Featured Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay

Starting a new blog can be daunting, so I’ve gathered all the best advice I found online, plus the material from my Technical Writing lecture, to bring you my 5 top tips for starting a blog.  

Be Personal 

• I found a fantastic article on Hootsuite about finding your voice on social media. The author, Todd Clarke, asks readers a series of questions. One question I liked was– “think of your brand’s personality… if it was a celebrity or public figure, who would that be?” Keeping a character in mind may help you to find the right tone for your writing. 

Post Often

• You must be consistent. Posting once or twice a week also helps your readers to get to know you, as well as making it easier for you to gain a following in the first place. More frequent posts = more likely people will see your posts. Basic maths. 

Writing is Re-writing 

• Last week, my lecturer put a quote by Ernest Hemingway on the board which I found helpful – “The first draft of anything is shit”. This being my first blog post, I’ve been writing it for an entire week. Let your ideas develop and grow and only start editing when you’ve done your first draft. Don’t be afraid to be bad at it.  

Design. Design. Design. 

• Some of the blogs I read this week have been truly superb and yet, as interesting and informative as they were, I had trouble even skimming them. As my lecturer said to us last week, nobody wants to read anything. It’s hard work. Your job is to make reading your posts as easy as possible. 

Read

• It really helps to see how others approach the topic you want to write about, to get different viewpoints and gather as much information as possible. It also helps with your writing, as you get accustomed to blogging style, language and content.  

So that’s my advice but what do you think? Are there any essential tips I’ve missed out? I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment below with your best blogging advice!