I love blogging and social media. It has become such a big part of my life over the last three years since I started my blog. I never would have imagined that this would have happened but one thing I've learned about life is that you never know where life is going to take you and you can't really plan for what is going to come. I always felt so lost when it came to discovering a passion in life. I could never commit to a major or a job because nothing was ever the right fit until blogging entered my life and I'm so grateful for that.

So here are some simple and easy to apply blogging lessons and tips to help out all you beginning bloggers and even some that might help the more advance bloggers out there. I have to remind myself I have a lot of knowledge now and am not really a beginner anymore.

1. Be open to learning.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you buy from my link I might make a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay. See the full affiliate disclosure here.

The internet and blogging is always changing and evolving so you will never know it all. If you aren't open to learning you will fall behind.

2. There is nothing wrong with making an income through blogging in my opinion.

The important thing is that you write for your readers and yourself first and to make money last. If you are only trying to make money you wont come across as genuine.

3. Sometimes you will get burned out with blogging.

I have a few times and sometimes just unplugging for a weekend will leave me feeling refreshed and ready to get back to it. Sometimes a longer break is necessary.It might hurt your blog but you have to take care of you. I've only done this once. When I lost someone close to me I fell into a depression and stopped blogging for a few months till I had grieved and healed a bit. I think it's better to do that then to put out mediocre posts that you don't really care about.

4. Try new things.

I've done weekly series, monthly challenges, etc. Not everything was a success but to grow and build your blog I think you have to take risks and push yourself to try new things. This also includes taking risks with the types of posts you write. Which may mean being more vulnerable and sharing more deeply personal posts. Or taking a chance and writing a post on a controversial topic, which can either turn out great or make people angry.

5. Images are important.

I'm not a great photographer but I'm working on it. I also create a lot of images through using stock photos and Canva. People need something to look at and each post needs to contain at least one image. The image I used in this post was created with Canva.

6.Write what's important to you.

Life is full of interesting thins and I like reading about a lot of things but I don't blog about them all because I try to only blog about what's important to me and what my passions are. So my blog focuses on lifestyle, family and blogging. You can't do it all or write about it all stick to what matters to you.

7. Spend time on social media.

Growing a blog means getting your work and your posts in front of new readers and the best way to do that is by using social media.

8. The thing with social media though is you can't give 100%to all of them.

There is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and more! The method that works for me is to study my blog traffic, see what's bringing me traffic and spend the bulk of my social media time on those platforms.

9. Give automated social media schedulers a try.

I use Buffer for Facebook Twitter and Google+ and I use Tailwind for Pinterest. I pay for each of these, though they do have free versions. It saves me a lot of time to get all my social media scheduled and ready in one chunk of time. Today I spent about an hour and have all my pins for the next two weeks scheduled. I will still pin here and there as I find things but I know I have pins going out everyday no matter what, same for the other platforms.

10. Keep a running list of blog post ideas.

As you think of a new post topic add it to your list. This will come in very helpful when you want to sit down and write. You can just check your list and pick a topic. No brainstorming ideas first.

11. Use an editorial calendar.

I started using one this year and although I could use it more even just starting to use it has made a big difference and has kept me more organized which is important to growing my blog.

12. Blog on a regular schedule. My schedule isn't set in stone but I try to blog most days. I always do my weekly linkup. You want your readers to know when to expect you to post. So whatever works for you, one a week, 3 times a week everyday. That's up to you but try to be consistent.

13. Keep your blog design fairly clean and easy on the eyes.

Lots of clashing colors and fonts are going to turn readers away. You want an easy to read and clean blog. I prefer no more than two fonts and two or three main colors. They say readers make the decision to leave or read your blog in less than 5 seconds so first impressions really matter. So make those seconds count.

14. Learn SEO and use it.

I'm not great at SEO but since the beginning of this year I have been researching it and using what I learn and it has made a good jump in my blog traffic. Not a huge leap but I'm going to keep learning and my next blog investment is an SEO class I want to take. To learn about SEO and check out the class I want to take visit this blog here.

15. Do You.

What I mean is figure out what makes your blog and your posts interesting and keep writing those posts. There are a lot of blogs and a lot of bloggers but there is only one you. So figure out what makes you special and unique and incorporate that into your blog and use it to help you stand out from the crowd. Be you and Do what makes you you because I know you are awesome at something or in some special way.

Table of Contents

16.

You need to know who you are targeting with your blog. Especially if you are planning on making your blog a business but even if you aren’t you need to know who you are targeting. So picture them in your head. This doesn’t need to be a I blog for women 20-30 who are single. I think it’s more helpful to have a target audience of who you think your blog will help. For me this has changed over three years a little bit but for now my target audience is women who typically are wives and moms. I also write to inspire and encourage women who want to improve heir lives by becoming better mothers, more organized, better bloggers. I just want to write for people who want to read positive and encouraging posts. I’m not typically teaching anything new but I’m doing it in a positive way.

17.

You need to be providing quality posts. Yes over time you will become a better writer because if you end up doing this for years all that practice will help you become better. Even in the beginning of your blogging journey really try to focus on producing the best quality work that you can. This is where having a good idea of your target market comes in really handy. I look back at the posts from my first year of blogging and they are horrible at least like 80% of them. I didn’t really know who I wanted to be as a blogger and who I wanted to write for and I can tell that when I look back at it now. This past year or so I have been writing for specific topics and to my target audience and with more of my voice and it shows in the quality of my work. It also gets me more traffic to my blog because people are sharing my posts because they are actually good.

18.

I just mentioned above finding my own voice and I have to tell you that is so important for you to do as a blogger. You are the only blogger that is you. So write like that and don’t try to be like any other bloggers. I learn from other bloggers, of course but I had to learn to write like me and no one else. That meant finding out what I was comfortable sharing and not sharing about myself and my life. Also it means what language and tone I choose to write with. As I mentioned I want this to be a positive and good place so I write only about things that make me happy. I might mention if I’ve had a bad week on occasion but you won’t come here and find post after post of me complaining or whining about things. I also am more funny in real life than I come across online because a lot of my humor is more sarcastic and I worry about it coming across wrong so I avoid it. I love funny bloggers but that doesn’t have to be me. So be who ever you are and stay authentic to yourself and what you want your blog to be.

So this is some of what has worked for me and my blog and of course there is so much more. The world of blogging is amazing and there is so much to learn and I hope to keep growing and blogging for years to come. If you liked this post and find it helpful I would love for you to share it and pin it. To share blogging tips with all the bloggers out there. Thanks!!!