The 27th of December 2016 (I remember because I was embarking on the plane that would lead me to Chennai) I decided that I had to create my own blog. The idea of the 52 Weeks Challenge came out of the blue but, from that moment on, it felt urgent to start as soon as possible. There was so much I wanted to share and I needed to do it “now”.Since the day I started working on it, I have felt so excited to finally have my little personal project that the time spent learning how to create a blog, how to publish posts, how to tag content and images, how to find followers and how to publicize it through social media (when I am actually not a big social media person myself), has felt meaningful and fulfilling.
Starting from scratch your own project, whichever it might be, is very rewarding. But putting your thoughts on paper, or online, feels like being allowed to free some space in your overcharged brain, while keeping track of it to come back to it when you have time (see also my post Week 7 – First feedback from 2017, personal goals for the year & my happiness project!).
This being said, although I do not have much experience with writing except on my personal journal, and with writing in English, I decided that my first challenge of the year, and a long-term one, would be to keep up with posting at least one article per week on this blog, which is not much for me as I love to write. In fact, the hard part is to express ideas that are interesting for other people than myself and helpful or challenging in some ways. The second challenge about writing is to express these ideas in shorter and more powerful posts (I did not say that I am there yet).
Because I am a “learning in progress” myself, I have been eager for advice, so here are 3 quick and effective posts on how to improve your blog visibility & writing content. Enjoy the reading!
First, tips and tricks for new bloggers, some basics that I learned a little late.
5 Simple Tips and Tricks for WordPress Users, written By Millionaire’s Digest Team Member: Prince Kelvin, Founder & Owner of: Listpedia – Millionaire’s Digest Team, Contributor, Blogging Writer.
- When naming files, use dashes instead of underscores
- How not to have double space between lines
- Be sure to create an “About page”
- Don’t Muck Up Image Names and Alt Text
- Up to a limit, longer articles have better chances with Google (more than 300 words) but they should still focus on style, structure and quality content.
The Two Minutes It Takes To Read This Will Improve Your Writing Forever, written by Josh Spector, Creator of FOR THE INTERESTED, a newsletter with ideas to help you learn, do, and become. 
- Delete the word “that.”
- Delete the words “I think”
- Avoid words that end in “-ing.”
- Short sentences. Short paragraphs.
- Shrink your opening sentence.
7 Ways To Quickly Improve Your Writing Skills For Your Blog, written by Neil Patel, cofounder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar, and KISSmetrics, top influencer on the web (the Wall Street Journal, creator of one of the 100 most brilliant companies in the world (Entrepreneur Magazine).
- Don’t get distracted.
- Use a Wide Vocabulary but Don’t Over Complicate Things
- Develop Your Own Style of Writing
- Read More
- Don’t Battle the Block
- Get a Second Pair of Eyes
- Conclusion
Extract: “One mistake that people often make whenever they write content for the blog or company is that they overwrite. It is far too easy to write overly verbose content that drones on and on, causing the reader to lose interest. If you can get your point across in fewer words, then do it. Never use 40 words to explain something that could be said in 20.”
Do you have any other tips that you are happy to have learned? Please share in the comment section!
52 Weeks Challenge 