I would like to share some ideas on how to grow your
professional blog. I currently somewhere along these steps, but I believe that
I can contribute some information on what worked for me when I was writing a
blog.
Ok so you have a want to post your thoughts about something
in your field online. I’ve had that thought for a couple of years before I
actually started writing this blog.
First of all, you should act. Don’t second-guess yourself
and think about serious commitment yet, just go to a free blogging site either
blogger or wordpress and just create a blog and post your first article. It’s really
painless to do and you will feel better about yourself right after you do it.
Second - don’t expect any kind of hits on your blog right
after you post. That’s the reality of it; your blog is not going to get any
views for some time other than your friends and family if you tell them in
person or on facebook. Frankly speaking I am still convinced that my blog is in
the same boat, although the stats claim that I have over 2000 views in the last
2 years.
Third – try to educate yourself on how social engines work.
Boolean search logic specifically is key to understanding how your page gets
discovered, so you need to figure out how to tag your pages.
Fourth – keep posting. Like anything online it’s all content
driven. Before you get any kind of exposure from your blog there needs to be
enough content there to attract people. Which means that you are going to be
filling your blog with posts and for a long while you will not see the kind of
result you may have hoped for, other than for the odd mention every once in a
while.
Fifth - don't be afraid to change gears. Personally I've had 3 blogs before I settled on this blog that you are reading. I've tried different hosting options and different topics. I decided that I would rather have a place to record my thoughts with a varying degree of relevance to human resources than to try to maintain different kinds of blogs. It's just a matter of committing to maintenance of the blog on some kind of reoccurring basis. Right now I try to do a post every week or two. And if I want to start writing more in the future, it will not be starting from scratch again, which is great. I could always adjust the topic of the blog and start delivering more content. I think that, since blogs are living websites, change is good for them.
