Here is a little bit of perspective for anyone who wants to blog!
Search Intent and Relevant Results
Blogging is not dead. There are over 600 million blogs on the internet (Web Tribunal). Over 77% of internet users say they read blogs (Social Media Today). It may not be the Golden Ages of Blogging (some will say this was in the early 2000’s), but blogs are still alive and here is why!
When you are doing a Google search, you are probably looking for the most relevant and helpful sites that match your search’s intent. Whether you are looking for a recipe, a How-To or DIY tutorial, or looking for an answer to your question, chances are you clicked on a blog. Blogs are often a great resource for detailed information.
For example, if I type in “Biscuit Recipes” into Google, I would naturally want to find the best biscuit recipe I can find. And I would want it somewhere near the top of the search results either under “All” or “Images.”
The other night, I made “Easy Homemade Biscuits” from the blog, Sugar Spun Run. It was the top biscuit recipe on Google and it had over 4,300 reviews. It was very good, and part of the reason why I chose that one was because it was so popular (social proof).
People like things that a lot of other people have also viewed or reviewed. A really popular blog post usually stays popular for longer. That recipe was first published in 2018. Google wants to rank the most relevant, useful, helpful content at the top based on search intent.
Be Helpful
Aim to create the most helpful content that your target audience is searching for using your long-tail keywords and their search intent. People are already searching for things, so just try to be the most helpful one to answer their question, provide them with detailed information, a How To or DIY tutorial, etc.!
Update Old Blog Posts
Blogging is very editable. You can edit your blog posts and pictures, unlike a YouTube video, where most people do not edit and re-upload them. Many bloggers update their old blog posts to keep them relevant. You can often see “last updated on” on their posts.
Blogging lasts longer than a lot of social media platforms; popular blog posts can stay popular for years. Reddit posts typically get the most views in the first 48 hours, as well as TikTok. Blog posts and Youtube videos maintain relevancy longer. When I searched for “Buy if For Life Product List,” an article that was first published in 2017 was on the front page of Google. This is also an example of evergreen content: content that is relevant for years.
Blogging Takes Time
It takes time for Google to rank you. Especially if you have a new blog. It takes an average of 6 months to a year for most people to make money blogging. It is common to see no traffic or very little for months on a new blog, followed by an eventual spike in traffic.
Social Media
On solution to gaining traffic faster is to use a social media platform that your audience uses to promote your blog posts. Pinterest is known to be a great traffic source for women’s lifestyle blogs, food blogs, and women’s health and wellness blogs. Pinterest is a visual search engine where people go to get inspiration and information. There is already an intent with Pinterest that you might click on a pin to go to another website. Many bloggers who have a female audience report that Pinterest has been a great traffic source (such as receiving half of all traffic to their website from Pinterest). It also takes Pinterest time to trust you. It can be slow in the beginning, but there are many tips and tricks to building your Pinterest account.
Develop Your Skills
You get better the more you do something (the right way of course). Your 10’th blog post will usually be better than your 1’st post. And your 100’th post should be better than your 10’th post. Use the Wayback Machine to view a blog’s earlier posts, compared to where it is today. You also get faster at writing blog posts.
Tips For Writing Faster Blog Posts:
- Search for long-tail keywords that you want to rank for
- Research beforehand
- Create an outline
- Write first, edit later
- Work during your peak hours when you are most productive (this could be early in the morning or at night)
- Eliminate distractions (turn off notifications, close browsers that you are not using)
- Take breaks (take a walk, listen to music, etc)
Quality
When you first start your blog, focus more on the quality of the content than having it look perfect. Solve someone’s problem when they type something in the search bar. There are plenty of popular blogs that could look better, or are very basic looking, but they are popular because of how useful they are to their audience.
If you look at a popular blog, you can see how many blog posts have been published. It might be less posts than you would think.
At the time of this article:
Rachel Parcell: 2010-Current, 2328 blog posts
Sally’s Baking Addiction: 2011-Current, nearly 1200 recipes
Umami Girl: 2008-Current, 667 recipe posts
If you must compare yourself to something, compare your first blog posts to their first blog posts, not their 500’th blog post. Remember that everyone starts somewhere. Be a student, and notice how much you learn and how many skills you develop after your 100’th blog post :). To get better, faster, publish more frequently. This could be 5 or 3 days a week, instead of 1 day a week. It takes a lot of practice to strengthen your skills (SEO, writing, graphic design).
Publishing
When you publish blog posts, you are known as a publisher. Many bloggers have gone on to author books, such as: Crystal from Money Saving Mom, Melanie from Ask-Angels, and Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Also, Amazon makes it easy to self-publish books with Amazon KDP.
What are your thoughts on blogging? Share below! 🙂