First a little bit about who I am. My name is Adam Wimsatt and I work as a software / web developer. This site, FuzzyLlama.com, has existed in many different forms in the past 10 years but until now I have not been put any serious effort into it. At one point it was a web hosting / development business that I ran full time out of my house but that didn’t work out. Now it is my personal blog all about software and web development plus the occasional odd thing found on the web.

In spite of this being my first personal blog it is not the first blog I have worked on. I have helped multiple people develop their website and blogs through my previous ventures and I learned a few things along the way. The two other blogs that I currently actively work on with others are High Road Artist and Stuff Journalists Like.

First thing you’ll need to get if you want to have a blog is to buy a domain and get setup with blogging software. My favorite software to use for blogging is WordPress. WordPress is free and you can get started right away at WordPress.com. If you want to have your own domain (like www.fuzzyllama.com then you’ll need to register a domain name. I recommend NameCheap for registering you domain. Once you have your domain check out WPBeginner’s Free WordPress Blog Setup.

So you have your fancy new WordPress site ready to go. It’s time to start blogging, but where do you start? Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned about what it takes to run a successful blog.

Lesson 1: Content is King

The most important thing for any blog is good, original content. Writing a blog takes effort. Don’t believe all those get rich quick by writing a blog products out there. You have to be willing to put in the time to get the benefits of running a blog.

To write good content, you need to throw away some of what you learned in grade school. Blogging is not done throw some cookie cutter format. You need to present your content like you are telling a story. Ira Glass does a great job of describing the building blocks of a great story in these videos:

Ira Glass on Storytelling, Part 1

Ira Glass on Storytelling, Part 2

Ira Glass on Storytelling, Part 3

Ira Glass on Storytelling, Part 4

Lesson 2: Consistency

Blogs survive through attracting regular readers / subscribers and the only way to attract them is to produce content on a consistent basis. A good general rule of thumb is to write 250 – 1,000 word blogs 5 days a week. Preferably on the weekdays, but mileage may vary depending on the topic of the blog. This isn’t set in stone. Do whatever works best with your schedule and the topic of your blog. The key is to be consistent so that your readers will know when they can come back to the site and expect a new blog post.

I’ve found that the best time to post a blog is first thing in the morning so I’ll write a blog post a few days before posting it. The post you are reading now is one that I put together last week and there are a few more waiting to be published sitting in the queue. The High Road Artist blog posts every weekday and the writer, Jeane George Weigel, has 2 weeks worth of blogs waiting to be published at all times. Working with her is what has inspired me to start this blog and the eXtreme Aquatics blog.

Lesson 3: SEO Basics

Make sure to read up on the SEO basics before publishing for you first blog. Know what your target keywords are and make sure to make an interesting title and description for each post. I use the Blog Glue SEO scoring tool to rate each of my posts after I publish them. One thing you also have to be careful of though is to make sure your titles and descriptions are people friendly. The title and description should be irresistible to the reader drawing them to click on it from a search result while still containing relevant keywords. What good is it to rank on the first page of Google if potential readers aren’t going to click on the link?

Lesson 4: Communicate / Interact

You have to interact with your readers if you want your blog to be successful. You need to tap into social media sites like Facebook fan pages or on twitter to get feedback and communicate with your readers. You should also pay close attention to your comments section, approve and reply to the comments as soon as possible. Don’t wait 24 hours before responding, it will be too late. The internet moves fast and has a short memory. Interacting with your readers is the best way to gain their loyalty and to keep them coming back for more.

These 4 lessons are only the beginning, but everyone has to start somewhere. It’s important to get started. So what are you waiting for? Go get your new blog setup now, then come back here and let me know about it in the comments below.