What is the purpose of blogging? I mean, why do you need to start? And, is it really that necessary? In today’s article, we answer these questions. You will leave this page satisfied with a clear direction of what to do immediately.
What is a blog?
If you don’t know already, blogs have been around since the early 1990s. And even since then, they have been a great way to share thoughts, opinions, and experiences with the world.
In fact, the word “blog” is short for web log. Think of the web as your journal. So you keep writing (logs) of your day’s experiences and lessons and that is how blogs come about.
In a nutshell, blogging is the act of publishing entries on a blog in chronological order and typically on a daily or frequent basis. Bloggers write about personal topics, local news, politics and other subjects that interest them.
Having said that, blogs are actually becoming more popular with time as they provide an easy way to share thoughts and opinions with others and gain feedback from them in return.
Pros and Cons of Blogging
Blogging is a powerful tool that can help in many ways. But, there are also some cons to blogging.
Pros:
- It is an effective way to share your thoughts and expertise with the world, which can lead to increased visibility and opportunities for you.
- It allows you to build a personal brand that is unique and recognizable by potential employers, clients, or collaborators.
- Blogging helps in building relationships with other bloggers and influencers who can help you grow your business.
- It provides readers with content they want to read through the form of blog posts that are relevant to their interests and needs.
Cons:
- Blogging takes a lot of time – especially if you want it to be good quality content. You need time for research, writing, editing
- You need to put effort at the beginning before you see results. This can be in form of your time, where you sit down and do everything yourself. Or you spend money to hire someone else to do it for you.
5 Reasons why bloggers keep writing
In most cases, bloggers are passionate about writing, and they usually want to continue doing it. So what makes them keep writing?
1. Blogging is a creative outlet
Blogging is a creative outlet that allows people to express themselves through their words and thoughts without censorship from mainstream media outlets or large publishing houses. This has allowed bloggers to share their stories with others without any restrictions or limitations on what they can say or write about.
Most blogs are created by individuals or small groups of people who are passionate about a topic. They share their thoughts, opinions, and ideas with others on the blog for them to see.
At the same time, some bloggers may have a very large following in terms of subscribers and readership, but most blogs are usually not well-known with many followers on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
2. Blogging is a way to share your expertise with the world
Another reason why people start and keep blogging is that this is a way for them to share their thoughts, expertise, and opinions with the world. It is a great way to build credibility and authority in your niche.
How?
Well, this can be done in many different ways – from writing about personal experiences to creating content around a specific topic.
And the authority you build through blogging can go a long way in helping you connect with key influencers within your niche who can help you grow your business.
But remember, it takes time and effort to build a blog that will be successful. So you need to be ready to invest some time and effort over the course of at least six months.
It is not going to happen overnight.
3. Blogging is a way to get feedback on your work and improve it
Bloggers can use blog posts as an opportunity to share their work with the world or as an opportunity to get feedback on their work from people who might know more about the topic than them.
For instance, if you are a writer, you can start a blog and keep publishing intro chapters of your next novel from this, you can tell whether it’s going to be a hit or a miss based on how the readers engage with the posts.
4. Blogging can be an income source
Blogging is a great way to make money. It can be a full-time job or just a side hustle.
It is not easy to make money from blogging, but it is possible for anyone with the right mindset and time management skills. There are many ways to monetize your blogs, such as affiliate marketing, selling products, and sponsorships.
When you start your own blog, you should be sure that you have the time and energy to dedicate yourself to blogging for an extended period of time. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time by not focusing on growing to its full potential.
I know bloggers who make at least Ksh 100K per month publishing at least 2 articles per day on their blogs. As you can guess, it is not an easy job, otherwise, everyone would be doing it.
The bottom line is you can make money blogging. You just need to take care of the dynamics and everything else will fall into place.
5. There are always new things to learn and explore
Blogging has become a popular form of leisure activity. Blogging can be a way to explore new topics, discover new worlds and pick up new skills in the process.
You realize that blogging is not just about writing but also includes all the other aspects of creating a blog, such as designing and hosting your site.
And as you go about all these, you pick up crucial skills along the way. These skills come in handy any time you launch a new blog or teach a friend how you did it.
And in the process, saves you a ton of money that otherwise would have gone into hiring designers or article writers.
3 Must-Know Tips for Building a Successful Blog
Building a successful blog is not an easy task. There are many factors that contribute to the success of a blog. The following are three important tips that help you build a successful blog.
a). Write to your audience
It is important to write specifically to your audience. When you write a blog in which you talk about topics that are familiar to your readers, they are more likely to read and share the blog.
Writing in a way that people can understand makes it easier for them to engage with what you have written.
When people can easily understand what you are saying, they feel more comfortable sharing what you say on their own blogs.
b). Promote your blog often
It is important to constantly promote your blog to attract new readers and increase traffic. The more people that visit your blog, the more likely it is for them to share it with others.
When you create content that has a specific purpose such as writing an article on a particular subject, you should share it on all social media platforms and through email.
You should also try to promote your blog organically by commenting on other blogs or sharing it with friends. This will also allow you to connect with new people who might see your blog and want to follow you.
c). Update often
It is important to keep your blog updated regularly.
New readers are more likely to follow your blog if they know it is constantly being updated with new content. When you update your blog, share a link on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
In order to keep people interested in what you have written, offer incentives for them to read your blogs, such as contests or giveaways.