Why do I write my blog?
I started writing my blog after an incident happened that made me realise that I needed something else to occupy my time. I picked up my tablet and started typing my first novel ‘Rosie’. It sits at about 40 000 words and I’m fearing that I might need to spend a night on the street to finish it or spend some time with ‘Porchlight homeless charity’. People will advise you to write about what you know, both of my novels are what I don’t know, so I will need to research.
It was about June 2018 that I put ‘Rosie’ to one side and spent a few months just reading and enjoying evening television. It was then that I read online that blogging is a good way to make money. Great I thought, I can write and get paid for it. Well, this is easier said then done, yes you can make money, but you might be working freelance or being sponsored for your article. The money will not come easily, (not in my experience anyway).
I enrolled my other blog, ‘Just muddling through life’ for Amazon Associates, this earns me pocket money and helps support the cost of running two blogs. Some people make a lot of money from affiliate links, me not so much. I get excited if I have earned £2.00 in the month.
Sitting here now, eating the remains of my Pumpkin pie and drinking my tea, here are some thoughts.
What is the secret to a good blog post?
None of mine fulfil this criteria, as far as I am aware, but I know that Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is important. You need to have a keyword that ranks high, so that your post is high on a google search. Your post should also answer a question. You might have noticed that on both my blogs I’m not really answering questions. This might be something I should think about for this blog especially.
I had a look at ‘Keysearch’ this morning, this shows you how good the keyword you have chosen actually is. However, you have to sign up for a free trial to use it or pay for it. I’m not sure how expensive it is but I’m not purchasing it, yet. Maybe by using ‘Keysearch’ my Amazon posts might rank higher or not.
I learned that if the blog post answers a searchable question, and then has a nice link to Amazon when the person is in buying mode, they are more likely to click and buy. This does make a lot of sense, but there are so many bloggers out there doing this and they do it well.
The world of blogging
I can spend ages after I have typed my post, working through ‘Yoast SEO’. I have asked myself whether I’m wasting my time, but it’s quite satisfying to turn all the lights green.
Reading other blogs, I can see there are many different feelings on SEO. I try and ensure that all my posts are over 300 words. There are some posts I read that might be a sentence or 99 words only. I might be over thinking it but months ago a lady on Facebook criticised ‘Just muddling through life’ for a short post. This is one reason why I stopped joining in with various blogs that I did enjoy.
A lot of bloggers run very successful blogs with short posts, even with a large following. Some of them don’t seem concerned about frequent social media sharing as their followers are there actively reading. This is a good thing, very positive and I’m jealous.
There are so many successful blogs out there. Some of them I can see immediately why they appeal. Some you can see straight away how they would make money.
I read a while back that every post should be a quality long post, important for SEO, this again goes against some of my fellow bloggers blogs.
So why blog?
People blog for different reasons, I suspect that a lot of the blogs that I read and really enjoy are written for pleasure. The author isn’t worried about their statistics or their ranking on Google. They serve their audience and they are happy with that. This is a good thing and I know that I need to relax about it.
Months ago, I started to go back through ‘Just muddling through life’ with ‘Yoast SEO’, after about fifty posts I gave up. There are so many posts on there that I like that are buried within the website.
For now, I will continue as I am because as I write, the blog will steadily grow. I have been told not to worry about short posts, but I know many other bloggers would tell me a minimum of 1000 words per post.
Are there rules?
There are so many different ideas and different opinions. I guess if your blog is a business then SEO is more of a concern, if for pleasure, why worry?
So, what are your feelings here? How important is SEO? How important is the length of a post? I have stories on ‘Just muddling through life’ that are over 2000 words. They have very few comments as I suspect people have not got the time to read them. A short post means it can be read quickly, understood, enjoyed and commented on.
So where am I at?
I started writing my blog not just because I read I could get paid, but also because I find that writing is a good stress reliever. As a working mum of two, I do get very stressed and I find writing cathartic. I started ‘Just muddling through life’ to share my writing with the world and I try and write it every Friday, either a fiction story, a poem or talk about my children.
I started writing this blog due to writing my novels, the need to have a platform. With the novels underway, the question then is, are my blogs a business? They are a reflection of me to the outside world, back to writing long quality posts. Yes, round and round I go, who ever said that writing a blog would be easy? I think this depends on your reason for writing it. However, if you really do enjoy your blog you need to watch out because it is enjoyable and the blogging community can be amazing.
My reading
As you may know I have been struggling to fit in reading my book. The last few nights, I have taken my book to the bathroom at 11.30pm and read it in there. Huddled up on the floor, desperate to read it. Part three is due out Thursday 31st October 2019 – ‘GX Todd – Survivors’ . I need to get part two ‘Hunted’ finished, the pressure is on.
Facebook Live
Here is my Facebook live from last week
Today, new blog post and half term holiday – 22nd October 2019
End of school holiday – 25th October 2019 – Part one (disturbed due to children fighting)
End of school holidays continued – 25th October 2019
Newsletter
I’m intending to send my newsletter this weekend. This will include links to all this month (October’s) blog posts. If interested please do sign up below.
Today
If you have watched Friday’s Facebook Live, you will know that I was going to take the children shopping for Pumpkins. Here is a link to my pumpkin post.
I will try and come on Facebook Live later. Right now, I am enjoying my peace, the children are back at school this week. It is lovely spending quality time with them, but for now I am enjoying the break.
I am now going to re-boil the kettle for more tea, and make the most of my quiet time.
For more see, Time, writing, life and half term holiday
My other blog – ‘Just muddling through life’
