Many people start blogging because they have seen or read about someone who is earning money through blogging, and they want to do the same. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy and the number of full-time bloggers is definitely a lot less than those who blog as a hobby.

Blogging is a lot more time consuming than most people realise and if you want to become a successful, money-making blogger then you need to take your blog seriously and put in a lot of work.

There are many effective blogging strategies to grow a successful blog, and each blogger will have their own that they’ve developed over time.

Here are some of the things that successful bloggers do…

10 habits of successful bloggers

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#1 Putting in the hours

If you wanted to start your own business, you wouldn’t just put in an hour or so here and there. Blogging is no different and if you want to run a profitable blog you need to treat it as your business. Successful bloggers think about blogging 24/7 and spend most of their free time writing, taking photos and promoting their blog on social media. At first, you might have to work during the evenings and on weekends while you set up your blog and build a loyal audience.

#2 Setting goals

What do you want to get out of your blog? Are you focussing on page views, building an email list, or do you eventually want to sell a product such as a course or an ebook? Whatever they want to achieve, successful bloggers make a list of their goals and set a plan of how they’re going to get there.

#3 Posting consistently

You can’t have a successful blog if you only post once in a blue moon. Successful bloggers don’t necessarily post every day, but they will have a content schedule and will make sure they stick to it.

#4 Thinking about their audience

Whilst blogging is a great platform to write about your life and personal experiences, these aren’t always the kind of posts your audience want to read. Successful bloggers will engage with their readers and find out what types of content they want to see. They’ll check Google Analytics regularly to see which posts are getting the most page views so they can deliver more of the same content.

#5 Planning ahead

There’s nothing worse than staring at your laptop screen and trying to think of topics to write about. A successful blogger will plan their blog posts way in advance and add all ideas into their content schedule. By doing this, not only do they always know what they’re going to write about, they can also make sure they have any seasonal blog posts written at the right times.

#6 Making blogging friends

There are so many amazing bloggers out there, but a successful blogger won’t worry about trying to beat them or spend time comparing themselves to other bloggers. Making friends with your fellow bloggers will not only give you inspiration for your own blog but will also open up a lot of opportunities. You might also make some new friends in real life!

#7 Learning new skills

Whether it’s photography, social media, SEO, website design or marketing, a successful blogger is always learning. As with any business you have to keep up with new trends and technologies to make sure you’re ahead of the competition. Take courses, do research and have fun learning some new skills.

#8 Investing in their blogs

We’ve all heard the phrase “spend money to make money” and this applies to blogging too. Successful bloggers will invest money in their blogs to create beautifully designed websites that are hosted on reliable servers. They will spend money on great cameras, software to schedule on social media, and taking courses to make them better bloggers.

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#9 Loving what they do

If a blogger is passionate about their subject it will show in their writing. A good blogger loves what they do and is passionate about their brand, website, photography and blog posts.

#10 Not giving up

Building a successful blog is a lot of work and doesn’t happen overnight. Bloggers who are running money-making blogs will have been through ups and downs and tried things that haven’t worked out, but the most important thing is that they kept going. If you put in the hours, take your blog seriously and don’t give up, you too could be running your own successful blog soon.

Has this inspired you to change the way you view your blog? Could you take on some of these habits to move your blog forward?

If you have any effective blogging techniques that we haven’t mentioned, we’d love to hear them in the comments section below!