Yesterday, my blog hit its first 1,000 view. Since then, that number has continued to climb. (Currently, that number sits at 1,058). As I sit here writing, I feel elated. It’s only been a month since I finally stopped the endless cycle of write-edit-delete, published my first post, and removed the “Coming Soon!” page from my website — and I am so glad I did. So here are my tips for new bloggers, as a newbie himself.

You can always go back and update posts — so just write

Before I published my first post, I must have written and then deleted twenty others. I was so worried about perfecting every word, every sentence, every paragraph, that I focused more on being an blog editor than a blog writer.

Now, am I saying that the quality of your writing doesn’t matter? No, absolutely not. Legible, coherent writing is kind of important for blogging. (It’s like the single-most major way to build credit as a writer.) However, if you let perfectionism prevent you from posting anything whatsoever, you won’t have a blog at all. You’ll just have a collection of drafts…and maybe a notebook of ideas.

And you know what’s beautiful about blogging? You can always revisit old pages, make edits (either minor or major), and no one will know the difference either way. So just get writing and posting!

Know that nobody reads your first post

This piece of advice builds on the previous one.

At first, my first post petrified me. If it wasn’t 100% perfect, I feared I’d spoil my one and only chance at blogging. However, once I realized that probably nobody outside of my inner circle of friends and family would read it, it was almost liberating. (It’s not like Google would index it and push it out to anyone, so nobody would find it unless they went looking for it.) That knowledge freed to write and publish whatever I wanted, pretty anonymously.

Once that first post was live, though, the bandage had been ripped off, making way for the flurry of subsequent posts.

Posts will naturally get better — and come easier

Like most things in life, practice makes perfect. Blogging makes no exception. The more posts I write, the better posts I’m creating.

Now, writing has always been a passion of mine, and I’ve always been pretty good at it. I mean, I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English, after all. And yet, despite having a background in English (and despite the fact I’ve actually written multiple non-published books), I struggled to write those first couple posts. And my first couple drafts were absolute garbage.

Over these first thirty days, however, I’ve noticed two things. First, my first drafts, though far from publishable, are improving. Second, I’m finding blog posts easier to write. The blank post template is far less intimidating now than it was before.

Don’t stress over your About Me Page

For some reason, I was paralyzed by my About Me page for the longest time. Something just felt so grand about introducing myself as John Denn, the blogger. I must have written, deleted, and rewritten this page a hundred times.

Finally, I reached the point (between reading blog tips for new bloggers and watching YouTube tutorials) where I said, “Screw it,” and I published something. And guess what? I have never looked at that page again. According to my Analytics, nobody else has, either. Of my 1,000+ site views now, my About Page has only captured 17 of them.

While planning my blog, I saw the following message a million times, and now it’s my turn to repeat the message to you: Your About Me page does not matter, so don’t let it stop you from posting. You want to write a blog, not an autobiography. So just slap something on that page, and move past it.

Join Facebook Groups immediately

This is something I did right away, and I’m so glad I did this. I have found some wonderful, supportive blogger communities on Facebook who have answered my questions and help get my blog out there. The three communities I’m most active in, which I’d recommend, include:

• Bloggers Supporting Bloggers
• Blogging For New Bloggers
• Blogging Newbs

Each of these pages hosts daily “themed posts” to help boost engagement to your blog and various socials, and the members are really friendly and helpful. I can attribute quite a bit of views to these communities!

Don’t get discouraged when WordPress confuses you

Your blog will evolve

I am a perfectionist (a lot of these tips seem to be about perfectionism, huh?). Before starting the my blog, I was so caught up in planning the “perfect blog” that it stopped me from writing at all. I remember feeling like I needed a full plan of not just where to start, but also where to go.

Well, I’ve only been posting to this blog for thirty days, and I’ve already watched my blog evolve from my original idea. All that time spent planning clearly could’ve and should’ve been avoided. Now that I’m writing and posting consistently, all those “plans” have just gone right out the window, anyway.

Tips for New Bloggers – Summarized

Starting a blog can feel intimidating and daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. If I could go back three, six, or even twelve months, these are the tips for new bloggers I would give my past self.

So now I’m wondering: If you’re a blogger, what tips for new bloggers do you have or what advice would you give your beginner self, if you could go back in time? Drop those pieces of advice in the comments, and let’s build a nice, little, collaborative guide for newbies who stumble across this post 🙂