Blogging Struggles I Face as a Newish Blogger | Blogmas Day 14

Hi everyone! Yesterday I set up a google form asking for feedback on my blog, so I could try to improve things from the lay out to make the content about stuff that y’all want to read. There was this one submission where the person has said that I needed to fix a lot of things with my blog but gave no suggestions on how to fix it. *queue deep breathing*

Anyway, I just need to sit down and write this post so I can try to figure out how I’m going to take that information and move on. I wasn’t planning on writing this post yesterday when I was looking through the responses, but I though that it could help some bloggers out there who are feeling like I am right now. The last time I posted some of my blogging struggles it seemed to have helped some people, so let’s get through this together!

Oh! Before I jump into to this, if you would mind taking a few minutes to fill out this feedback form and give me ways on how to improve my blog that would be great. Also let me know of things that are working and you would like to stay the same. Thanks!

Do I Write My Post the Day of or Schedule Them?

I’m not trying to sound unhelpful, but this is something that you’re going to have to figure out on your own. I know that some people are able to write a butt load of posts over a day or so and schedule them for weeks in advance, but this has never worked for me. I’ve always sat down the day of the post (excluding weekly releases) to write whatever I wanted to talk about that day and post it after I got done editing it. Blogging has become therapeutic for me over the past couple of months because I’ve been so busy with nursing school that I haven’t had time to do anything other than study and go to class, so when I’m able to take a moment, I would blog about books and find ways to talk about life, and it helps me decompress for a little while.

With all of that being said, I do have a handful of posts in my drafts that are ready to be posted at all times (I have about four or five). I like having something completed in my drafts, so it doesn’t seem like I just forgot about my blog if I haven’t posted in over a certain period of time. But, I try to avoid publishing these posts if I haven’t looked over them recently because a lot can change during the course of the post sitting there, and you forget about what you wrote and it can turn into a hot mess in no time.

How often Do I Post?

This is another thing that you’re going to have to think about yourself. Generally when it’s not Blogmas, I try to post either every day or every other day depending on how busy I am. Some people like to post daily while others like to post two or three times a week. Blogging has turned into a way for me to relax because it’s just me, my computer, and some music, so I try to blog whenever I can (daily) but I don’t stress if I go a couple of days without blogging.

What Time of the Day Do I Post?

There are a lot of variables that go into when you want to post like:

• Are you trying to maximize views?
• Do you want to be there to talk to people when it first comes out?
• What age range is your target audience?
• Are you doing something that has to be posted by a certain time?

If you’re looking for when to post to get the most views, then you’re going to have to play around and post things during different times of the day to see when most of your readers are available and interact with your post.

For me I try to post mid-morning early afternoon because I like to be able to talk to people in the comments for a little while. But honestly, if it’s been a long and crazy day, I post when I’m able to find time (which could be in the evening right before I go to bed).

Someone Doesn’t like My Content

This is something that we all fear as bloggers and people in general. We put so much of our self-worth in things and get so discourage and upset when a very small amount of people doesn’t like it. The best thing that I can say is, if you are proud of what you post, then don’t let anyone ruin that feeling. We live in a time where we care more about what others think of us than what we actually think about ourselves. I know that it’s hard to do when someone doesn’t like the post, but if I (one of the most sensitive people out there) am able to brush off those negative feelings and move on then you can too. Sometimes you just need to step away from blogging for a few hours and do something to take your mind off of it and come back when you feel better.

I Don’t Have Time to Write Something In-Depth

With my blog being a book blog, I try to my hardest to write book reviews, but honestly a lot of time goes into reading a book and writing a book. Then, there’s the chance that I’m not able to coherently express my thoughts on a book, so I don’t post a review because it’ll sound like a basic ‘I like the book, you should read it’ type thing. Personally, I think there’s more to a book blogger than just writing reviews. Yes, reviews are very important, but so is mentioning books and talking about them in general.

I’m in nursing school and have other things besides blogging and reading that I have going on, so I understand when people don’t have time to write these elaborate posts that are thought provoking and leaves you thinking about it hours after you click off. I get it. And sometimes life gets even more real and you have to take something off your plate so you don’t feel overwhelmed.

A lot of the time, I post things where I’m still able to talk about books and about myself (without sound egocentric) and give updates. This is where tags and memes come into play because a lot of the prompts are able to be answered in a few words or you can elaborate as much as you want. I try to give longer answers when I can just so it’s not a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Is there anything wrong with giving a one word answer? Not at all. That’s the beauty of these posts, even though everyone is answering the same thing, it’s still something that you can personalize. And no, you aren’t any less of a blogger if this is all you post.

I hope these are able to help you!

Happy reading until next time,