12 Days of Deluscar – Day 6: Tips on blogging – Part 1
After blogging for 10 years and through (a lot of) trial-and-error, I have learned quite a few things. So for this post (which will be the first of 2 parts), I have decided to pass on some of my knowledge to anyone of you who may be interested in blogging as well.
1. Starting the Blog
Starting a blog is free (unless you want to pay for your own domain) and easy, but the task of blogging itself can seem intimidating for you. One advice I can give for someone who may be interested, but intimidated by blogging — all you need is to be opinionated. Writing itself can be worked on and improved over time, but what truly matters is that you are opinionated and honest. Also, don’t forget to choose a simple name for your blog that’s easy to remember. Don’t repeat the same mistake I did. I have no idea why I thought a strange name like “Deluscar” was even a good idea. Nonetheless, having a personal platform to voice your thoughts is a truly underrated thing. Of course, there’s social media like twitter and whatnot to do that nowadays, but they feel vastly different and dare I say, inferior to having a limitless, personal platform to express your thoughts — a space where you possess more creative freedom.
2. Design
I’m of the opinion that blog designs should be simple, neat and easy to navigate. It’s fine to decorate your blog but they shouldn’t overwhelm your content. When designing your blog, remember that your blog is offering textual information and they should be easy to read. I’m personally not a fan of super sophisticated designs with high-quality gifs everywhere which takes forever to load. Though beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say — and indeed, while I can say all these now, I still refuse to use a white background for my blog (lol).
3. Reader Interactions should be easy and accessible
Another thing of importance to note, is that things like ”contact”, “comment” and anything else regarding reader interactions should be made easy and accessible for your readers. Sometimes I was looking for blogs when organizing blog carnivals/projects and it got a little frustrating when so many blogs don’t even have any means to contact them. Contact information should be made clear, whether by e-mail or social media. And again, comments should be easily accessible for your readers. Don’t put up verification codes for your readers to type and don’t use things like disqus which requires them to register at /another/ site just to comment on your blog. These would just alienate potential visitors and commenters.
4. It’s fine to experiment when directionless
If you read my blogging chronicles, you would know I spent 3 years just to find my groove. Especially if you’re new to the blogging scene, you will probably be as lost as I was. If that’s the case, don’t be afraid to experiment and constantly stepping outside of your comfort zone to find what works and what doesn’t. Try everything and see which one suits you best.
5. Interacting with the community
If you want to be active in the aniblogging scene, it’s important to mingle with the community. You don’t even need to do much, just visit the blogs you like and comment on the posts that interest you. From personal experience, and again to link back to my blogging chronicles — while Yi’s Listless lnk was the first blog I actively participated in, I found a lot of new blogs through her comments as well, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Commenting is a nice way to get your name out there, but one thing to note — do not comment on people’s blog expecting them to comment on your own blog in response, that makes it sounds like you have some kind of ulterior motive. You should be commenting on a person’s post because you find the content genuinely interesting and want to strike up a conversation. What you can do though, is to make sure your name and the link to your blog is working before you comment. Other visitors to the blog may see your name, and they may click on it and visit your blog — that’s what you’re going for.
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