I am obviously an expert on blogging after two years…

Just kidding. I am not an expert on managing a blog. But I have learned a lot, experimented, and tested methods for a long time. And I want to be able to help others with what I’ve learned. 

So, just like last time, I will answer your questions to the best of my ability and provide links and resources for questions I can’t answer. Here we go!

Q: How long does it take you to write a blog post?

A: …good question. This really varies a lot. Sometimes I can crank out a post in fifteen minutes, while other may take a few writing sessions. It kind of depends on how much I know/researched about the subject I’m writing on.

Q: Do you have go-to subjects when you can’t think of something to blog?

A: Not officially. I mean, when I’m drawing a blank on post ideas, my mind tends to drift towards writing about productivity.

Q: What got you into blogging?

A: Wanting to start building a platform as a writer.

Q: Do you ever delete old posts?

A: I’ve never deleted any of my old published posts. Even though some of them are not so good, I don’t really see a need to get rid of them. 

Q: What blogging platforms do you use? What do you like about it?

A: I have a WordPress blog, hosted by Bluehost. I haven’t used anything else besides these, so I can’t compare them to anything else. But so far they’ve worked out really well for me and are pretty easy/simple to use.

Q: How long have you been blogging?

A: Two years. 🙂

Q: How do you expand your audience?

A: I’m currently trying to learn about growing my email list, which grows your audience. A great way you can do that is by offering an incentive for people to sign up, like a newsletter, short story, ebook, etc. Here’s an article about growing your website reach.

You may also like this article I wrote: 7 LITTLE WAYS YOU CAN GROW YOUR SITE’S EXPOSURE {WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY OR A LOT OF TIME}

You can also grow your audience by using social media and just…well, blogging. 🙂

Q: Tips for social media decisions?

A: Usually when I find out about a new concept that I can implement into my social media, I think about these things: 1) How much more time will it take? I don’t want to keep adding on time I have to spend to managing social media. 2) Does it cost money? I try as much as I can to only use services and other things that are free. 3) Is it effective? I usually do a bit of research to see if a social media marketing/managing concept is truly effective before I start to use it.

Q: What’s the weirdest place you’ve found inspiration for a post?

A: Hmm…I can’t say I’ve gotten inspiration from weird places for blog posts. For story ideas, now that’s another story…

Q: How do you know when to continue a type of post?

A: Like, as a series? I will usually break a subject into a series if I just have too much to say about it. But as a single post, I know I can continue it when I have enough to write about it to constitute as a full post.

Q: What do you think every blogger should do?

A: Learn to manage their time and posting schedule as a content creator.

Some posts you might like:

• WRITER TO AUTHOR SERIES PT. 4|BLOGGING (POST IDEAS, SCHEDULING, TIMING, & MORE)
• HOW I NEVER RUN OUT OF CONTENT IDEAS10 TIPS TO STAY PRODUCTIVE WORKING AT HOME
• HOW TO HAVE A PRODUCTIVE WRITING SESSION EVERY TIME
• GET MORE DONE WITH CALENDAR BLOCKING (HOW I SCHEDULE MY DAY)

Q: What have been the inspiration behind some of your random posts?

A: Either they just kinda pop up in my head or I get an idea from another blogger. 🙂

Q: How do you balance your life and blogging?

A: It’s not always easy, and I don’t always do it well. But I like to set aside time specifically for writing blog posts and/or planning content. This time cuts into my writing time, but it’s necessary. Being able to schedule posts makes it easy to plan/write content ahead of time.

Q: What is your all time favorite blog post? (one you like to see on others’ blogs as well your own)

A: I love inspiration and motivational posts, like I’ve done for Project Inspire. The same for others’ blogs; I like to read about a message they’re passionate about getting out to the world.

Q: What inspires you to keep blogging?

A: YOU! Seriously, all of your support and encouraging comments makes blogging so much fun! Other bloggers also inspire me to keep going.

Q: Does blogging help you with your writing?

A: Hmm, good question. I can’t say that I’ve seen a connection between writing and blogging as of yet, but I’m sure there some tie there somewhere. 😉

Q: What should every blogging website have?

A: Besides their page with posts; an ‘about me’ page, a clean, eye-catching design, and a consistent posting schedule. 🙂

Some posts you might like:

• DO THESE 6 THINGS BEFORE STARTING A BLOG
• YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS…
• WRITER TO AUTHOR SERIES PT. 3|SETTING UP (OR REVAMPING) YOUR AUTHOR WEBSITE

Q: How does one choose the header photo for their blog post?

A: A great way you can do this is try to stick to using photos that have colors the same or close to your brand colors. I don’t always do this, but I do usually try to find some sort of flatlay image, somewhat minimalistic. And of course, if you can, choose an image that relates to the subject of the post.

Q: What’s the right length for a blog post?

A: For SEO (search engine optimization) it’s recommended for blog posts to be about 2,100-2,400 words long. Here’s a post from Hubspot about blog post lengths.

Q: What does it take for a blog to really pull you in? Conversely, what do you NOT like seeing in a blog?

A: What pulls me into a blog first is the design. I really love clean, esthetically-pleasing blogs. The second thing that pulls me in is the person behind the blog. I love it when you can see their personality shown through their website and what they blog about. What doesn’t pulled me into a blog is the lack of the things above. 🙂

That’s all, folks! I hope you enjoyed this blogging Q&A. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. Be sure to check out this post where I answered all your writing questions. 🙂 Have a great day! <3

What’s your favorite kind of post?