Blogging Tips
I’ve put off this post in the past because there are blogs way more successful than mine and I’m embarrassed to even pretend to be in the same league.
However, a common email I receive asks for tips on how write a successful blog. And since I’ve been able to turn my blog from just a hobby into my dream job, I guess I do have some qualifications to write such a post.
There’s no way I can sum up all my blogging tips in a single post; I’ve been blogging a long time! So how about a series on blogging tips? Obviously I’m not an expert in technology (Far from it!), but I can offer tips learned from experience. In many cases, they’ll be tips of things not to do, based on mistakes I’ve made. Hopefully if I offer up my own mistakes, I can spare y’all the frustration of repeating them.
Part One: What makes a successful blog?
Truthfully, there is only ONE criterion for determining whether a blog is successful or not: Do you enjoy blogging? Are you excited to create new posts, to connect with others, to publish for the world to see?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then (in my opinion, at least) your blog is a success! It doesn’t matter if you only have five readers or if you publish ten posts in a row about nothing but your love for Boston terriers. If your blog makes you happy, it is successful. Period.
On the other hand, if you have a huge readership and yet blogging feels like a chore, I’d argue your blog is not successful. What good is having a popular blog if you don’t even enjoy writing it? That’s like those poor, rich businesspeople who hate their jobs… yes they make a lot of money, and yes they’re successful by society’s standards. But are they having fun in life?
Blogging should be Fun
Based on the above criterion, my own blog is wildly successful. I have fun with it every day. Dreaming up recipes, experimenting in the kitchen, photographing my creations, writing blog posts, and connecting with readers…
I cannot imagine anything that could be more fun, especially when so many of the aforementioned kitchen experiments involve chocolate!
Such as my peanut butter stuffed brownies.
When I started my blog, it was a lot of fun.
I had about three daily readers and barely received any comments. Yet, I loved my baby blog because it was mine. I imagined it being an online scrapbook, where I could write whatever I wanted (no one was reading anyway!). With no readers, there’s no pressure. You can blog when you want and about what you want.
How to make your blog successful:
First, ask yourself if you’re having fun with your blog. If the answer is yes, you really don’t need to change a thing! If the answer is no, here are some ideas that might be helpful:
- Look over your old posts. Was there a time when you did have fun with your blog? Are there any particular posts you were especially excited to publish?
- Look at the blogs you love most. What about these blogs makes you smile?
- Are there any aspects of the blogging process you enjoy more than others? And any aspects of blogging you hate? For example, maybe you really like the writing process but hate taking photos. Or maybe photography is your thing, but you’re not one for words.
- Change your blogging style so that it suits YOU. If you love pictures but hate writing, who says you can’t do photo-only posts? Or, on the other hand, who says a good post needs a photo? What’s awesome about blogging is that you are your own boss ;).
(It might be helpful for you to make an actual list on paper, jotting down notes on what you like and dislike about your blog, about other blogs, and about the blogging process.)
Questions of the Day:
Do you enjoy blogging?
And what are your favorite aspects of blogging (or reading blogs)?
Connecting with people who are like you? Learning about new foods and trying out recipes? Taking photos? Looking back on your old posts?
By the way, if you want a laugh, check out my very first post.
🙂
Thank you for the tips! These are awesome. I also appreciate good blogging tips, since I’m always trying to improve my blog. Yours is wonderful and I absolutely love it. 🙂
Thank you so much for this post, Katie! I love your blog, and it’s always inspiring to hear how other, more established bloggers do it! And yes, to me (an to a lot of folk), you are a “more established” blogger. No need to be modest 🙂
Katie, these are great tips. I’ve been blogging a while myself (since 2005, if you count my first blog, which I wrote during my year in China…the blog as we know it now didn’t really start til 2008, I think. But who’s counting!) and I will admit it feels like a chore these days, so I appreciate your putting these questions in front of my face because I don’t want to let the blog die entirely. There are so many things I love about my blog and being in the blog community, so while my real-life priorities have shifted, I have to remind myself it’s ok for the blog to shift along with it, since it’s nothing if not a reflection of me. So even though it’s often hard to get myself to sit down and write every week, I end up enjoying it without fail! I think it’s important to write about things that are exciting to you as the author, because otherwise anyone reading it will sense that it is forced.
Hey girl,
Just wanted to let you know that this post meant alot to me. I’m coming up on 3 years of blogging (though I definitely didn’t post regularly the whole time) and I recently was looking back on my early posts and feeling really nostalgic. I couldn’t quite pinpoint why…I decided part of it was missing my old, pre-law school life–those last couple of months that I lived with my parents and shared cooking and gardening with my dad, that kind of thing. Anyway, I kind of put it out of my mind, but then I read your post and it really spoke to me. I realized what I miss is the wonder and excitement I used to get out of trying new vegan recipes and exploring new foods. And law school definitely kept me out of the kitchen…but I’m not letting anything get in my way anymore. I’m going to address all of this in my next post but I wanted to tell you first, since you are the one that helped me realize it. So thanks 🙂 And keep up the great work; your blog has always been one of my favorites. Your joy really does shine through in every post.
All the best,
Ashley
I do enjoy blogging! The cooking, the picture taking, the writing, the editing, it’s all so therapeutic!
I completely understand what you mean. I have only been food blogging for a couple of years now, and it got to a point where I felt like I HAD to cook something bigger and better than last time. Instead of cooking what I wanted, I was trying to impress people (and didn’t execute it very well), and I found each recipe and post tiring, because I wasn’t excited about it, and I didn’t really want to make it in the first place.
I’ve been pretty busy lately, so I haven’t blogged as much as I would like, but now, I don’t care if it’s something simple, about how I like to eat yogurt in cereal in the morning, or something extravagant that I really want to make!
Great post and glad to see you stuck with it!
Thank you so much for the great tips Katie! I really enjoy your blog and check it quite frequently. I’m planning on starting my own soon, thanks in part to inspiration from you! 🙂
Perfect , keep writing
Hi Katie!! Ive been following your blog for a while…and I really love it!! I am thinking of starting my own blog, and I am not sure where to start : p I was wondering if you use word press (free or bought one), and if you design things on your website?
Thanks!! Liliane
I started with wordpress, but then I bought my own domain. LOL but I really am a novice when it comes to technology, so I actually hired someone to help me move. (As for design… I really want to hire a graphic designer to make my site look more professional. But I’m dragging my feet because I am cheap :-?.)
i made a few of your deserts.
which are delicious might i add
and decided learned about veganism.
and i have given up meat for about two months now.
dairy took a little longer..but i let it go.
and i discovered so many things not just about food,
but the environment too…
which is why ive started a blog and hopefully people will listen.
to become cleaner and save the planet..
its quite new so theres not much up yet.
but i have so much to share..
xox.