How To Get Your Blog Taken Seriously In 2020

*This is a collaborative post.

Blogging is a huge business in this day and age – you’ve probably realised that by now. What used to be a fun little pastime for most is now a huge means of creating a fantastic life for one’s self. You just have to look at the likes of Lifehacker and Huffington Post to see what a small blog can eventually burst into. 

The fact that you’ve chosen to read this probably means you’ve started up a blog, created a plan for one, or intend on beginning your blogging journey soon. You’ve seen what the world is like from the outside looking in, and you want a piece of the pie. Well, it’s not a bad little community to get involved in. You can go as far as you’d like with something like a blog – if you put the work in, of course.

So let’s say you’re about to by web hosting, create a domain, and get started on your blog. How are you going to make sure your blog isn’t just a website that only your eyes see? How are you going to build on your work each week, month and year? After all, you need to attract others and keep them on board – it’s not just a case of posting whatever you want and reeling cash in out of nowhere, after all. Well, the good thing is that the entire process isn’t pretty simple – granted, there will be a few learning curves. Once you’ve understood the majority of it, though, you’ll be good to go. Here are a few fundamental things you need to do in order to be taken seriously:

Focus On Creating A Brand

A blog is very much like a business in that you want people to recognise you before they even see the work you’ve put in. Obviously, you’ll want to be associated with your high-quality output, but the perception of you also matters a lot. Focus on being consistent when it comes to who you are and the content you want to put out. Let people think ‘ah, there she/he is, this will be a good article.’ Let them also take one glance at your logo/name and become immediately at ease as they know exactly what they’re looking at. Building a brand is absolutely huge when it comes to attracting and maintaining fans, subscribers, customers, etc.

Keep Your Content Fun, Engaging And Relevant

Following on slightly from the previous point, you need to make sure you stick to a particular topic and/or niche. If you start writing about anything and everything, then you’re going to look like pretty much every generic website that has ever existed. You’re not going to stand out, and the visitor will happily look elsewhere for similar content. Also, do your best to enjoy your writing – make it fun and don’t try too hard. You’re not a broadsheet yet.

Present Yourself Properly

If it’s just a case of you sitting on your couch writing stuff and then lounging around for the rest of the day, then you’re probably not going to hit the heights you desire. You need to have an organized and presentable way of working – this is for your own benefit and also for how you’re perceived. Working in a more formal environment with everything ready to go will allow you to get more done. The same goes for the programs on your computer – if you have things like management programs, building document software, finance software, etc. all ready to go, then you’ll be in a much better place in terms of productivity. 

Get Your Website Looking Smart

The site itself needs to look presentable. It doesn’t need to be the most beautiful and modern thing you’ll ever see, but it needs to be comfy on the eyes of the visitor. Nobody wants to enter a site and be annoyed with what they see within the first few seconds. Be sure to boost the SEO score as much as you can and supplement it with social media platforms so you can attract even more eyes. 

Just Write Organically And Don’t Try Too Hard 

The problem with many bloggers around the world is that they just kind of write the same. They all want to look as though they belong in this particular world. While there’s obviously a right and wrong way of writing in terms of spelling and grammar, there’s no right way of expressing yourself. Do what YOU feel, not what you feel you should. Don’t scrape content or plagiarise, also, for obvious reasons. People will be attracted to YOUR uniqueness – remember that.