When I look back at my years as a blogger, I’m filled with a sad cliché.

If I knew then what I know now. . .

It’s horrible. I hate participating in clichés. I try very hard to be a unique, interesting individual.

If you are just starting as a blogger, I want to share some invaluable tips and explanations that would’ve helped me when I was a baby blogger. Let’s dive right in, starting with twitter.

The Basics When It Comes To Twitter.

As tempting as it may seem, twitter is more than just an announcement system. Screaming “READ MY BLOG! New post! READ MY BLOG!” only works to an extent.

Over-use of twitter in that form is the techie equivalent to an online adult-tantrum.

It’s an attention-getter, but no one wants to be your friend.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is automatically linking your posts to twitter (WordPress/Blogger will do this for you). If all you do is set it and forget it, your twitter followers will only catch a tweet from you every millennium or so; a hiccup to announce your internet presence.

You need to find the balance.

With all forms of social media, the key is keeping your blog fresh in the mind of your followers—fresh in a positive way.

Positive is important.

The internet is fast and changing. If your reader can’t remember if it’s Rebekah with a C or a K, they might not be able to find you again, even if they wanted to.

TIP #1: Choose one social media platform and do it well. 

There are the pillars: Facebook. Twitter. Instagram.

And extras: Pinterest. Snapchat. Google+. Goodreads.

Personally, I’ve chosen Twitter. It’s the one I enjoy the most. I like words. I also feel that it is the most relational of the social media platforms.

If you haven’t done so already, look into Twitter chats. You’ll be able to meet new bloggers and gush about your site.

I won’t steer you wrong. Twitter chats are as chaotic as a kiddie arcade serving free candy, but you’ll get a toe in the water and start meeting new people.

TIP #2: WordPress will make you cry, but it’s worth it.

I went to a bloggers meet up where the question was asked, “WordPress or Blogger?” The joint consensus was WordPress.

In fact, everyone started with Blogger and switched to WordPress.

I started with Blogger and switched to WordPress. It was horrible, having to get used to a new web host, but I don’t regret it. Wordpress works great for me.

TIP #3: Don’t delete your first post.

Your first post is your baby. Ugly and shriveled and only sentimental to you, and that’s okay.

Don’t delete it. It’s the only way you’ll know how far you’ve come.

TIP #4: You only need one blog.

It may grow tempting to create multiple blogs. You’ll want to compartmentalize. Don’t.

Publish all of your material on the one blog. It will increase your stats, as opposed to sending stats all over God’s creation and never building a following.

It’s almost a full-time job, keeping up one miscellaneous blog. Once you begin assigning post ideas, you’ll choose one of your blogs as the favorite and the others will suffer.

Skip that step and stick with one internet space. You’ll soon find your niche.

TIP #5: Interact.

Respond to comments on your blog posts.

Comment on others. Comment on Instagram photos. Retweet on twitter.

Commenting not only makes your presence known but it opens up dialogue. Dialogue opens up friendships. Friendships open up readers.

I’ve become a loyal reader of some blogs, solely because they continued to comment on mine.

I also never read a whole blog post without leaving a comment. Even a lame “great post!” comment gets your name out there (and let’s the blogger know you think their post is great). Bloggers are sensitive people. We need to share the love.

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Those are the tips I would give myself as a newbie blogger.

Are there any that I missed? Leave a comment below!

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