Behind the Scenes of a Blogger

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Being a blogger may sound fun and interesting to some people. However, when diving into the unknown blogging world for the first time, you have all kinds of emotions. People think that being a blogger is easy since you only need to focus on writing. Little do they know how much work there is behind the scenes. It's not just about writing and posting images on your blog. There is so much more that must be done behind the scenes. 

You can be a successful blogger like Adam Enfroy or Michelle Schroeder-Gardner if you really want to! There are bloggers out there who are making thousands of dollars every month because they put in the time and money.

Whether you are doing it as a hobby or a business, there is always a long to-do list. It doesn't take just one hour to finish everything but a few to a couple of hours a day. Sometimes it can take up more days if you are falling behind.  

I started this blog not too long ago, and it has been quite a journey. There were moments when I doubted myself because I wasn't sure what I was doing was right or where I'd end up in the future. There were times I thought about quitting. It's pretty normal to feel that way when you ask me because I know most bloggers feel that way. 

In this post, I want to share my past experience, and what's it's like to be a blogger behind the scenes. I hope this story inspires you to start your blogging adventure. 

Writing Blog Post 

When it comes to writing blog posts, it can take a long time to write, depending on the content. It can take an hour to a couple of hours. I tried to write one to two blog posts a week. Most of the time, it's once a week. When you are writing, you want to produce a high-quality post, which is why it can take forever to write.

Even worse, you might hit a wall and find yourself stuck on writing a piece of content. When this happens you have to take a break or go outside to find inspiration for your blog post.

Writing content takes so much of your time since you have to brainstorm, research, write, and check grammar. It's a long process that can suck the life out of you. It's similar to writing an English paper sometimes. 

Whenever I'm writing new content, it can take me a couple of hours to write because I am a slow writer. Sometimes it can take me a day almost to write one good post. With a lot of distraction and responsibility, it takes a long time to produce a great blog post. That is why many bloggers give up because they have to put in the time to do it. 

You may think you can slap down a blog post in an hour and call it a day, but writing isn't as easy and simple because you are writing for your readers. If you were to see me behind the scenes, you'd see how much I struggle to publish a good post. 

SEO Strategies 

SEO is an important aspect of blogging. Not all bloggers think about SEO behind the scenes because SEO is complicated. You have to do keyword research and build links to increase your domain authority. 

When writing, you want to think about SEO to rank on Google. This takes a lot of work compared to writing a blog post. Things I always think about when it comes to SEO: are building links, keyword research, guest posting, writing more blog posts. These things take me so long to do, and it's not like you can finish it in a week because you have to be consistent. I sometimes focus on one or two things to do in a day to not overwhelm myself. I think every bloggers' challenge would be SEO because behind the scenes there is a lot of work that goes to SEO.

Of course, you can spend money to speed up your SEO, but that is expensive when you start out. You might not have money to spend, so you have to put in the time for it. 

SEO is a long-term game you have to play. There will be times when you want to quit, but don't give up. This is one of the most challenging parts for me because I'm always looking for a topic and keywords that will rank on Google. 

Technology Problems 

You will always run into some problems when blogging. Your website might be slow or start to glitch. Your images might not be clear or proportionate. All these problems will arise sooner or later. Technology problems are never fun because they could take a while to fix if you don't know how to, and hiring someone to do it can be expensive too. 

When you start out like me, you don't want to spend a lot of money yet because you are on a budget. You have to learn it on your own, and this is where you have to invest your time to learn something new. I have run into some problems, and they take up a lot of my time. It is frustrating, but you have to do what you have to do sometimes. If you know someone who offers a great price to deal with this problem, I highly recommend doing it. 

Learning New Things

There is always something new to learn every day. You might come across a new strategy to implement in your blog, or you want to test a social media strategy to drive traffic. There are always new ways that people have tests, and you should try to learn it if it's going to help you. You may think bloggers keep doing the same thing over and over, but that's not true. You just don't know what they are learning behind the scenes. I always learn something new every day and try to use those new strategies to increase my traffic and help my SEO.

Since I am in an incredible mastermind group, the members and mentors are always helping me. I'm so grateful to be a part of something that can help me grow and thrive. If you have a mentor or a group of people to help you, it can make a lot of things easier. 

So you should always be open-minded to new ideas because you never know what can help you. If you have the urge to learn every day, you will become a successful blogger.

Images 

Looking for the perfect image for your blog post is a real struggle. You want the image to be interesting where it'll catch your audience's attention, but at the same time, you either have to find it or take a photo yourself. 

You also don't want to take someone's photo without permission too. Using images from websites like Unsplash, Freepik, and Pixabay are free. So when you are looking for an image, you want to make sure you check their guidelines. You could get into serious trouble if you used a photo without permission. 

Getting Traffic

Most new bloggers always have problems getting traffic to their blogs, and I 100% agree with that because it is hard to get traffic. When you are starting out, you will have no traffic at all (literally every new bloggers' problem). The same goes for any other business. When you start out, no one will know who you are. You have to spread awareness. 

To get traffic, bloggers tend to turn to SEO or social media. As for me, I focus more on SEO and web stories because that's organic traffic that I can get through Google. I would say to focus on one strategy before moving on to the next. If you want to do Pinterest, then do Pinterest. However, I think focusing on web stories is great for beginners.  

Updating Old Post

When you have more posts on your blog, you want to also revise old ones because things can change, and you want to link old posts to new ones. You need internal links to build up your domain authority. 

Updating old posts can take as long as writing blog posts. For me, I always change some words and paragraphs because when I look back at my old posts, they sound terrible. The tone and everything just don't feel right, but I think that's just me. 

Some bloggers don't update their posts, but I believe you can increase your DA and please your readers if you edit old posts. Some of your articles might be out of date too, so it's good to go back and delete the ones that aren't needed anymore.

Burnout & Self-care

Yes, burnout can happen when you are running a blog. There is always a lot to get done, and you may be putting in many hours of work. I have felt burnout on many occasions. If you see me behind the scenes, you would tell me to take a break. Balancing everything is challenging, but it is still difficult for me to this day. I have to learn to practice self-love. Your health should always be your top priority. 

When you feel burnout, you should practice self-care. That can be going for a walk, hanging out with friends, or going on a mini trip. 

Life-Work Balance 

Having a balance for everything is challenging, especially if you have other jobs, households, school, or other responsibilities in life. With only 24 hours in a day, you don't want to waste time because the clock is ticking by the hour. It's difficult to be productive when you lose focus and procrastinate. 

For me, I am constantly working around the clock – my blog, my job, my household responsibilities, my education, and so forth. I rarely have a life because I'm always hustling. It's tough when you want to do everything. Some people may not realize it, but everyone struggles behind the scenes. 

Life has its ups and downs, and everyone has to deal with it. You have to find your balance somehow. What I tried to do was do two to three tasks on my blog a day. If I have more time, I'll squeeze in another task. Without balance, you'll become exhausted and unhappy. 

Final Thoughts 

Behind the scenes of every blogger, there is always a lot that is going on. After listing what I have gone through, you now know how much blood, sweat, and tears I have to go through. There are some glamourous sides, but that's not just all. There will be ups and downs, and you must embrace them. It is all about your mindset and how you overcome that challenge. If you have a positive mindset, you can overcome any obstacles. I hope this has opened your eyes to not judge everyone's lifestyle.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next post!