How to Not Be a Newbie Blogger When You’re a Newbie Blogger
Blogging = survival of the fittest.
It’s seriously a jungle out there, and for newly hatched blogs, it’s even harder to survive.
But, there are a number of things you can do right away as a “hatchling” to immediately gain ground “in the wild” and transform yourself from a newbie, to what may seem like a seasoned pro.
Below is a list of things (big and small) that you can do as a newbie, so you don’t stand out as a newbie.
1. A Professional Looking Domain Name
If you haven’t built your blog yet, I recommend grabbing a domain name and hosting package from a web hosting provider such as Bluehost. You can easily build your blog with their one-click WordPress install (in less than 4 minutes), and you’ll have the benefit of having a professional looking domain name.
So, instead of having something like:
yoursite.wordpress.com or yoursite.blogspot.com
…you’ll simply have:
www.yoursite.com
The free blogs you can setup on wordpress.com and blogspot.com aren’t bad. In fact, there are many successful ones out there – but if you’re planning to be a successful long-term blogger, then you might as well start on a self-hosted site.
2. Update the Favicon For Your Website
A favicon is the little 16×16 icon that appears next to your web address at the top of most browsers, and it sometimes shows up next to the tabs or in the bookmarks section too.
A new blog usually has what looks like a blank sheet of paper, or sometimes it’s your hosting provider’s logo. Either way, it screams “Newbie” to a lot of new visitors. Spend 5 minutes to update your favicon, and it can be a small detail that makes a big impact.
To update your favicon, you’ll need to place a 16×16 pixel icon (named favicon.ico) into your website’s root folder. For WordPress users, that’s directly into your public_html folder. You can create a picture file in Photoshop and simply rename it to favicon.ico, or you can create one easily for yourself on a website such as Favicon.cc.
3. Update Your Permalink Structure
The permalink is the URL that your blog creates when you publish new blog posts. By default, they usually come out looking ugly, like this:
http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/?p=123 (where p=123 simply means post #123)
Not cool, and it definitely doesn’t do any good for search engine optimization.
Before you write your first blog post, you should change the permalink settings to simply be the name of the post that you create. For WordPress users, it simply means doing exactly what the picture below shows:
Under Settings > Permalinks, click on Custom Structure, and insert the code below into the Custom Structure field:
/%postname%/
Your ugly URL problem solved, and now you look like you know what you’re doing.
4. Skip the Unnecessary Plugins and Widgets
What’s nice about WordPress is that there are tons of plugins and widgets to choose from that can do a wide variety of things for your blog, which makes customization really simple. The problem with this feature is that a lot of people tend to go overboard.
Not all plugins and widgets are useful. Be conscious about what plugins and widgets you’re placing on your site, and remember that sometimes less is more.
What good does a calendar on a blog do anyways?
5. Do Not Add an RSS Counter
New blogs should never include an RSS counter, because a counter with only 9 subscribers is basically a huge sign that says: “Hi! I’m new at this!”
Leave it out until you have over 100 subscribers (at least), and then you can incorporate it into your blog if you really want it on there. In the meantime, work on your content and making other parts of your blog awesome.
6. Add a Video To Your Blog
A quick and easy way to establish yourself as someone who knows what their doing as a blogger is by adding a video onto your blog, preferably somewhere in your sidebar.
A nicely recorded welcome message, or even a quick tip to share with new visitors can definitely make you stand out from even the more experienced blogs in your niche.
7. Format Your Blog Posts
Newbie bloggers almost always write excellent material. It’s probably because they’re super excited about starting a new blog and the possibilities of what’s ahead.
However, the format of many newbie posts always end up looking the same: a long, undivided post that resembles an essay.
In other words, the posts are lacking headings, subheadings, bold keywords, italics, lists, white space, pictures, charts, diagrams, and even links!
Take a look at some of your favorite blogs, and you can see that most are made up of several different parts, which makes it far easier to read and consume.
It might take a little practice, but if you can start off by writing blog posts with an eye-pleasing format, you’ll be far ahead in the game.
Darren from Problogger.net wrote a fantastic post about how to polish your blog posts, which I definitely recommend you read before you even begin to write your first post.
Tips From SPI Readers
I know I’ve only begun to scratch the surface about how to not blog like a total newbie, so I’m going to pass the baton to many of the SPI readers out there who do have experience with blogging, to hopefully add their own tips too. So please, feel free to leave a comment below with 1 tip that you’d give anyone who wants to start blogging tomorrow.
Cheers!
Posted on : March 31st, 2010
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93 Comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below)
I have put RSS counter since beginning – but i must say that it really looked bad when showing 10 subscribers… Now I am not a big blogger and still do not have huge audience – but my counter vary between 80-120… And for me it is looking much more attractive now. yeah I know it is not much… but it is better than 10
Awesome KreCi! Sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right. Keep up the good work, and we’ll see you at 1000 subscribers in no time!
Love your blog – super useful information with depth.
Definitely agree about the favicon thing, I find myself being put off by blogs without one (kind of silly I know, but it is true.) I think to be taken seriously, a stand alone domain name is a must – they are really very inexpensive and if you are serious about your blog/site as a business, shelling out 10 bucks for one should be a given.
I hadn’t thought about the idea of a video really making a site stand out (I don’t blog as such, I have static sites). Personal view – I have never seen the point in having a visible rss counter myself, but I guess once you are past a certain amount it can encourage others to join the X amount of other subscribers.
Thanks for the post,
Michelle
Thanks for the comment Michelle.
For me, I have a counter visible on my site because it helps with Social Proof, and like you said, it can help encourage others to join them.
How are your static sites working out for you? Do you think you’d benefit from having updated content on your sites?
I’d say avoid posts that begin with (or are completely dedicated too) saying “Sorry I haven’t been posting lately.” It screams insecurity to me, and it’s just not something you see pro bloggers do.
You’re so right, David. And that’s advice that doesn’t just pertain to blogging, but anywhere you present ideas to people, like at school, for example. I hate when people start off by saying, “I didn’t have the time to finish…”, or “It was tough to figure out but…” – things like that.
Great reminder. Thanks!
Never never say you have not been posting. I even de-emphasized the post dates. I’m writing evergreen content, not about yesterday’s news.
Hi Pat,
I , actually, have much simpler advice to make a good blog:
1. Implement the same features as smartpassiveincome.com
This is what I did with my blog http://www.ephototips.com
Every time I was adding a feature I was thinking “Does Pat has this feature on his blog?”
I ended up with completelly differently looking blog but if you look inside , featurewise it is your blog
Thank you for a good blog,
Alexei
Wow – very cool Alexei! It’s always good to follow a working model, and I’m flattered that you chose my own blog for that. Looks great so far, just keep posting awesome content and connecting and networking with others, and you’re soon see a community build up behind your site. Keep up the good work!
Pat,
Thank you for answer. I appreciate that
Using your blog as a prototype was a joy
Heck of an idea. If I understood all Pat’s features I’d try this – maybe that should be a new goal.
My tip is to relax and enjoy the process as a newbie. There is so much to learn about traffic building, social media, content writing, etc., that it can be overwhelming. My blog is just a baby, and I have tons to learn, but I’m determined to have fun as I move forward.
Jean – this is great advice! It can be tough to be a newbie, definitely, but it’s totally a learning process! Have fun with it, like you said, and good things will start to happen.
Thanks again Jean!
hmmm, helpful stuff for my blogname.wordpress.com. am waiting for similar stuff for my blogname.blogspot.com especially on the permalink settings
I’m not totally familiar with blogger so I can’t really say. If anyone has any suggestions as far as changing the permalink structure for blogspot blogs, please respond below. Thanks!
Another tip has to do with what you do off the blog — don’t email a bunch of bloggers and ask them to add your blog to their blogroll. Instead, leave useful or insightful comments on related blogs, and they may link to you after you have been around for a few months of consistent posting.
Totally agree, Jackie! That’s probably the best way to develop relationships with other bloggers. An email out of the blue doesn’t do any good at all.
Hi Pat,
I was always curious about the little icon next to tabs. I said to myself ‘It would be cool if I had one for my site!’. Thanks for the info – now I know what it is actually called (favicon) and how I can get it done myself!
Ricardo
Now you know
Glad I could help! Good luck!
A few other things I’d add:
1) WRite every day, but you don’t have post every day. You need to get into the habit of writing so that you eventually get into a groove.
2) Build relationships but do it either by purchasing products of another blogger, commenting on their site or just starting a conversation with them on Twitter.
3) Avoid Clutter or Ads: When I see Adsense on a blog that I know has been around for a short time it drives me nuts because it makes absolutely no sense.
Great stuff as always Pat. Had a great time with your interview and learned alot.
I’m just starting a personal blog (still designing and add creating the base content), but I love the idea of your first tip: “Write everyday”.
I’m definitely not in the habit of doing so, and although I enter the week with good intentions, more often than not I end up not writing ANYTHING. Writing everyday will provide a good challenge for me, and I can see this being quite beneficial as I grow in my blogging career.
Thanks Srinivas!
I love that tip too, Jim. I’ve found that my writing has gotten A LOT better since I first started this blog, because I am writing on a consistent schedule now and more often as well.
Also, try and figure out WHEN you write best too during the process. You can save loads of time in the long run by knowing when you write best, so you don’t waste time trying to write when your energy is low or ideas just aren’t flowing. For me, it’s at night between 10-12am.
Good luck Jim!
Thanks Pat.
The writing has long way to go, but I’ll get there. Also, I’ll start being aware when I write best.
Thanks again Srinivas – it was a pleasure. Hopefully I can help drive some traffic to blogcastfm very soon
And thanks for the tips – each one is perfect.
Cheers!
I think the advice about the plugins applies to both new and long-time bloggers. I also like the idea about the RSS counter and creating videos.
Thanks Julius!
One thing I see a lot of newer bloggers do is saturate their website with ads right away. While I think it’s ok to put up ads when you start, I think you’re better off trying to build your site, and grow your readership before going too overboard. After all, if you’re only getting a few pageviews a day anyway, slowing your page load down with a thousand ads isn’t going to do you much good.
YES! This is great advice, and I know a lot of newbies love to put ads on their website because that’s what everyone else does, and that’s where the money comes from at first, but really what you forget is that you need readership and great content first.
Thanks Peter!
I tried to click on the 25 Link Building Tactics in your picture and nothing happened… lol
I’ve never thought about putting Video in a sidebar. Especially one with tips. That’s a great idea. I also agree on the RSS feed, no one wants to see you have 8 followers (like my FB page).
The formatting is the biggest key for me. I just learned that this year and have been using it ever since. It looks and feels so much better.
Skipping the plugins is a huge one. I get tired of going to a website that loads 50,000 widgets. Everything gets so slow and jerky. Drives me crazy. Thanks for the tips!
LOL! I can send you that link if you want
The formatting thing is HUGE, which is why I put it last. It really helps both you as a writer and your readers too.
Thanks dude!
Hey Pat,
My Tip is to make friends asap. Trying to make your blog popular alone will leave you with no subscribers and an empty website. The sooner you make friends in your niche, the sooner you will see traffic and subscription conversion.
Also, the friends you make will be there as teachers, showing you the right and wrong things to do. Plus, having great relationships will help you get guest posting opportunities much easier.
Thanks for this post Pat.
Absolutely, Jay. Awesome tip. If anyone tries to become a successful blogger without reaching out to others and making friends, they will FAIL, guaranteed.
Cheers!
If you’re a newbie and you know it clap your hands….clap clap!
A tip I would add is to just relax, blogging is not rocket science. Enjoy the process, be open to others thoughts and ideas and don’t take yourself too seriously.
Perfect tips, thanks Ms. Freeman! Especially not taking yourself too seriously. Have fun with it!
My biggest tip is to remember that you are a newbie, and will make mistakes. You can easily recover from most of those mistakes, so don’t let fear of making them stop you from moving forward. Keep it simple and experiment with one thing at a time.
Great tip Camille, especially with doing things one thing at a time. It can be very easy to get distracted with all of the “you should be doing this and that” out there. Good stuff! Thanks!
The Favicon is a tool that I just implemented thanks to you! Thanks Pat, your ideas and tips are wonderful!
-Lanny B
Awesome Lanny! Do you have a link you’d like to share so we can see it?
I wholeheartedly agree with you Pat. With the RSS feed count to start – if you want to appear reputable in the jungle, walk like you have the followers, but only brag once you do. Very good point.
I also like your point about the video. If you can display yourself to your audience, and do it confidently with information that is helpful, you instantly gain some approval – and likely a larger following when they have a true voice with the face.
I’ve yet to get the video up yet, but your tip has been added to the to-do list.
Again, great post.
Thanks Brandon! Let me know when your vid is up, I’d love to check it out.
why isn’t my favicon working?!?! I’m on wordpress and did exactly what you said to do
Sometimes, your browser will save your previous favicon so make loading your page faster, so it may already be loaded, your browser is just using an old cache. Try looking at your page on a different browser, or reloading your page once you’re on it.
nevermind!
My tip: get an avatar… I can’t remember where I signed up for mine; was it http://en.gravatar.com/ ?
Great tip, David, especially if you’re a newbie and you should be commenting on other blogs, and responding to comments on your own: http://www.gravatar.com
Thank you for this information. It really helps newbies and your are right about the importantance of having your own domain name.
Thanks Alicia, I appreciate it!
Thanks for a GREAT post Pat! I will start working on some of these useful tips straight away. Keep up the good work! =)
Thanks Sandra!
Suggestion to Newbies from a Newbie who did it wrong:
-Write a short ebook/guide and offer for FREE to your readers as long as they subscribe to the newsletter. I have seen my traffic grow a ton since doing this.
-Write 15 articles before launch. I skipped a few of my own deadlines and that ended up being inconsistent for my readers to follow. Stay waaaay ahead of your own deadlines.
-Reply and contact each and every person that makes contact with you, comments, or subscribes. Build that loyal fan base ASAP.
That’s all…
David Damron
The Minimalist Path
Good stuff David. I think replying to everyone who takes the time to contact you, even if it’s through the comment section of your blog, is very important for building that cult of loyal followers.
Thanks for such great info Pat. I’m a true noob about to take the plunge and set up my domain. I’m probably being a bit too anal but was wondering your (and others’) feelings on .com vs others like .org and .net. For example, my preferred name in the .com area is taken, but I could add a prefix like “Howto” or maybe a suffix like “tips” or “blog” and get a .com domain. Or I could use my preferred name and use .net or .org. Would one way have an advantage over the other all other things being equal? Thanks for any help.
The .com is obviously the top priority, but I’d recommend the hierarchy from viperchill.com for grabbing a domain name, which is as follows:
keyphrase.com
keyphrase.net
key-phrase.com
key-phrase.net
I would stay away from.org, .biz, .tv etc.
Anyone else with any thoughts about this?
I think .org (for seo purposes) isn’t that bad, but anything else i’d stay away from
Pat,
You did it again. Excellent post! Defintite quality information and the quantity is a pretty good pace as well.
My only regret is that I did not know all this a year ago when I launched my blog. I hit the one year mark and I there were times I had my doubts.
Thanks for the great content.
Thanks Stephen, I appreciate it! Sorry I didn’t get this out earlier for you!
Awesome, awesome, awesome tips! Oh and did I say that these tips are awesome? Seriously, this is must read for newbie bloggers.
Haha! Thanks, thanks, thanks Alex! Thanks!
These are really great tips! I’ve never really thought about adding a video to the blog. I guess it will make some kind of a difference.
I’m sure that it would, Andrew! If you do one, let me know when it’s up, I’d love to have a look. Cheers!
Great posts Pat, I am a newbie and your blog is a big help
Awesome, that’s great to hear. Thanks Trevor!
Awesome tips! I am a blogging/website/social media noob trying to break into the biz. Your tip of formatting posts will be very helpful, as I haven’t been doing that at all. Sub headings, bold, italicsm and pics will definitely help. I also agree with Srinivas about writing everyday to get into the habit. Even if it’s at work on lunch break, write something! Thanks for a great article!
Thanks Jessica! Formatting is one of the most important things to making your content much easier to consume (and to write!) Good luck with everything, and definitely check out the problogger resources for tips on formatting if you have any specific questions. Cheers!
Great tips!! I have been a long time lurker of your site and always value the information you are willing to provide to everyone. I just started blogging for fun and have been fearful of hitting that “publish” button so many times. Is it better to begin putting yourself out there, or wait until you have some content under your belt?
In other words, if someone clicked over to your blog and it’s still in it’s infant stages (fetus in my case), they might not come back to see your progress because they have already made that snap judgement. I think progess is a process, but waiting around never got me anywhere.
Hey Nell! I love comments from “lurkers”, hehe! Thanks!
I know what you mean about hitting that publish button. Before, I would always spend 30 minutes to an hour after I finished a post, just hovering my cursor about the publish button because I was so scared. But really, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I always ask myself: “What’s the worst that can happen”, and when publishing a blog post, the worst is nothing at all. So you miss a few spellings or have some grammatical errors. As long as you have good content, those things won’t matter.
Just do it, is what I say
In the infant stages, get a few posts written, then go live and just see what happens. Keep writing, keep hustling, and good things will happen.
Good luck Nell!
Great list there Pat! I would also add that you shouldn’t post for the sake of posting. Write consistently but do not post every day because you see that Problogger and Copyblogger do that, unless you can produce good quality posts. And be clear about why you want to blog, blogging might not be the best revenue stream you can have, so do explore different alternatives and see what you end up with. Bottom line is not to do what other gurus tell you to, but know exactly why it works or doesn’t.
Great tip, Ken. If you post just for the sake of posting, you’re doing yourself a disfavor and you’re lowering the quality of your blog as a whole.
Good stuff! Thanks, as always, Ken!
Great post! I found you due to your eBook series I think, which is top-notch content as well. Thank you!
Awesome, thanks PA!
Pat,
These are some excellent “must do” tips. Survival of the fittest is probably the most important point I take from this point. Specifically, if you really want to have a quality blog, you are going to have to publish quality content and set things up the right way. Anything else and blogging can be a frustration. Ever since I started taking my blog more seriously and putting more work into it, it’s become more fun. Imagine that!
“Ever since I started taking my blog more seriously and putting more work into it, it’s become more fun.”
Ditto! It has become a lot more fun for me too when I really hustled and took my effort to the next level on it.
You’re right PAT, it’s really fun doing blogging. I love engaging to different people in the internet and learn from them also.
Excellent list pat, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Pat, I created and uploaded a favicon on my blog and it’s just a small detail but it does make a difference. Just to add to your post, I did have to do a couple of extra things do get my favicon to display.
1. I had to upload the favicon into the images folder of my wordpress theme
2. I had to add a small piece of code in the header.php template : <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico” />
Once I did that and restarted my browser, the favicon appeared.
Excellent learning post Pat. Thank you very much. I’ll become a favorite!
Hello Pat,
Wow! What an awesome post. Some of your tips are I already tried but not all of them. Most new blogger are really excited what’s ahead of blogging, that’s why they are really motivated to do such things.
I love to learn more from you and I also want to invite you to have a visit on my blog and tell me what is your impressions on it.
Thank you for these wonderful tips … I don’t know how long one can be a newbie – I recently promoted myself from kindergarten to grade 1
But hey FAVICON!!! Never knew! I’ll get one up there. One more thing, the essay comment. I write for magazines so the white space and the titles and points etc. aren’t crucial (there is always an editor who pretties things up), but I have taken note of same and have been making some changes on my post appearance – now will pay even more attention.
As always ……………super. Thank you.
Awesome post, as a newbie to the blogging world, they’re great tips. Thanks
[...] I learnt both of these from Pat Flynn’s article about not being a newbie, http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/how-to-not-be-a-newbie-blogger-when-youre-a-newbie-blogger/ [...]
Great tips on blogging, how long should it take to see results when starting a new blog?
Love the post and comments. You and Glen @ViperChill are great inspiration. Keep it up.
All the worthwhile points. I earlier put on the RSS counter thinking it looks cool, but realized my mistake and removed it. One of my other mistakes was to try out too many things regarding theme, but I guess that’s because there is no single perfect theme out there which satisfy everybody’s needs.
Btw, what’s your take on formatting the paragraphs to be justified? I haven’t seen blogs doing that, but just wanted to know.
i think the favicon is 60 pixels by 60 pixels
I definitely find that a clean layout, evidence of fairly frequent posting (nothing speaks DEAD like a blog where the last post is 2-months ago…) and use of some graphics (doesn’t have to be on every post, but certainly every 2cnd or 3rd post) adds to the professional image.
Jeff
Wow! I have referred back to this one a few times already. Thanks for all the great info, Pat. Not just on this post but on all of them. I love your story and hope to have a similar one soon. With your help, I just might get there!
Great stuff Pat!
I love the awesome content on here, my fleeting moments of free time will be invested in your website.
So strange too as I was only coming on to help a friend design a similar opt-in box to your one at the end of every post. Fate works in mysterious ways
But seriously, great post, great site and a great example to learn from!
totally agree, i think new bloggers should essentially be concentrating on achieving a frequent posting schedule, ‘one post a day’ is the holy grail for me but it’s definately related to how successful your blog will become, adding frequent content is great for SEO, subscribers and notoriety. in wordpress, you can simply write posts at your own speed but you can schedule them to be published on any date in the future, this works great for me becaue it allows me to write a few posts in one session and then schedule them accordingly
[...] 2. The Plugin Peril (a.k.a. PP) Then came the guerrilla warfare led by the PP rebels. I ventured in the plugin territory and got rapidly outnumbered. I spent hours and hours selecting, installing, and setting up various plugins, just to realize that they were cool, but mostly irrelevant to my objectives. After having spent too much time fighting the Plugin Peril, I decided to follow Pat Flynn’s advice and skip the unnecesary plugins. [...]
[...] from Smart Passive Income got snowed in with comments on his, “How to not be a Newbie Blogger When You’re a Newbie Blogger” [...]
All steps from #1 – #7 finally completed. Learned how to do the favicon today
thanks Pat.
I’ve never been so excited by a favicon! LOL Thanks for the tip and links.
thanks for the tips, i’m looking forward to be more professional blogger