“Should I start blogging?”
If you’ve been asking yourself this question over and over, you may be wondering what to blog about, or even why do people blog?
In this post, I’ll share the reasons to start a blog so you can decide if blogging is for you and so I can answer common questions regarding blogging.
Before we start, I’d like to tell you that I love blogging, but I’m fully aware that blogging isn’t for everyone and I hope that by the end of this post, you’ll have a clear idea of whether you should get into blogging or not.
If you prefer watching videos instead, you can watch the video below.
9 Reasons to Start a Blog
Why blog?
First, you should know that you don’t need to be a good writer to blog. In fact, I’ve been blogging in English for several years now and it’s not my first language. I used to be embarrassed by my English, but somehow, people still read my content. Provide value – that’s what people are after.
Without further ado, let’s see the reasons why you should start a blog (or not).
You Love Writing
Blogging is all about writing. If you don’t enjoy writing, blogging will be a painful experience and you’re likely to give up in a matter of days.
Although, to have a successful and profitable blog, writing about all the things you love isn’t going to work. You’ll need to stick to a topic (a niche) to develop authority in this field.
To get readers, you’ll need to make sure your content is optimized for search engines, and let me tell you one thing – writing with SEO strategies might kill your creativity.
You got to be flexible with your writing.
You Wish to Inspire People
If you want to use your blog as a positive platform to inspire people to act on something, blogging can be a fantastic tool.
I started my first blog A Broken Backpack to inspire people to travel regardless of the amount of money saved in their bank account. I wanted to share my experience traveling on a budget to show that it was possible to travel long-term without savings.
Your blogging platform could help people on different scales:
- You could inspire people to recycle more
- You could inspire people to go vegan
- You could inspire people to exercise more
You simply need to remember that blogging isn’t about yourself, it’s about your audience.
You Want to Help People
While inspiring people may seem easier, your blog could be a platform to help other people. When people search for something on the web, they need help. They’re looking for a recipe, an answer, or tips from someone who’s been through it.
If you ended up on this page, you were probably wondering if you should start a blog, what to blog about or perhaps, you’re considering blogging and you’re not sure if this is for you.
My goal with this blog post is to help you decide if you should start blogging or not. With my experience, I believe I can help see blogging for what it really is.
Your blog could help people on different scales:
- You could help them entertain their kids with craft activities
- You could help them deal with their anxiety issues
- You could help them find new healthy recipes
Again, blogging is a platform to help your readers and audience. It’s not about you.
You’re an Expert
As I mentioned above, to be a successful blogger, you’ll need authority about a topic (a niche). The more you write about a topic, the better it’s going to for Search Engines like Google to understand your expertise.
If you’re an expert about a topic, people will trust you more and it’s going to be easier to get an audience.
Here are some ideas:
- You’ve been meditating for several years and you wish to blog about meditation for beginners.
- You teach English overseas and you create materials and tips for English teachers.
- You’re a scuba-diver, and you decided to document your scuba-diving trips to help people plan their dives abroad.
You Have a Business
If you have a business, blogging is a great way to increase your website traffic and potentially, your sales.
Obviously, the best way to do so is by using SEO strategies and focus on different stages of your sales funnel with your articles.
Here are some examples:
- You’re a Pinterest virtual assistant. You could create blog posts about Pinterest tips in which you can also advertise your services.
- You own a coworking space. You could create guides and tips about the city where you’re located to target your potential customers.
- You’re a fitness coach. You could write blog posts about fitness foods, routines and more so you can advertise your services and attract more customers.
If you already have an audience or if you wish to promote your personal brand, you could use blogging to share your voice. Blogging is a way to put your voice out there and to communicate your beliefs.
Although, you should know that nowadays, it’s harder to create a personal brand from scratch if you write with no SEO practices.
In that case, you could focus on entertainment and promote your blog posts on social media which are great for entertainment pieces.
You’d Love to Develop Your Skills
Blogging will require you to learn new skills. Whether, you simply improve your writing skills, learn SEO to increase your blog views, or get into photo editing, at some point, you’ll develop new skills.
You’ll need to learn basic things like:
- How to use WordPress
- How to design your website
- How to use social media
- How to implement SEO strategies
- How to search for keywords
- How to create graphics
- How to optimize conversion
- And more
With blogging, you’ll end up doing so many different things that every day will be different. For me, it was ideal since I don’t enjoy doing the same things over and over. Although, it was hard and challenging at first since I needed to learn many new skills.
You Wish to Make Money
After a while, you may be able to monetize your blog. Although you should know that it will take time. You may not make any money the first year, especially if you’re busy learning new skills to try to understand this blogging thing.
There are several ways you can monetize your blog including affiliate marketing, ads, and sponsors. You can read more about monetizing your blog content here.
You Want to Work for Yourself
Once you can monetize your blog, you could be able to live from it and become your own boss. This would also mean you could work from home, or anywhere.
Being my own boss is one of the perks of my blogging career and I love the freedom and flexibility that comes with it.
Although, as you learned through this post, blogging is a lot of hard work, and you must be able to be accountable for yourself. If you need an external form of accountability, you could get a blogging mentor or coach, or find a friend who wishes to start a blog too. This way, it will help you get work done.
Things You Should Know About Blogging
To sum it up, let’s just go over a few things you should definitely be aware of before you start a blog.
- If you don’t intend to monetize your blog, blogging becomes an expensive hobby. If that’s your intention, you may want to use a free platform instead of investing money into it. You can learn more about the costs of starting a blog and the things you need in order to get started.
- Monetization will require patience. To monetize your content, you’ll need to choose monetization methods and you’ll need to create content for it. For example, reviews, buying guides, or comparisons are great ways to monetize content. Although, you’ll need to sign up for affiliate programs, and build partnerships with brands in order to make money with your blog.
- Blogging requires dedication. It’s a lot of hard work and you’ll need to be able to pick up lots of skills and write content knowing it will take time. Most people think blogging is only about writing, but it’s about promoting your articles, publishing them, implementing SEO strategies, and more. It’s a full-time job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now you have a clear overview of what it’s like to blog. If you’re still interested, here are some frequently asked questions so you can get more answers to your questions.
What should I blog about?
Figuring out what expertise you already have, or what you’re passionate about could help you find a blog topic. I’d recommend looking into the niche chosen to see how competitive this blog niche is before committing to it. You should also think of ways you could monetize the type of content chosen in the future.
Do you have to be a good writer to blog?
No. You don’t need to be a good writer to blog. In fact, when using SEO strategies, you need to keep your writing simple. Blogging is not about creative writing but it’s about helping people finding answers to their questions. That said, you simply need to provide value to be a good blogger.
What do you need to start a blog?
To start a blog, you’ll need to purchase a domain, a hosting plan, and a theme. You can learn more about the costs involved here.
Final Thoughts
Blogging is a lot of work, but it can also be fun. I love the feeling of seeing my views increase, knowing I was able to help people along the way. I was able to create a job for myself and I learned several skills during this journey.
I now own several blogs and I still love blogging.
If you wish to have help with SEO or with your blog, you can take a look at my services for bloggers.
