Last week, the extraordinary Misha Magdalene had a beneficial submission titled So, You Want to Start a Pagan Blog: A Handful of Hard-Won Lessons. They excited my writing output; however, aside from that, it’s splendid. If you’re considering beginning your weblog – Pagan or otherwise – I inspire you to examine the entirety.
As it turns out, I’ve been given my list of blogging suggestions, accrued from numerous responses to “How do I get started blogging?” electronic mail requests. Some overlap with Misha’s, but there’s not much repetition, so I suppose both posts might benefit new bloggers.
1. Find the right platform for you
My most frequent blog query is, “How do I get a blog on Patheos?” My response is commonly something alongside the strains of “How long have you ever been blogging in which you’re now?” Suppose the solution is that the character doesn’t have a blog but thinks Patheos might be an awesome area to begin. In that case, I factor them in the direction of some of the unfastened running a blog platform currently available.
Patheos Pagan Channel Manager Jason Mankey (who has his personal running a blog guideline, whole with greater snark) will submit new bloggers show you that write nicely, however best on one of the organization blogs like Agora. Show you how you could deal with that, and he’ll look at setting up a man or woman weblog for you.
If you need your weblog now – or if you’d alternatively be on your own besides – you have numerous options. You can create your internet site, but that’s steeply priced and time-ingesting. If you need to blog, you’ll be higher off with one of the unfastened blogging offerings, including Blogger, WordPress.Com, Medium, and others. Do some simple studies, see what platforms humans follow, and determine which is nice.
2. Post weekly
There isn’t any manner around this. If you aren’t going to submit at least as soon as a week, you haven’t any commercial enterprise blogging. You could do it, but you’ll do it strictly for yourself. Building a target audience calls for posting frequently. People expect new content normally, and if you don’t supply it, they’ll lose persistence and stop checking your weblog.
A hit weblog has a core audience of ordinary readers. Instead of looking to generate a new audience for each publication, use social media to add to that core.
3. Post regularly
It’s not enough to publish as soon as every week—post on the same days and at the same times. Teach your target audience to anticipate new posts and that they’ll come looking for them.
All the running blog services I’m acquainted with permit you to load a post ahead of time and schedule to publish whenever you want. Use that functionality.
And that’s another tip—don’t write on the website. Write in Word, then reproduce and paste into the blogging web page. That way, you’ve been given a saved replica in case something goes wrong — and something continually goes wrong subsequently.
Even as you, without a doubt, must publish regularly, write while you’re capable. This is the one area I disagree with, Misha Magdalene. If I attempted to write each day, I’d pressure myself insane. There are days when Awen isn’t flowing, or once I’ve been given an excessive amount, and writing one paragraph to say I wrote that day could be meaningless.
The internet is huge, and your weblog is small – do the whole thing you can to assist humans in finding it. Share your posts on all your social media bills. Facebook will let you know how to create a web page for your blog. Jason Mankey and Mat Auryn have achieved that, but I’ve discovered it to be a waste of time.
Facebook doesn’t need to proportion weblog posts – they need to keep you on their site. My Facebook posts linking to weblog posts get about 1/3 of as many likes as those without links. However, getting a few visitors from Facebook is higher than getting nothing. Twitter is commonly better if you have a huge Twitter following.
Facebook businesses can be a good vicinity to proportion posts, but first, make sure that’s a suitable use of that institution. Some explicitly forbid self-merchandising, even as others recognize occasional posts but don’t want to peer everything you write. But you can usually publish on your page and ought to.
5. Build your subscriber listing
Every time Facebook modifies its algorithm, my pageviews move down. Those who paint from writer or enterprise pages say they’re fortunate if Facebook shows their post to 5% of their audience. They’ll be glad to show it to more—if you pay them.
Relying on a third celebration that intends to extract wealth from you to build your blog is a losing approach. Most running blog services have subscription options – inspire your readers to join. That way, they’ll get an e-mail every occasion you create something new.
6. Find the post length you’re secure with
For me, that is around 1500 words, plus or minus 300. Never post much less than 500 phrases. Google – any other essential evil – penalizes websites with brief content material. You may not say a good deal in less than 500 phrases.
On the other hand, if you get a good deal above 2500 words, humans don’t examine it. If your writing fashion is long-shape essays, that’s first-class; however, understand which you’re proscribing your target market. The worst factor you may do is write 1500 phrases this week, 600 next week, and 3000 the week after. Long-form, short-shape, and medium-shape appeal to exclusive readers. Pick one range and stick with it. Suppose you need a target when you’re beginning out, a purpose for a thousand words. Over time, you’ll find your candy spot.
7. Everyone submits at least one image
Facebook posts with photographs get substantially more click-throughs than those without. Pictures add variety to a post, assist in illustrating what you’re writing about, and make the page appear exciting.
I accept as true that you already know you couldn’t simply clutch any photo you find on the internet. Use your images, locate one of the royalty-unfastened websites, or look for matters posted beneath an Innovative Commons license. If it’s no longer your image, credit the source, but crediting by myself isn’t enough. Using other people’s pictures without permission is a great manner to get sued.
8. Make your posts clean to examine
Nothing will make me hit the “lower back” button faster than a Wall Of Text. If it’s a creator, I genuinely appreciate writing on a subject I truly care about approximately. I’ll try to make myself wade through it. However, that takes paintings. Most human beings will surrender.
Use segment headings. No long paragraphs – four sentences at most, and no matter what your freshman English instructor told you, one-sentence paragraphs are great. Think “USA Today.” Not certain what I’m speaking approximately? Click via some blog posts right here. My blog isn’t perfect. However, it’s better than the maximum.
9. Write approximately what you already know and what you’re obsessed on
The clichéd instructions to new writers are “write what, not what you suspect .” I don’t have Jason Mankey’s knowledge of cutting-edge Pagan records or Morgan Daimler’s understanding of fairy lore. I’m not a professional on Paganism. I’m someone who does Paganism and then writes about what I do. And once in a while, approximately what I suppose.
What do you already know? What do you do that you may write about? What are you passionate about learning? Some blogs aren’t meant to train others—they’re a way to share the blogger’s religious adventure, something many readers discover beneficial and provoking.
Write about what you already know and what matters to you. If you need to pressure it, it’s in all likelihood going to suck.
10. Speak your thoughts, but test your facts
A weblog is via the definition of your opinion. There is no need to add disclaimers of “in my view” for everything you write – I find that annoying. If you seek to lead human beings to a conclusion, state your assumptions, present your proof, and explain your reasoning.
On the other hand, if your nation sees something as fact, back it up with reality. In this era of Google and Snopes, there’s no excuse for posting fake records. And if you do, a person will name you on it. Check your records before you hit “submit.”
11. Continue ongoing conversations
A blog for terribly long, and also you’ll find yourself scratching your head looking for matters to jot down approximately. One of the high-quality approaches to providing you with something is to converse with someone else.
That’s what I did right here. Misha had an excellent put-up, and I had something to say on the same topic. Don’t plagiarize, and don’t be repetitious. However, distinctive perspectives on a topic can be beneficial to readers.
Make sure you link to the blog posts that stimulate you. That credits your resources, and shall,l we you’re, readers move, returned it for themselves.
12.?Use in-line hyperlinks to reference source material
This brings us to the concern of in-line links. Use them judiciously. Add too many, and you seem like some scam page looking to trick readers into clicking on commercials (or worse, malware). However, when you use a maximum term, your target audience will apprehend and hyperlink to a definition instead of spending time defining it yourself. Link for your very own posts, both as context and to encourage new readers to discover your blog. Always hyperlink to the source material, as I did with Misha’s publication.
Be cautious about what sites you hyperlink to. Link to high websites (mainstream media, instructional sources) and Google will enhance your area of their ranking. Link to low first-rate websites (clickbait news websites) and that they’ll decrease you.
13. Look at feedback – pay attention to people who make sense.
We’re all warned, “In no way read the comments.” I assume you have to examine the feedback. If somebody posts garbage or hate speech on your website (or on your Facebook web page), delete it. If they do it again and again, block them (most blogging platforms have that functionality). This isn’t the public square—it’s your weblog. You don’t owe anybody a platform.
If any person posts fake data, either delete it or refute it. If they hold, block them. Don’t permit “faux news” to sit on your blog, even inside the feedback segment.
If they truly disagree with you, respond or not at your sole discretion. You don’t owe everybody a debate. I tend to be generous here—I like debating if it’s carried out in excellent religion. I didn’t put up with sealing, and even with an awesome debate, occasionally, I have to mention, “I’m out of time for this.”
On the other hand, if a person points out blunders, correct them. Your goal is to be proper, not to fake your ideal.
14. Be an affected person by building a target audience
Don’t anticipate heaps of page views overnight. It took me 18 months to get out of the double digits and approximately three years to reach the point wherein I had what I considered a respectable-sized target market. If you need to succeed overnight, blogging isn’t for you.
Blog because you have something to say. Do it properly, and the audience will come.
15. Come on in; the water’s nice. I’m reading articles that say running a blog is old. Perhaps that’s genuine if you’re seeking to promote an enterprise or construct a logo. But if you want to begin a conversation on Paganism or a few other topics, or if there are things you need to mention, there’s no higher way to do it.
