5 Lessons I’ve Learnt In The Last 2 Years of Blogging

The last 2 years of blogging have been the fastest 2 years of my life. When I first started this blog during the pandemic, I had no idea it would become such a large part of my everyday life. Some wouldn’t see 2 years of blogging as such a big achievement, but I think back to when I first started. All of the trials and lessons I learnt as a new blogger, I can see how far I have come and that alone is such a big accomplishment for me.

As many other bloggers I know, I started this blog at the height of the pandemic. In the UK we were in one of the longest lockdowns we had and it was such a hard time. I remember just wanting a distraction from it all. Something to focus on. And thats why Olivialucieblake.com was born.

I know recently I have considered whether to continue blogging or not, but I look back at the last 2 years and it’s filled with such fond memories that I know I will cherish forever. I’m so proud of where I started from, and where I am now.

As this post is a reflection on the last 2 years of blogging, it thought it would be a good idea to share the 5 lessons I’ve learnt over the last 2 years. In hopes that you read my mistakes and advice and realise that all bloggers are the same. We all make the same silly mistakes and we all worry about the same stuff too.

1. IT’S OKAY IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING

Honestly, for the first year of blogging I had no clue what I was doing. I remember signing into WordPress for the first time and desperately trying to find posts by other bloggers about what I should be doing with my blog. I was clueless.

If you aren’t familiar with my blogging journey story, this isn’t actually my first time blogging. I blogged back in 2015, but didn’t take it seriously. I posted here, there and everywhere and had no real direction to what I posted. So this time round, I knew I wanted to make sure I did it correctly. For months I fumbled my way through posting random content and not really having any sort of blogging schedule. It worked for a while, but the numbers just weren’t there like they used to be. So I eventually did something to change that.

But, this is your reminder that if you’re new or heck even if you’re a seasoned blogger and you don’t have a clue what you’re doing. I’m right there with you. I still now go through phases of being confused at what direction I want my content to go in.

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2. NOT EVERYBODY WILL BE ON YOUR TEAM

I don’t want to bring negativity to this post, but I feel like this point is very important. Blogging has been the least toxic form of social media I have been part of. Social media has a bad rep usually in being toxic and full of drama. But, I have to say that blogging is far from that. That being said, there are of course those people who come into the blogging world with the wrong intentions. Some people don’t want to see you win, and thats okay! We let them carry on.

There will be people who leave negative comments. There will be people who plagiarise your content. Thats just the nature of the internet. One thing I learnt through all of my own situations is to stay true to yourself. If someone does or says something to upset you, then you block them and move on. There is no point dwelling on the one negative comment when there are hundreds of positive ones. There will always be people who don’t want to see you win.

3. HAVE A SET SCHEDULE FROM DAY ONE

As I mentioned earlier, when I first started blogging I had no real structure to what I did. My posts were sporadic and all over the place. It wasn’t until I set myself a posting schedule that I started to see the benefits of doing so. I gained alot of followers early on in my blogging career, and I put this down to making sure I had content going out regularly.

When I tell other bloggers to have a set schedule, they all assume I mean post everyday and all the time. A schedule doesn’t have to be something thats not achievable. If it means you post once a week or once a month, then thats fine. Just stick to it. Your readers will appreciate the consistency in your posting, and it will mean they keep coming back.

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4. UTILISE THE RESOURCES THAT ARE THERE FOR YOU

In the last 2 years of blogging I have made sure that I utilised the blogging resources out there. There are tonnes of websites and information about there about blogging that can help you so much when you’re first starting out. Google is your best friend. If you don’t know how to do something, search for it. or ask your fellow bloggers. There is a tonne of information out there just waiting for you to discover it.

In the last 2 years I made it my mission to help create extra resources for bloggers and I did just that. I created two seperate documents to help you as you start your blogging journey. One being a blogging strategy plan. This plan is exactly what it says. I created the perfect strategy with a timeline of what to do everyday for 30 days to ensure success on your blog. It’s helped so many people already too!

The second document I created was a beginners guide to SEO. When I first started blogging I didn’t think I needed to know about SEO, oh how wrong was I. I wish I knew what I knew now about SEO! The guide I created is a step by step guide on everything you need to know about SEO. It includes annotated guides on how to optimise your blog posts and has some really useful information in there! I really loved creating these guides to help all those bloggers out there struggling to understand everything.

If you’d like to buy either of these guides, the links are below.

5. ENJOY YOURSELF

This sounds like such a silly thing to suggest, but I feel like alot of bloggers tend to get wrapped up in the numbers and the engagement. We often forget to take time to enjoy the journey. Blogging is supposed to be fun and it should stay that way even if this becomes your job instead of your hobby. There are always added stresses and pressures when it comes to being a blogger. But its important to remind yourself why you started. Why you created your blog and why you continue to do this everyday.

So many people come into blogging with the wrong intentions. They become solely money focused and want to be the next best thing. Although there is nothing wrong with having those goals, when you obsess over them and don’t enjoy it anymore. Is it really worth it anymore?

Relax and enjoy what you do. It’s such a privilege to have the freedom to share whatever we want on the internet.

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The last 2 years of blogging have gone by so quickly. Have you been here since the beginning? How long have you blogged for? What’s your favourite thing about being a blogger?

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to every single one of you for being here. Without you, the reader this website wouldn’t be where it is today. I don’t take it for granted, not one single bit. I hope there are many more years of me writing and you reading.

Olivia x 
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