Starting a blog? 5 things to consider…

I often get interviewed and asked, “What do you recommend to someone just starting a blog?” In fact, I get asked this question so often that I decided to write a post about it.

So here we go-

5. Most people who start a blog, stop blogging within 3 months.
-This is one of the most over looked ‘details’ of a blog, it takes work! It is very difficult to keep posting even though not very many people (if any) are reading your great content. You must be thinking about the blog as a long term commitment rather than a short term one.

4. Take into consideration what your goals are for the blog.
-One way in which I have been told that we (UBD) stand out from some of the other design firms, is that we ask you what your goals are for your blog. This greatly impacts not only your design but your posts as well. This should be close to the most important thing to consider before starting your blog. This may also help you to keep on writing if you know you are doing it for a purpose and what that purpose is!

3. Have a list of key words you would like to rank for.
-This may seem extremely obvious to some of you and it may get others to scratch their heads. One of the main reasons why people start a blog is to increase their search engine rankings. If you don’t know this by the time you actually start a blog, you’ve got some more research to do

2. You should write about…
-This kinda ties into #4. Before starting your blog make sure you know what you are going to write about. Keep in mind that there is not just one answer to this question. In general you should write about topics that you are constantly involved in, that way you will be able write a lot of really useful information for a long, long time. I would also recommend writing in a way that benefits your brand or business (any or all or a few), that way you are able to see a return on the investment of your time into the blog.

1. Write as often as you can, but more importantly, write consistently.
-Ask John Chow how he made his blog so successful and he will tell you consistent, usefull content. In the early days not nearly as many people read his blog, however he still wrote awesome content, Consistently to keep readers coming back.