Best Blogging Tips for Beginners That Are Actually Helpful

How can a beginner start blogging?

Most people will tell you to just get started, but if you don’t have the faintest idea where you’re going, how are you going to get there? You have to prepare or else you’re just flinging stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks. And that is just going to be a mess that no one wants to clean up. It is important to have some idea of how blogging works before you get started so you don’t waste your time and effort on things that don’t work. These blogging tips for beginners are a great place to start!

Do blogs still make money?

Yes, they do! If you’re thinking about making an income from your art then starting a blog in 2024 is your best option (more on that here).

What you’ll find here: blogging tips for beginners 

I’ve been blogging for just over two years now and these are my personal beliefs. They are what I think are the most important blogging tips for beginners. These are the things that have helped me stay consistent, passionate, and helped me start earning an income from my blog.

What advice can I give to newbie bloggers?

Don’t give up

If you’re looking for instant gratification, blogging is not for you. Writing is an art form. And like most art forms, they’re highly underappreciated in today’s society. It is a skill that takes time to develop, as does finding an audience that appreciates your art. It will take 1 or 2 years to see consistent numbers in traffic. It is not a get rich quick scheme. However, it is an excellent platform to share your creative outlets. Don’t ever give up on yourself.

Learn some basic SEO

You’ll hear lots of people complaining about Google search and many naysayers talking about the “hacks” to become super popular. All I can say is that it is worth reading a few blogs about SEO and checking out RankMath to make sure you’re addressing your keyword/topic in your blog enough for search engines to understand what your post is about.

Don’t buy a course

So you’ve been blogging for two months. You have 10 views per month. You’re feeling down and wondering why people don’t appreciate what you’re doing. You are starting to doubt yourself. Then suddenly, you see a post from some gorgeous person driving a fancy car, telling you about how they made a million dollars this morning while sitting on their ass in a Tuscan villa. They tell you that this could be you, too, if you just buy their course. 

Don’t do it! It is a trap!

They are trying to make money off your desperation. There are plenty of free online blogs detailing how to improve your blog. If you’re really looking to invest in your education, I urge you to do a course from a vetted institution. You can find plenty on sites like Coursera by companies that actually know what they’re talking about (such as Google and Meta!).

Get your own domain and hosting

It seems like so much to spend on a domain and hosting, right? But this is your passion and costs as much annually as eating out one time. So like, what is more important? This is one of the most important blogging tips for beginners I have. I highly recommend getting your own domain and hosting at the beginning of your journey rather than waiting to see if it’s worth investing in. It will be a huge ordeal to move your content over to a new host and could affect your traffic. You also need your own domain to be able to earn through services like Google AdSense.

Make sure your brand is unique

Just like social media, there are plenty of people out there telling you exactly what works best and giving you a step-by-step way of “going viral”. But the truth is, no one wants to follow you if you just post what everyone else posts. This is especially true with blogging as you don’t want search engines to think you’re plagiarising.

Don’t be afraid to share what you really think

This carries on from the last point. You have a story to tell that only you can tell. So, tell us!  No one wants to read another “most popular cafes in [insert town]” or “week itinerary” blog. Mr. ChatGPT can do that for us now. Tell us about your personal experience visiting a place. Did you lose all your money on the train? Was the main sightseeing attraction a complete snoozefest? Did you love it so much you quit your job and moved there? I will return to your blog if I value your opinion and want to find out what happens next on your journey.

Make it sustainable

This is another important blogging tips for beginners that most expert bloggers will agree with. What if you never made any money from your blog, what would you still write about? Write the sort of blogs you enjoy writing. I recommend at the beginning you pick one or two topics to blog about and share your experiences and expertise. Make sure they’re things that bring you joy to talk about. That way, when things get hard or you start to doubt yourself, it is easier to get past the writer’s block.

Remember this is your passion, you shouldn’t despise doing it! For example, when I first started blogging I started talking about my experience living in Japan and how creating art during 2020 helped me stay sane. I was an art teacher at the time so this was my personal experience as well as something I had an expertise in. 

Have a way to connect with your readers

You’ve done all this work to share your passion and creativity with the world. So when someone loves your blog, how are they going to connect with you? I highly recommend making a newsletter so those who love reading your blog can keep up to date with new posts. I usually send out a newsletter every month with my new posts (and if you want to subscribe to mine you can do so here!) Having your socials listed are also helpful, as it is usually the easiest way for people to reach out with questions.