There are so many factors that come into play when you are wanting to make your blog successful. And honestly, some strategies work for others and might not work for you. I get emails regularly with people wanting the secret to growing their blogs. Let me just say, there is no secret. Other than hard work and getting things done. There is no work around to success. Alot of the most successful people and bloggers in the world, got there because they worked their butts off. It’s kind of insulting when people ask what the secret is. It diminishes the hard work you have put in to make something work.
Honestly, there are no shortcuts and if any bloggers tell you there are then they are wrong. Unless there really is and nobody told me! Success can look different to so many different people too. Success to me is consistent traffic, and my follower count growing. It also is how I can help others. To someone else it could be the number of views each month increasing. Or opportunities to work with brands. It varies from person to person.
In todays post I will share 5 of my top tips that helped my blog to become more successful. As always, this is what worked for me and my site. No two websites and audiences are the same. So keep that in mind.
SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
When I first started blogging I had zero expectations on where this blog would take me. I didn’t think about the money side of blogging or the fact that I would grow a following. I did it with the intention of needing a distraction and something to do over lockdown. I think going into things with high expectations can lead to let downs when you don’t achieve your goal. Having goals are great, but making them realistic is my advice.
Perhaps have a goal to reach 100 followers in 3 months and start from there. Because honestly your follower growth might not be right away or quickly. Setting those expectations is important no matter where you are on your blogging journey.
I have had people come to me and ask me how to make money from blogging and they are a week into their site being live. I love the ambition, but really there are so many other steps to take before thinking about money. To make your blog successful you need to set realistic expectations and set achievable goals.
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BE CONSISTENT
If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll know that I preach consistency always. If you learn anything from me as a blogger it is to be consistent in whatever it is you’re doing. I see so many bloggers posting so sporadicly and then wondering why their sites aren’t growing. To grow anything in life, you have to be consistent with it. If you want to lose weight and become healthier, it takes time and consistency. And blogging is the same.
Figure out a schedule and stick to it as best as you can.
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SET A SCHEDULE EARLY ON
If you’re a new blogger or even a seasoned blogger and you haven’t set a schedule for yourself yet, then please do it. Having a schedule and something to hold yourself accountable to will help so much in your consistency. From very early on in my blogging journey I made sure to set myself a schedule. I posted almost every single day for months and months. It didn’t ever feel like a chore because I enjoyed it, but I knew it wasn’t sustainable.
I have changed my blog schedule so many times, and its okay to do that too. But once you have find a schedule that works for you, stick with it. You will notice that people will read your content as long as it stays fresh and relatable.
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BUILD A COMMUNITY
One big blogging mistake I made when I came back to blogging last year, was not interacting with other bloggers. For the first month I posted my content and left it up to the WordPress Gods to do their work. And I got some traffic but nothing like I do now. I then went on a hunt to find likeminded bloggers who shared the same niche as me. And thats where everything changed for me. I started getting more traffic, and my followers grew significantly.
I put alot of my blog success down to you – the reader. Without you guys my blog wouldn’t be where it is today. I would never have gained so many followers, or had the opportunities that I have now if it wasn’t for you.
Blogging friends are what will keep you going. They are the backbone that you need. Find your tribe as soon as you can.
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DON’T BE AFRAID TO MESS UP
There is one, very important way to make your blog successful. And you might be confused as to why I say that messing up is one of them. Imagine you did everything right? And never made mistakes to learn from? You would never learn anything. I made so many mistakes and I still do. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. Messing up is part of the process. Make those mistakes and learn from them.
We are all humans behind our websites and words. You are allowed to mess up and learn from your mistakes. Believe me, I have been there many times.
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What are some key things needed to make your blog successful? How do you ensure you are doing what you can to make your blog a success?
Olivia x
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Thank you for sharing your blogging tips.
Thanks for reading!
These are so helpful. And hey, could you give some advice about not getting demotivated about seeing other bloggers succeed quickly? I put in efforts into writing, but my stats are slow paced in comparison to others who shoot up quickly(whose content is only half as good as mine, imo). Is it something about marketing? Maybe a link to one of your posts about this?
I’d be the most grateful person if you could help out!
My advice would be firstly, don’t compare yourself to other bloggers. I know its way easier said than done, but it won’t help you at all. Their journey is just that, their journey. And same as yours too. There are probably people who are getting half your views, and they look at you and wonder how to have a blog like yours. I have some posts that I think will help!
https://olivialucieblake.com/2021/08/02/4-ways-i-deal-with-blogging-comparison/
https://olivialucieblake.com/2021/04/30/how-to-grow-your-blog-following-organically/
https://olivialucieblake.com/2021/05/18/what-to-do-when-your-blog-stats-get-low/
I completely agree. Thanks a ton, For the advice and the links!
Marketing definitely helps too. Make sure you are utilising Twitter specifically. I tried to use Instagram for blogging and slowly realised that its not the best platform for it. Twitter works well and I know others have had alot of success from Pinterest. 🙂
I so love reading your posts Olivia.. You are an amazing source of knowledge and help. The thing I’m working most on at the moment is consistency and building my seo up, especially on old posts where there wasn’t any seo incorporated ☺️ am working my way to a better DA and hopefully some sponsored posts in the joy too distant future. But you are so right.. It takes a lot of work and time
Thanks for reading friend!
All of those things will come, probably when you least expect them 🤎
*not too distant future ☺️🤣
Great advice to follow, especially for those of us, like me, that are new to the blog world. I appreciate you.
Thank you so much.
Yes yes yes!! agree particularly with ‘don’t be afraid to mess up.’ Blogging is a journey. Keep working on it. Keep writing. Let yourself grow with your blog. You will make mistakes and that’s okay because that just shows that you are real and not perfect lol
I am always messing up and making dumb mistakes, but who doesn’t?!
“That-Which makes a Blog successful, a blogger must have the talent,
the skills to perfect their talent,
*&* hard work creating and innovating their talent
into $production$!” _-Van Prince
Your blog is extremely readable. Keep going.
Thank you so much!
Really useful advice — thanks for sharing! There’s always things we can learn or relearn about blogging no matter how long we’ve been doing it so it’s always good to refresh our knowledge and practices — this post will definitely do that!
Thanks for reading Molly 🙂
These are great tips! For me personally, I’ve definitely seen a boost since using keyword research tools rather than just posting whatever i feel like x
Yes, keyword research is so important!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Wonderful post! These are some really nice tips. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing these tips.💪
Thanks 🙂
Thx for the tips.
You’re welcome!
too many teachers, too many preachers, not enough worthy writers, too many copycat writers, too many advisers, too many giving advice, too many takers, not enough givers, not enough God posts=INSUFFICIENT!
These are wonderful tips!!Thanks for sharing, I definitely want to become more consistent with my blog
Thanks for reading Joy!
Always, always always love reading your posts!! ♥️♥️♥️
Hope your well x
Thanks you lovely lady🤎
I have to work on being more consistent! Thanks for the tips.
For sure! It helps alot!
100 followers in three months was way too big a goal to reach for me😅. I reached 50 followers in three months and I’m quite proud of myself but there are really bloggers that can reach 100 followers in three months. Congrats to them though (that kina sounds sarcastic even though I hoped it wouldn’t🙈)
I made the exact same mistake with building a community. I never interacted with other bloggers but it was also because I never knew that I could🙈😅.
Awesome post💜
100 followers in 3 months?! Wow those people must be made of a popularity elixir! I anticipate a slow crawl for myself. Probably moist too. A slime trail of likeminded weirdos… one might say. But Im not sad if it will take some time. All about the journey right ✅ 😜
Yes it is😜✌
Thank you for the encouragement. 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
I’ve tried marketing and stuff in the past with other blog attempts I tried, but yes I always found the consistency aspect a killer! Looking forward to doing better this time and just having more fun…. scheduled fun!! 🤣 Thanks for the hot 🔥 tips
That’s good advice….will follow it
Thanks So much, your word are educative, i am new in blog world. i will practies amd make use of all your point