I am glad that what has essentially been a rather difficult year has come to an end and (like most others, I am sure) I’m in a reflective mood. I had prepared several posts that reviewed the various events of the last twelve months, but I decided to combine them.
At times, I can be extremely lazy.
A year ago this blog didn’t exist. I created it in April after spending years writing random thoughts in various notebooks, which I never finished – Paperchase was making a fortune from me and my bedroom cupboard was stacked with beautiful books that all contained one or two pages of (often repeated) scribblings. The Bloke, my partner of four years, directed me to WordPress and thus Suzie81 was born. I chose the name quickly and without much thought – my name and the year I was born – I didn’t have any expectations, other than perhaps a few nerves about it being discovered by people that I know, I had no plan, theme or any idea of what I wanted to write about – the important thing was the process of writing itself.
In the last eight months my little blog, and my life, has grown beyond all expectations. As I write, I have gained over 3,000 followers and my posts have received over 70,000 views. Compared to some, this is tiny, but I have been absolutely gobsmacked by the response that I have received. I’ve been spoilt with nominations for numerous awards, I was Freshly Pressed in November and for the first time in years I have a project that I never seem to get bored of – I love every minute of it and can easily spend hours at a time reading posts and writing my own. I have found something that I genuinely want to do. I’ve met some amazing people, formed small relationships with them and I have started to get to know a little about their interesting lives.
For me, blogging has involved trial, error and experimentation. I’ve tried things that have been successful and lots of things that haven’t, and if I were to go back to the beginning I would change quite a few elements of the way I originally started. I have posted this sort of thing several times before over the last few months, but I hope that by sharing my successes and mistakes it can be useful to some of the newer followers I have gained recently.
A theme is not necessarily important, but a title is.
I hate the name of my blog. With blogging, as with life, I am impatient and hastily chose a name so I could get started quickly and as a result I am now contemplating changing it to something more representative of myself and my writing. Take a little time to think about who you are and what message you have, and choose a title that will draw others in. However, despite what seems to be common opinion, the content of your blog doesn’t have to have a specific theme – I’ve written about everything from books, films, politics, my daily adventures and things that I have experienced, to opinions on controversial topics, things that amuse me and I have taken the opportunity to post photographs that I have taken. Whatever you choose to write about, you will always find others that share similar interests.
Choose a layout that is easy to follow.
As with my title, I dislike my layout. It has taken two or three changes to get an idea of what I actually do want, but I wish I had taken more time to do this in the beginning. Choose your layout wisely – I have read hundreds of posts that are very difficult to read because of a clash of colour or font, with no links to other posts, and this discourages me from continuing further.
Quantity versus quality.
I originally felt that it was important to post as much as possible, as often as possible and in a way, I still stand by this. The more consistent you are in your approach to blogging, the more likely that your traffic will increase. There are no set amount of times you should post – I follow bloggers that post daily (sometimes three or four times daily), weekly and monthly. However, avoid posting something just for the sake of it. When I first started I was excited and desperate to release all the different thoughts that were swimming around in my head, but upon reflection I should have slowed down and thought about it a little more. I reviewed my earlier posts about a month ago and was genuinely disappointed by what I saw, so I am now in the process of deleting some and re-writing others. Out of the 550 posts I have churned out this year, I think that about 10% of those are what I would consider to be of an acceptable standard, with a further 10% that need editing. Content is king.
Read, read and read again.
I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have published something and then noticed mistakes. Take time to actually read what you’ve written before you post it. Incidentally, while we are on the subject, avoid writing like you would on Facbook and Twitter. I’ve said this before, and I may sound snobbish for doing so, but I switch off the minute I read ‘lol’ and ‘so, like.’
Credit where credit is due.
Use images – it will make your site far more interesting. Make sure that your images are of good quality and are relevant to the topic of your post or you may confuse your readers. If you use something that you haven’t created, make sure that you credit the person who did. I still occasionally forget to do this. However, I would like to add here that I personally do not wish to see harrowing images of cruelty – I appreciate if a blogger is discussing a particularly heartbreaking subject, but these images stay with me for a long time. I’ll read a post about dog fighting and what can be done to stop it, but I don’t want to see pictures of it. This is one of the reasons why I rarely use Facebook.
Blogging is hard work – building traffic.
If you have your sights set on becoming a professional blogger, be prepared to really work for it. Unless you create a post that goes viral, your blog is not going to be a success overnight. Or over a year. Or two. Or even five. Your blog will not be viewed by 50 million people simply by pressing the ‘publish’ button. If you are a stat whore, (as I have become) the number of views you will receive will depend on the way you promote your blog:
- Meet other bloggers. Read their posts, chat, get to know them a little. WordPress offers Daily Prompts, Weekly Writing Challenges, Weekly Photo Challenges and a Community Pool that provides fantastic opportunities to meet others who are covering the same topics. However, if you wish to build more of a relationship with others, avoid the ‘follow to get a follow’ policy. I have noticed that this started to creep in recently – I instantly move away upon pleas for follows, likes and reblogs. I follow a blog because I like it, not because they have asked me to.
- Tag your posts properly. The tags should relate to the content of your posts and will help you reach readers with similar interests. When I first started, I only used two or three, now I use between eight and twelve.
- Use a catchy title. These will instantly grab the attention of a passing reader.
- Use other forms of social media and include an email button. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin… all are extremely useful for promoting your blog to a wider audience. I don’t have a Facebook link and only recently joined Twitter, and if I were to do this again I would establish these links earlier.
- Host ‘Blog Parties.’ Invite bloggers to share their favourite post and encourage them to meet others. However, you should only do this when you have a larger following or you may end up being sorely disappointed. Trust me.
- Share the work of others. There are some bloggers that have been extremely generous when promoting my posts and as a result I have gained lots of new followers. I like to return the favour by reblogging posts from some of my favourite blogs. I have also invited lots of guest bloggers to write post for me, and have guest blogged on other sites.
- Take the time to respond to those that comment on your work. As my following has grown I have found this increasingly difficult but I try to reply them as often as possible – a lovely comment boosts my confidence in my writing and I always try and say thank you. Avoid any trolls that may come your way – I’ve had little experience with these but I have seen others who have received quite a bit of backlash, mainly due to the jealously of others at their successes.
Bloggers enjoy a debate.
When discussing a somewhat controversial subject, invite others to give their opinion. Questions as simple as ‘What do you think?’ at the end of a post will encourage readers to join in. I’ve had lots of really interesting discussions as a result of this.
Most importantly, enjoy what you write about.
I’ve slugged away at many posts that I haven’t been happy with and as a result I haven’t received the response that I wanted. Your passion for your subject will be evident to your readers and will encourage them to read on. Isn’t that the point of writing in the first place? Again, content is king.
What do you think? Have you got any useful hints and tips for new bloggers?
You can also find me on Twitter @Suzie81blog
Suzie Speaks 
I’ve only just started blogging and I found this article to be very illuminating (trying to expand my vocab ;))
Thanks for taking the time to write it, hopefully I might get close to your standard one day!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Amazing success in such a short time! I think the only other aspect to cover in your well-stated post is the “why” of writing a blog. Is it for attention? Platform for a passion, project, issue, hobby–the pupose, I think is an important part of blogging. As for me, I just like to write about my journey as a writer through the books I read and enjoy the connections made along the way. Happy New Year!
You’re absolutely right in that people blog for different reasons. Thank you very much! Have a Happy New Year!
Very Informative, I am fresh to the blogging scene and only did my first post this morning. I went with something light, somewhat short and sweet mainly because I’m lacking in direction at the moment. This piece was most helpful. Appreciate the time you put in on this post. Well planned out and executed! Look forward to more.. Happy New Year!
Thank you very much – Happy New Year to you too!
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Thank you Suzie for sharing your blogging journey and the ‘lessons learned’ along the way so to speak. I too am new to blogging and was contemplating quite a few of the issues that you highlighted…. having an outside opinion on the things that are foxing one’s mind definitely helps. May you have a great new year!
Thank you – and to you!
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Hello Suzie81,
Since I liked this post so much, I linked to it in my blog. (I’m pretty sure its called a pingback?) Thank you again for the informative post.
You’re very welcome. Yes, it’s a pingback and that’s absolutely fine!
Suzie81,
This was an amazing read! Especially because I just started today! I am so nervous and have no idea where to begin! What I do know, is that I have way to many notebooks around my house! Thanks for all of the information, and please check out my blog and be a critic for me! I could really use it! Thanks!! 🙂
Your story is incredible, and really well written and I loved the first three posts. You have a very honest way of writing things and I think you will appeal to lots of readers. You also have a very beautiful child!
However, for me personally I am avidly against hunting, and wouldn’t read any posts that you wrote about this… I hope I’m not offending you by saying this as I actually really would like to follow you, but would unfollow the minute I saw this sort of thing. Unfortunately, there are lots of people who would disagree with me!!!
Have a lovely new year!
Thank you and I truly appreciate that. You are not offending me, however, I may eventually post something, as I am a hunter. If there comes a time where I am going to, I will let you know so that you can unfollow me, although I will hate to lose your input! I understand people who are against hunting, and also see the other side, where it feeds my family. However, I am not offended by your thoughts on it, as everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I admire anyone who is willing to stand up for their beliefs. The same, or different.
Very common sense advice here. I got your book a few days ago, will be reading it in the New Year! All the best to you 🙂
I don’t have a book – which one have you bought?
Suzie, I loved your helpful hints – long, but so interesting and spot on. Then, I came to this comment from Photography Journal Blog. Your answer threw me into hysterics! Thanks for that too.
That would be my bad, sorry, I got your twitter account and someone else’s confused. Looking back, I’m not sure quite why… Anyway, the book, which I won and haven’t read yet includes info about quality over quantity blogging, something which you talk about in this post, so maybe that’s where I got confused. So, I guess when you asked for advice on blogging, mine should be, don’t get your blogging friends confused.
Cheers!
Your suggestions to help others in their blogging are ‘spot on.’ I think having a clever title is important, but if you don’t have an adequate one, change it later! I have had sudden bursts of improvement, then I go into a slump. I do feel that your readers will appreciate your less than outstanding thoughts, since they know you are human. I admire the fact that you were not happy with your earlier posts. I sometimes like to see the way I evolved. You share a lot of interesting things about yourself and also, find some crazy subjects that are fun to read about. I love the ‘bloke’ and your stories. I hope to continue reading your blog, into more than just 2014!
Thank you very much, as always! Your blog was one of the first I followed and i’ve always enjoyed it, especially stories about your adventures with your family! Have a lovely 2014!
I started my blog the same time you did. I recognize every aspect, especially that networking is like really working for a job! You are doing a great job, so carry on!
Thank you!
You are very welcome!
PS: thank you for liking my post on ‘Happy and colorful 2014!’. I wanted to save this post for tomorrow, but instead of pushing the save button I pushed the publish button. now you missed the photo that is on now :o)
I admire your courage to put yourself out there – there are a lot of men in your position that would be too frightened to! Have a lovely new year!
WOW! Thanks a lot for your lovely words! I’m still worrying about the consequences, but the feeling of joy and freedom prevails.
I wish you an awesome year!
And you!
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So much good stuff in here, Suzie! Thank you for sharing all you’ve learned!
Thanks Kaela – apologies for the late response!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Michelle! Apologies for the delayed response!
Suzie, your blog and comments have given me more confidence about blogging. My blog is about happiness, as befitting the title I gave my blog: “Sunshinebright.” Believe it or not, I have derived a lighter, happier outlook for today because of your blog. Would you mind if I referred to your blog post in mine?
No, Not at all! Of course that’s fine! Thanks for your lovely comments!
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Hey Susie – I saw your comment on Susie L’s blog party and I’ve been following you for a while, I just don’t write, read, or comment as much as I would like. I teach 7th grade Language Arts and I am busy from mid August to early June – I’ll stick with that for now. I saw this post when it came out and a few of them resonated with me, a couple of the pointers actually stung :). I hope you have a great day and make it count!
Hi Clay, thanks for your comment. I’ve seen numerous times when you’ve liked one of my posts and I always appreciate it! As a teacher myself I totally understand, except my busy period is from early Sept to July. Happy New Year!
Found you on Susie Lindau’s blog–great insight into the blogosphere. Happy ’14!
Thank you very much! Happy New Year!
Suzie Lindau sent me! I appreciate this post because I have been wanting to update and improve my blog from layout to performance, but there are too many choices and there is too much advice out there. It’s hard to know the right thing to do.
I, too, have recently seen an increase of what I call ’empty follows’, people who follow me but never comment on my posts. How can they want to follow me if they aren’t willing to contribute to the conversation? I’d say 9 times out of 10, they’re just looking for traffic to their own sites, and not really genuine. I can’t be bothered.
Congrats on your wonderful following!
Thank you! I always love Susies parties!
The follow for a follow thing annoys me. I’d say out of the followers I have there are a core group of about 100 that regularly make a contribution to the blog… Seems a bit daft really!
Have a lovely new year!
Hey Suzie!
Thanks for bringing this fab post to the party! I think you are right about blogging more often to get views and an audience. I took a big hit with my diagnosis and surgeries this summer with not being able to keep up with comments and posting for a while. It takes a ton of time and my goal is to get my book published this year, so I see the challenge of balancing both in my future!
That sounds fab! Looking forward to reading it!
I followed you after you had one of your major ops – there were so many posts from bloggers that genuinely cared and were worried about you that I was inspired to find out more about you and checked out your blog… I think it’s a wonderful blog and i’ve enjoyed following you ever since – I admire your strength and positive outlook on life! I hope you are doing well and that 2014 is a happy and healthy one!
Thank you so much! I am feeling great!
I will always be grateful for all the support I received through this bogging community. Unbelievable!
They’re amazing aren’t they!!
It’s been a life-changing experience!
All very good tips and thanks for sharing it on Susie’s blog party. When I first started blogging it took me a while to figure out what my name/title should be and every now and then I feel the need to change up, or update, my layout, gotta keep it fresh!
Definitely! i think I’m going to have a big overhaul this year… Thanks for your comment!
Congratulations on the success of your blog in such a short period of time. Thanks for sharing the great blogging tips in this post. For my blog, this year I vow to focus on the quality of my posts over the quantity. Have a great 2014!
I think that’s my main goal too – I’ve got lots of posts and most of them need redoing. Thanks for your comment!! Happy New Year!
Hi! Stopping by from Susie’s party. Great advice. I’m in awe that you wrote 550 posts in a year. WOW. 🙂
Liked your tips! I’m most guilty of not always re-reading what I post, then finding a few errors later. Glad I stopped by from Susie’s party.
Please tell me if my blog is good thanks!
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Oh wow, I needed this. Thank you so much for writing this piece!!! It’s really appreciated….
Thank you! Really pleased you enjoyed it!
I enjoyed reading your 2013 summary. 550 posts is impressive as I’ve only posted 412. Getting there. I’ve been blogging since 2006 but started a blog dedicated to crime fiction in 2010. There is so much to still learn and the spelling mistakes after you hit publish are the bane of my existence as well. You have some great tips here and I am of the camp that quality trumps quantity each and every time and that content is king always. Good luck to you in 2014!
Thanks so much for your comment! My biggest regret is that I didn’t start blogging earlier!
Loved your post it was very helpful and thought out. Aside from waiting and tagging posts properly, how else were you able to find readers? Also, how public/private were you with your friends about your blog?
Only 2 or 3 of my friends know that I have a blog. I’m a teacher and worry that any innapropriate comments that I make would hurt my career…
Thanks for the great tips! I really enjoyed reading your blog. It is really conversational and I felt like I was almost talking directly to you and you were answering my questions, almost like you knew what was coming from your audience.
Thanks again 🙂
Thank you for commenting on my blog! That was an exciting moment. Made me smile. I enjoyed this piece and learned so much from it. Thanks for sharing your experience! Happy writing!!
Thank you very much! Really pleased that you enjoyed it!
Great tips, thank you for sharing. Congrats on your success. I need to take the time out to learn the advantages of ping backs etc.
Thank you very much – I’m really pleased you enjoyed it!
Suzie,
I found this post on the Community Pool and I am so grateful for you for writing it and sharing it there. I began my blog in the Fall of last year as my life felt as if it were crashing down in the midst of crisis. As I always have in my life when things get difficult, and my feelings are more than I can process, (we are the same age by the way) I write. I have notebooks I’ve scribbled in since childhood still protectively tucked in my bookshelves. Anyhow, thank you again! Some wonderful tips here.
Thank you very much! Really appreciate it – I’m so glad you found it useful!
I forgot to mention, a huge congratulations on the success of your blog! How thrilling! I feel as you do, writing is about the only thing I never get bored/tire of, and so I am so delighted to have finally joined the world of blogging! I feel like I am so late to the party. If you had a spare moment, I’d love some feedback on my blog. My theme, content and the like. I feel like it needs tweaking, but I am not sure where.
Thank you! I love the layout and the content – but the titles are a bit difficult to read – the font needs to be smaller to fit in the circles as they lap into each other. Other than that – love it!
That is exactly what I took from your post today! I thought as I was reading, “You know, she is so right about the Theme.. Its time to work on my fonts.” I am glad you like the rest of it! I sincerely thank you for taking a moment to peek in on it.
~All the best, you have a new follower in me. Just love your work.
Thank you!
Hi Suzie,
This is a really helpful post. I’m fairly new to blogging, so it’s encouraging to see how well you’ve done in such a short time. Like most things in life, it seems to be largely a questoin of doing the work. Now all I have to do is make my life more interesting.
All the best,
Anthony.
Haha! Thanks Anthony!
Very useful. Especially the one where it says about reading before posting. That’s what I always do.I’m no perfectionist but I don’t like spelling errors when I write.
Thank you! I always find mistakes just after I’ve posted something, despite reading it through several times. It’s really frustrating!
Congratulations on your success in such a short time! As someone who’s only been blogging for about 3 weeks, this post gave me a lot of food for thought, especially the part about social media. I’m hesitant to link to my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts, but perhaps after I settle in a bit I’ll reconsider my approach. – Kim
Thanks! I created a separate Twitter account rather thank linking it to my own if that helps?
I agree that 2013 was a “hit the ground running” kind of year, perhaps in preparation for 2014 being an “experience the change” year. As I posted my first blog just a few days ago, I have only just begun as I have done nothing else with it, creatively. This blog has been very helpful as I develop my writing skills, theme, content, etc. Thanks so much!
Thanks very much for your comment. I love the idea that 2014 is an ‘experience the change’ year!
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Hi there, just wanted to say thanks for these tips. I’ll definitely keep your advice in mind and refer back to this post!
Thank you! I’m really pleased that you enjoyed it!
I really enjoy your blog and I want to say thank you for the tips. Keep up the great work.
Thank you very much Nicole – really appreciate it!
I also found this post helpful and has given me lots of food for thoughts. But I also clicked on a lot of other commenters to try and find other ‘newer’ bloggers that I might want to read – found lots to read!
I think getting a good layout is the trickiest bit for me as it means navigating things that are ‘preset’ in a way. I’ve only had sites using iWeb before where pretty much you have a blank page so this is newer and strikes me as something that will take a lot of time whereas I just want to write/get stuff out of my brain!!
It’s taken me a while to get my head around layout and things and I’ve changed my format quite a few times – it’s all about trial and error and what works best for you. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
As a new, new blogger this is great advice to bear in mind. Thanks for sharing – particularly about the lack of instant blogging fame..! Good to remember that good things take time and effort
Thank you very much – I’m so pleased that you found it useful!
Well done on your success! I found your comments useful and encouraging – I write about something I’m passionate about – living in the present moment – so the writing comes quite easily, but drawing people to my comparatively new blog is not as simple. Thank you for your practical tips.
Hi Suzie, many thanks for sharing your blogging journey and advice off the back of it. From the other comments on here it is fair to say your experience is resonating with a lot of people, me included! If I could go back I would also reconsider my layout, and like others, building traffic is proving challenging. However it is encouraging to hear of your success and hopefully for other bloggers as well as myself it will motivate us to keep putting in the hard work! Thanks again.
Thank you very much! Really appreciate it!
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Hi Suzie, Thanks for liking my first blog post. I don’t really know what I’m doing yet (in case you could tell) so this post of yours is helpful. I went to other sections of your blog and have really enjoyed what I’ve read so far. I find it amazing that you can keep up on all the comments and respond. You must spend a lot of time here! In just the short little bit I’ve done bloggin so far, I’ve found that what you say is true…. blogging is work. Already I’m amazed at the time involved and I’ve barely started! Perhaps I just haven’t looked in the right spot yet to know this, but was wondering….. where is your first happiest place on earth?
Debbie M.
Hi Debbie! Welcome to WordPress!
Happiest place – in general or the first point I can remember in life?
Thanks for posting this and I will be reading your other tips…greatly appreciated as I fumble my way through the WordPress maze..
No problem… Thank you!
Thanks for sharing. I just started my blog and I found this post to be extremely helpful, especially the Quantity vs. Quality and Building Traffic sections. Great work!
Your blog is just what I needed to help me get started. Thanks for taking the mystery out of all of this. Well, some of it anyway. I feel like I’m feeling around in the dark, so thanks for the candle!
Thank you very much! I’m so pleased you found it useful!
Thanks for writing/posting this suzie81, it’s very useful. I am following the success and mistakes blogging 2013 commandments while I work on the back end of setting up my blog. Thanks again
Thank you! I’m really pleased you found it useful!