Listography: tips for bloggers
I’ve not been blogging for very long but as Kate says when setting the theme for this time’s listography, there’s tips that are useful from any level of blogger. So here’re my tips:
- Write because you want to. Have a reason – it may evolve and change, but as long as you’re writing and enjoying it that’s important. I started this blog to be a journal for my son (for both myself and potentially him to read when we’re looking back), but also to share some of my opinions and learnings to help other people.
Don’t get too hung up on stats. I love numbers so I love looking at my stats, but ultimately if number one applies, then stats don’t really matter.
- Find blogs that interest you, introduce you to new things and topics, and you may end up with new friends.
- Join a couple of blog hops/linkys. I do the occasional one like Listography obviously, and a couple of others if I fancy them at the time. It’s a great way of meeting like minded people and helping develop your blog through learning from others.
- Comment, comment and comment. If you read something you like, then make a comment. I love reading people’s comments. I know I spend a lot of time reading other people’s blogs, so it’s a nice feeling to know that mine is read as part of someone else’s read list.
Ultimately though I think it just boils down to ensure you’re enjoying blogging. If you’re not either you’re in it for the wrong reason, or it may be worth taking a little time out.
Glad it got people thinking. I think a lot of us have the same views about it, we just need to keep reminding ourselves of what we want from blogging every so often, so we stay on track.
Thanks for all the comments
It certainly does boil down to just enjoying blogging. Why do it otherwise?! A very well said post 🙂
I’d agree with those! It is very easy to get hung up on stats and I like doing the rounds on blogs and always try to comment if I like/dislike or need to have my say on something. I love comments on my blog so I like to pay it forward for others on theirs!
Well done for taking the leap to start blogging – good tips there too
Perfect. I think we all go through a stage of our stats running our blog and then we reassess and it comes back to the reason we started in the first place.
I’m with you on all of these, but especially point 1. I’ve been blogging for a year now and it’s time to reassess exactly why I’m doing it. Thanks for the thought-provocation.
I am still a slave to the statistics. I hope that eventually it won’t consume me so much! But it always catches me off guard which posts bring in the most traffic. It’s not the reason to blog though, which is a good point.
My mostly read post is a make up review! It’s my biggest search engine term as well…hopefully some people who find that do wonder what the rest of the blog’s about, but maybe not!
I love point one, I think once you’ve found your reason to write (I’ve had a few, I think blogs and bloggers evolve) it flows more easily. There have def been stumbling blocks where I haven’t known why I was writing. You’ve got me thinking!
Getting people thinking’s definitely one of the reasons I blog. It wasn’t at the start, but definitely is now as things evolve.
Lots of wisdom in this post. I agree on the statistics thing. Also I get a sense that you know that blogging and how you do it may change over time. I have certainly found that over the last 3 years. Sometimes a sanctuary, sometimes therapy, sometimes fun and lots more besides.
Some great tips there. The statistics one is a good one, and one I never thought of. It’s true though, it’s so easy to get into the habit of religiously checking your stats every five minutes to see how many more views you have had, isn’t it?!
Which is silly really. If you’re blogging because you want to, which is what I do, it shouldn’t really matter how many views you have had.
Some people get really caught up in their stats and panic, but actually writing what you like and sharing it in the right places will get your stats up anyway I’ve found.