5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging

Hindsight is wonderful and if I were to go back to the start of my blogging journey, there are loads of things I would change if I could. But if I could nail it down to 5 key things, it would be the ones I’ve listed below. The unwritten rule of course, is hard work. There are no easy ways to get to number one by using a clever piece of code or getting your keyword density just right.

All of the items below involve, at their core, hard work, but they are 5 very important blogging tasks which I believe are crucial to anyone getting a new blog off the ground and aiming for success.

1. You must do your keyword research

What is keyword research exactly? Well it’s making sure that what you’re doing is not a complete waste of time.

I wasted lots of time and energy writing blog posts that none was reading?

How?

By doing lazy half arsed so called keyword research using a variety of tools and techniques.

I would sometimes even use Google’s predictive search function and base blog posts around anything that would crop up.

This is no way to research. Use a proper tool for this purpose. I use KeySearch which suits my needs and is reasonably priced.

2. Write, write, write

I spent far too much time gazing at my Google analytics stats when I should have been writing blog posts.

It’s an easy trap to fall into, but in the early days, you really should be building up loads of good content.

You should be writing as many posts as possible and scheduling them regularly.

If was starting again, I would aim for three posts per week as I think that’s an achievable goal with my current commitments.

3. Ideas for blog posts

I used to get in real ruts when trying to get good ideas for blogs.

I would spend days thinking up articles then trash them as they weren’t quite right or I couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to generate enough words.

I also spent a lot of time going through keywords and perhaps putting too much emphasis on building my posts around keyword optimisation and less on writing compelling content.

But all that’s changed now.

Pinterest is a goldmine of ideas for unlimited articles.

Once you get what Pinterest is, you will realise that it actually is the ideal tool for ‘ideation’ as SEO agencies call it.

Pinterest is all about ideas. Users will pin ideas that they like and want to act on. Delve in to Pinterest to get your creative juices flowing.

4. Consistency is key

Yes you need a lot of great content, but you also need to be consistent.

It’s no use publishing 100 posts in a month then leaving your blog to fester. You’ve got to keep at it to let Google know you’re still alive and kicking.

A schedule could help. Choose the maximum number of blog posts you can do per week then stick to it.

5. Titles are very important

You’ve got to write catchy titles that people are going to want to click on.

Here’s a hint. 

Lists work very well. 

For example, ’10 Top Things To Do in Edinburgh’. That’s just an example but you get the idea.

The title must be appealing and eye catching. For ideas, again check back to Pinterest.

See what actually jumps out at yourself and see what you want to pin.

Build up a board with catchy titles and you’re sure to start noticing patterns that you can use and will work for you.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

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