5 Tips for New Bloggers
| October 25, 2012 | Posted by Carrie under bloggers, FitFluential |
I’m no expert in blogging by any means, there are plenty of websites out there that have great information on how to blog. Go check out Blogging Basics 101, Blog Genie, ProBlogger and others for advice from the experts.
But, I have been blogging for more than 2 years and I’ve come to learn a few things, some that the experts don’t always talk about and I wanted to share them today – my 5 Tips for New Bloggers.
1. Be you. Don’t try to fit into a mold of how “bloggers should be”. Talk about what you want to talk about. Be real, be you.
2. Don’t use Captcha Code on comments. Seriously, this is the biggest pet peeve of almost every blogger out there. Yes, spam comments suck. But, there are better options. Even if you’re using a free blogging platform, there are better options. Turn on comment moderation, but please, please, please don’t use Captcha. And, by the way, if you aren’t sure if you have Captcha enabled, please go to your webpage and try to comment.
3. Make friends: find some blogging communities that are filled with people in your niche. Some healthy living/fitness blogger places to start are Fitfluential, Healthy Living Blogs or Mamavation. Most of these communities have a Facebook presence, go find it. Read other blogs and leave comments. Many bloggers end their posts with some questions, just hop in and answer.
4. Comment back when people leave comments on your blog. You can create relationships with your online community by both answering the comments left on your blog and also visiting the commentor’s blog and leaving a comment. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me when I comment on a new blog and then see that blogger come visit back and leave a comment. I’m likely to go back and visit their blog.
5. Don’t apologize for talking too much or too little. If you haven’t blogged in two weeks, that’s fine. If you write 1000 words a day that’s fine too. Back to #1 – be you. Blog when you have something to say. When you don’t have anything you feel like talking about, check in with #3 above and spend your time visiting other blogs and making new friends. But, please – if you haven’t blogged in 3 weeks or 3 months, don’t start out your next post with “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bad blogger”.
I hope these tips are helpful to you new bloggers out there and maybe experienced bloggers learned something too. Do you have any helpful advice to add to the list? (see there’s a question – see #3 above – jump in and answer, now’s your chance)
Captcha’s are seriously one of my biggest pet peeve’s! I get not wanting spam comments but half the time when I see that I just skip commenting (otherwise I would have)
Erica { EricaDHouse.com } recently posted..Time Management Tips for a Healthier Lifestyle
I do too. I’ve often wondered about the etiquette of commenting and then telling the person that their captcha code is on – must find a tactful way to say it. I often wonder if people don’t really know it’s on.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM ALL
especially number one.
Miz recently posted..Five tips to STOP night time snacking.
You will be so happy to know that I thought of you while making that #1 on my list
Amen to #2 & 5!!
Those are both pet peeves of mine. Thanks for adding your thoughts.
Great tips! I use IntenseDebate as my comment platform on blogger – love it! I get very few spammers, but those that are spammy get moderated pretty easily. I hate Captcha!
Janine @ The Purple Giraffe recently posted..Drink Up, Link Up! #11
Thanks for mentioning the plug-in that Bloggers can use. That’s a great tip!
Love all your tips and totally agree:) After all these blog posts about hating captchas, you would think at least some of the bloggers would remove them. I guess, either they don’t know their blog has them or they don’t know how to remove them. Maybe my next post should be how to remove the Captchas:)
hikermom recently posted..Workout Wednesday
That’s a great idea for a post. I do wonder if people know. Like you set up your first blog and that’s the default setting on Blogger?
Omg I hate captcha! It makes me not want to comment! Great great tips, so useful, thanks!
Erin @ Girl Gone Veggie recently posted..Road Runner Sports Running Outfit Giveaway
Me too. I frequently just go on to the next blog.
Love this! I am still learning, but I 100% agree with all of those points. ESPECIALLY the Captcha!! Agghh!! I find wordpress so much more user-friendly, too.. Anytime I visit a Blogger blog, I kind of cringe; I can’t get follow-up emails to my replies, and many times there’s that captcha!
Jennifer recently posted..Lady Lifter Spotlight: Kat!
I wonder how many follow up replies there are to blog comments that just never make it to the reader.
Great tips. I agree post whenever you want but be somewhat committed to it. If you don’t post for a month, people will not follow.
Yes, consistency is key to building a reader base. Good advice.
I really appreciate this post! I’ve been blogging for almost a year now. I struggle with 2 things: being myself on my blog and writing about topics that are of interest or inspiration to me (but also knowing that I’ve made my blog public, so I’d like to keep a readership interested) and rarely receiving comments. I know people are reading my blog, but they comment via text message or Twitter. Any tips on how to get people to comment ON the blog without sounding weird or desperate? Thanks again for this post — it’s nice to be reminded that a blog is yours and for YOU!
Anne Kendall recently posted..What the Heel
Thank you so much for your question. I went to your blog and it’s wonderful. However, you have Captcha code enabled. Once I typed my comment, the next screen popped up a Captcha code. That’s why people comment via other means, it’s such a pain to type codes.
I see you use Blogspot for your hosting. Someone else commented that they use Intense Debate as a comment plug-in so that they don’t use Captcha. Do some Google searching and you’ll see.
So nice to meet you, hope I helped.
Thank you so much for your quick reply and your suggestion! I had been looking for the energy and enthusiasm to move to a more user-friendly and tech-savvy blog space — so I took yesterday to do just that. Your blog really inspired me! You can now find me at the above address. Thanks for the great post and the help!
Anne Kendall recently posted..Fall Recipe Favorite: Quinoa Bowls
Congratulations on your new blog home. I’m going to check it out now. So glad to help.
Awesome tips! I cannot tell you how many times I see captcha and apologies! There is definitely no need for either. Just write when you can and have fun with it! great post!
Patty recently posted..Weekly Check-In #2
The apology think gets me every time. Don’t apologize for being yourself.
Great tips! A big one that I’m trying to keep in mind is that blogging takes time. Your blog takes time to grow and mature and so do you as a new blogger. If you don’t get any comments in the beginning, that’s ok, just keep chugging along with a positive attitude and know that soon enough they will come. Be proactive and keep your commitment. Soon enough things will start happening.
Shoshana @ ShoDelicious recently posted..How to Survive Air Force Basic Training (Spouse Version)
Yes, growing a readership takes a lot of time. Not only calendar time, but it takes a lot of time to reach out to other bloggers and meet people. To just get online, write a blog and hit publish is easy. If you’re just trying to keep an online journal, then that works. But, if you want to develop your blog into a community, you have to put in the time. And I’m guessing that if someone is reading this, they want to create a community and develop relationships with their readers. Thanks for sharing your tip.
Great tips – especially #1 and 5! I never understand why people apologize for not blogging?!
Michelle @ Running with Attitude recently posted..Midweek Motivation
That one has been on my mind for a while. Although a little doubt in my mind is wondering if I’ve ever done it. :-0
Great tips! I agree with #4 the most. There are some blogs that I’ve been reading and commenting on for years, and I don’t know if they’ve EVER read my blog! Or if they have, they aren’t commenting. I love to see connections from other bloggers that I already feel like I ‘know”.
Aren’t you just LOVING bootcamp?!
Megan @ Fiterature recently posted..Hey Ombré, It’s a KC Blogger Meetup!
Yes, I’m loving Bootcamp! I can’t wait until next week when I can go full force. I love the challenge.
I’ve found that while I really enjoy some of the ‘bigger’ blogs, I rarely comment. And, it bugs me when I comment on ‘smaller’ blogs time and time again and feel like it’s one sided. I usually stop going back.
Great tips!! I’m not brand new but I am still learning and can take all the help I can get!
Me too. I love reading tips and tricks for blogging.
great tips! I definitely hate that code thing.. ugh so annoying!
Danielle @ itsaharleyyylife recently posted..Cream Chipped Beef
I really do think that bloggers that have it on their blogs don’t even know it.
These are all such great tips especially #5, although I just did that on my blog
And please, why does Captcha still exist???
Christine @ Love, Life, Surf recently posted..Blogger’s Guilt
So funny! And, I do #5 myself occasionally – that is something I’ll apologize for.
Amen to the Captcha tip!!!
And to being yourself!! Its your blog, your thots!!!
Debby H recently posted..Hershey Half
I also think you shouldn’t apologize for sharing your opinions. If people don’t like it, they don’t have to be reading.
I’ve stopped following blogs because of captcha. The one where there are pictures of numbers and letters is the worse. It usually takes two or three tries to get your comment to go through with that one. Unsubscribe.
Regarding commenting on blogs. I love and appreciate comments if it looks like the person read my post. Most of us can tell when your just trolling to get comments back. I think that’s rude and honestly I’m not likely to go to your blog. If the comment is meaningful I will visit you. A good comment is also a great insight into what type of blogger you are.
Carli recently posted..Cortisol & Running #fitnessfriday
Good point about making a thoughtful comment. I do think that ending posts with questions, while sometimes cheesy, can help get a conversation going instead of eliciting the ‘good job’ type replies.
seriously I think you covered the major one’s in that list!!! It’s a process of figuring out who you are and what to write about without feeling like everyone else but it’s worth it
Amanda @RunToTheFinish recently posted..Hidden Food Allergies: Eggs and Milk
Great tips, Carrie… all of them!
I don’t always get to my favorite blogs every day but I think if you want people to read and comment, you have got to do it yourself! It’s time consuming but I love to read other people’s posts.
Elle recently posted..Little Bits of Exercise… Do You Bother?
Yes, it is time consuming, but it’s motivating and inspiring. So that keeps me going.
These are all great tips! I hate the captcha! I think the best advice in your list is to: Be Yourself and to comment on other peoples blogs…however not as a way to build followers, but as a way to build relationships!
Travel Spot recently posted..Cloverdale Harvest Half Marathon
Yes, relationships are the key to building a blog.
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came here following a link from Lindsay at the LEan Green Bean blog. I am very guilty of #5. Constantly apologizing for my lack of blog posts. I feel guilty, not because I think I a depriving any reader of my words (ha!) but that I set a goal to blog and it’s just not coming out like I want it to. . . . I think it’s more like an apology to myself in some way.
Great tips btw.
Thanks for visiting. Glad you liked the tips.
These are all great tips for new bloggers. I agree with Shoshana when she says that you should keep in mind that blogging takes time. for a long time it feels like nobody is listening but you need to persevere and keep commenting on others to get noticed in the community.
I also totally agree with number 2. Captcha has actually made me stop following blogs before because it does my head in when I need to comment. Does anyone else here find them almost unreadable these days? I had to get a Captcha bypass browser extension called rumola to read them for me in the end. Its actually really good, just types in the Captchas for you when they pop up! Its surprising how such a little thing can make the internet so much better!
I didn’t know there was a Captcha bypass browser. Pretty cool. But, I still hate them on blogs.
Great tips- thank you – totally new to blogging and love the advice
Welcome to the blogging world. Glad to have helped.
I needed to read those!! Thanks for the tips! I always feel guity for not blogging every week. I really enjoy reading others blogs and commenting and then they come back to comment on mine. It is fun learning and reading about other peoples journey. Thanks!!
Courtney recently posted..Baby It’s Cold Outside
Yes it is so nice to meet people through comments on my blog. I’m off to visit you now