There are so many steps that are involved in order for me to maintain and run my blog. Before coming back to blogging and previously, I didn’t know that running a blog would be like having a full time job. I really underestimated the time and effort that goes into it and I’m not sure I would have started my blog back up if I’d had known. Don’t get me wrong, I love blogging but I don’t love some of the tedious tasks that happen behind the scenes. It’s like a tv show. The viewer only sees the final, polished version and they don’t get to see the people running around like headless chickens making it happen.
I thought this would be something fun for me to share, as I don’t talk much about everything I do behind the scenes. And it might also help other bloggers in knowing the sort of stuff they should be doing to run their blogs too. I am generally a nosey person, so looking more into peoples lives and businesses is something I find fun, so hopefully you do too!
WRITING
You’d think with running a blog that the writing would take up most of my time, but it actually doesn’t. Writing probably takes up 30% of my blogging time. Writing is one of the most important things involved in running a blog, but funnily enough it doesn’t take that long to write posts. Not for me anyway. Alot of the time, it’s all the other stuff associated with writing that takes up time. Researching topic ideas actually takes up more time than anything else. I would say thats the hardest thing too. Constantly coming up with new, and fresh ideas is really hard. But, there is no better feeling that coming up with a cool idea and being so excited to post it.
When I do writing for my blog I tend to bulk write. Which basically means I sit for a few hours and write post after post. All throughout the week I am constantly jotting down ideas and saving them as drafts. I allocate time each week to sit through my drafts and turn them into posts. This is generally how I do it each time. Of course life things get in the way sometimes and I get behind in scheduling (like this week). But generally I have my posts scheduled for each week, a week in advance. This helps so much in not having to rush posts and being more organised. Having a schedule like this is so beneficial to make sure I stay on track.
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MAINTENANCE
It’s quite a time consuming thing to maintain and run a blog. Maintenance can mean anything from going through spam comments, replying to emails or making sure that my blogs running the way it should. These tasks are just as important as writing, because without the site working correctly, nobody is able to see my content. I tend to do my maintenance/admin everyday on my blog. One of the first things I do is check spam comments. WordPress has this thing where it likes to mark comments as spam, which are not spam. It’s very weird. So I make sure that I check those everyday.
I also make sure to create content for up coming emails to my subscribers. One of the best things you can do for your blog is create a subscriber email list. I use Flodesk to do this and it works great. It enables me to have access to a pool of people who are outside from my blog. It allows me to target them specifically if I am selling something or promoting something too.
DISCLOSURE: THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I MAKE A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINK. THIS IS AT NO COST TO YOU.
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INTERACTION
Interaction is something that I will always recommend to bloggers everywhere. Interacting with other bloggers or social media influencers is really important to enable your blog to grow. It can take up alot of your time, but is worth it in the end. I saw so much blog growth after I spread my wings and started to interact with other bloggers more. Blogging friends are so important on your blogging journey.
I usually spend an hour or so catching up with bloggers new posts and commenting and liking their content. Interaction could be asking if you can guest post on other bloggers sites. Or leaving a nice comment on their Instagram profile. It really could be anything. It can be time consuming, and honestly I am quite bad at it sometimes. I feel like I often neglect my readers profiles, just because it’s something I don’t really have time to do amongst everything else. But I am working on being more consistent in interacting and showing other bloggers pages more love.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
Whether you love it or hate it, social media is something you need to grow your blog and be successful. Yet another thing that can take up alot of your time. Aside from being on WordPress, I’d say that Instagram is the second social media page that I tend to use. When I first came back to blogging in 2020 I used Instagram to promote every time I posted on my blog. Now I have moved away from that, and mainly use my Instagram grid to showcase my digital illustration work. I still interact and chat with other bloggers but have found that it can get exhausting at times. You have to be really consistent with social media, and it can be hard when you have so many other things to juggle. It can be so hard to juggle social media and the need to maintain and run your blog.
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What are some tasks you do everyday for your blog? Do you find it hard to maintain and run your blog?
Olivia x
Instagram • Twitter • Pinterest
This would have been so helpful to read before I started my blog. I knew what I needed to do but I didn’t realise how much time it took. I recommend all bloggers read this before they start. I find bloggers chats on twitter so helpful as my favourites are in it and its easier to keep up with them rather than scrolling. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for reading! Twitter has a really great community of people on there. Who are so willing to help with anything! So glad you are liking it on there.
💜 I AM a Creature of Chaos having Shed Rigid, Inflexible Plans that Demand The Discipline of Goals, Objectives, “Tasks” and Targets in favour of Fluid, Flexible Planning that means I AM Able to Turn On A Dime at The Drop Of A Hat; “blogging” is simply another means of communicating to Me so I Find it NOT!!! at ALL “Hard” at ALL EveryOne
…💛💚💙…
I made the hideous mistake of setting myself a task to make a blog post every day this year. Draining as it is, it is albeit satisfying and enduring to boost your engagement. Thanks for the tips; I’ll be sure to spend as much time as I can interacting with others. It makes it that more difficult when they don’t reciprocate though.
Wow, that is a task!! Good luck with that. I did Blogmas last year and I got the most amount of views etc ever. So its well worth doing!
It can be difficult sometimes when you feel as though the support isn’t a two way street. But remember, commenting and liking and showing love to other peoples content is really important. It gets your name out there. People read the comments you leave on other peoples posts. So doing it just for that is worth it in my eyes.
Ah, that’s certainly true! The more, the merrier!
Good tips and tricks here Olivia. As a blogger I am learning and to be honest, once you adopt the blogging spirit, it no longer becomes a strenuous task but a satisfying one. I now blog almost every week!💯📱
You’re so right! That is so awesome! Keep up the good work!
I get very lazy most days with doing the admin… it’s so tedious! I also don’t check my spam as often as I should so I know I offend some of my readers…
Girl you and me both! It should be our March goal!
Yes, blogging is a lot of work. Like you, writing take me the least amount of time. It’s all the other stuff. I plan ahead to stay organized and have a schedule and checklist I use to make sure I don’t forget anything. That seems to work for me.
Exactly the same as me Michelle. I find it so much better than doing things last minute. Better to be organised!
I too at first used Instagram to grow my blog last year. I found that it didn’t really help my blog grow to much. So far for me I have found that Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest really helped my blog grow. I am currently trying to get better at commenting on others blogs. Also replying to comments on my own blog.
They are great goals to have! Pinterest is one that I haven’t manage to master yet!
I only publish a post two days a week so on those two days I check my account more regularly so that I can respond to any comments. I want to let my readers know that I appreciate them. Periodically, I also like to visit the pages of my followers that I’m not following so that I can like or comment on some of their posts.
That a lovely and important thing to do, to support other bloggers! well done 🙂
I like the Flodesk idea, I think I’ll give it a go! 🙌🏼 I find writing the posts takes most time for me! I like to use Pinterest to promote my blog too! 💪🏽
Flodesk is amazing! I have loved it from the first time I saw it. It makes it so easy to send emails!
That email list is something I keep putting off. Feel a little intimidated by that haha But maybe I’ll try the one you suggest! Very helpful post
DO IT! Its seriously so fun and adds an extra level of personal with my followers!
Okay okay. Gonna DO it:)
Oh my goodness. I think you just became my writing role model lol. I tend to plan out my titles and bullet points for post content but I write the day of. I am fully impressed that you write a week in advance. Also, running around like a headless chicken is a very true description of blogging 😂
Hahaha I love this!! Thank you. I feel like were all a little bit of a headless chicken sometimes 🤣
Ahahah
I so agree!
Running a blog takes a lot of time, patience and, as you rightly said, interaction(I need to pick up the slacks on that one). This is a great post to read before diving into the blogging hemisphere.
I recently set up a blogging schedule so things are a bit easier to handle. Thanks for sharing this☺️.
Thanks so much for reading!! 🙂
Having a schedule is so important and something I recommend for blogging success!
Probably like most people, I tend to not spend as much time on the things I don’t like to do and more time on writing, which is what I really like. For me, the “ugh” part is the social media stuff. I just never really liked doing that, but I know it’s important and I definitely need to get better at it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Olivia.
I feel like that about social media too sometimes. It feels more of a chore than anything! But as you said, we need it!
I find bulk writing SO hard. I get distracted so quickly. Forgive me I am nosy —how do you manage to bulk write? Like how do you come up to write without repeating yourself (that can happen when writing for so long)!
Any tips is much appreciated😘 xx
Never nosy Shahrin! I tend to write ideas down throughout the week and have them in my drafts! And then I can just go ahead and write the posts in my scheduled writing time!
Sometimes things work for one, and not the other. Its about finding what’s best for you!
xx
I never strictly tried it other than to just procrastinate. I think I need to sit down and write when I feel like (those good days) that would take a lot of stress away.
Thank you so much🤗🧡 xx
Yes! Do that if you think it will help. Don’t just do something because you feel you have to. Remember blogging is meant to be fun!💛
Thank you for sharing this. It shows me how I haven’t put enough time into my blog. I’m still new to it and am still learning. How do I find spam comments? I’m trying to reach out with other bloggers more now ☺️ thanks for the helpful tips.. I love your posts
Spam comments can be found if you go to your my sites section, click on site, and go down to comments. And once you’re on that page there is a section for spam comments!
Thank you ☺️☺️
Very helpful! Thank you for the tips
Thanks so much for reading!
Great tips Olivia. I never even thought about going through spam comments. I just looked at mine and I have quite a few. How do you differentiate spam comments from true comments though? I also try to block write and I prefer that but since starting back to work full-time I have been writing throughout the week. Planning to have posts ready a week an advance as you stated. It will be less stressful I’m sure.
I think WordPress has its own weird algorithm. Because comments go in there that aren’t spam and then spam comments get posted. Its weird!
Lol. That is weird. I will have to be more diligent with the behind the scene aspects of my blog. In the process checking my older posts for broken links. Is there anything else I should look out for? I honestly can’t wait for your SEO course. I feel like that would help with this aspect of blogging too.
Planning in advance is such a great strategy!
I love the comments under these posts because they’re so helpful!
Blogging is time consuming. And I feel so even when I solely write for pleasure and don’t monetize my blog. Can’t imagine how demanding it is to be blogging for a living.
Yes, blogging is a full-time job! It seems to be never-ending, even when you want it to be, especially on the weekends. I plan out content for a full week, which includes my blogs and social media posts. I haven’t gotten back into the swing of writing a week or more in advance, but I’m working on it.
Hi Olivia. Great post. I too don’t struggle with the writing but with all that goes along with it. Especially the engagement. I try and do 30 mins reading every morning reading other blogs and chatting with other bloggers but it’s difficult. I really like what you said about starting an email list. I’ve just done that (mailerlite) and learned the legalities behind it. I’ve done two newsletters now….another time eater. But…the blogging is still worth it.
This is really helpful! I didn’t even k ow you ought to check spam comments 😂
Thank you for sharing. I’m trying to decide if I want to do the paid version . 🤔
The way I’m relating to this on some level is crazy. It is a lot of work and where you say life things get in the way? I’d say that is the greatest struggle of all but I’m inspired that you have and find your rhythm. I’d say this post is waking me up slowly. You definitely have a great platform and blogs so keep em coming Olivia
I really appreciate you sharing the struggle… Gives me inspiration 🤗
Hi Olivia. Thanks for sharing the struggles of blogging. I’m finiding I have to do so much prep for the entire week because if I’m not organised I’m not productive. It’s that simple – from scheduling social media posts on instagram to videos on my channel which I am not trying to do in bulk ie 2 videos per day each week otherwise I remain inconsistent. I promote my blog on Instagram which doesn’t seem to be working. May I ask whetehr you use wordpress mainly? Just starting to get into Pineterest as I have read it works for promoting blogs.
only a blogger knows how hard and time consuming it is. My hubby often asks me- ‘You not posted anything today’, it irks me up!!! if only he understood that it may take a couple of minutes to read- but to write up, take pictures, research, plan.. and post is a whole different story. Love your posts! they always keep me going xxxx
Hey I’m finding quite hard to find blogging friends. Should I try to interact with people who use blogging hashtags on social media?
I would say just start searching blogs that interest you and follow them, read /comment on their posts.. That’s how I became regulars with my audience… It’s sort of a give/take friendship! Everyone is so nice in the blogging community!
Yes! if you want your blog to look professional then work must be done. This is definitely not for everyone. Great Post
My movitation has been lacking of lately, fed up of being in lockdown. And more time is needed to maintain my blog. February was not a good month for me. And this month has not been too productive. I have many posts in drafts to add pictures and links too it just takes time. And many posts to type up too.
You are doing very well with your blog.
Yes, I’ve been blogging for a long time but only started seeing growth when: a) started a regular posting schedule (consistency is key), b) engaging with other bloggers (spread the love), c) cater to my current audience to gain traction! Thanks so much for sharing, this will help so many ppl!
https://bosssybabe.wordpress.com/
Ya. So True.
Love it. Great post. As I’m growing and getting into the blogging world, I find this to be practical and helpful.
Scheduling has become my friend in recent days.
Thanks for sharing
Interacting with other bloggers has become way more time consuming than writing the actual articles. I never would have thought. 🤔
Thank you for sharing! VVN