works for me. Some people say to grow a successful site post every day and work till your eyeballs bleed! Others say do it at a sustainable pace and don’t let it become hard work. I think there is probably a bit of truth in all of these posts, but I would say always make sure it works for you. There is no point working 14 hours a day and burning yourself out after a few months, or not doing enough work to get where you want to be on the other hand. Listen to others that have been there but ultimately do what’s right for you and your own situation.

Be consistent

I heard this message from so many bloggers when I started blogging and it really stuck with me. Readers like to know when you will post whether that is every day or once a week. Finding my own pace made a difference to this. I post at least once a week, which is right for me. I realised
I would rather do one good quality post a week than rush to do more just so I was posting more often.

Some popular bloggers like Tina at thinksimplenow post more irregularly but have a huge following, so again this isn’t set in stone. For me consistency has worked, especially when growing my readership, but again do what feels right for you.

Help others

Sharing other people’s posts, offering encouragement and commenting are all ways to get to know and help others. Commenting allows you to leave a link to your own site, which is a good way to drive some traffic to your site. However I would say again, try and be as genuine and real and write well thought out comments because you feel compelled to do so, not because you are looking for exposure yourself. People sense if someone is doing that and it can turn people off. Be real and offer value with all your online interactions.

Write great content

“Content is king” is something you will start to hear when you become a blogger and I would say it is very true. Obviously there are a lot of factors that influence how popular your blog will become. You can have the most amazing content but if you are not letting people know about it, then things won’t progress quickly so great content needs to be accompanied with getting your name out there. However fundamentally, great content goes a long way. Again be yourself, write from the heart and try and be fresh and original and offer value.