Is Blogging Easy or Hard (+tips to make it easier)
You are probably thinking to start a blog but you are not sure if you are capable of doing it.
So, is Blogging easy or hard? Blogging is a skill and like any skill is hard in the beginning but becomes easier as you practice. If you have knowledge and passion for what you blog, it makes things easier and you don’t need to be a talented writer.
I will present the reasons why blogging seems hard and then explain how it can be easy.
Why Blogging Is Hard
Most people want the easy and quick solution to their financial or other problems. Blogging needs time, dedication, and above all consistency. With time and consistency experience comes and then you can create blog posts faster and with better quality. If you don’t even start you don’t really know about what you are capable of.
The main difficulties new bloggers face are:
1.)They don’t know what to write about
Many bloggers, in the beginning, they are not sure of what subject to write since they have many interests. If you face this issue then you can think 2 factors: Would you be able to produce content for years for that topic? Is it something that you are passionate about even if you are not an expert?
2.) They can’t concentrate
Our mind doesn’t want to spend energy and tries to avoid the intense work. In the early stages of the process, we need to devote a lot of effort to make even tiny improvements. That’s why you postpone difficult tasks and devote time to effortless activities (watch movies, youtube etc).
3.)They fear the criticism
The truth is that even if you create the perfect post, there will be always some people that will not like it. As i already mentioned earlier if you don’t try something you will never know the results. You might be better than you think and even if you make some mistakes you can always adjust your style.
4.)They lose the initial motivation
Whenever you start something new is always interesting and exciting. Eventually, it can become a routine and doesn’t inspire you so much. It is normal some of the initial motivation to leave but having a long term goal in mind can help to stay on track.
5.)They don’t know how to set up a blog
There are so options and services that can help you build your blog. People are overwhelmed by these options and they also fear the technical part. The good thing is that nowadays you don’t need to be really a technical person to set up a site. There are so many tools that can be used by any person with no technical background.
6.)They think that they are not writing well enough
This is a common thought that many new bloggers have. They believe that their writing style is not good enough and has many mistakes. A small group of people is really gifted with writing but for the majority, the improvement comes with practice.
Internet users don’t expect a professor to write the blog posts (this happens only for very few niches).
7.)They don’t know a lot for the subject
Even for persons that master a particular subject, there is always something new to learn. It is normal that you can’t know every detail of a specific topic. Take as an example the technology. Things that were relevant some years ago don’t apply today. So, in any case, you should learn every day for the things you write.
8.)They are disappointed by the financial results
In the early stages of blogging your earnings will be close to zero. There is not so much traffic and you can’t have so much revenue from ads or other monetization methods. The lack of immediate results let down a lot of beginner bloggers.
9.)They are disappointed by the low traffic
In the beginning, no one really knows your blog and search engines don’t trust your content. As a result, you don’t have so many visitors and it seems on your side that something you are doing wrong.
10.)They quit too early
Many bloggers quit too early before they give a proper chance to their blog to get traffic. Some weeks or even a few months of writing is a too short timeframe. You can’t really evaluate if you actually do a good job.
Ηοw Blogging Can Be Easier
We presented the difficulties for a new blogger but let’s see now how blogging can become easy:
1.)Choose a topic that is interesting for you
If you write for something that you are passionate about, the time you spent for blogging is more enjoyable. Since you are going to devote a lot of hours writing it would be very helpful if the topic is something you have experienced in real life or you are very interested (outdoor sports, cooking, etc).
Blogging only for the potential financial return will not motivate you as much in the long term. So the topic that you will pick to write is an important decision. You don’t need to overanalyze, just choose something based on the previous mindset.
2.)Ask yourself, why and if you really want it
If you have a reason and a very specific goal in your mind, things happen easier. Even if you are struggling in the beginning, you keep pushing. You might want to quit your current job or to repay a past loan. The goal can be anything that inspires you.
As more powerful is your desire then most likely is to succeed in the end. It will drive you to do even things that you don’t like so much.
3.)Find the titles of your posts
When we have a plan even a basic one that helps our mind to stay on track. It is good practice before you start writing a blog to know at least the titles of your first blog posts. That will save you a ton of time and as you end a post you can immediately jump to the second one.
4.)Be consistent over a long period
Writing a post every now and then will not bring you much success. You need to have sufficient content for search engines and readers to get you seriously. Consistency is an attribute that gets rewarded when search engines like google try to rank a blog. It is also very good from the user’s perspective since he can read many multiple related blog posts at once rather than reading one and bounce.
5.)Set a realistic target for post frequency in the beginning
As I mentioned in the previous paragraph consistency is the key. Start with a manageable posting schedule (1 post per week for example) and then gradually build-up to a better frequency. Of course, it is ideal if you start writing a post each day or every second day but usually, this is not doable for most people.
If you are not a fan of writing start small and as you become better and faster you can raise your game.
6.)Think Long term
As you already understand expecting immediate results would de-motivate you very soon. Set long term targets for your blog in around 1-2 years’ timeframe and considering that you put a consistent effort all this period. Your short term goals should be to produce as much content as possible. Even if you choose a frequency of 6 blog posts per month you will end up with 72 posts at the end of the year or 144 at the end of the second year!
You should focus on what you can control and not so much on things that you can’t 100% control like web traffic.
7.)Write first your sub-headings
It would be very intimating if you look at a white screen and thinking that you need to create long and in-depth content. It is much easier during the research of your topic to create small sub-headings and paste them on your working document.
It is easier that way for your visitors to read your blog posts. By breaking your content into small paragraphs your readers can spot what is interesting for them and focus on that.
8.)Write even if you don’t feel in a mood
All days will not be easy to write or you might think that you can’t write at all. On those days it is important to make progress even tiny! Write a paragraph or two even if you are struggling. You build a momentum that way and when some days you are more focused and energized you can write many more paragraphs.
9.)Don’t expect the perfect writing
Especially in the beginning you will think that something is missing from your post. It is normal not to have full confidence to your writing capabilities but consider that publishing a relative good post now it is better than posting a perfect post in a month.
You can always come back later to update the article if you find additional material. Perfectionism can be a reason that will postpone your potential success.
10.)Edit in the end
If you edit during writing it will be too time consuming and you will re-write a sentence 2-3 times. It is better to check for mistakes when you finish the post and you have a full picture.
Editing in the end usually helps to add some additional content that you didn’t think during the writing process.
11.)Try to answer questions that people have
Focus on addressing the questions people have in your industry. Even if the question seems very simple is always better to write an in-depth blog post. What seems obvious to you it is not as obvious for the beginners.
Check google search to see what people type with your topic’s keywords or check forums and sites such as reddit and quora. You will find plenty of questions there and you will create more easily a list of potential future blog posts.
12.)See what the competition does but don’t copy
It is always a good practice to see what the competition does and what it works related to blogging in your industry. You shouldn’t copy the content but you can see if the competitors use a lot of images, videos or tables on their posts and how long usually they are. You can conclude that way what kind of post format works.
There would be always some topics in the industry that competitors didn’t cover in-depth or they didn’t write at all about them. Start with those small wins since it would be easier to rank on search engines with that approach comparing with hot topics that your competitors covered in depth.
Conclusion
I find this post from Orbit Media really interesting and it contains many statistics related to blogging. You can see what other bloggers do with their content but don’t get discouraged with some statistics. The important step is to start and be better over time. Since many successful bloggers start with big failures, they learn from them and gradually they built habits and a workflow that helps them to succeed.
If you want to start your own blog, you will need a domain name and hosting. Read here a full review from me about what company I use for hosting and why.
