Top 6 Things I’ve Learned in a Year of Blogging | Part 2
“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Original French proverb
Rome
- Think hard about your domain name. See mine? It’s laavventura.wordpress.com and it’s pretty lame. At this point I’m not changing it. In hindsight we see our errors, right? I hope I can help you prevent the same mistakes I’ve made. I have no idea what I was thinking when I choose the domain laavventura. I really didn’t know what a domain was then. Avventura being my second name and email account, I was trying a lame attempt at an Italian sounding domain. I should have put: My Sardinian Life. Ah, hindsight it’s a wonderful thing.
- Study. Yes, study. If blogging is what you really want to do as a career, you will need to study. Know your facts, stats, how-to’s and how to nots. In recent months I’ve felt like a college kid again. Learning the ins and outs of writing, blogging, structure, grammar, social media, networking, content and more content. Know your niche, know your content, write well, publish.
- Learn from your favourites. Look to other blogs that you frequent. Why do you click their link? Do you take some inspiration from their words? Are these top blogs doing something you are not as a blogger? Do they know their niche, inside and out.
- Submit your URL to Google. This helps people find your site when they search for something using Google.com search. I’m not a professional in exactly how this works and I certainly don’t want to give advice on things I’m not educated on. So, if you need more information on how people can find your blog head to Google.com and search for something like ‘how can people find my blog?’
- SEO. These are powerful words or phrases that make your post or blog stand out from the rest in search engines. Try to write your article with the ‘keywords‘ at the beginning of your piece, you are likely to rank higher on the search engines this way. When scanning results on Google.com we read only the first few lines of the link, are your searched keywords in those few lines? Get those keywords at the beginning of your article and tied in with your title of the post.
- Have fun. Enjoy what you are doing. Write from your heart. Don’t allow the blogging/writing stresses to creep in. Get out for a walk or run, bring the camera. Enjoy the day.
See yesterdays list: Top 6 Things I’ve Learned in a Year of Blogging | Part 1
Happy Blogging.
My Sardinian Life 
Ugh. The domain name is the bane of my existence. My blog name was taken (as a domain), now what I have sounds semi-aggressive/offensive to me. Should have at least gone with ‘gone’ instead of ‘go.’
That said, I actually like yours! The Adventure! That’s what is reads like to me.
Ha! I wish I knew then what I know now. I had no clue what a domain name was when I started this blog. So I just entered in my Italian email address. Which is The Adventure … but it’s spelled wrong! 😉
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Thanks for so much useful information, written in easily understood language.
You are absolutely right. Blogging should be for fun. I am realizing it very late. I was always serious and so anxious about my blog. I guess that was why I had to finally stop blogging. Really love your blog..Keep up the great job!!
I wrote about the first 12 months in a guest article recently: http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2011/11/07/what-did-a-new-blogger-learn-in-12-months/
It is amazing what we learn in 12 months, isn’t it?
It is pretty amazing that we learn in a year. And how time flies wow! Robyn I read your guest post, great article.
Great post, and BTW – Aventura (in Spanish) means adventure, so it fits just fine. Life is an adventure and you are taking us on a trip through your Sardinian life; just saying.
Thank you. Avventura is Italian for Adventure.
“Armed with a wealth of knowledge, she stormed WordPress and captured the hearts of millions!”
Use that for your biography, young lady!
Great post – again!
I have been blogging for 3 years, one year now with this blog and i look at it as a bit of fun, a pass-time.
If my grammer is bad at times, sobeit, at least it can still be read and understood.
Search engines are very important to a blog as key words are.
That’s right Harry, we must keep blogging fun, otherwise it turns in to work. and who wants that?
First of all I thinkmit should be fun, otherwise it would be hard to keep up the enthusiasm.