7 Biggest Lessons I Learned in my First Year of Blogging

Hello sweet friends! Today I wanted to share 7 biggest lessons I learned in my first year of blogging. And actually, now that I think of it, I am sure there are much more than 7 lessons. I don’t want to bore you too much but, for all of who out there that have a new blog or are thinking of starting a blog, maybe this will help you.

1. Consistency is paramount: your readers will want to know which days you will be posting. Set yourself specific days to blog and stick to it. I didn’t do that at first and I think that hurt me at the beginning. I am a full time teacher so for me, at the beginning, I was just blogging whenever I could. That amounted to an average of one blog post a month or so if I was lucky.
2. Create posts that are meaty: What do I mean by that? Create content full of substance. Long blog posts tend to do very well. Strive for around 1500 words or more. Now, not on every post, but try to sprinkle some posts in that are full of content.
3. Dictation is your best friend: Now this is new to me as well, but it has changed my life y’all. I am a chatterbox. I can talk until the cows come home ( in the voice of my Papa). Well, if I use a dictation app, I can get all my words out without having to type them and they are my true voice. Isn’t that a huge game changer, friends? I like to use the app called Google Docs. I simply open a new document, title it the same as my blog post, and then click the microphone and go to town. Then, I just copy and paste it into my blog post and viola! Now, you will have to add in some punctuation here and there but it is WAY better than having to type the whole entire post. Any seriously y’all, this may be #1 in my 7 biggest lessons I learned in my first year of blogging!
4. Be authentic: I cannot emphasize this enough friends. From my very first post on my blog (which you will want to read here), I wanted to be as open and authentic with my followers as I could be. It was important to let you in on the real me and what makes me who I am. This is a relationship and I want my followers to come back time and time again to connect with me. You are my peeps, my tribe, and I am forever grateful that you choose to spend your time hanging with me each week.
5. Create a content calendar: At the end of every month, I sit down and write out my goals for the next month as well as plan content for each day that I will be posting. I post on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. A good source for finding content is Pinterest. I like to see what is trending on Pinterest and then write about that. For example, if it is September, I know Fall will be trending big time. So, I want to plan my content in September around Fall things such as Fall decor, Fall drink recipes, DIY Fall wreaths, etc…
6. SEO really does matter: When I first started blogging, I had NO idea what SEO meant. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it but I do understand it a little better now. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Whenever someone types words into Google, little hamsters run around and try to find that info on the World Wide Web. Google gives your site a ranking based on key words you use in your post. A higher ranking on google means more traffic to your website. #winning. LOL So, it is very important to make sure your post is SEO rich so the hamsters can find it.
7. Treat your blog like a business: I recently attended Haven Conference, which is a conference for bloggers to connect with each other and brands. It is also a place to learn best practices as it pertains to your blog. Over and over again I heard this phrase and it truly stuck with me: “If you want your blog to be a business, treat it like a business, if you want your blog to be a hobby, treat it like a hobby. ” First, decide which is true for you. For me, I want my blog to be a business but I was treating it like a hobby and that was not working well at all. I wasn’t growing, I wasn’t getting many brand opportunities, etc.. But, then it clicked, I can never expect my blog to be anything more if I don’t put in the time. So, during the COVID times, I dedicated myself to treating my blog like a business and it has paid off big time! So, with that being said, I had to create a daily schedule in order to achieve all that I wanted to achieve in a day. Each schedule will look different based on your needs but set a goal of sitting down and creating one. You will LOVE it!!

So, tell me which one of the lessons do you feel resonates with you the most? I would love to hear!

My hope and prayer is that my 7 biggest lessons I learned in my first year of blogging has somehow helped you. Have a blessed day friends!