Most newbie bloggers have this doubt when they start blogging:
How much time will it take to make a blog successful?
This question is very much subjective and there is no full-proof answer to how much time it is going to take to make a blog successful. It depends. It depends on different factors, the amount of time, energy, effort, and dedication the blogger puts into the blog.
If someone tells you that it is possible to make a blog successful in 5 years, it is not true. There is no guarantee that your blog will be successful, regardless of the time and effort you put into it. There are lots of factors which govern the success of a website. There are thousands of blogs who have been created a decade ago. The blogger started it with great enthusiasm but over time he lost interest and the blog is now dead. Time and effort are no success indicators.
Effort is also not a very good indicator of whether a blog will be successful or not. You can put lots of effort into something but there is no guarantee that it will reach somewhere. You can try but you can never be certain about the outcome.
I am writing this blog but I do not know whether this blog will be able to reach its desired audience. I can only try and hope for the best but in the end, it is all uncertain.
That said, don’t lose hope. There are a few things you can do to ensure that your blog becomes successful. I am telling this from experience and the techniques I have mentioned below will definitely help you write a successful blog
Create unique content
This is what most bloggers don’t do. They create content that is not unique.
By unique content, I mean the type of content which is exclusive and adds value to your website. By unique content, I mean creating something which people want to read. When you write something, think and write. Think, if you are adding any real value to your website or you are just adding to the noise?
Let me illustrate this with an example.
Suppose there are two bloggers who write about gadgets. Blogger A writes a blog post – “10 features of iPhone”. Blogger B experiments with different features and writes a detailed review of each feature, clearly elaborating each feature in utmost detail.
Who do you think will draw more audience and attention? It is certainly blogger B, since he is giving lot of value and original content to his audience. There are thousands of blog posts on the features of an iPhone, so there is nothing unique about it. Writing just another blog post detailing the features of an iPhone is not unique content.
If you keep pushing content that is not unique, it will become very difficult to attain readership after a certain level. The more your audience grows, the more challenging it becomes to generate exclusive, unique content.
Also, you will not see positive results by creating content that is not unique. This will add to your negativity and your motivation will take a back seat. It is important not to lose motivation in blogging and to keep your spirits high, it is a necessity to publish unique content on a regular basis.
Give your blog a lot of time to grow and mature
This is another mistake which most bloggers make. I will admit that I had made this mistake several times in my career –
I didn’t give enough time to the blog and I didn’t let it grow and mature.
Most bloggers expect results early, within a few months of starting a blog. This is an unreal expectation and if your intent of blogging is to expect results early, you will disappoint yourself. You need to give your blog enough time so that it can grow and mature like a tree. By enough time, I mean not to expect results early, keeping on the enthusiasm to write whenever you find something useful and keeping the drive for years, possibly decades.
It takes around 5-7 years for full-time blogs to achieve a level of maturity, success and recognition provided everything else is done right.
Good writing
It goes without saying that your writing style should be compelling so that your readers actually read your post and not skim it. Good writing is a strong indicator that the blogger is putting enough effort into his posts and it is one of the key factors for the success of any blog.
Good writing comes naturally after you have put in enough hours in writing and crafting your content. This comes with love, dedication, and drive. When you are starting out, you will not be able to produce compelling content from day one. However, with time, expertise and continued practice, you will reach a state of mastery
Anticipate what your readers want to read
Another key factor for making a blog successful is to anticipate what your readers actually want to read. This comes with some guesswork and digging Analytics tools – you will have to understand what your readers expect from you.
The anticipation comes if you are an expert in your niche and have a good grip on what concepts you are able to sell through your post. You will need to understand what kind of content converts the most, what your readers are anticipating and provide it at the right time to grow your readership and audience.
Post regularly
When you are starting a blog, it is very important to post regularly and keep a continuous flow of quality content coming in. As your blog grows in popularity, it becomes even more important to post regularly. You don’t have to post every day, but it is important to stick to a schedule. You can post three times a week but if that is your schedule, please stick to it.
If you really enjoy writing about a subject, it is not too hard to find content ideas for your next blog post. Not every post has to be thousand words long, you can write short posts but so long you are delivering some kind of value, you are on the right track. Posting regularly has a serious impact on your readership since your readers take you seriously and the trust build up.
The more you build trust, the greater will be conversions.
Be Consistent with your content
Being consistent is extremely important for the success of anything, not just blogging.
You should be consistent with what kind of content you want to post, what niches you are covering, what are the key topics your blog covers and so forth. Don’t mix up everything, that is a surefire way to disappoint your readers and ruin the readership.
If you are writing about technology, please keep writing about technology alone and do not try a novelty e.g post an entertainment-related post. You should stick to your niche and be consistent so that your readers know exactly what you are doing and they aren’t confused.
Be Patient
This is the most important point. Patience.
Not everyone has the same degree of patience and too many people give up too soon. I know a lot of bloggers who gave up because the blog wasn’t fetching anything for them but burning their time and energy. Truth be told, they did not put enough effort, knowledge, and investment into the blog and were expecting results too soon.
You got to have at least a thousand posts and two years of continued blogging before you can expect solid returns from the website. I am not saying that you will not receive any returns if you do not post thousand posts or do not wait for more than two years. You can achieve results early, this completely depends on your execution strategy.
However, depending on your topic of interest, niche, competition, and other things – it takes time for something to mature into something else. If you give up too soon without putting in the actual effort, the expectation of results is faulty in the first place.
To wrap up, these are some of the key factors which determine how much time it is going to take before your blog falls in the “successful” category. Remember, the definition of success is completely subjective and only the blog owner can define what success looks like.
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.