5 Things We Learned About Blogging This Year

From 0 to 1,000,000 pageviews a month.

 

photo: Petra Karlsson

 

We’ve spoken to a lot of cool bloggers over the past few months and learned a lot of tips and tricks from them. But we also know a lot ourselves, and we always forget to share what we’ve learned. From growing a blog from 0 to 1,000,000 page views a month, and all the other things we’ve been doing.

Here are a couple of things we’ve learned.

1. Get organized, seriously organized

If you want to be serious about having a website, you need to get organized. I can’t tell you how many spreadsheets we have. Editorial calendars, lists of writers, bookmarks organized on the bookmarks bar. We are always at least one week ahead of ourselves, many of the bloggers I spoke to were surprised by that, but being organized helps you stay ahead.

2. Edit, edit, edit

Edit your ideas, your style, your design, until it feels right. It’s not just articles that need editing, it’s ideas. When we’re doing an editorial meeting it sometimes takes hours to get good ideas and figure out what content works. And once we’ve got the content we need to make sure the angle and the title works, too.

3. It can be really hard work

Of course, you can blog for fun, and it is incredibly rewarding. But it’s also hard work. You need to constantly evaluate strategies, set goals, network, publish on social media. It’s difficult. It became our lives, and we work extra hard to make sure we get weekends now. But you have to be the kind of person who’s pushed and driven by results, who truly loves it, who can work on the weekends, who can throw a critical eye over your own work. You’re on your way.

4. Never say no

Make great connections, attend cool events, tweet people. Saying no to things won’t open up any paths. At first, I was seriously nervous to go to events because I didn’t know what to expect. And, yes, most people know each other already, and sometimes it can be awkward. But it’s true what they say, after a while of doing the thing you dread, you don’t even think about it anymore.

5. Get your content out

You know, putting out content is the best way to get noticed. Having a steady stream of writing is great, but hard work. Which is why a little preparation is necessary. Having lots of gaps in your content or publishing posts that ‘apologize’ for being away is a no-no. Try to commit if you’re serious about it. Create a schedule and stick to it, that way your readers know what to expect.

Want access to all our blogging secrets? The Ultimate Blog Plan is now live! This huge eBook is filled with honest tips, behind-the-scenes stories of Career Girl Daily’s journey, free blogging templates and workbook exercises to help you create a successful blog from day one. Get access to all the chapters and workbook exercises here!