5 tips to maintain a good blog:
1. Develop your own voice and writing style — and stick to it
By doing this, you allow readers to connect with you and will keep your blog compelling.
2. Keep your blog updated
Updates will keep your readers coming back and show them you're committed.
3. Invite and respond to comments
Creating conversations can bring your blog to the next level and make you appear more personable to readers.
4. Make sure you proofread
Proofreading and editing out the mistakes will give you more credibility as a blogger.
5. Link your blog with your social media profiles:
This gives more people and future employers the opportunity to see your blog.
Blogging began in the late 90s, and its role has become increasingly mainstream. In the past five years, blogging has created a living for millions and is an imperative part of businesses today.
For college students, blogging is an outlet of many kinds.
Emily Brungard, a sophomore advertising major, created her blog the summer before she moved to college. Now a sophomore advertising student, her self-hosted WordPress site gets about 1,000 views a month.
Brungard’s interest in blogging began around middle school with Tumblr and Myspace, and it’s only flourished from there. On emilybrungard.com, she describes herself as a “college student, designer, blogger and food lover.”
Her love for food and baking was the basis of her blog in the beginning, but Brungard has shifted her focus to design and more professional content.
Brungard describes her work as “Helpful tidbits that I think are useful, [and] hopefully my audience thinks they’re helpful also.”
Kelsey Smith, a sophomore art education major, blogs for a different reason. She uses her blog as a way to keep her family updated while she’s at college and as a personal outlet.
Smith’s blog, titled “Kelsey gives it up,” is her online journal, which she opens up to the public. Her posts range from an open letter to her ex-boyfriend to the do’s and don’ts of freshman year.
Her aim isn't only to express herself. She said she wants to inspire others to share their ideas, too.
Smith doesn’t make her blog a huge time commitment.
“I don’t devote a certain amount of time to it,” she said. “I just post whenever I feel like I need to… [for me] it’s not about the time devoted to the site as it is the time devoted to each post.”
The most difficult part of blogging, according to Brungard, is getting started.
“It’s intimidating at first,” she said. “For the first few months, I felt like ‘Oh, this is stupid. I’m talking to no one and no one is reading this.’”
Brungard’s vested interest in her blog is what kept her motivated.
“I do it because I enjoy it, and I think that’s the most important thing to consider when you’re blogging," she said. "You should write about what you enjoy, don’t force yourself, don’t overwhelm yourself. Blogging is supposed to be fun."
She commits to writing one post a week to keep from getting overwhelmed and to keep school as her priority.
“I think that people think that blogging is some giant time-absorber, but really if you’re not overloading yourself… and if you’re trying to build your personal brand, then blogging is the way to do it.”
One of Brungard’s goals for her blog is to catch the eye of potential employers. She designs her own graphics on the site and displays her writing ability through each post she makes.
“I think that in a field that’s as writing-heavy as advertising or public relations… [blogging is] important,” Brungard said. “People aren’t going to want to hire you if they don’t have other evidence of you going out and being able to write.”
A Microsoft study shows that 80 percent of employers check out applicants online before inviting them to interview. Employers want to confirm the credibility of your education and work experience, along with making sure you’ll be a good hire, according to theundercoverrecruiter.com.
In the midst of an employer’s social media search, stumbling upon a well-crafted blog can add brownie points and help you stand out from other employees. According to the study, a blog demonstrates commitment, highlights your skills, and creates talking points during an interview.
Though Brungard admits it can be difficult to get started, her advice to aspiring bloggers is simple.
“I would just say find your passion and how you fit into that passion and how you can tell someone something they didn’t know or didn’t know that they needed to know," she said. "Just get out there and do it."
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