Is your blogging working? 5 Signs of a Healthy Blog
It’s perfectly normal to question whether or not your blogging is working. After all, who wants to put in all the work of blogging without any of the reward? Not me, and not you either, I’m betting. That’s why it’s always good to check in, looking for these 5 signs of a healthy blog. If you’re asking if your blogging is working, go through this list of signs to know if your blog is a healthy one.
5 Signs of a Healthy Blog
1. You’re reading Stuff (yes, with a capital “S”) that doesn’t directly relate to your industry.
Reading Stuff outside of your industry is usually a sign that you’re also writing about things that don’t directly relate to your industry. And that is a sign of variety, the life-force of maintaining an interesting blog. Keep your blogging interesting by varying your style, format and, of course, content.
A second benefit to varying your writing? You, the writer, will not be bored. And if you’re not bored, neither are your readers.
2. You’re writing. A lot.
You know the best way to improve your writing? By writing. There’s no magic formula, just like there’s no special formula for winning gold. You just have to put in the work, the time, the effort. If you’re working on improving your writing, then it is improving. If you’re writing a lot, your writing is improving. Simple as that.
3. You picture your audience when you write.
A common trap that writers fall into: writing for themselves. Remember, you’re not writing for you. You’re writing for them, your audience. Write about your audience’s problems and solve those problems for them. Of course, sometimes your problems and your audience’s problems overlap – that’s completely fine. But your blog will get derailed if you only write about things that matter to you.
4. You’re still you when you write.
Hiding your personality when writing makes for ineffective blogging. Why? Because it’s boring. “You” when you blog should be a good mix of professional, corporate blogger and your charming, vibrant self. Sure, they’re coming for the content, but they’re staying because of you.
5. You’re doing things besides blogging, too.
At the end of the day, blogging isn’t the end-all, be-all of your marketing strategy. Remember to keep the big picture in mind. If that means whipping out a quick post on the fly or reusing the content you created last month, do it. If blogging takes over your work life, you’ll burn out (read more about avoiding marketing burnout here). Give yourself a long, happy blogging life by leaving your blogging sometimes, going on and getting other work done.
You’ll notice that a couple of these signs seem to contradict each other. It’s true; you should be writing a lot and also devoting plenty of time to other projects. You should be writing like you, but not thinking about you. Blogging is a balance. Keep yourself and your blogging balanced and effective by running through these signs every so often.
If you think about it, blogging is sorta like taking your car to the mechanic—no matter how skilled the blogger, every blog needs a little tune-up once in a while. When you need that tune-up once again, check out these 5 signs of a healthy blog once again. Your readers will thank you.