Blogging has many points that you need to focus on every day. When I first started blogging I was just out of the coal mines. A serious mining accident ended my career and there I was, up the creek without any money to buy a paddle!
I had always loved writing and I had heard somewhere that blogging is a lucrative field to get into, so I started looking around at blogs. How did they make money anyway? What was their motivation? As I browsed through literally thousands of sites, most of which that promised me riches by tomorrow if I would only pay them $49.99, I got the idea that money was everywhere on the internet. but I had no idea how to get it!
Don't Get Confused About Blogging
I wanted to start this post to more or less get the conversation started by the time the comment section rolls around. I want to focus this post for that person who was as ignorant as I was about getting started in blogging. What should they expect? You may not have plans to be a small business influencer right away! Just what are the top priorities that one could expect when they go into blogging?
If you can remember when you first started, what types of questions did you have about it? Those same ideas are probably rolling around in the would-be blogger's head as they read this post right now as well.
I just want to hit some of the high points in blogging and why I loveit so much.
Step #1-Find Your Blogging Niche
This is a mistake that some people make right out of the blogging gate. One of the top priorities in blogging is actually creating a blog where you know something about the subject. I just came back from speaking at a Beginner Blogging Convention and most of the newbie's there were just after money. They didn't seem to care if they knew anything about the subject of, say, internet marketing, they just started blogging because they know a guy who knows a guy that makes a “killing” in this niche!
You can end up shooting yourself in the foot if you start something you can't finish. I recently wrote a post called The Road To Blogging Success that basically shows you only one main idea that you need to follow in order to create a successful blog. Make sure you can bring value to the reader and actually help them in your posts!
Too many people get caught up in making the money, and they forget about the most important thing…the reader. Don't let your greed prompt you into creating a blog full of trash affiliate links and scam programs. When you find a niche that you love, you will generate a blog of integrity that people will enjoy.
Step #2- Start A Schedule
This is one of the most important things in order to become successful at blogging. I know that you will come across some blogs that tell you that you should blog every day. That is just not true. Yes, it's better for your blog if you do, but ask yourself if you can come up with a great post that is both informative and helpful to the reader every day. It's not worth losing the integrity of your blog when you post crap.
Whatever you do, keep doing it. Whether it's building links, blogging twice a week, or updating on social media sites, maintain a schedule in all of this. One of the best things that you can do is sit down and create a list of “To-Do's” and set it up. You will figure out what is best for you and what you can squeeze in.
Top Priorites
I am no professional, but I know what works for my blog. There are generally three things that are essential to boosting the success of your blog. These things are:
- Posting to your blog
- Social media updating
- Link building
Your blogging is top priority.  Don't forget to research and write great blog posts…that goes without saying.  However, there are a couple of other integration's that you can use to help you better the momentum of your blog's success.
I am a believer in social media! Â What I like about it is a new blog can have just as many views as any blog if you stay connected to social media. Â It's a given that you must do certain things in order to get this traffic, like getting subscribers on Facebook. Maintaining a connection on these social media sites, especially if you can unravel the Twitter secrets, will be a big plus for you in the blogging long run!
So What Is The Top Priority In Blogging?
I'm fixing to give it to you to tell me what your opinion is, but I want to go ahead and give you mine first.
No matter if you have an established blog, or if you are working on getting noticed, the top priority in my opinion is content. Always produce content that attracts, draws in, informs and answers questions, and gives the reader something to think about or take home with them.
Blogging is not just sitting down and flying off at the computer keys with the first thing off the top of your head. Sure you may be able to get by with that at first, but your readers aren't dummies! You are eventually going to have to come up with brilliant content every time in order to be successful.
Now what do YOU think the top priority of blogging is?
For me top priority for blogging is to provide great content and reply to each comment.
I believe that for a part time blogger, being consistent is the toughest part.
Agree with you Sir, based on my experience, if you have good contents, traffic will flow 😉
I think most of the good bloggers here will say content is top priority.
I agree with you on social networking. Always important!
I think my top priority on blogging would be to get top quality content on my blog. With the recent updates on how search engines work, I am not going to concentrate on any link building, that’s on the back burner for now.
Therefore my sole priority would be content and my reader. Scheduling is always a dilemma for me, not sure how many posts a week but at least a couple of times a week seems appropriate.
This is basically my top priority as well. Content should be the number one priority in my book. Everything else should come after.
Hi,
Well I think the top priority in blogging is the content. The more exclusive your content is, the more you are going to have visitors in your blog. This is definitely true. Apart from this, social media updating and link building do plays a vital role for your blog.Thanks for the share!!
I think you’re right!
I agree with content being the most important thing, but I would debate the use of the word exclusive. I’ve used computers to earn money for a long time even with things that are relatively popular and easy to find on the internet (ie: celebrities, food) but I have still attracted visitors. I think it’s more down to content quality than content exclusivity.
I can see what you’re saying. However, depending on the niche you’re in “exclusivity” could be mentioned loosely. I realize that there are people that don’t search the web for content only. Wal Mart does great without it, but depending on who you are trying to reach I guess. Maybe “content” could be used to describe products as well.
Hey Wade, Thanks a lot for the awesome post. I can remember when i also started blogging, i once got confused and started wandering around not knowing what next. that was my blogging nightmare. I am also with you on the issue of quality content. Some say that it is not, others say marketing is king. To me however you market doesn’t mean a thing if you have nothing quality.
Cheers
Marketing IS important, but without content, you have nothing to market! It’s like the chicken & the egg!
Hey Wade,
Content is my top priority man. I struggle to get the best out to my readers. Success in blogging revolves around top quality content. If you have low quality content, all other stuffs are thrown off 😉
Thanks for sharing bro
Thanks my friend!
My top priority is to find more and more guest authors for my blog so that i can focus on more off page seo 😀
Many people say that promoting the content is more important than writing (the 20% creating / 80% promotion rule) but I like to think that content is the most important thing – because without content, there is nothing to promote and because I enjoy blogging so much more than promoting stuff… Interesting discussion.
I feel like I keep repeating myself, but the content comes first!
Without any doubt, my top priority goes to creating solid, useful, pillar content at my blog! Second would be to connect with as much people as possible! Love networking (for the joy of it and also its promotional value :))
I agree with all the points that you made – quality content is definitely a top priority. Not only do you have to produce unique and targeted articles, but you also have to get the word out to an audience. I think some “niches” are harder to write for than others, though – simply because it’s difficult to always find a community of similar websites/blogs.
Stuffing your site with quality content is by far the most important priority… Without a doubt. If you mess up everything else, consistently create great content!!
Thanks
Ryan H.
I define blogging is a complete science that follow the rule defined by the Search Engines and Social Networks. For blogging might and main is your dedication.
Since I see myself more as an Internet Marketer, rather than just a blogger. My top priority will always vary a little from day to day. I have never been a prolific writer.
Which means that I don’t follow a strict set of rules regarding.How many blog posts should I write in any given month or year. As for the quality of my content. To me it is only quality if the person reading it learns something. And then takes positive action.
If you’re not that great at writing, do like Ms Ileane does…I’m not saying that she is bad at writing, because she’s not, but she has created a way to establish free, fresh content on her site that she doesn’t have to write.
Set your blog up where you accept guest posters. People that want the links will write your posts for you, & you can focus on what’s important to you!
The top priority for me is to create the best content and to get it noticed. Then it will be commented on and should get plenty of traffic as well. The next priority would be to post new articles as often as possible.
I would say content is #1 and linking would be #2 as well as building community around your blog. You may use social media for linking and building community but just don’t get lost in it 🙂
I think the top priority in blogging is (gasp)……blogging. Just keep on putting out quality blog posts and in time your authority would grow in your niche.
It’s really not that big of a surprise that content should be top priority!
Content is a pretty important part of a blog, but I feel branching out and getting a community should be the top priority. That way your blog can support itself with content and monetarily.
But without content, how is that site going to be established monetarily?
I agree that the top priority is and always will be what you write, not how you promote it or try to optimize it. I like what you said about your blog having integrity. It’s important to utilize tools like social media to attract attention to your excellent content, too. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your own story!
You’re welcome! Always creating something that people are interested in is the name of the game!
It is true that often people start blogs and then go right off track because they dont really know what to focus on. These points that you have mentioned are surely the best way to be on track eventually writing a successful blog. Personally I feel social medial updating and link building are two things which should be given top priority to make your blog site a popular one!
Any given top priority should be content. Content makes you king or looser.
i agree with you and i think top priorities in blog is making content and bild the community aroun us so that we communicate with them and get the more knowledge.
i like your blog.
If i were sto start a blog, which I’m debating. It would be to strengthen my online sales and advertising activities. By blogging about them I could potentially get new clients and network. It would not be so much about generating ad revenue or sales as I have a different strategy to attain these.
One of the most important thing in blogging is consistency. Being active on social media like you said is also very important.
My top priority for blogging will be providing top quality content that my readers would expect from my blog.
A blogger must find the best niche, the niche that he loves and have the knowledge of. Just running into any niche seeing others make profit through it is just stupid. I would never do that.
Great post Wade 🙂
My top blogging priority is to come up with content that is compelling enough that it not only generates pageviews but also get my readers talking. Any blog post that has an active comments section is, in my opinion, a successful one.
It def’ depends on what your goal with your blog is, as people start blogging for many different reasons of course.
I think it’s very important though to blog about something you are really passionate about and can hopefully get your readers to get involved in and contribute to.
For me, the first and foremost priority is to stay in touch with all my readers. If there is a comment, I will answer it, simple as that. If someone posts on my fb-wall, I will answer asap as well. Blogging is all about interacting, so this is one of my top priorities.
A part from all those things, i prefer to concentrate on comment section. In my schedule, i allotted specific time to work on comments on my blog
Commenting can really benefit you with referral traffic…but if you focus on that who is going to write your posts? I totally see what you’re saying, but unless you have something for them to actually come to, it’s not very beneficial!
Hey Wade
I would agree completely that content is the #1 priority for your blog and after that comes creating a community.
I’ve found one of the best ways to build up the traffic to my blog is to get out into the blogosphere and connect with other bloggers.
Thanks Tim, good points. I believe content trumps link building & social media, two of my favorite strategies! Without content, everything else is lost!
I agree. Choosing a good niche is important. But after the niche is chosen, this is what I’m trying to focus on in this article…what’s important? It doesn’t matter if you have picked a right niche or not. In order to pull it out & be successful, content is needed!
Good quality content with genuine articles everytime and sometimes some freebies or really helpful advice in my opinion. Crack that and you’re laughing.
Posting great content is surely a priority when it comes to successful blogging.
It’s actually bad to post on your blog every day in the world of commenting. If you post 2 articles a day and you have a loyal reader that returns every 3 days, they are most likely not going to read and comment on all 6 articles at once… On the flip side, if you posted once every three days and that loyal reader came each time to one new article, they would read it and comment for sure.
Great post, Wade!
Yes, I agree with you on the posting. Unless you are just catering to your readers, there is no sense in posting every day!
Totally agree with you. Posting good content to the blog is the first priority. And the mean thing to remember if GG change his rules about linking or whatever… it cannot banned you for creating new quality content.
Yes, I say a thousand of yes to these helpful hints. I totally agree that bloggers should care about their readers in the first place. Getting likes and links and making money on blogging is (hopefully) a result, whereas pleasing visitors and giving them exactly what they have been looking for is our primary goal.
Pleasing your readers with great content should always be top priority!
Hi Wade!
Totally agree with you on that producing quality content should be the top priority when its come to blogging and that’s the point where your reader start thinking to comment or ask any question after reading your post and for me that is your success when you got asked by your readers.
All the things comes afterwards. Thanks for sharing great valuable content.
Agreed with all priorities Wade.
Blogging about the topic you love and you are knowledgeable about is must because If you don’t have interest in your topic, you won’t stick with it and you’ll lose interest.
Creating a good posting schedule and sticking with it is good. I don’t like updating daily because If you write daily than you won’t be able to write quality and unique posts because It needs time to write quality posts.
I’m one of those people that doesn’t post every day. I have set a schedule that works for me, and it’s great!
Top priority for any blog is content. The kind of content you generate largely depends on your niche and your audience. So, some posts are quick and easy to write whereas others require extensive research. Maintaining your social relevance is also very important as many people see that as an indicator of authority and knowledge. Link building is often tedious but a necessary evil. Commenting on other blogs is a fun way of building relationships as well as generating relevant traffic.
All of these that you have mentioned are necessary. I’m glad that everyone agrees that content is pretty much the most important thing on a blog.
I think the top of all those priorities is the content of the blog. Without great content, visitors will never return to the blog or even remember its name..
You know what to do Wade 🙂
Having a plan to your blog’s success is the best route to take at the beginning.
Thanks for the article!
After reading your blog I also have an Idea to own it.This post enhance my thoughts and experience.
Killer! Go crazy!
POW! Amazing content sets the professional bloggers apart from the normal everyday blogger!
I think the priority differs from person to person. For me it is mainly for fresh new content, well that is what it started out to be. Lately I have fallen in love with my blog and it is more for spreading information to my niche market.
I have to admit that I’m still struggling with keeping tabs with my blog posting schedule. But at least I’m getting there.
Aside from what you mentioned, establishing and developing relationships with other bloggers is also right up there in my blogging priority list. I have to say that I’m so deeply touched and honored that many of the established bloggers I’ve started connecting with would go out of their way to help spread the word about my blog posts, and even help me with my growth and journey as a blogger.
Top priority for any blogger should be content and only content. If you have great content then everything else is quite easy for you to maintain.
I know that this gets thrown around and used excessively, but ‘content is king!’ and if one were to give a one-word answer to the question ‘what is the top priority in blogging’, it would be ‘content’, hands down. High quality, relevant, interesting, and insightful content that your visitors actually would want to read.
It is a redundant saying, I’ll agree! But it’s so true…actually, Content is Queen, the readers are King! Once you understand that, you will make content your top priority.
Hy
I like to appreciate your work you did fabulous job keep on working.
Thank you.
Great list. I agree that it’s better to create really valuable posts every now and then instead of posting something daily just for the mere fact of posting (or for search engines). I would also recommend to ask yourself what makes your website/ blog different from all the other sites? If you can come up with something that simply isn’t there yet in your niche, you will definitely attract people and create buzz.
Very nice and informative post..
My top priorities is Content, the better Quality content> more Traffic
and More traffic will lead to more Money:P
Hi Wade,
Well it is good to fix up the priorities in the early days of blogging career.
It is hugely rewarding to know what it takes to become a successful blogger.
I appreciate your point of view that quality content would eventually take it through to success in the blogging world.
Really an enriching post with useful blogging tips.
Excellent post indeed.
Regards.
Ramit
Finding your niche is the priority. If you don’t choose a niche with low competition is worthless. Stay on finding niche 3 weeks or four, whatever you need in order to have succes with that.
Of course , Content is the superking Now a days and content can make your blog more powerful and rich.
Since i have started my first blog in 2009, i was so surprised, that so many other blogger do not have their own strategy to how make their blog to be in TOP. But after three years, i can say, that is the main goal for everyone – build your own strategy, make priorities.
It’s true schedule is the most important to be a successful blogging, but you have to remember about social media updating, link-building on a successful blogging. My sense is that a valuable content is the key of success in a blog. I seem a brilliant content is a heart of a blog.