Blogging in 2022 - Tips For A Successful Blog!

It seemed to have been out of trend for a while, blogging. that is. To say that you have a blog was nowhere near as cool as saying that you are a 'social influencer'. A phrase that actually annoys me - you see this on almost every Instagram account with +300 followers nowadays, often with the description of being a 'famous person'. Fortunately, I am a blogger and not a social influencer: this article is gonna be all about blogging ... in 2022! Yes, even in a time when social influencers are booming and everyone already seems to have a blog, you can totally still start a blog with success.

 Blogs are - and will remain - extremely valuable. A blog is a platform that offers room for real stories, informative, inspiring and entertaining content ... you won't get that depth in an Instagram post. Blogs are simply indispensable!

In 2018 I received emails regularly from (mainly) young girls who said: you have had your own blog for so long, how did you do that and how can I start a blog, too? What should I pay attention to? How do I make sure my blog will get read and stand out from that huge online crowd? That is why I  want to share my knowledge and expertise with you that I have gained as a blogger, but also through my job as an online marketer. Maybe you have a blog yourself or would you like to start a blog? Then keep on reading and take advantage of my tips for successful blogging in 2022!

Blog about topics that mean something to you
By this I mean: please don't write about beauty products - purely because you think that will get you a lot of visitors - if that topic is not your true passion. I also read this in an email from a blogger who asked me for advice. Writing about a topic because you think others want to read about it will never come out as good as writing about what comes from your heart. Writing about your passion, a subject you know a lot about and which you can help or inspire others with, that is what matters. That is how blogging is still so much fun for me after all those years!

Don't start a blog for the free products
It seems so easy, starting a blog about beauty, fashion or travel for example ... And after a number of posts you may feel like you're ready to approach companies for free products or a discount code. I have done internships at several PR agencies and I am well aware of how often the agencies keep track of bloggers - like a blacklist- who continuously responded to press releases asking whether they could receive products for free. That's not always a problem, but it often were the same bloggers who were only blogging since a few weeks or months and didn't have a real audience yet. This way you will not be taken seriously and you still won't once your blog is bigger...  Companies definitely remember bloggers who are doing it for the free stuff ;) Yes, receiving products for reviews is great fun, but nothing comes that easy :) By creating valuable content for a while, your visitors will keep coming back more often and your blog will also become more valuable to companies.

Invest time in search engine optimalisation
SEO (Search Engine Optimalisation) is nowhere near dead, trust me on that one. People often say Google knows all the trics there are by now, but there are still some things you can do that really work in making your blog SEO-proof.

Determine what you want your focus words (keywords) to be. Use this word in the post title, in every paragraph, in the search description and links. But also, make sure you re-name images that you add in your post and make sure the title (and ALT-title) contains the main key word. Google reads images, too.

Once you've made sure you've used your keywords in the right places, it all comes down to publishing and promoting your post. Once I've published my post, I will post it on my Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram account. Also, make sure to share your post in relevant Facebook and Linkedin groups to reach an even bigger audience. Moderation is key, though... Don't post the same article three times a day, but instead: share a few different posts in different groups :)

Work on internal links
Once you've written a few articles in the same type of category, you can link back to other posts you wrote, because your reader might be interested in those too. It helps with your amount of pageviews, but it's also a great way to keep your readers interested. The more content you have to offer, the better. Also, Google really appreciates internal linkbuilding - but of course getting your link on another website (external linkbuilding) is even better.

 

Try to avoid typos
This one can  be hard sometimes, and of course we all make mistakes sometimes. But reading a text that's full of typo's is not very pleasant... It's a tricky one for myself, as English is not my native language as a Dutchie. Even though I check my articles before I throw them on to the world wide web, there's always a chance that you missed a few typo's. Having someone else read your text before publishing it might help!

These are my tips for a blogging with success in 2022. Even though we live in an era where there's blogs everywhere, you can still stand out from the crowd by being yourself and providing authentic and inspiring content. Whether you have a blog yourself of you'd like to start one, let me know if you have more tips that might help others! Share it in the comments :)