When you decide to write a blog, there are many different directions you can take. You can write about health, fitness, style, or you can even combine all of these themes into one blog post. The important thing is that you keep readers interested and connected to what you have to say.
However, if you’re just starting out, it’s a good idea to ask yourself the following questions so that you can decide what makes a good health blog and where you want to focus your attention.
1. What do I want my readers to learn or experience from my blog?
This question needs to be answered before you start writing blog posts because, quite frankly, you have no idea what your readers want or need. You also might not be clear on what you want to learn or experience yourself. These are both really good questions to ask yourself, so you can focus on providing useful content to your audience while being aware of your existing strengths and weaknesses.
One of the best things about the internet is that it allows for instant connection with thousands of individuals all over the globe. However, this also means you have no idea who your readers are or what they want. You might think you know what kind of content your ideal reader would like to see, but until you actually reach this demographic, you have no idea if what you’re posting is going to be useful or interesting to them. You might also decide to broaden the pool of people you target with your blog just to find out that your existing niche audience doesn’t want to learn about topics you thought they would enjoy.
The moral of this story is that while you might think you know what type of content you’ll provide, you actually have no idea what your readers want until you ask them. Coming up with ideas for blog posts is easy; coming up with content that your audience actually wants to read is tricky. This is where your existing knowledge, experience, and strengths come in handy because now you have a starting point from which you can develop your blog’s content. You don’t have to wing it; you can take this into consideration and plan out a solid strategy for developing content that will keep your audience interested. Of course, this also means you have to revise this strategy frequently as you learn more about your audience’s needs and wants.
2. Who am I trying to reach with this blog?
As previously stated, you have no idea what your readers want or need. Now, you need to take this a step further and decide who you are trying to reach with this blog. Begin by brainstorming a list of everyone you know or have ever known who might be interested in or able to benefit from reading your blog post. Start simple and make a list of family, friends, and colleagues; add more details as you continue to brainstorm.
Once you have a decent list of people to target, you can determine the type of content you’ll provide. For example, if you’re targeting women between the ages of 18 and 24, your content might consist of recipes, decorating tips, or fashion advice. Whatever the case, you need to have a clear idea of who you’re writing for so that you can tailor your message effectively. You can also use tools like Google Analytics to find out the demographic information about your readers. Don’t worry, this is completely anonymous and does not require you to hand over any personal information. Simply enter a blog post’s URL into the analytic tool, and you’ll see a breakdown of your blog’s demographics. For example, if you’ve ever written about food, you might see that your readers are mostly millennials (ages 18-34) who live in the United States.
The reason this is an important question to ask yourself is that you need to determine how you’ll reach your audience. Do you plan on posting regularly? Will you be including videos or images in your posts? Will you use social media platforms to advertise your blog?
3. What’s my blogging schedule going to look like?
Now that you have a general idea of who you are trying to reach with this blog, you can set a schedule for yourself. As a new blogger, you probably don’t have the money to spend on expensive ad campaigns or hire a publicist to promote your blog. Instead, you have to rely on existing connections and the internet to get the word out about your blog.
The good news is that you can use tools like Hootsuite to distribute your blog posts across different social media platforms for free. Simply connect your blog with the social media accounts you have set up and choose the posts you want to distribute. Once that’s done, you can sit back and relax because your posts are now ready to be shared on your chosen platforms.
By regularly posting on your blog, you are giving it credibility. It’s like establishing a presence on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. When potential readers see you are consistently posting, they will assume you are legitimate and that your blog is worth their time. Of course, this is not always the case, but as a new blogger, you are in a relatively weak position. Establishing credibility is really important, especially when you are just getting started. Ensure that you post frequently and consistently so that your readers know you are not going to post anything inaccurate or fabricated. This is one of the worst things you can do because in all honesty, who wants to read about someone’s crappy opinions or fake news?
4. How much content do I need to post to make this blog worthwhile?
If you’re completely honest with yourself, you need to admit that you don’t know what content is good until you try it out. When you begin writing blog posts, you’re going to think that you know exactly what kind of content you need to share because you’ve seen similar content on other blogs and social media platforms. This might make you think that you can just copy and paste what you’ve seen, but the truth is that no two blogs or social media feeds are ever going to be exactly alike. You need to find your own identity as a writer and what kind of content you want to provide, and only then can you figure out how much of it you need to post to make your blog worth reading.
If you want to write about fashion, you might decide that three posts per week is enough to keep your audience interested. On the other hand, if you want to write about food, you might find that five posts per week is enough for you to keep your audience interested. It really depends on your subject matter and your existing audience. As a general rule of thumb, you need to have at least 10 blog posts before you can really start to see the benefits of having a blog. If you only have a few posts, it might be a good idea to expand your subject matter to include more useful information.
5. How am I going to promote this blog?
Now that you have content to promote, you need to figure out how you’re going to spread the word about your blog. You have several options including inviting bloggers to guest post on your blog, using social media to share your content, or even paying for ads on popular platforms like Google and Facebook.
If you’ve decided to go the paid advertising route, you need to be cognizant of your budget. Advertisers love to target specific audiences because it’s usually cheaper to advertise to a smaller group. If you’re looking for a way to spend less money while still being able to generate revenue, consider looking for advertsiy options that target smaller groups.
6. What kind of posts can I write that will keep my audience interested?
As previously stated, no two blogs or social media feeds are ever going to be exactly alike. This is why it’s important to experiment with different content to figure out what works best for you. Take some time to simply read and enjoy what other bloggers have to say. This will give you a good feel for what content you should be producing. Keep in mind that the opinions of others can provide you with great ideas, but you still need to figure out what works best for you.
7. How many hours per day do I need to spend writing content for my blog?
If you’re a full-time student or working full time, you’re probably not going to have the time to devote to your blog that you’d like. Even if you do have the time, you might not be able to simply drop everything and devote your entire attention to your blog. It’s a good idea to come up with posts that you think are quite good and which will keep your audience interested, and then once or twice a week, you can polish them up a little bit and post them. This will help you to maintain a steady stream of content while still having time for other things.