I have been blogging for over 2 years now, and I wanted to share the lessons I learned and also give insight for new bloggers.
Blogging Takes Time
From coming up with a blog post idea, writing and editing the post, taking and editing pictures, and sharing on social media, it takes a lot of time that I did not realize when I first started blogging. At first I was able to write 3 posts a week, but now with my master’s program and before then my web development course, I can manage 2 posts. If you have school, work, a family, etc. do consider that it does take time to blog.
Quality Over Quantity
Going back to my first point, in the grand scheme of things, it does not matter if you blog once a week, 3 times a week or every day. As long as your posts are good quality, then you are doing a great job blogging. To write a good quality post I first write down all my thoughts in a draft post without caring about grammar. The main point of the first draft is to get my thoughts down so I will often use short sentences or bullet points. After I write down all my thoughts, I go back and make them into actual sentences and correct any grammar mistakes I notice. I also use the built-in spell check to check for spelling mistakes. Once I am done with the editing I will preview the blog post and read through it and correct any more mistakes I find. When I preview the post I also check that the images I included are formatted nicely. Then I run my post through a grammar checker to see if I missed any commas or made any other grammatical errors. The last step before I publish my post is I add a featured image, a category, and tags. After that I am done and publish my post!
Consistency is Key
Another reason why it does not matter how many times you post a week is because consistency is important. If other bloggers know you post once a week, then they will keep coming back to read your post. However if you post 3 times one week, none the next, then 1 time the following week, it is harder for bloggers to follow your blog if they do not know when your next post is going to be. I like to keep a tentative schedule of the posts I want to write for the week, but of course the posts may change or I might publish them on a different day.
Take a Break
With all my talk about the time it takes to write good quality consistent posts, it can get overwhelming. It is perfectly okay to take a break from blogging. I have been stressed from blogging before and that is when I took a step back and realized what I was blogging about was not making me happy. Now I post about what I want, and I do not put the stress on myself to post 3 times a week. If you take a break from blogging, your followers will still be there when you come back. Blogging is supposed to be fun, and if it starts feeling like a chore then that is good time for you to take a break.
Does Money Matter?
Instead of saying money does or does not matter, I am leaving it up to you to decide. For me though money does not matter. I started my blog as a hobby and it has been that way for the past 2 years. I have considered going self-hosted to make money through ads, but I never gone through with it and I have never been paid to write any of the reviews on my blog. However, there are bloggers whose job is blogging. They pay their bills by blogging, and it is a perfectly acceptable job, but you may receive criticism from people who think the opposite. So, you need to think about whether blogging is just a hobby or if you want to make money from it.
Support Other Bloggers
A great thing about blogging is the community. I have met some amazing people through blogging, and you can too. Read and comment on other blogger’s posts, follow their blog, and share their posts on social media. This shows that you are an active member of the community and you are there to support other bloggers.
Don’t Compare Yourself
I know this one is hard, but try not to compare yourself to other bloggers. Especially with social media, it is easy to compare yourself to bloggers who have more followers, views, likes, etc., but blogging is not a race. Every blogger is on their own individual journey, so you cannot compare yourself to another blogger. If you do compare yourself, you can become discouraged from blogging. However, you can reach any goals you set for yourself and your blog if you put in the work.
Be Yourself
This is probably the most important lesson. You should not write posts to impress others, but you should write posts that you enjoy writing. You should write about what you love whether it is your reviews, photos, stories, recipes, advice, thoughts, etc. If you do not enjoy writing your posts, it will show and you could lose interest and motivation to blog. Again, it is important to be true to yourself!
What have you learned from blogging?
This post was so helpful! I’ve read a few of your posts and found them to be so insightful for someone just starting out, like myself. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you have found my posts helpful! 😄
Thank you for sharing this post I have a new blog and I have found this post very helpful, we have only been blogging for two months but we are looking for tips all the time.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found my post helpful & good luck on your blogging journey 😊
A little unrelated but I hope someone can help. I am very new to blogging and I want to put a hashtag on posts like others do but even though I type what I want in the tag or category option of my post it doesn’t seem to appear. Does anyone know what to do or does it show for other people? Thank you! Xx
Hello! I checked your Illamasqua Part II post & it had the tags of beauty & blogging & the category of beauty. Part I had the beauty & blogging categories & the tag of beauty. I am not sure if you added more tags or categories, but those were the ones that showed up.
Hi. If that’s ok I need to do then that’s perfect. I have noticed some people have hashtags but if tags are all I need then that’s brill. Thank you for your help!
Tags are all you need because then people can search for the tags you use to find your post 😊
I really liked this post. I have just started blogging again after taking a break and have been posting quite consistently but sometimes life gets in the way and it is difficult not to beat yourself up about not posting. So well written!
Thanks
EHBeautyxo
Thank you! That’s great you’ve gotten back into blogging, but you shouldn’t beat yourself up when you don’t post. Like you said life can get in the way & it’s okay to not stick to a set schedule! 😊
Very nice and straight
I agree with everything.
By the way, I just realised i’ve been blogging for 3 and a half years now – WHAT?! 😀
That’s crazy! Congrats on blogging for so long! 🎉
I would be interested in hearing about your blogging journey & what you’ve learned in the last 3.5 years 😊
Thank you!
What you wrote covers pretty much everything I learned from blogging. But you wrote it down more neatly and organised than I ever could. 🙂
Hey, thanks for liking my infographics on my blog! Also, really needed this post as I took almost a year break from blogging. Keep up the good work!
No problem & thank you!
Another fantastic post! So many good points.
Blogging is a Marathon and not a Sprint.
Consistency is key, finding a good rhythm to posting
is very important. If you are inspired you can always
write extra posts or drafts, and put them away for later,
so when you want to take a break, you have some posts
ready to go. Like you said blogging should be fun first
and foremost. There is always something new to discover,
experiment, and learn from, and the blogging community is
so diverse and fantastic! Keep up the great work, it is
always a pleasure to read your observations and insights.
Thank you! 😊
I agree writing posts/drafts for later is a great idea & the blogging community is the best!
This is wonderful as well as informative advice for new bloggers. I especially like supporting other bloggers as I learn so much from their posts around the world. xx
Thank you!
I agree! Also reading other blogger’s posts gives me ideas for posts I could write about like the 25 things to do before turning 25 posts I did 😊
😉yes! That would be awesome.
Amazing post thank you for sharing! I’ve only just started blogging and looking for ways to improve and learn, I will definitely be taking in and saving these points for my own blogging experience! Thank you so much have a good day!
Thank you! I’m glad you find my points beneficial & good luck on your blogging journey! 😊
I’m new to this blogging world. At beginning day’s I was always in a hurry to post maximum numbers of post I can post.i do post more 2-3 post per day at the first week. But later I came to know all my post had lot’s of typo errors and gramatical errors now I do recheck my post before hitting the button to publish
I think that’s a problem with a lot of new bloggers. They want to post as much as they can since it generally looks better if you have more posts, but like you mentioned the posts can have a lot of errors. Also if the person continues to push out a ton of posts it can lead to blogger burnout & the person may quit blogging just as soon as they started. That’s why quality over quanitity is one of the points I made!
That is great advice- thank you. I’m a new blogger myself and am just starting to get into the flow of things so I appreciate the guidance.
You’re welcome! I’m glad my advice can help out other bloggers 😊
Hi, your post is very helpful. May I ask what grammar checker you use please? Thank you!
I’m glad you found it helpful!
I use Scribens 😊
Wow, love all the points you mentioned. I have started my blog just a month ago. Hope to be as successful as you in near future. Have a great day and all the best for future
Thank you!
Well it is already a success that you’re still blogging after 1 month! 😊
I hope you have a great day too! 😄
Awwww.. thank you so much dear😊
Love this post – thanks for sharing. Very interesting and insightful points. My blog is coming up two months old and I hope I’ve provided some entertainment to others, but most of all I’m enjoying being creative and getting the ideas out of my head 😁.
Thank you!
That’s great you’ve been enjoying being creative b/c blogging should be fun! 😄
YES! You hit the nail on the head with these. I especially agree with taking a break- life ebbs and flow and so does our ability to give 100% to the blog all the time! Thanks for sharing these great thoughts 🙂
No problem! It is always a good idea to take a break 😊
Amazing post and I totally agree with all of what you said and I hope you keep on blogging cause I really like what you post! blogging has definitely changed my life and I hope I’ll be able to keep doing it, I do hope to get paid at some point but I don’t mind if I don’t. I do this cause I love it!
Aw thank you so much ❤ I enjoy reading your posts too & I do hope you continue blogging for years to come! 😊
I agree it would be nice to make money from my blog, but it’s not a deal-breaker!
Thank you for this post. This is the year that I’m taking blogging seriously and while I’m somehow hoping to earn money from it to pay my bills, I promised that I will be myself, have my own voice, and not be too sell out, despite the fact that other bloggers do otherwise. I’m really happy to have found your blog. Thank you again for your tips. 🙂
You’re welcome!
Good luck on earning money from blog & I admire you for staying true to yourself & not selling out! 😊
Wonderful post…unbelievable that it’s already been two years. Time sure does fly, that’s for sure. Really pretty much agree with everything you wrote here, especially the ones about taking a break and support other bloggers. Blogging really is about having fun, and when it becomes too much, it’s good to take a small step back.
And without commenting I would be missing out on missing some of the best things about blogging, as well as not having met some great people: such as yourself! 😊
Hope your blog will continue for many more years! 😊
It’s crazy how fast time has gone!
I feel bad when I go a week without commenting on posts b/c I feel like I missed so much but sometimes life (my master’s program) gets in the way. I just finished my first class & from wed-sat I was working on my final exam 😣
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll continue to blog too- 😊
I am so glad you shared that, Going to save this for later. True. It’s been a month of blogging and although it’s going on an absolute right direction indeed it’s such a hard learning game. Glad I am already following you. Please come, visit me and if you have any advice for a blogger like myself, fairly new in the game, I would love to hear. Although a lot of the info you have put together in your post. Thanks for sharing Karalee!
You’re welcome!
Blogging is a hard learning game, but it does get easier as time goes on. The only problem I have now is coming up with blog post idea ha
I’ll check out your blog 😊
🙂 I have learned to slow down actually.
I used to blog on a daily basis (I did that for many years and approximately one month ago, I made the decision to publish content once a week).
You are absolutely right about the quality of one’s blog posts having preference over the number of blog posts that we publish.
And, photo editing is time-consuming.
As a matter of fact, producing high-quality content takes time.
Do have yourself a wonderful week.
I admire people who have the time to blog every day, but it’s good you learned to slow down & now you post once a week.
I agree creating high-quality content is time consuming!
Thank you! I hope you have a great week too 😊
Really good advice thanks for sharing
You’re welcome! 😊