21 Best Blogging Tips To Grow Your Business

Blogging takes more time and effort than many people think. If you don’t plan well, you can make big mistakes. Without a clear plan for your content, you might have trouble being consistent, formatting your posts, and promoting them.

This is especially true for newbies who want to start a blog but don’t know the best practices. To improve your blogging skills, you need a list of practical tips that work for beginners. You can find that list on this page.

Follow these blogging tips to become a better blogger and build a loyal audience. Let’s get started!

1. Choose a Blog Niche

When you’re starting a blog, having a specific focus is crucial. Ask yourself: Are you promoting a business, sharing information, pursuing a passion, or making money? Your goals will guide you.

Consider these popular blog niches:

• Fitness and Wellness
• Personal Finance
• Technology
• Sustainable Living
• Travel
• Food
• Parenting
• DIY Crafts
• Fashion
• Mental Health and Well-being
• Home Gardening
• Language Teaching
• Pet Care
• Career Coaching
• Photography
• Sports

Select a niche you know well and are passionate about. Your experience and excitement will shape your online presence.

You can narrow down your focus even more. For instance, within wellness, you might delve into mindfulness practices. If you choose technology, you could focus on app reviews.

If you’re uncertain about your niche, explore successful blogs for ideas. Once you’ve decided, pick a blog template to launch your blog. 

Learn more: Best Niches for Blogging

2. Know Your Audience

When you start your blog, it’s crucial to avoid a common mistake: not understanding your audience. It’s not just about figuring out what to write; you also need to know who will be reading your blog.

Let’s say your blog is about fitness and wellness. Ask yourself: are your readers likely to be fitness enthusiasts, busy professionals looking for quick workouts, or maybe parents wanting to incorporate healthy habits into family life?

Take a moment to jot down their interests, such as favorite workout routines or healthy recipes. Consider their challenges, like finding time to exercise or maintaining a balanced diet. Also, note their needs, such as beginner-friendly fitness tips or family-friendly meal ideas.

Always keep these audience insights in mind when coming up with blog topics and crafting your content. Make sure each article you create adds value by addressing the specific interests and needs of your readers.

For instance, you might write an article on “10 Quick Workouts for Busy Professionals” or share a family-friendly smoothie recipe.

3. Find Ideas Online

If you’re a new blogger and wondering what to write about, brainstorming is helpful, but research can give you useful insights. You can get inspirations from other blogs in your niche. See what topics they cover.

Tools like BuzzSumo can help you identify which articles from your competitors are performing well – getting lots of clicks or shares on social media.

Keep an eye on what’s popular right now:

• Look at popular online courses in your field on platforms like Udemy, SkillShare, and LinkedIn Learning.
• Stay updated on current events and trends in your industry.
• Read questions and answers on platforms like Quora.
• Check out bestselling, top-rated, or recently published books.
• Use Google Trends to see what topics are currently trending. For instance, if healthy smoothie recipes are more popular than breakfast muffin recipes, you might want to focus on that.

Based on what you discover, start creating a list of ideas for your articles.

4. Understand What People Search For

When creating your list of topics, it’s crucial to do some keyword research. This involves focusing on specific words and phrases that your audience is searching for on search engines.

You don’t need to be an expert in keyword research, but it’s helpful to know what terms people are looking for. This not only helps you create content that resonates with your audience but also increases your chances of ranking higher in search results, ensuring your content gets read.

Keyword research might sound complex, but it’s actually quite simple. There are various blogging tools available, some of which are free, to guide you to the right keywords. Here are a few examples:

• Answer the Public (free)
• Ubersuggest (free)
• Google Keyword Planner (free)
• Ahrefs
• SEMrush

For example, if your main keyword for a particular topic is “healthy meal ideas,” you can use Google Keyword Planner to explore related keywords.

Apart from that, you can take a look at your competitors’ blog posts. When you search “healthy meal ideas” on Google, analyze the top 10 articles that appear. Understand why they rank high and make sure your blog post covers similar subject matter. This way, you’re more likely to attract the right audience and improve your search engine ranking.

5. Organize Your Blog by Categories

Imagine your blog is like tidying up your room. Just as you sort your things into different sections, do the same with your blog. If you’re just starting, set it up in a way that helps readers quickly find what they’re interested in. Create categories like “Travel,” “Food,” or “Technology” and put them in the main menu.

Google also likes this! Google’s computer programs look at how your website is organized when deciding which posts should show up first in search results. So, having well-organized blog categories is a win-win.

For instance, if your blog is about travel, you might have a category called “Adventure Destinations.”

6. Use Keywords Strategically

When you’re creating content, think about the words people use to search for it. These are called keywords. Put these words in your article’s title and throughout the text.

For example, if you’re writing about healthy eating, use keywords like “nutritious recipes” and “balanced diet” in your content. This helps Google understand what your article is about.

When you share your post, use keywords in these places too:

• URL: For instance, www.myblog.com/blog/healthy-eating-tips.
• Meta title: It’s the blue title you see on Google.
• Meta description: A short paragraph under the blue title on Google.
• Alt text: Words you add to describe images for search engines.

Make sure your keywords fit naturally in the text. Using them too much, known as keyword-stuffing, is not good and can hurt your SEO.

7. Create an Outline

When you’re ready to write an article, the first thing to do is create an outline. This helps you organize your thoughts and build a strong piece of content. Your outline should have three main parts:

1. Introduction: The beginning of your article. Make a list of ideas you want to include in this part. For example, if you’re writing about gardening tips, your introduction could mention the importance of gardening for mental health and briefly introduce the tips you’ll cover.

2. Body: The main part of your article, where you elaborate on your ideas. Organize your thoughts in sections, and list the main points and examples for each. Continuing with the gardening example, your body sections could cover topics like soil preparation, plant selection, watering techniques, and pest control. Under each section, jot down specific tips and perhaps share personal experiences or expert advice.

3. Conclusion: The ending paragraphs of your article. Not every article needs a conclusion, but it’s a nice way to wrap up your main points. In your outline, jot down the ideas you want to include here. For instance, in the gardening article, your conclusion could summarize the key takeaways and encourage readers to start cultivating their own gardens.

If you’re struggling with your outline, you can find inspiration in blog post templates. These templates cover various formats, such as how-to guides, beginner’s guides, and case studies. You can also explore using AI to plan and write your blog posts. 

8. Create a Schedule with an Editorial Calendar

For those just starting with blogging, staying consistent is the key to success. Regularly posting content signals that your blog is an authoritative voice in your niche, and it also pleases Google’s algorithm, boosting your visibility.

Aim to publish articles 2-3 times a week, but if that’s too much, start with once a week. The crucial part is committing to a realistic schedule that you can manage.

To stay organized and accountable, make use of an editorial calendar. Whether it’s on Excel or Google Sheets, create columns for topic ideas, publishing dates, keywords, and progress status. This helps you track and plan your content effectively.

Plan ahead by brainstorming topics and doing research in advance. Allocate time not just for writing but also for selecting images and editing your posts. This proactive approach ensures you meet your deadlines consistently.

If you find yourself needing more content, consider inviting guest writers to contribute. Many writers are eager to contribute articles to different sites to enhance their online presence and get a backlink from your site.

9. Use Data and Research in Your Blog Posts

When writing your blog posts, it’s not just about having a good structure; you also need to support your points with data and research. This not only makes your piece more convincing but also boosts its credibility.

Including data in your content increases the chances of others linking back to your article, which is great for improving its search engine ranking.

As you plan your article, look for statistics that back up what you’re saying. Instead of just stating something like “Many people enjoy online shopping,” you could say “More than 55% of U.S. consumers prefer online shopping experiences.” 

Notice how the statistic above is hyperlinked? That’s what you should do to give credit to the sources you use.

As you become more comfortable with blogging, consider doing original research like online surveys or interviews with your audience. This adds originality to your content, making it a go-to source for authority and expertise in the online world.

10. Include Visuals

Social networks like Facebook will pull in a photo from your blog to display when someone shares your blog link. If the photo is poor (or there isn’t one at all), then there is little chance of your plain link catching the eyes of people browsing through their news feeds. One blog post image is good, but several are even better.

Multiple images within a blog post help to break up long blocks of text, make your articles more memorable, and can be used to enhance a written fact or opinion.

Note: Adding alternative text (alt-text) to images is not just important for search engine optimization (they can’t see pictures, but do grab the text and include it in image searches), but it also acts as the description of images pinned to Pinterest. Alt-text is what pops up when you hover your cursor over an image, and it can be edited in the image upload process on most blogging platforms.

11. Incorporate a Linking Strategy

Having a good linking strategy is crucial to boost your blog’s authority and show up higher in Google’s search results. Three main types of links should be part of your strategy:

Backlinks

A backlink is like a website referral. It’s when one website puts a link to another. For instance, if a travel blog links to a hotel’s site, that’s a backlink for the hotel. Backlinks are super important for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). They tell search engines, like Google, that other websites trust the content, which can make it show up higher in search results. For more info, you can check out my guide on link building strategies. 

Internal Links

An internal link is a link that goes from one page on your website to another page on the same website. It helps your visitors and search engines discover content on your site.

Visitors use links to move around your site and find what they’re looking for. Search engines also rely on links to explore your site. If a page doesn’t have any links pointing to it, search engines might miss it.

External Links

An external link, also called an outbound link, is a clickable link that takes you to a page on a different website. It’s the opposite of an internal link, which stays within the same website.

Some website experts think that linking to well-known sites can make a page seem more trustworthy to Google. Even though there’s no proof, many SEOs often link to high-rated sites like Wikipedia or Forbes.

12. Build Your Email List

The harsh truth is that when someone has visited your blog once, there is a good chance that they will not return for a second visit. To combat this, you need to position yourself to target these people in future at a location where it is hard to ignore you – their email inbox.

By gathering email addresses, you have a ready pool of willing contacts with whom you can share new blog posts and updates, and slowly help to convert them into more passionate brand ambassadors.

Here’s what you can do to start:

1. Get a free account with an email marketing service like ConvertKit or Mailchimp.
2. Put a signup form on your website.

If you’re using WordPress for your blog, there are free plugins for most email tools.

In just a few minutes, you can change readers into email subscribers.

Be sure to let visitors know what they are signing up for before they hit ‘Submit’ so that your emails are not considered spam, and consider including a discount code or free gift (like a PDF guide) as a way to sweeten the deal.

13. Add Author Bio 

An author bio is a short, informative paragraph that tells about the author’s professional journey, personal interests, and unique personality. It usually includes a photo and is around 50 to 100 words. This bio is crucial for showing the author’s credibility and expertise, and it’s often used to improve a website’s search engine ranking.

Google values author bios, as seen in past initiatives like Google Authorship and the current emphasis on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) score. Despite its small size, an author bio plays a big role in establishing a website’s credibility with Google.

Author bios aren’t just about appearance; they contribute to a site’s overall authority and trustworthiness. They help build a connection between authors and readers, creating loyalty and engagement. So, author bios are not just about the author – they’re a key element in a website’s success.

14. Comment on Other Blogs

One of the best ways to promote your own blog is to comment on articles in other blogs within your niche. Many blogs allow you to add a URL when you post (normally making your name clickable in the comment when it is published) – a great opportunity to network, as well as add a link back to your blog.

On that note, try to be the first commenter on popular related blogs, so that your name and website is the first that other commenters see. Make your comment complementary to the blog in question, or interesting or insightful, so that readers are more likely to take notice of it and tempted to click through to your content.

15. Make Your Blog Mobile-Friendly

As ever-increasing numbers of people browse the web using smartphones and tablets, they are hugely significant in the way you design your blog’s visual layout and write its content.

Some of the biggest free blog providers (including Blogger and WordPress) will automatically display their blogs into a mobile- friendly format, so make sure yours does too.

From a mobile user’s view, there is nothing more off- putting than clicking onto a blog, only to have to keep zooming and scrolling to read the text. Try to avoid writing in long and complex sentences, and avoid extremely long paragraphs at all costs.

Web readers have a limited attention span and skim articles, but mobile users are likely to be even more distracted. If you are writing a long post, be sure to break it up into short paragraphs with individual headings in order to make it as digestible as possible.

16. Integrate Social Sharing 

No blog worth its salt will forgo the installation of good, clear social sharing widgets to allow users to easily share its content to the biggest social networks including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Even the best bloggers in the world don’t have their work found without a little help from their readers, so you need to empower people to easily share your blog posts with their social connections.

Visit any popular blog and you’ll see an array of social sharing options above or below (or above and below) each post, often coupled with a call to action to encourage people to hit “Like”, “Tweet” or “Share.”

There are plenty of ways to install and customize the way your blog’s social sharing buttons display. One of the easiest and most popular options is through Novashare, which is a WordPress plugin that will place the buttons on your page in just a few clicks. It allows you to display share counts from Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Buffer, and icons for 15+ different social networks.

17. Optimise Your Monetization Strategies

Many blogs stick to just one way of making money, either through affiliate marketing or ads. But here’s the thing: that might not be the most lucrative strategy.

Dom Wells, after testing numerous sites, found that having display ads doesn’t actually decrease affiliate commissions. So, to maximize your earnings, consider two key strategies:

1. Diversify Your Money-Making Methods: Instead of relying solely on ads, mix in some affiliate links. You could also venture into creating your own digital products like e-books or courses. In fact, I’ve even tried selling print-on-demand products on my motivational blog. Guess what? It brought in around $500 to $1000 extra income. 

2. Explore Different Income Sources: Don’t limit yourself to just Google Ads. Give platforms like MediaVine or Ezoic a shot. Remember, the revenue you generate can vary from one network to another, so it’s worthwhile to experiment with different options.

When it comes to the strategies for monetizing your blog, testing is crucial. Try out various approaches to find what works best for your blog.

18. Improve Your Blog’s Design

When you’re into blogging, the design of your blog can either make it or break it. Because when people visit your site, it’s the first impression that grabs their attention and makes them want to stay and check out your content.

If your blog is well-designed, it’s easy for users to find what they’re looking for, move around the site, and read your content. But if it’s poorly designed, users might get frustrated and leave, maybe never coming back.

So, the main deal is to make sure your blog design is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and interesting. For example, you can use small pictures (thumbnails), organize your blog into categories, and leave some empty space (white space) to make it all look good. With good user experience, some visitors might bookmark your site and keep coming back for information.

19. Update Old Blog Posts

If you’re busy creating new content, you might think it’s not worth going back to update old posts. But there are good reasons to do it! Your writing skills have probably improved, and refreshing old posts helps match them to your current quality standards.

You can also fix any outdated info or update old stats. This not only boosts the quality but can also bring more traffic to your blog, especially for posts that aren’t doing so well. Search engines love updated content, making it great for search engine optimization (SEO).

Check your analytics to find popular posts that could use a refresh. It’s an easy way to improve posts that are already getting views. If you have a post close to ranking higher or on the second page of Google, research what you can do to move it up and get more visibility.

20. Write Catchy Headlines

The most important part of your blog post is the headline. It’s what makes people want to read your content. So, you need to create compelling and attention-grabbing headlines.

You can try different formulas to find the perfect mix. Usually, it includes an adjective, a keyword, and a promise.

The headline’s job is to show the benefit and make a promise to the reader that it’s worth their time, all in less than a second. The more specific the benefit, the more likely the reader will click. Great headlines make clear promises.

Imagine you’re the reader and ask, “What’s in it for me?” The answer should be obvious. If not, you might not get many readers. Being able to understand the reader’s perspective is the key to successful headlines. Empathy is an essential marketing skill.

You can use the free Headline Analyzer from MonsterInsights to check how strong your headlines are. This tool gives your headline a score and suggests ways to make it better.

21. Monitor Progress with Google Analytics

There are free tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Ahrefs Webmaster Tools that can tell you about your blog visitors. Instead of just checking pageviews, use these tools to get smart ideas for your content plan.

For example, you can use Google Analytics to monitor the volume and quality of search terms which are driving visitors to your site. Use the information you find to tailor the direction of new content – expand on the most popular topics and tweak or ditch those that aren’t working quite as well. 

By checking your your Analytics regularly, you can ensure you’re always on the pulse with what your readers like and want. For instance, when you check the “Best By Links” report for your blog, you might notice that your most linked content is always data studies. That’s a clue for what your audience likes!

Final Thoughts

Building a successful blog takes time and effort. These blogging tips are proven methods to help you become a better blogger.

If you’re eager to enhance your blogging skills immediately, pick 5 tips from the list and give them a shot. Use them to either create a new blogging strategy or refine the one you already have.

If you need more guidance, sign up for my online business coaching.