The new year is already underway and you’ve probably made a few resolutions for yourself as you enter 2017. But the question today is… Have you made any blogging resolutions? If not, you certainly should! I firmly believe in setting goals and resolutions for all areas of your life and that includes your blog if you have one. The reason being, your blog is a huge part of your business and you want to make sure it’s working for you. It will likely be a huge factor in whether or not someone purchases a product from you or buys one of your services. So, you better make sure your blog is on the right track! To make sure your website is a hit this year, I”m sharing some blogging resolutions for 2017 that you’ll want to stick to!
7 Blogging Resolutions for 2017
Take a look at these blogging resolutions and jot down the ones you really need to work on this year. Trust me, when you stick to all seven of these things, blogging will be even more fruitful.
1. Be consistent with publishing.
How often do you post on your blog? Do you have a set schedule that you stick to or do you just post whenever you feel like it? If you’re more of the latter, it’s time to make a change. If you want to grow your blog this year, consistency is key. You want to make sure you’re regularly posting high-quality content on your site for readers to devour.
Not only does consistent posting keep you top of mind for your current readers, but it provides an opportunity for new readers to find you as well. You’ll likely also notice a spike in traffic on the days you post, which is a great way to get more eyes on your website and lead them to more blog posts, as well as your products and services.
One common misconception is that creating consistency means you have to publish a new blog post every single day. That simply isn’t true! Instead, you need to create a schedule that works for you. If you want to publish a new blog post five days per week and you an commit to five quality posts, then go for it! But if that’s too much for you, then scale back. The priority is that you choose quality over quantity, so only commit to the amount of quality blog posts you can do each week. Then, select your posting days and stick to it. It creates a routine for both you and your readers.
2. Utilize an editorial calendar.
If you aren’t already, you should really be using an editorial calendar to plan out your blog posts in advance. This is probably one of the most important blogging resolutions I could suggest to you because it makes a huge difference. Think about it… How many times have you been scrambling to put a blog post together at the last minute? How many times have you been stressed out, trying to decide on a topic to write about? It’s the worst! The good news is, an editorial calendar can help.
You don’t have to plan far out in advance, but I do recommend planning a month out. This ensures your content topics are fresh and relevant, but don’t be afraid to make changes if a hot topic comes up that you need to write about. Plus, it’s great to enter a new month already knowing what you’ll write about on any given day. And when your blogging life is organized, things go much more smoothly.
3. Try batch writing your posts.
Considering I’ve been blogging for nearly eight years, I’ve learned a thing or two about successfully managing a blog. And one of the best tips I’ve come across is to batch write your posts. Now, I admit that fell out of the habit of doing this some time ago, but it’s one of my own blogging resolutions for this year to get back to it. When I was batch writing my posts, it made running my business so much easier.
I knew that every Friday was my day to sit down and write my blog posts for the week ahead. So, my Fridays were already planned out for me. And by batch writing my posts, I was way more productive. It was easier to sit down and just focus on writing, as opposed to jumping back and forth between tasks. Then, I could enter a brand new week with my blog posts already scheduled and ready to go. This allowed me to focus on all the other projects I needed to tackle, instead of worrying about writing posts the night before they needed to go live.
4. Experiment with a new content format.
As bloggers, we become so accustomed to writing blog posts and we don’t often venture outside of that. Instead of sticking to written posts, make experimenting with a new content format one of your blogging resolutions for 2017. Video is still all the rage these days and it’s worth trying out to see if it works for you and if it resonates with your audience. If video isn’t your thing, consider starting a podcast! There are a ton of options out there and it’s worth trying something new, so don’t be afraid of a new venture.
5. Update blog posts from your archives.
This may be one of the more tedious tasks on this list, but trust me when I say this is very worthwhile. Keep in mind that when people stumble upon your website, they aren’t only seeing your most recent posts. They may discover you through a Google search and wind up on one of your older posts. And I have to ask… Are your older blog posts giving the best impression of you?
Odds are, you’ve grown quite a bit since you first started your blog. Your writing skills have probably gotten better. You’ve likely changed your blog post image style. And those are things you will want to go back and update. There are also going to be posts that could be in need of updated information or you could even add related links to some of your newer posts. You want to go back through your archives and make sure every post is high-quality and giving any first-time readers a good impression of you.
6. Focus on quality over quantity.
Far too many times I see people fall into the trap of thinking they need to publish more, more, more. And when they fall into this trap, the quality of their content ofter suffers. Instead of becoming obsessed with publishing the most content, you should obsess over only posting the best content. After all, your readers don’t want to read fluff pieces and it’s a waste of your time to create them. I always recommend scaling back on content creation in an effort to put more focus on quality.
7. Quit obsessing over perfectionism.
The last of my blogging resolutions for you is to quit obsessing over perfectionism. When I say that, I don’t mean you shouldn’t strive to be your best. You should always strive to put your best work out there into the world. Didn’t you read the previous resolution?
However, what you need to stop doing is holding yourself back because something isn’t perfect. Think about it… How many times do you read through your blog posts and edit them prior to hitting publish? If I had to guess, I’d say you’ve been guilty of this many more times than you’d like to admit. Make this the year you stop holding yourself back. Make 2017 the year you stop analyzing and obsessing over perfection that does not exist. Instead, focus on creating your best content, giving it a read through once or twice for errors, and then hitting publish. I guarantee you, your audience will love it and you’ll wish you never stressed out it in the first place.