So you are ready to get serious and uplevel your blogging game? That’s great because blogging is indeed a serious business.

You would probably have heard that the blogosphere is saturated and there is little room for newbies to grow. However, I can tell you firsthand from the experience that the world of blogging has only expanded over the years and there are lots of opportunities for everyone.

Of course, due to heavy competition in almost every niche, launching and developing a successful blog is not a piece of cake. But, don’t worry, as long as you stay consistent and create well-researched quality content, your reader base is bound to increase.

However, there are a few bits of advice that I’m going to discuss here that’ll surely help you to become more serious about blogging, and possibly to have favorable outcomes.

Things to do if you’re really serious about blogging

1.      Identify what your audience is looking for

Believe me, you don’t want to skip on this one. Don’t just add content randomly to your blog, you first must understand the needs of your audience – What are they struggling with? What challenges they are facing in their daily life? What are they searching for most on the internet? And so on.

Now, all you have to do is research, write, and structure your content based on the above analysis.

2.      Develop an editorial calendar

Blogging is not an easy task and initially, you’ll need to handle everything from creating content to promoting it on various platforms. This can quickly make you overwhelm and that’s one of the reasons why so many blogs fail.

So to buffer yourself from this, take out some time and develop an editorial calendar, it’s like a document that you can use to manage, track, and record your blogging efforts.

An editorial calendar makes it easier for you to publish content on your blog consistently and will help you to stay on track with your blogging regime.

3.      Learn the basics of SEO

SEO is all about driving organic traffic from search engines like Yahoo and Google, and if implemented properly it can bring your blog to the top of search results.

So, make sure that you gather knowledge about various On-page and Off-page SEO techniques and implement them correctly on your post.

4.      Develop a killer social media strategy

It takes around six months to a year for SEO to develop and bring traffic to your blog. But, social media has the potential to drive traffic from day one.

Therefore, invest enough time to learn about popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Quora, etc and understand how you can promote your blog there.

Remember to choose only one or two platforms in the beginning according to your target audience and divert all your focus on them.

5.      Setup a professional Email Address

If you’re serious about blogging, then it’s non-negotiable to have a professional email address. This goes a long way in discussing deals with brands because they’ll think you’re running a legit operation and will take you seriously.

6.      Start building an email list

Most of the individuals leaving your site will never return. So, you need a way to keep in touch with them and lure them back. That’s the reason why you need to start building an email list.

Sending regular emails to your subscribers will help you to connect with them, build relationships, and even follow up with them about the products or services that you offer at a later stage.

7.      Brand your blog

One thing that serious bloggers never skip on is branding. There would be a lot of blogs out there similar to yours so it’s really important to have an attractive and consistent branding in place to help your work stand out.

Here are a few things you can do to brand your blog

·        Choose a unique color palette that resonates with your brand and personality

·        Choose distinct graphics, professional theme, and fonts for your blog

·        Give your blog a tagline, etc.

I hope that some of these tips will help you to grow your blog. What are your thoughts on the same? What other things do you do to uplevel your blog? Drop your answers in the comments, I’d love to read and discuss them.