A Books & Such client asked a great question on Facebook recently. She wanted to know what some experienced bloggers wished they had known before starting their blogs. The majority answered that they wished they had a focus, or direction, for their blogs before they started writing. Many of the bloggers started out blogging about whatever came to mind and weren’t focused on anything specific. When they finally found the right topic, the blogging became easier.
Focusing your blog should also help to build blog traffic. The same people will want to come back to read your other posts and they will know what to expect. I read a few “mommy blogs” and I know that when I go check in, I will be reading a clever, relatable, mommy post. Here on the Books & Such blog you know you will see a publishing or writing-related post. We hardly ever (never?) post about what we had for dinner. And I try to refrain from writing about my silly kids–unless I can find a sneaky way to mention them while still talking about the publishing world.
A blog is a tool and it is most useful if you use it correctly and consistently.
Finding the right focus for your blog can be tricky–especially if you are just starting to build a platform. If you write nonfiction, your blog will likely match the topic you are writing about. Fiction blogging is harder to focus and you really have to profile who your readers are and write to their interests.
If you blog, what are some tips you might have for those who are just starting out?
What is one thing you wish you had known before you started blogging?
What would you like to do differently on your blog in the future?
NEW RESOURCE ALERT: Sensitivity Between the Lines
I thought I had a focus,
I thought I had a plan,
but then I found death’s locus,
and met The Great I Am
who drew my life back from the brink,
a miracle, no question,
and then He chose to make me think
with a kind suggestion
that I tell now of that road
from life to death and back,
and He would help with writing’s load
so that I would not lack
compelling words to catch the time
when He chose my living over dying.
I wish I hadn’t spent so much time and money in themes. Just write and enjoy creating awesome posts.
I wish that I had asked a more experienced blogger to help me find my focus–someone who knew me and understood my writing but wasn’t necessarily a friend. Instead, I asked friends, who subsribed to my blog and happened to also be writers but weren’t bloggers. They encouraged me to keep blogging and told me what they liked, but they didn’t offer the direction I needed.
Know who you’re writing for (and it’s not “everyone in the world” or “every Christian”). When you identify who you want to read your posts, that will help you focus on serving them and meeting their needs (as those needs relate to the topics you write about).
As Jeanette said in her comment, a lot of authors assume that our audience is other authors. That may be the case, if we’re offering books and services specifically for authors. And our author friends are often our “secondary” audience — we don’t direct our words specifically to them, but they read our blog because they like us.
But, based on my experiences as a blogger since 2004 and a writer who has blogged professionally for nearly 15 years, our readers are usually people who are seeking information or inspiration around a particular topic or theme. As we relentlessly seek to serve these people, we discover our ideal reader and the topics that most resonate with them.
Great thoughts, Rachel! When I started out blogging, I did choose a focus. I wrote a badly envisioned haiku about my parenting insanity each week, wrote about my writing, and some ideas for other writers. This morphed to become The Harrowing/Heartwarming Parent Moment of the Week which was a funny or insane or cute parenting post, Boy Quotes which were funny things my kids or husband said, and eventually I also wrote about camping ministry and posted photos of my dog next to the books I’m reading. It wasn’t super focused and at the time had nothing to do with what I was writing. But it created an amazing record of our sons’ words and adventures starting when they were 5, 3, and 1 and continuing to this day. I am so so glad I have this, even if it hasn’t been incredibly valuable from a platform perspective. But it also changed my writing over the years. I realized that I love to write about crazy kids having adventures in the forest with their pets. The joys of real life eventually changed my fiction and helped me to find my writer joy!
This is gold, Rachel!
I’ve only been blogging since about 2018-2019, can’t remember exactly. At first, I just browsed the shelves of my mind, looking for that “one thing” that sounded interesting, and away I went.
More recently, I try to stick to themes. I have one blog post series (on my WP author website) called “Flawed Families 101”, which relates to my passion for restoring broken family relationships. And another series, called “Character Interviews”, where I interview the characters of forthcoming novels (my first and second!); the reader can get to know the main characters prior to release. I’ve had some good feedback for that series.
Blogging is so much easier when there’s a roadmap!
One tip – be consistent. Decide what works best for you whether it is to post once a week, once every two weeks, once a day and stick to it.
If you find that you don’t have time to post, refresh an old post including the publication date. If you feel demoralized that no one is reading your blog or leaving comments, still keep to your schedule of posting. I find that I am more likely to revisit a blog if I know the writer posts regularly. If the blog is well out-of-date, I am less likely to return.
I also had to learn to have a focus for my blog!