7 Blogging Tips from an Amateur

 

blogger tips and tricks

My name is Zuzeeko from zuzeeko.com and I’ve been blogging since 4.49 PM on 27 September 2009. Given this short blogging history, I must concede that I am not a pro blogger yet, so if you’re looking for blogging tips from a professional – you’re reading the wrong article. This concession, however, does not completely rule out what I have to offer – because I consider myself a fairly successful amateur blogger.

If you’ve read this article this far, I assume you’re either just being curious or you’re an aspiring and/or struggling blogger like myself looking for a headway. I therefore encourage you to read further and pay close attention to the following 7 blogging tips from an amateur.

1. Pick a niche: A niche is your specialty. In blogging terms, it is a Blog category. What will you be blogging about? This is an important question many bloggers don’t ask themselves before creating a blog. This explains why a few months into blogging many run out of ideas and become inactive or end up writing about relatively unimportant issues like ”what I ate for breakfast this morning”. Believe it or not – very few people want to know what you ate for breakfast. The majority of blog readers are interested in writings that impact and add value to their lives. I recommend you pick a niche that would help or add value to your readers. Choose a category you’re passionate about so that you won’t get bored blogging or run out of ideas. More importantly, you should be an ”expert” in your niche. Do not come across as an amateur in your niche.

2. Customize your blog: Make it personal. There are lots of ready-made templates out there. Pick one and spend time customizing it so that it reflects your personality. You can do this by simply adding a personalized header and other free widgets available online.

3. Provide information about yourself: Give your blog a face! I personally hold the view that anonymous bloggers lack credibility, especially if your niche does not put you in harms way. A human rights blogger for instance, could be understandably anonymous because exposing certain violations exposes bloggers in this niche to the risk of being attacked or imprisoned by repressive regimes or rudeless individuals. But can you give me a good reason why someone who blogs about ”Success” , ”Parenting” or ”business” should be undercover? Your readers want to know who you are and why you do what you do. Provide this information in the ”About Me” section of your blog.

4. Visit and comment on other blogs: Offline, courtesy warrants you – at least where I come from – to return visits to your home from family and friends, right? This is applicable online as well. Visit other blogs that interest you and don’t forget to leave comments with a ”route map” (link) back to your blog. Many bloggers, in line with unwritten blogging ”ethics” will return the visit. Perhaps they’ll always return to your blog if it makes a good first impression.

I have visited most – if not all – blogs authored by people who have left comments on my blog.

5. Write for search engines: We blog because we want to share information or influence opinion. We cannot do this if we don’t have readers. One way to drive traffic to your blog is to have search engines – such as Google, Yahoo! or Bing – index your blog so that when readers search for information in your niche, what you have written on the subject would show up in search results. A few friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter will read your blog, but search engines will expose your blog to thousands of readers outside your social network. Hence, I encourage you to write for your friends and for the search engines. You can do this by mastering what is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is no coincidence that when you search certain words in Google, the search engine pulls up certain articles in the results.

Do not be surprised if one day you search, 7 blogging tips from an amateur and this article shows up.

6. Submit your blog to Blog Directories: Have you used a telephone directory? Phone numbers are listed on telephone directories.
Similarly, blogs are listed according to categories in blog directories. Blog directories have categories such as Arts, Education, politics, news and media, food and drinks, family, business, etc. Look for blog directories and submit your blog so that blog readers searching directories will find your blog. Blog directories will send you what all bloggers want – traffic.

This brings me to the most important tip:

7. Quality Content: You could implement all the above tips and get unprecedented traffic to your blog, but if you don’t have quality content, your readers will virtually “shake the dust off their feet” as they navigate away from your blog – never to return. Make sure your readers get what they’re looking for when they come across your blog.

Like I said before, I have been a blogger for 18 months only. I’m no pro blogger, but I’ve read tips, including the above, from the best and managed to attract thousands of page views and unique visitors to my blog.

Since I started blogging in the winter of 2009, I have never stopped reading and implementing blogging tips – including blogging tips from amateurs.

Keep in mind that amateurs also provide useful information. Why? Because amateurs learn from pros. Take the above 7 blogging tips from an amateur seriously.

Zuzeeko’s blog: On the Road to Success

 

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