I’ve been blogging for almost two years now and, I can’t speak for everyone, but I know there are things I wish I knew before I started blogging. Granted, I did just randomly decided to blog. I just joined WordPress and in that same day put up two blog posts. I didn’t do any research or anything. Nowadays, there are so many blog posts out with so much information on blogging. Somethings you just learn from experience, but regardless, there’s always something you feel you should’ve been told and I’m going to tell you what those are for me!
1. The difference between websites.
This is more than likely all on me, but I didn’t know the difference between all the different websites people use for blogging. There are so many and I feel like depending on what you prefer or what kind of website/blog you have there’s a certain site that’s better for you than others. When I first started creating my blog, I was on Wix. I created this bomb theme from the site builder. I was so proud of it! I think I even had a few posts written as well(can’t remember if those were actually published or not though). However, I saw a lot of people talking about WordPress and everything and I was in conflict. There seemed to be so many WordPress users. So, I tried it out and found out it was best for me. There’s so many different sites and just figuring out which one is best for you can be a lot in itself.
2. Post when it’s convenient for you.
When I first started blogging, I blogged every single day. Now, not knocking anyone who does. In fact, I honor you because I cannot! Blogging is so much work and the fact I was throwing out blog posts every day is insane. The only time I didn’t post was during the weekend. I think I was doing that for about a year. Being able to get content out every day is great, but it’s not necessary. Work with what’s convenient for you and how much you can handle. QUALITY IS BETTER THAN QUANTITY.
3. Set up your socials first.
I didn’t think about this until I saw this on another blog post, but I wish I knew to get my socials set up first before I started my blog. If you set up your socials and become active on them, you’re already slowly growing a following. By the time you get your blog up, then you won’t necessarily be starting from scratch or wondering where your subscribers are going to come from. You have multiple social media platforms…all you have to do now is promote your blog on them and those followers can run over and subscribe. It honestly sounds a whole lot better as I type it out!
4. The wonderful world of self-hosting.
There is a whole world out there called self-hosting. As glad as I am to be part of that world now, I 100% wish I knew about it before I started blogging. The number one reason being for this is because last year I paid for a premium account on WordPress. I won’t lie to you guys, premium is almost like just paying a lot of money to have the same functions as the free account. If you really want to be able to get anything, you have to bet the business account and that’s very pricey! Going self-hosted is so much better and I wish I knew more about self-hosting and what it was about.
5. Blogging can be expensive.
Listen, if you just see blogging as a hobby and you don’t want to seriously make this something you’re trying to live off of, then you don’t have to worry about spending a lot or any coins for that matter. However, if you plan on making this your career and something you can live and pay bills off of, then it’s going to cost. It takes money to be self-hosted, sometimes for a really good theme for your site, for your domain, if you want to use a mailing list provider. That’s why it’s also important that you’re sure it’s what you want to do. Otherwise, your money has gone down the drain.
6. The work never ends.
The last and final thing I wish I knew was that the work is ongoing. You can’t just write a post, publish it, and then you’re done. Once I finish writing and scheduling my post to go up, I then create my promotion images and I schedule them to go up. That takes time. You have to now promote, promote, promote. Get yourself and your post out there if you want to get traffic. It’s a cycle and yes it can be tiring, but it takes work and effort and most importantly…time.
Is there anything you wish you knew before you started blogging? Did you look everything up before you started or did you just go for it?
I’m a very spur of the moment kind of gal. So I decided on New Year’s Eve I wanted a blog, and by New Years Day I was self hosting through Blue host. I may not have started if I knew how much money I would have spent in the last 4 months for what I thought would just be a hobby. I don’t regret anything but I should have researched before I started instead of after lol.
lol same. I don’t regret anything. I mean look at how far I’ve gotten. But, I could’ve saved some money doing some research lol. Thanks for reading and commenting ♥
Good points! There’s A LOT that goes into blogging, especially if you’re trying to make a career out of it. Most people don’t realize everything it takes to be successful at blogging. It’s a constant learning process as well as constant work. You give it your all and hope it pays off. At least your post can help prepare people who are thinking about starting their own blogs! Thanks for sharing! – Briana @ nextdestinationunknown.com
They don’t. It really is important to do at least a little bit of research first to get a little idea of what goes into it. Thanks for reading and commenting ♥
Your post was really helpful to me. I’ve just started out and I don’t know I’m doing 😬
Writing posts with no followers. Going to set my socials up this evening. I do have twitter and Instagram but not really been using them much.
Thanks for writing such a helpful post.
Welcome to the community and you’ve just gained a follower! Twitter, to me anyway, is honestly the best place to engage and really get your blog posts out there. Just take it day by day and most importantly, make sure you’re loving what you’re producing. I’m glad you found my post helpful and feel free to read any of my other posts on blogging if you need them ♥
This is an awesome post! I am just now starting to get the hang of all the socials. I still haven’t even started Facebook though. And the posting is also true! You definitely want to post enough but not drain yourself either and not absolutely love your posts you are churning out.
I’m honestly struggling with my facebook. I think it’s a little harder to get more engagement on there. And yes you never want to drain yourself. Thanks for reading and commenting ♥
This is such a relatable post! When I started blogging, I never realised how much time and energy it involved! 3 years later I am still loving it, it is so worthwhile and rewarding 🙂 I went self-hosted early on and think it’s a good investment. Thanks for sharing your advice, fab post! <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
I may have gone self-hosted late, but I’m so glad I made the switch. It’s the best investment! Thank you for reading and commenting..I’m glad you liked the post ♥
I wish I knew to activate my social media accounts first. Now I’m strategizing how to activate them and connect people to my blog. But I wouldn’t change it. Blogging was something I put off for years. I started last year to make myself keep posting. Thanks for sharing!
I honestly believe that if I knew to do that before starting my blog, I would’ve gotten a lot further quicker, but I’m so proud of how far I’ve got. Proud of you for starting!