Looking for must-have skills for bloggers in 2019? Please read on…

It isn’t only about how good you write and how convincing your tone is, but if you’re struggling as a blogger you might be missing on some important skills. In fact, as Neil Patel pointed out,

“You could be a mediocre writer and still make money as a blogger. I see it happen all the time.” 

It’s Not Only About Your Writing

It’s not always about great writing skills. Blogging requires many other skills beyond just good writing. In one of his great blog posts, Neil pointed out why even good writers struggle as bloggers. 

Jeff Goins, a Copyblogger contributor believes that mediocre writing (bad writing) is essential for blog’s success. 

Blogging – A Business

The only thing you need to understand is, blogging is business, and business requires more than just a writing skill. There are quite a few things to consider, such as SEO, Social Media, Branding, Marketing, Web Research, and more importantly, Time Management.

Take a look around, and you’ll find most of the influencers, who may be great writers too, having excellent marketing skills. People like Ann Handley and Guy Kawaski have been the top influencers, yet great writers. 

So, what other skills, you should have in order to become a successful blogger? Here are some of the basic skills, and if you don’t possess them, the internet has got so many tools to help you.

1. Passion & Commitment 

One needs to have a passion for writing on the subject he’s proficient with. If you have both, your work quality improves rapidly. In fact, top of the line internet marketing agencies looks for both the qualities while hiring content writers. 

Whether you’re writing the content yourself or hiring a freelance writer, passion and proficiency is the key to success. If you’re passionate about your field and want to honestly educate others, you’ll be able to find helpful tools to emphasize on your point. 

Here, tools like Canva are very helpful in creating infographics and formatting images quickly.

2. Time Management

Time Management is the second most important aspect of a blog’s success and one of the must-have skills for bloggers. 

There are 3 types of time commitments you need to consider:

• The post length – You’ll need more time to write a 1000-word post than a 500-word post,
• Graphics per post – If you want to create your own graphics, add extra time for it
• Promotion of the content – think about the time required to share the content on social networks, syndication, repurposing, and other distributions. 

You should have a content calendar that tells you when to create the content, and which topics to post on. You and your content writers must be on the same page when it comes to meeting deadlines. 

Here are a few tips to get the work on time:

• Reward good time management
• Always have a margin of 2-3 days, so that, even if there’s a delay, it couldn’t affect your content calendar.

3. Networking

Instead of keeping everything to yourself, you need to go out and partner with other bloggers. And budget the time for this purpose as well. Bloggers’ network is important in order to spread the message out to the broader audience-base.

For this purpose, you can rely on Pocket that allows you to save interesting content from numerous sources. By commenting on the chosen sites and retweeting popular authors and influencers, you can build relationships with them. Your efforts will pay you back in the shape of a broader audience for your posts. 

You can also use Scoop.it which is a networking site. It lets you publish your content as well as curate the content of other bloggers in the network. 

4. Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone – Write For Others

It’s hard to communicate with the people you don’t know, but it’s a really interesting experience.

It is a common trait among successful bloggers. They dip into different types of content and contribute to other blogs as well. As a guest blogger, you have an opportunity to impress those who are not actually your audience. Think about the improvement in traffic and conversion on your blog, once you succeed to impress those people.  

5. Learn SEO

Good SEO strategy results in consistent and sustainable traffic, and you need to get yourself acquainted with it. 

Start with Google Analytics to set up your website. Don’t forget to add Google Search Console on your blog so that you always keep yourself updated with the impressions of your blog over time. These primary tools will help you figure out why your content isn’t ranking on Google. 

In the next step, take advantage of SEO tools, like Yoast SEO, Google Sitemap Generator, and All in One SEO Pack. These plugins have proven track record and are commonly used by bloggers around the world. 

The purpose of these tools and plugins is to help you improve your site’s structure – URL structure, keyword structure, and placement – and give yourself a chance to rank well on SERPs.  

6. Branding 

Banding is one of the must-have skills for bloggers.

Building a brand is a different area than writing, and bloggers need to master it. Good bloggers always give more time to develop their brands whereas writers simply tend to put themselves in the forefront. 

Writers pay more attention to getting a byline and more often write for what they’re being paid for. Bloggers, on the other hand, build their brands and find the right niche for it. 

So, as a writer looking ahead to boosting your brand, you need to figure out what really motivates you. Make a list of things/areas you can write even when you’re asleep. List out things you’re passionate about. Then, do your research is that’s a profitable niche or not. 

Here, Google Keyword Planner will help you analyze keywords and search terms related to your passion. The search volume of the keywords can indicate you about the right keyword(s) you should focus on. 

In short, instead of worrying about a byline, focus on finding the right niche to build your brand. That brand can be You or things you’re passionate about.

Must-Have Skills For Bloggers: Wrapping Up

Finally, after acquiring all the must-have skills for bloggers (or the right tools), develop your blog’s vision and make a plan to achieve it. Set yourself realistic, short-term targets and divide each of them into actionable steps. Once you start taking blogging as a business, you’ll get serious with it and follow all the above tips religiously. 

So, you don’t necessarily have expert-level writing skills, but if you have these must-have skills and tools, you can be a successful blogger.