Have you thought about starting your own blog?
Already have one but are lacking the inspiration to create content? Perhaps you’re even ready to boost your blog traffic and start growing your audience!
Whatever the reason, I’m thrilled that you’re interested in learning these rules for blogging successfully – they helped me go from newbie to successful blogger!
By implementing this set of strategies, I experienced an explosion in my own blog traffic – an increase of over 868% in page views – and feel more motivated than ever to keep on creating.
I’m happier, releasing quality content more frequently, and am truly enjoying the entire process of blogging, from start to finish.
Maybe this is just what you need to take your blog to the next level!
Keep reading to discover inspiration and find even more love in what you’re already doing!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I could earn a commission if you use them. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
More from Nikki Blogs:
- Blogging for Moms Made EASY: (How to Make Money at Home)
- Popular Blogging Topics for Moms: Millennial Mom Blog Ideas
- 1,000+ Popular Topics for Blogging that Get Traffic
Rules for Blogging Successfully: Proven Blog Tips
Use the following list of suggestions to spark that flame and learn what it takes to make the shift from casual to serious blogger.
You’ll find tips to help you gain confidence, ease external pressures, and more below.
Let’s make this your year, blogging friend!
Rule #1: You Get Back What You Put In
Whether it’s time or money, this is possibly the most important of all blogging rules!
A lot of bloggers I know have quit because they haven’t monetized their blogs enough or as quickly as they had hoped.
In my case, I had a number of family members continue to ask me, “How many hours have you put in?” or “It costs you that much to run your website?”
However, what these people don’t understand is that a blog, like any startup business, takes time and a few investments to grow.
You need product and you need to promote! So, consider your blog posts your inventory!
Here are the tools I used to turn my blog into a business.
Blogging Tools You Need to Invest in
I think it goes without saying that any potentially great blog needs to have great blog hosting!
I host my blogs with Siteground because it’s easy to use and affordable.
Siteground also offers incredible customer service – I can usually get a hold of a tech expert in under 5 minutes and they’re often able to help me figure out my issue on the phone or within the hour via their amazing support ticket system.
I started blogging with Wix and then switched to WordPress.com because I thought it would be “easier” – as a brand new mom, self-hosting just sounded too complicated!
I have never been so wrong – it’s actually way easier than the complicated tech language makes it sound.
Siteground even helped me transfer my existing WordPress.com site for hosting on their server. All of my posts, files, database, everything!
I moved from WordPress.com because the options to monetize and customize my blog were really limited on their affordable plans – it would have cost $25 USD a month for just the basics.
You can create a blog on Siteground for $3.95 a month. Have an existing blog? Just select “I already have a domain” to start transferring your site to Siteground.
I also invested in the following three tools to help expedite my site’s growth:
1. Squirrly
This tool ensures that your content is always 100% SEO optimized – I tried Yoast but found that Squirrly offers WAY better value with extra features you can’t find anywhere else.
You get all of the following with Squirrly but NOT Yoast:
- Focus Pages – to assist in better rankings!
- Calculated chances of ranking
- Determined current ranking drawbacks
- Unique treatment for individual pages
- 14 Days Journey to Better Ranking – essentially a free SEO course!
- SERP Checker
- Rank Tracking over multiple days
- Keyword Research Tools
- Keyword Research Assistant
- Full and Easy Overview on everything related to visibility issues
- Settings Assistant
- SEO Live Assistant
- SEO Audits
- Weekly Site Audit – Squirrly tells you how your site is performing based on 88 different criteria
- Blogging Audit
- Traffic Audit
- Links Audit
- Authority Audit
- Social Media Audit
- Briefcase
- Blogging Assistant
- E-Commerce and Social Media Metrics
- Bulk SEO Settings
- SEO Automation
- Duplicate Removal
Thanks to the Squirrly’s amazing SEO assistance, I’ve even managed to outrank Adobe for an article on photo editing for Instagram with Lightroom – for those of you that are unfamiliar with photography, Lightroom is software that was developed by Adobe!
Get Squirrly SEO and go from invisible to the first page of Google – even as a new blogger!
2. Tailwind
I use this app to schedule all of my Pinterest pins. The Tribes feature is also an incredible way to get your content shared by fellow bloggers the moment you release it!
With Tailwind, I’ve grown my Pinterest account to over 700,000 monthly viewers and quadrupled my blog traffic.
As you can see below, I’ve also:
- received 17.7k re-shares
- received 15.8k repins
- and reached 116.2 million users!
I’m not sure I could have accomplished this without Tailwind – especially in just one year!
In my experience, 20 minutes is all is takes to schedule around one month of pins – that means no worrying about being active on the platform itself and instead, focusing on the things you love to do like creating content!
Here’s one free month of Tailwind to get you started 🙂
3. WP Rocket
This plugin assures your website loads insanely fast and performs well even with unusually high amounts of traffic – crucial when a pin goes viral!
No one likes a slow website – in fact, 53% of potential visitors will leave a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load!
Here’s a great infographic by think with Google to show your what I mean:
Site speed is also a really underrated SEO factor with a major impact.
WP Rocket can help lightning fast sites like those hosted on Siteground perform even better – my average page load time went from 2.7 seconds to a mere 1.2 seconds! Hello, first page of Google!
To test your site’s speed, visit GTmetrix or Pingdom Tools.
Other Blogging Tools to Consider
Blogging courses are a great means of learning how to blog in a short period of time.
Instead of learning how to do it on your own as things come up, blogging courses provide structure and can teach you how to deal with a new topic or issue before it arises.
Don’t have the budget to invest in top of the line tools right now? Try Rank Math SEO and WP Super Cache – they’re free plugins that still pack a punch!
Treat your blog like the business you want it to be
If blogging were as easy as paying for a website and watching the money roll in, I’m pretty sure everyone would be doing it.
When you’re just starting out, this is probably the most important of all rules for blogging successfully – you get back what you put in!
When you’re working on you blog, don’t forget to remind yourself in addition to family and friends that this is in fact “work”.
Plan of Action: Commit to your business and spend time working on your blog every single day.
You can also try doing the following every single day:
- A five-minute content brainstorming session – think of new ideas for your site or social media; write everything down in the notes section of your mobile device or in a book of ideas
- Planning all blogging tasks in an agenda – rather than having no idea where to start when you sit down to work, planning in advance helps you get focused immediately
- Accomplishing one thing for your blog whenever you can squeeze it in – it could be something as simple as changing your feature images on one or more posts
Want help coming up with your next blog post? Try these:
Rule #2: Be Uniquely YOU
If you want to create a loyal fan base, the first thing you’ll want to do is find your own voice.
There are a TON of blogs out there! But what separates you from them? What makes YOU special? Invite people to see this!
Are you wicked talented at DIY-ing? Do you up-cycle like it’s nobody’s business? Are you a raw vegan chef with a knack for creative displays and presentation? Show us!
Everyone has a story. Use your blog to start sharing yours!
To personalize your business even further, brand your social media the same way you’ve branded your blog.
For instance, you can use highlight covers on Instagram, a Facebook banner, or board covers on Pinterest to create a cohesive brand across all of your favourite platforms.
You can use Canva to get started with creating designs – for free!
Plan of Action: Create and promote your content in an original way. Define a brand that is recognizable and uniquely yours.
Write compelling titles and meta-descriptions in your own voice. Create beautiful pins or Instagram Stories to accompany and showcase your work.
Rule #3: Never Stop Learning
Just like constantly updated social media platforms (think back to when Instagram Stories and Instagram TV were introduced), keeping up with trends is incredibly important.
But while you’re learning what’s new, why not perfect some skills you’ve already been working on?
Improve your knowledge of Affiliate Marketing and SEO! Try out top blogging and social media tools and sign up for new Marketing Networks.
Check out what other bloggers are doing to discover how you can improve your content!
I found a lot of value in Kindle e-books when I started blogging – and when I had a sleeping baby on my lap, it was a nice way to learn while avoiding distractions like ads on blog posts and text messages on my phone!
Signing up for newsletters in topics related to your niche is a free and effective way to see what’s happening in your field as well.
Squirrly sends extremely helpful newsletters related to SEO, business, and marketing every week! I also open 99% of emails from Neil Patel!
Plan of Action: Once a week, or as much as you’d like to, sit down at your laptop and take an hour to see what’s new in your field.
Alternatively, you can also enrol in structured course on a topic you want to master – here’s a free one I’ve put together on Instagram!
Discover what’s trending in your field and if there’s a lack of information there, be a pioneer in your field!
Rule #4: Be Consistent
I used to be so guilty of this one and quite honestly, this had the most impact in exploding my page views in that one short month!
It’s so easy to get caught up in life and on various social media platforms but if you want to make it as a blogger, you need to blog!
There is no easy way out or trick. Creating exciting and unique content is part of the job!
Aiming for at least one new post a month is a good starting point because chances are, your readers want to hear from you!
Using an agenda (like monthly and editorial calendars) and writing a schedule is also an excellent starting point for developing a consistent schedule.
I also keep a desk calendar to plan and view my month at a glance!
Those who plan ahead plan to succeed.
Plan of Action: Release a minimum of one new blog post a month!
Google and Pinterest favour blogs that frequently release new content – give yours the best opportunity to get noticed by being active.
Rule #5: Perfection is Overrated
I’ll never forget how mortified my husband was the first time he watched me write an email. I have a tendency to overanalyze just about everything!
Choice of words, how my tone may be perceived, etc. And though you may be thinking that being this detail-oriented is actually somewhat of positive characteristic, over-editing your work can result in stress, fatigue, and a future lack of enthusiasm for your projects.
Knowing when enough is enough is an acquired skill and a part of our self-control that needs to be worked on regularly.
The ability to cut down the time it takes to complete a simple task such as writing an email from one hour to 20 minutes, for instance, can be the difference between responding to one or three potential sponsored posts! Especially important if you, as I do, have a limited amount of time to devote to your blog.
Want to avoid grammar mistakes whenever possible? Check out Grammarly to avoid typos on everything from your blog to your pins!
Plan of Action: Don’t sweat over the small stuff!
You don’t have to be perfect to release awesome and helpful blog posts that get views.
But remember, there will always be critics. Take everything they say with a grain of salt but if there’s room for improvement, consider making a change.
As long as you’re moving forward in your blog and business plan, you’re doing great and are on your way to amazing things!
So, there you have it, rules for blogging successfully: proven blog tips to help you grow your site this year.
You can grow your blog page views by 858% (or more!) just like I did with the following strategies:
- Treating your blog like a full-time job
- Using your natural voice to write original posts
- Staying up to date on new information and pioneering content related to your niche
- Producing at least one new piece of content a month
- Ditching the urge to be perfect and thereby, increasing productivity
Do you have your own rules about blogging or growing an online business? Which of the above tips did you need most? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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Great tips Nikki 🙂
Thanks so much, Ben! Glad you enjoyed them 😀
Perfect share Nikki. It was very helpful and I’ve bookmarked it for later use. Keep it up 🙂
Thanks, Marius! This was definitely one of my favourite posts to write so far! Thrilled to know that you’ve kept it as a reference too 🙂
Hi Nikki! Great tips! I especially love the ones about consistency and perfection! It is really hard to be consistent blogging if you expect everything to be perfect all of the time! Sometimes I like to publish a post to get it out and then go back to it and add more content later. I have found this to be a sort of happy medium between the two for me.
Thanks so much, Melissa! Yes, I couldn’t agree with you more and do the same all the time; its nice to refresh posts a month or so later too!
Blogging consistently is a challenge on its own, especially when you consider other obligations like family, daily home maintenance, and maybe even a full-time job! Just getting some great content out there at least once a week is definitely the key to successful blog promotion 🙂
Hi Nikki,
I came here from Pinterest.
And thanks for posting helpful tips. I always advise bloggers to be consistent in content publication. That gradually builds their community.
Hope you are set for a successful new year
Such a great helpful piece! Thank you! Just starting out blogging as of Tuesday – love the tip on a consistent content schedule and taking the precious snippets of downtime we have to further our knowledge about our industries! And you are right – great things take time!