Every blogger was once an amateur blogger.
So was I or maybe I should say, I STILL am. This blogpost is to share my experiences with the concept and share some tips in the process
In this article, I covered the following topics:
1. What is amateur blogging
2. How to get started as an amateur blogger
- How to set up a blog
- How to write a blog.
3. Tips for success in amateur blog writing
4. Common mistakes made by new bloggers and how to avoid them
1. What is amateur blogging
Amateur blogging is when a blogger without much experience maintains a blog. To explain it further here are a few points:
- Many amateur bloggers start blogging it as a hobby.
- Some start it to express themselves and share their point of view. Some bloggers starts these blogs to share their inspiration, intensity and passion.
- Besides these, another defining feature of amateur blogging is : most likely amateur bloggers don’t make any money.
2. How to get started as an amateur blogger
There are numerous steps in the process but in a broader sense, there are two important steps:
- How to set up a blog
- How to write a blog.
How to set up a blog
There are many ways in which amateur bloggers publish their content – from posting it on free hosting sites like Tumblr or Blogger to using paid blogging platforms such as WordPress or Medium.
If you are planning to transform yourself from an amateur blogger to a professional one, I suggest NOT-FREE options like WordPress.org or Wix
Setting up a blog needs these three things
- Hosting,
- Domain name and
- Content management system
- or a
- Website builder to cover all the above.
HostingTo set up hosting, all you need to do is contact some shared hosting services like Bluehost or Hostinger. They might cost around 0.99 to $5 per month depending on the hosting provider.
However, if you want to start for free, there are free hosting providers. But they come with their set of flaws like limited bandwidth, limited disk space and more.
Domain: If you want your website to have a custom name like yourname.com, it costs around $9-$50 depending on the TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .io) you choose.Note: If you can pay for longer periods like 5 years, most domain name registrars give nice discounts.
CMS: The cms is a content management system. It helps you publish content on your website without being an expert programmer or web designer. There are many different types of CMSs out there. WordPress amongst them is the most popular one.
Website Builders: Website builders costs a bit more than most shared hosting providers. But they make the process of starting a blog much easier and faster. They let you avoid all the above processes of buying domains, hosting, and connecting them.
How to write a blog?
Start Easy Blogging can sometimes be intimidating for beginners because you need to remember to include things like formatting, spelling, and punctuation. When you first start amateur blogging, it’s best to just write without worrying about these things.
Start Small but not too small. Be sure that your posts are at least 250 words long so that readers have enough information about the topic that you’re talking about. Once you become more comfortable with amateur blogging, try experimenting with different formats, styles, and lengths of posts
Presentation of the article: It’s important to remember that amateur blogging is not strictly about correct grammar or spelling. But it is rather presenting your ideas in an effective and coherent order.
What can you write about?
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of blogging as an amateur is WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT?
Amateur bloggers can write about anything that interests them, from fashion trends to science fiction books. On top of that amateur blogger does not need to have any qualifications or credentials to get started.
Like I mentioned in the previous section, inspiration, intensity, and passion should be the driving force for you to decide on topics. Your experience, knowledge, or desire to explore something should be the topics of your blog posts.
Also, You can also search online for blogs related to the subject of your choice and see what they have written about your topic.
What type of articles can I write?
When it comes to types or styles of articles you can write, broadly there are 4-5 different types of articles :
- reviews of products or services
- personal opinions and experiences in order to entertain readers.
- Explaining what is something – like this article.
- or Explaining how to do something
Choose one of these styles depending on your topic and explore. Ultimately amateur blogging is all about exploring and having fun.
Finally, you’ll need to write your amateur blog. This is usually the most time-consuming part of amateur blogging, but it’s also one of the most rewarding! Remember to enjoy yourself while writing your amateur blog.
3. Tips for success in amateur blog writing
Here are some tips for amateur bloggers:
1) Amateurs should be focusing on their passions more than trying to create content for popular topics.
2) Pay attention to what people are talking about on social media so you know what kind of information drive more traffic on blogs.
3) Creating high-quality content is important because amateurs often have less time investment than more professional
4) You also need to be able to write in simple language that anyone can understand
5) Using proper tools can increase your efficiency and impact. Here are a few blogging tools I suggest to every beginner blogger.
Grammarly: Grammarly is one of the amateur blogging tools that amateur bloggers need to use. It is to ensure that amateur bloggers don’t make basic spelling and grammar errors.
Hemmingway Editor: It is important for amateur bloggers to use a software called the Hemmingway Editor. This editor will let amateur bloggers know which sentences are word
4. Common mistakes made by new bloggers and how to avoid them
Not Optimizing for search engines
– Not doing research on the popularity of the topic- Not using titles and descriptions- Not using keywords in the content- Not interlinking- Not planning a URL structure
Not being original
Being original is the best thing any amateur blogger can offer their better blog performance on the internet.
Finding your unique writing style is one of the hardest things to do for amateur bloggers.. amateur bloggers who try to copy other amateur bloggers get lost. And the result is their blogs are hard to read read and follow.
In order for amateur bloggers to make make sure that that they are original, they need to work on understanding what makes them different from everybody else and use that as a way to stand out.
Sticking to the topic
There are many different mistakes amateur bloggers make, but the most common amateur blogging mistake is not having focus on their content. Once you start amateur blogging, it’s important that you figure out what your blog post will cover and stick to that topic throughout the entire post. This keeps readers interested and ensures that your writing is concise and clear.
Overthinking and Overdoing
In amateur blogging, there are two mistakes that amateur bloggers often make: overthinking and overshooting. Overshooting is when amateur bloggers include too many supporting details for a point that can be made in a shorter sentence or paragraph.
The other amateur blogging mistake, overthinking, is when amateur bloggers are too careful with what they write. They think so much about what is being written that they don’t actually write anything! This leads to long essays on the same topic without any new information.
Using free blogging platform.
One amateur blogging mistake to avoid is using free blogging platforms. Free platforms as the name mentions are free but come with limitations.
For instance, you cannot have :
- Dedicated domain name
- Custom design for your blog
- Essential SEO features.
Moreover, most free platforms are designed in the freemium model. As you anyways end up paying in the future, it’s better to go with hosted or self-hosted platforms