How To Have A Successful Blog For Beginners

~ The Wellbeing Blogger

I have different metrics for what I consider a successful blog. I personally classify a blog as successful if it has organic engagement and traffic. This means I pay less attention to numbers and that I focus more on the quality of a blog’s content and the relationships established through its platform. If this is what you are looking after, then this blog post is for you.

Last week, a reader asked me how to be successful in blogging. My inner critic surfaced and I asked myself first how on earth can I answer that if I don’t see myself as a successful blogger? Thankfully, my inner wisdom came right after and I started to rethink the question from the reader’s perspective. Maybe I’m perceived as successful by some other fellow bloggers and maybe I’m successful in some way after all, depending on how success is defined and measured.

I’m not making money with my blog and I’m honestly not interested in it anymore. I prefer to keep writing as I always did and to establish raw connections with my readers as much as possible. That’s what I like about blogging and that’s what I missed the most when I had to reduce my presence here. I benefit a lot from reading and connecting with other bloggers who think or perceive the world a bit like me. They offer me a lot of comfort and a lot of support too.

It’s not easy to form connections, especially online. Not everyone will be comfortable with opening up to a stranger and not everyone will receive your words as you conceived them, but I believe that you end up attracting your tribe over time. The more you write and the more it reflects who you really are, the more people you will find. Some will resonate with you quite well, others not so much. Some will come back over and over to your blog, others will never return. You can’t measure your success based on that though, since it’s quite impossible to please everyone, and you shouldn’t even have that as a goal for your blog. The right people for you will stick around, believe me!

People in general recognise authenticity, but they also operate according to different values and moral compasses. Each person has a different personality, a way of being and relating. Some will be pleased by your authenticity, others are not yet ready for it. Some will love your content and writing style, while others won’t feel connected. That’s why I believe you can’t and you shouldn’t measure success by the numbers. I rather prefer to measure my success on feelings and the perception that whatever I wrote caused a spark inside someone.

If you write from a place in which you truly believe in your content or in your message, if you write with the right intention, then success will eventually come knocking on your door, one way or the other. For me, success comes when someone lets me know that my words offered them perspective, peace, or comfort. I’m also pleased when someone wants to write for the blog or when I’m approached by Public Relations’ people who want to promote something here, but that’s not even close to the joy of relating with people who come by and feel comfortable to share their similar experiences.

In sum, be kind and be of service. Don’t expect or pursue success in blogging for the sake of showing off your results. Be humble and stay true to your values and aspirations. If you wish to reach more people, you can do so by having an active presence on social media and engaging with other people in a respectful way. If I hadn’t had the courage to comment and visit other people’s blogs, to share my opinions and sometimes offer some nuggets of advice, I wouldn’t have opened the door of my own blog to others. Then, there’s also the time factor. Rome wasn’t build in a day… and your blogging activity will also evolve over time. Just make sure it goes on a positive direction.

Take-away message

  • be kind
  • be authentic / be yourself
  • believe in your content and message
  • prime for quality over quantity
  • engage with other bloggers and readers
  • use social media to share your work
  • be patient, it takes time to build something sustainable

Published by The Wellbeing Blogger

Vanessa is a Wellbeing Activist and the writer behind The Wellbeing Blogger. With a background in Psychology, she raises awareness of the importance of wellbeing through online classes and coaching programs.

40 thoughts on “How To Have A Successful Blog For Beginners”

  1. “For me, success comes when someone lets me know that my words offered them perspective, peace, or comfort.”
    I love that! That’s the reason I write and the most important thing, I feel, that can come from writing about what I live with-helping someone else!!
    Great post!! Thanks

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  2. Thank you so much for your guidance . I am sure this will help me a lot

    On Sat, 15 Jun 2019, 8:01 pm The Wellbeing Blogger, wrote:

    > The Wellbeing Blogger posted: ” I have different metrics for what I > consider a successful blog. I personally classify a blog as successful if > it has organic engagement and traffic. This means I pay less attention to > numbers and that I focus more on the quality of a blog’s content and t” >

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. This is very eloquently put. Success is subjective, and in a sense, is similar to how each and every one of us humans is unique in their own right.

    Another thing I admired in this piece is the presence of self-confidence. As long as you are a confident writer and blogger, you’re successful, that’s my mantra.

    Hoping to read a lot more of your work. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. Very good message here – at the end of the day if you’re hitting the purpose of your blog (which for many people will be helping others) then it’s all good, really! I really agree with having patience as well – I think we’re perhaps becoming worse at this with everything being so instant, but it’s so important to remember as it’s hard work and commitment that pays off in the end.

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  6. Wonderful advice. Thank you! Very timely, as I’m relatively new to blogging and I’ve been doing a little free course about blog branding, and you’ve just reinforced the direction I was heading in 😀

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  7. These are very handy tips for me as a new blogger. One of the first questions people always ask is whether I am going to monetise my blog. As there is current so much content about increasing SEO to assist such monetisation, it is great to see a post that’s a reminder to focus on a post’s engagement with others through quality content.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you, I’m glad this resonated with you. For me, it’s a bit daunting, the amount of information out there about monetization. I think it’s nice to have some knowledge about different ways to make a blog more ‘accessible’ but people seem to solely focus on that and less on engagement. I wish you a great blogging journey, I will check out yours soon! 🙂

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  8. Great post and so true, agree with you wholeheartedly that you have to be authentic. I’m like you and don’t pay attention to the metrics. I love that you can connect with people over any subject and comment and build your tribe as you say. Thanks as always for a fab and helpful post. xx

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  9. Wonderful advice. I wish I had have read something like this when I first started blogging, but even now after more than a year, I feel like articles like this are great reminders to not lose focus and remember the basics of blogging.

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  10. Such great advice Vanessa and a wonderful reminder of my ‘why’s. It’s easy (for me) to get distracted away from the original reasons for sharing my ‘stuff’ out there 🥰 I am so so pleased you reached out to me when I was a total newbie a few months ago. It was a fantastic boost that somebody with such a beautiful blog as your own actually seemed to ‘like’ mine too 🥰

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    1. I’m glad this resonated and brought back your whys, those are very important 🙂 It takes some blindness to avoid comparisons and number-focused strategies. Can’t say who found who but I’m glad I have the privilege to read and enjoy your blog! 🥰

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  11. Lovely to read this ☺️ I’ve not long started my wellness/lifestyle blog and I find myself getting caught up on the numbers, when really I should just do it because I love writing my posts!

    Liked by 1 person

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