When it comes to blogging, there is a learning curve. And for most bloggers, that curve is often the self-imposed pressure of always writing terrific, life-changing blog posts.
While setting high standards is a good thing, but it does not mean that you cannot blog about a topic you’re not expert on.
When I started my career as a technical writer in an IT company, I wasn’t an expert on web & mobile app development technologies.
Same with my Screwed Up Engineer blog. I wasn’t and never claimed to be a digital marketing expert.
What I’m trying to say is that your every blog post doesn’t have to be a masterpiece.
Instead, you should focus on writing content that gives what your target audience actually wants.
And with this article, I aim to give you guys what you actually want to know…
How to Make Your Blog Successful When You’re Not an Expert
Whether you’re new to the blogging world or have been blogging for some years now, you will find the actionable insights in this article very, very helpful.
It covers 10 simple yet powerful ways that anybody can follow and find success in blogging.
With that being said, let’s dive right in!
1 – Be Transparent
Instead of showing something that you’re not, be upfront about who you actually are and how much experience you actually have.
The whole “fake it till you make it” thing just doesn’t work. And people will eventually find out and you’ll only make things worse for yourself.
In blogging, especially, it almost always comes across in the writing itself. And sooner or later, when your readers find the truth, it will most certainly make a serious impact on your online reputation.
2 – Actively Learn About Blog Topic
Remember I told you not to worry about not being an expert at the beginning?
Well, let me add something to that.
While starting a blog when you’re not an expert is totally okay, what’s not okay is stop learning about your blog topic.
In other words, you should always be learning new stuff related to your blog topic, even if you never get to a level where your blog readers would consider you as an expert.
This way, not only you’ll still be learning more things about your blog topic, but you’ll also always have new things to share with your readers on your blog.
Besides this, when your readers will see that you’re very enthusiastic about the topic of your blog, it will help you create momentum and build anticipation, which will ultimately help you connect your readers better with your blog.
3 – Write About Your Failures
I know that many of you will not agree with me on this, but writing about your failures will actually help you to connect better with your blog readers.
You see, when you genuinely share your failure stories, people will appreciate it, you’ll resonate better with your readers, and it will also be a great way to teach your readers what not to do.
So, write about the things you tried and failed at or things that did not work out the way you expected, and share your learnings from it.
You can even also share what you’re planning to do differently next time to generate curiosity among your readers.
4 – Write About Your Successes
Just like sharing your failure stories, you should also share what you’ve recently tried or experimented with that has gone well.
Treat this kind of blog posts as a case study.
You could write about a new tool, trick, tactic, or a hack you recently implemented on your own blog and what result you get from it.
In addition to this, you could also include how you’re planning to tweak the tactic a little bit next time to create curiosity among your blog readers.
Simply put, writing about your successes has been a proven way to write teaching content.
5 – Interview Experts in Your Industry & Share it on Your Blog
I’m not going to lie. Inviting experts for an interview will be difficult, especially in the early days of blogging.
So, I would recommend to build up your blog first and then strategically contact experts in your niche for an interview.
The interview content can be in text, audio, or video format, whatever you and the interviewee are comfortable with.
Just remember that this type of content can expand your professional network, drive traffic, and build your online credibility.
6 – Write about New Developments in Your Industry
If you have a niche-specific blog, you should always write a blog post once every week or two that covers the latest developments or trends in your industry.
However, don’t make the mistake of reporting what has happened recently.
Instead, Interpret the news in your own words and explain what it means for the people in your industry or how it is going to affect people in your industry.
This would turn your content into a discussion post where you can encourage your readers to share their thoughts in the comments and start a discussion like a forum post.
7 – Embed Videos in Your Blog Posts
Online videos are all the rage right now!
And if you don’t believe me, just check out the forecast shared by Zenith.
The study discovered that online video consumption has already surpassed an hour and it is only going to increase in the coming years.
And before you ask how it relates to blogging, a study by OrbitMedia already discovered that videos in blog posts tend to boost the growth of a blog.
So, start embedding other people’s videos in your blog posts or better yet, create your own animated videos using Biteable or Moovly.
8 – Write a Research Post
A research post is about sharing lots of valuable information in a proper format.
Take any marketing or blogging statistics post for example. These posts usually curate lots of important information from different sources and bring it together nicely.
You can even go one step further and share your thoughts on each statistic in an authentic way. This would help you appear as more knowledgeable and authoritative in your industry.
9 – Write Guest-Posts on Others’ Blogs
Guest posting, also called guest blogging, is basically the act of writing content for other people’s websites.
Guest posting is, in fact, one of the best ways to establish yourself as an expert. It allows you to share your expertise on other blogs and websites, build relationships with leaders in your industry, and expose your blog to an entirely new group of readers.
In other words, guest blogging is a great way to build your online reputation and increase your blog rankings in Google as long as the other blog is linking back to your blog.
So, whenever you’re writing content for others’ blogs, include a link back to your blog either in the article body or your author bio.
10 – Leave Blog Comments on Others’ Blogs
Blog commenting is the second-best strategy (after guest blogging) to grow your online influence and rankings in Google.
Blog commenting is, in fact, a great way to market yourself or your blog in your industry.
All you need to do is find reputed blogs in your industry and start leaving thoughtful comments on their latest blog posts.
Most blogs even allow adding a link back to your own blog, which will drive traffic to your blog as people click on it over time.
So, set aside an hour or two every week for blog commenting on blogs in your industry.
Concluding Thoughts…
If you believe that you can only make a blog successful if you’re an expert, I hope that you have realized that it’s not true.
Blogging is complicated only if you let it be. The most important takeaway is to focus on giving your readers what they need or what.
If you can deliver solutions to their problems consistently, your blog will surely become a hit eventually.
Lastly, if this list seems a little bit overwhelming, don’t worry. Just focus on one item from the list each week, and as you start getting a good grip on each tactic, start covering as many as possible within the next three months. I hope that you found this article useful. If you’ve any suggestions or know any other ways to make a non-expert blog successful, please share them with me in the comments below.
Jaimin is a content marketing expert and the founder of Screwed Up Engineer, a Digital Marketing blog where he shares actionable insights on the topic of SEO, Digital Marketing, Benefits of Blogging, and how to make money online.
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