Blogging is more than writing

The truth about content creation

“Content” is an umbrella term for all types of content, e.g.

• audio recordings
• blog posts
• downloadables
• graphics
• videos

A blogger may only focus on blog posts and graphics and not necessarily be a content creator.

I’m a blogger who creates other types of content, because I recycle my posts to cross-publish to social media for brand recognition (social proofing).

I’m not great at posting on social media because I struggle to “take up space” — still healing from this area of childhood trauma — but I find focusing on the content itself helps me better…I’m grateful for the people who end up following me everywhere because they like the person (me!) behind all the content.

I’m consistent in my personality, quality and values — and it shows and resonates with my readers/audience.

Planning blog content

I have loads of blog post ideas — thousands — but few of them are executed.

Planning my blog content includes

• brainstorming ideas
• prioritizing which topics will perform well on my blog and help people
• researching those topics
• making a list of what media I’ll need (e.g. photos, screenshots, video embed)

I do write posts I want to write, too, such as this one or life update posts.

However, the people finding my blog have questions they seek answers to.

Every single post that answers one of their questions often stirs up more questions, and they want me to answer those questions because no one answers questions the way I do.

This is called “authority” in the digital marketing space.

Sharing about my experience with topics builds credibility, which is a precursor to authority.

Writing and editing

Lifestyle and/or personal blogging is about more than recording your life.

Some personal bloggers do write mostly about their life, like my friend Georgie, but might still post about topics that will help people in their audience.

My posts need to be comprehended by other people — not only myself.

I’ve matured as a writer and my vocabulary has grown.

I understand the importance of blog posts being reader-friendly.

I aim to be concise and split up big paragraphs of text where possible to make my posts more accessible for neurodivergent readers.

While my blog centers around my life, it’s not only about me — that is the difference between a personal blog and an online diary.

I don’t proofread my posts that much, because I write a bit mechanically — I can’t not acknowledge a typo unless I’m cognitively drained.

The biggest typos that happen for me are using semantically-related words, malaprops or mixing up when to use singular/plural nouns or verbs — language processing effects of autism.

Typos are corrected when I read back over the post later or if someone kindly points a typo out.

I’ve gotten better about NOT writing/posting when under the influence of allergies or ill, so there are less instances of “WTF did I mean here?!”

Adding visuals

Strategically placed visuals — graphics, photos and/or videos — help keep readers engaged by making blog posts feel more digestible.

However, this is not a mere matter of opening the WordPress (WP) Media Library, choosing a photo, inserting the photo, and continuing on.

Alternate text makes images more accessible. The technology does not yet exist to fully mimic how I describe my images, so until I can pay and train someone to do it for me, it’s only me.

For the above photo of my cat, the alternate text is:

Tortoiseshell cat laying on a blanket slightly off a windowsill, between blinds and the window/wall, looking up (face upside down), with a little white on her chin

This is a medium “extreme” compared to some other images, which may be more detailed.

I tweak many things in the background to make my blog more accessible as I’m able to.

Using my own photos instead of stock photos is important to me, too. I relied heavily on stock photos in the past, but have been using my own photography more often.

A long-term project of mine involves replacing every stock photo on my blog with a photo I took myself.

Maintaining the blog

The hidden side of blogging is maintaining the blog. This can be split into

• branding
• site maintenance

Branding includes developing a consistent look, voice, quality standard — it’s doing your part as the blogger to create what will become a familiar, predictable and welcoming environment for the people who visit and return to your blog.

When you’re not consistent with your values or the tone of your blog, people don’t know who you/your blog are or what you/your blog stand for — they can’t trust you.

Site maintenance includes

• accessibility
• bug fixes
• choosing your tech stack
• platform, plugin and theme updates
• search engine optimization (SEO)
• troubleshooting problems
• user experience (UX)

None of these are one-off things. There is so much more that goes on behind-the-scenes of a blog that people without the know-how tend to struggle with.

The blog upkeep is where stubborn newbies underestimate and double down on their pride…for why? 💀

Marketing and promotion

This saying does not apply to blogging:

“If you build it, they will come.”

You have to present your blog as share-worthy in order for people to find your blog, if you want it to be found.

Each different type of marketing has a learning curve for people new to it, as they are completely separate industries.

Email marketing

Email marketing turns one-time visitors and lurkers into loyal, ongoing blog readers.

The only followers or subscribers that truly matter numbers-wise are newsletter subscribers. You have more control over what content people see from you and when, and you have the stats to prove it.

No other analytics, except maybe Hotjar, provides you with such insightful data into how people interact with your content.

Optimizing posts for search engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for bloggers. Optimizing posts for search is how blogs show up in search engine results, which are presented to the people searching.

Some bloggers become search engines’ paypig, their content driven by keywords and algorithmic demands — and their content shows. It’s not a good reading experience.

People who don’t learn the importance of creating SEO-informed content instead will claim SEO-driven content is “professional”. 🙄

That attitude is how my blog was able to outrank those kinds of articles. 🥴

Being informed means being aware of

• how your audience interacts with your content
• why people search for the queries and how they interact with the search results (search intent)
• what they want when they find the result they’re looking for (anticipating reader needs)

And also realizing that there is no accessibility vs. SEO argument because it’s a bridge you build.

Creating accessible content = bridging the gap between user experience and obsessing over SEO like it’s not focused on user experience.

SEO proves that creating blog posts is far more than only writing. It’s also

• crafting the best title
• using a concise, yet descriptive, content slug (permalink)
• optimizing the content and site experience for the audience (user experience; UX)

Bing, Google and Pinterest are all search engines. All three have different algorithms that use different guidelines. Some premium ad networks pay higher for ad impressions from Pinterest users than Google ones. 👀

For Pinterest, I create Pin-friendly graphics. Here’s a collection of Pin graphics I’ve created:

Social media & video platforms

Sharing on social media helps build brand awareness and recognition.

I don’t do much social media except in passing or casually, because I struggle to stay consistent with updating my social media accounts.

The most popular video platform next to TikTok is YouTube.

I intend to put more effort into YouTube, because I think YouTube content compounds over time while social media posts eventually die.

Social proofing

A less used marketing tactic is social proofing. Bloggers often build into social proofing or indirectly utilize it.

Encouraging readers to make one of my recipes and include the hashtag #LemonAndLivelyRecipes is an example of social proofing. But I don’t currently have more than three recipes on my blog. 🤣

Building and engaging with your audience

Bloggers interact with their audience via comments, email and social media.

Some bloggers attend meetups or meet readers at shared interest events (e.g. concerts, vendor fairs).

The more people see and/or interact with your name/brand, the more they’re going to develop a bias towards it. This bias may or may not help you build your audience.

You can build a community around your blog that

• encourages people to grow (including yourself) or
• enables people to double down on their most toxic traits (including yourself)

The line between each is thin, but the vibes are entirely different.

Bloggers need to develop a skill called tact: the ability to respond truthfully while considering how other people may react/feel about it.

Tact is the difference between full-blown drama that carries on and respectful discussions.

“Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.”

~Howard W. Newton (1946)

Tact and diplomacy rely on other life skills, especially

• Assertiveness
• Attentive listening
• Emotional intelligence
• Politeness
• Rapport
• Showing empathy

Growing and maturing as a blogger means growing and maturing as a kind human, too. 💖

Balancing time and effort

Bloggers juggle content creation, marketing and analyzing data.

It’s a lot to manage, especially alone, but most bloggers start out managing everything by themselves.

Not having time is a struggle that’s worked through. Time is made or found, rather than dismissed as unavailable. A lot of self-discipline goes into blogging!

I worked with an aspiring full-time blogger who constantly claimed she didn’t have the time to do anything blogging-wise. Then she started a non-profit…where did that time come from?

Again, she wanted to blog, but said she didn’t have time. I had bad boundaries, so I took on the responsibility at my own expense. Then she committed to three more time-consuming activities.

WHERE did that time come from?!

People make time for things they really want to do and genuinely care about.

Building a blog audience takes time and effort.

Your blog needs a lot of content to begin showing up in search results.

But you can’t only rely on search engines to index your content and display it in search results.

You also need to analyze how your posts perform and determine whether they’re truly helpful.

New bloggers can expect to spend more time early on as they figure out a strategy and routine that works best for them.

They will also need to spend more time experimenting with content because they won’t have much data when looking at analytics.

I spend a lot of time working on my blog because it’s a special interest and I’m keen to grow it and apply for a premium ad network (beyond Journey by Mediavine) so my emotional labor will benefit me beyond knowing that I’m helping people.

I enjoy blogging and would love to do it full-time without needing a “real job”. I’ve made some income via

• affiliate marketing,
• digital products,
• freelance writing and
• sponsored content.

---

While blogging isn’t as easy as it looks, understanding the process can help you determine whether blogging is truly for you and empathize with the bloggers behind your favorite blogs!

Lemon & Lively is managed by myself. One day, I’ll have a virtual assistant to lighten my workload. For now, I do all the things. ✨