There are some things that you need to think about whenever you start a new blog or decide to take an existing one in a new direction. In this article we'll be looking at topics such as the name of the blog, the topics that it will cover, your posting schedule and your writing style.
What To Call Your Blog
The first decision to be made is of course the name (and domain) of your blog. There are general two choices - using your own name or using a name related to the primary topic of the blog.
If you will be using your blog to promote your own personal services or products then it can be be a good idea to name your blog after yourself as your blog name will always be relevant no matter how your work changes over time. However if you're blogging about a specific topic, and especially if you run several blogs on different topics it may be better to use a niche-related name and domain.
What Topics Will You Blog About?
Many new bloggers start their first blog by just blogging about anything that comes into their head and end up with a broad range of largely unrelated topics. This is not all that efficient as many readers simply don't have time to wade through posts they are not interested in and it makes it more difficult to target monetization efforts.
By clearly defining the topics you intend to blog about at the outset you can organise your posts into categories which will make your blog more organised and it will also be easier for new visitors to find what they are looking for.
Deciding on a Posting Schedule
Often the advice to new bloggers is to make sure that when starting a new blog you publish a post every single day in the beginning. The idea behind this strategy is that more posts equates to more chances for people to find you. Whilst this might be true, very frequent posting may make it difficult for some readers to keep up with you.
To be honest it doesn't matter so much what your posting frequency or schedule is, as long as it is consistent. There are some blogs that post only once a week and do very well as they readers look forward to that weekly post and others that find that they do best when publishing multiple short posts every day. Every blog is different.
One trend that I see with many blogs is that the blogger starts out enthusiastically by posting every day or even many times per day but over time he either loses steam, finds it too time consuming or simply runs out of stuff to say and then the schedule starts to slip and the posts become less frequent. This is noticeable to the reader and it does not look good!
Personally, I would suggest the opposite approach - start off slowly with a nice gentle schedule that you know you can stick to. Over time if you feel you wish to do more then slowly increase it but don't do it the other way around!
What Is You Writing Style?
I have often read advice that suggests that you should establish who your target audience is (this is good) and then alter your writing style to fit and that part is not so good. People will read your blog for its content and if you try to write in a style that is not comfortable for you it will show. Your blog is a reflection if you, your thoughts, opinions and passions and so on. Let the real you shine!
My advice is simply to blog in your own style, whatever that means! Some people are very conservative, some people use very colourful language, others like to be controversial, others are very dry and matter-of-fact. Whatever you are, simply be who you are and write as yourself.
Another consideration is post length. The only real factor that should have any influence would be your posting frequency. If you post multiple times a day you would expect your post length to be on average shorter than a blogger who just posts once per week. But other than that, simply post whatever feels right to you. Trying to expand on a short post or cut down on a long one can seriously stifle your creativity.
One thing to remember is that you can't please all of the people all of the time anyway so trying to modify your posting style to fit in with some idea of what your readers might like is an exercise in futility. At the end of the day some people will like your style and some won't. Those that do will hopefully subscribe and those that don't will not but that's just life and nothing to worry about!
What To Call Your Blog
The first decision to be made is of course the name (and domain) of your blog. There are general two choices - using your own name or using a name related to the primary topic of the blog.
If you will be using your blog to promote your own personal services or products then it can be be a good idea to name your blog after yourself as your blog name will always be relevant no matter how your work changes over time. However if you're blogging about a specific topic, and especially if you run several blogs on different topics it may be better to use a niche-related name and domain.
What Topics Will You Blog About?
Many new bloggers start their first blog by just blogging about anything that comes into their head and end up with a broad range of largely unrelated topics. This is not all that efficient as many readers simply don't have time to wade through posts they are not interested in and it makes it more difficult to target monetization efforts.
By clearly defining the topics you intend to blog about at the outset you can organise your posts into categories which will make your blog more organised and it will also be easier for new visitors to find what they are looking for.
Deciding on a Posting Schedule
Often the advice to new bloggers is to make sure that when starting a new blog you publish a post every single day in the beginning. The idea behind this strategy is that more posts equates to more chances for people to find you. Whilst this might be true, very frequent posting may make it difficult for some readers to keep up with you.
To be honest it doesn't matter so much what your posting frequency or schedule is, as long as it is consistent. There are some blogs that post only once a week and do very well as they readers look forward to that weekly post and others that find that they do best when publishing multiple short posts every day. Every blog is different.
One trend that I see with many blogs is that the blogger starts out enthusiastically by posting every day or even many times per day but over time he either loses steam, finds it too time consuming or simply runs out of stuff to say and then the schedule starts to slip and the posts become less frequent. This is noticeable to the reader and it does not look good!
Personally, I would suggest the opposite approach - start off slowly with a nice gentle schedule that you know you can stick to. Over time if you feel you wish to do more then slowly increase it but don't do it the other way around!
What Is You Writing Style?
I have often read advice that suggests that you should establish who your target audience is (this is good) and then alter your writing style to fit and that part is not so good. People will read your blog for its content and if you try to write in a style that is not comfortable for you it will show. Your blog is a reflection if you, your thoughts, opinions and passions and so on. Let the real you shine!
My advice is simply to blog in your own style, whatever that means! Some people are very conservative, some people use very colourful language, others like to be controversial, others are very dry and matter-of-fact. Whatever you are, simply be who you are and write as yourself.
Another consideration is post length. The only real factor that should have any influence would be your posting frequency. If you post multiple times a day you would expect your post length to be on average shorter than a blogger who just posts once per week. But other than that, simply post whatever feels right to you. Trying to expand on a short post or cut down on a long one can seriously stifle your creativity.
One thing to remember is that you can't please all of the people all of the time anyway so trying to modify your posting style to fit in with some idea of what your readers might like is an exercise in futility. At the end of the day some people will like your style and some won't. Those that do will hopefully subscribe and those that don't will not but that's just life and nothing to worry about!
About the Author:
Caroline Middlebrook has been blogging since 2007 and makes a 4-figure income from her blog. You can read about how she makes money blogging and download her free guides & courses.
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