5 Time Management Tips to Help Your Blog Succeed

Every blog starts with two essential things: passion, and ideas. That is, passion for a particular subject, and ideas of how to present it to viewers online.

But after a few months, every blogger begins to feel flustered with all the tasks he or she must do in order to build up readership and maintain a successful site. What began as a freight train with a full head of creative steam has morphed into a golf cart trying to motor its way up a steep mountain.

In order to gain back momentum and push your blog up into the stratosphere, it is necessary to manage your time wisely and create a working schedule. Not only should you have a distinct plan for when to publish things on your blog, you should also devote times to other things that will help you elsewhere on the internet.

As long as you follow these 5 tips, your time will be scheduled in a way that will allow your blog to grow into the position you hope it to be in.

1. Content is King

As I’m sure you’re well aware, your content is the most important aspect of your blog. Never, under any circumstances, should you neglect your content in order to do other blog tasks. You can engage in all the promotional techniques in the world, but if you don’t have intriguing content, there will be no reason to read your blog.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to be blogging equivalent of Ernest Hemingway. You just need to make sure that you’re publishing worthwhile posts, and that your content is coherent and well written.

To ensure that your content is top-notch, leave yourself however much time you need in order to produce excellent blog posts. Your writing should always take precedence over any other blog obligations, so don’t worry if this leaves you with less time for other tasks. After all, your intentions when you started your blog was to write meaningful blog posts about something you care about, so don’t lose sight of that when you try to build up your blog’s readership.

2. Schedule Publication Time Wisely

While it may not be obvious, the actual timing of when you publish a post goes a long way in determining how many people will read it. Whenever you publish a post, it will be broadcast to your blog’s followers at that very moment. If your blog is published while everyone is sleeping, it may be buried within their inbox, RSS, or Twitter feed by the time they would be able to read it.

Make sure to schedule the publication of your content around the time when most of your readers will be at your computer. I usually strive for early afternoon publications, as it is a time when people get back from their lunch breaks and like to poke around on the inter webs a little bit before they get back down to business.

There are also distinct times when you should not publish, like on Mondays, due to the fact that this is usually the day when people are catching up on weekend emails and looking to get a jumpstart on their workweek. Weekends are also undesirable, as most people are away from their computers on their time off from work. If you realize you’ve published at a bad time, a good way to help give your post a shot in the arm is to re-tweet your article to your twitter followers, giving them an extra chance to see your awesome content.

3. Post-Publication Upkeep

Once your post is published, you should devote a good chunk of time to responding to comments on your post. No matter the platform, be it Facebook, Twitter, or the blog itself, make sure you always engage in conversation with the people who comment on your articles. This will not only give you the appearance of being an involved blogger, but it also can develop very useful relationships with other people in the blogosphere.

In your schedule, make sure to block out at least 15-30 minutes a day checking in on your content and responding to comments. A little upkeep can go a very long way in the blogging world.

4. Relationships Take Time

This can be a weird concept for new bloggers to understand, but it is one of the best ways to build your readership. Look around on the internet for blogs that are similar to yours. Become a regular commenter on their content, and eventually offer to do a guest post on their site. This will not only show readers in another audience your skills as a writer, but it will also provide them with a link so they can see what your blog is all about.

This link also gets analyzed by search engines and increases their opinion of your blog’s importance, which means your blog will have an easier time showing up in people’s search results when they enter relevant terms.

In short, building up readership is extremely difficult without engaging with other bloggers, so make sure you take a few hours each week developing your relationship with others in the online community.

5. Don’t Waste Time With Images

So you’ve written a great blog post, and you have an idea of what the perfect accompanying image should look like. You spend the next 45 scouring the depths of Google image search for that ideal picture of a smiling Rhinoceros, but that perfect grin seems to be eluding your grasp. Next thing you know, you’ve wasted 45 minutes that you could could have spent doing more important tasks.

Don’t let this happen to you. While it is essential to include an image with each of your posts, it doesn’t need to be immaculate. Just pick an image that is related to your content and will grab the eye’s attention. If your image can be humorous, that’s a bonus. But your search shouldn’t last more than ten minutes.

As long as you follow these 5 tips, the seemingly endless amount of time you can spend on your blog will become a lot more manageable. Remember: content is the most important, so always focus on that over any other aspect of your site. Happy blogging!

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24 comments

Printable Coupons November 22, 2010 - 11:58 pm
I am guilty with number 5. sometimes, it's pretty hard to look for images that aren't copyrighted.
ZK@Web Marketing November 23, 2010 - 5:39 am
I spend at least 30 - 45 mins on selecting an image for the blog post, I think it's necessary to have an image that fits well with the content of the post. Use http://www.flickr.com to find images, please give credit to the photographer in the post :) Please share any other FREE image photo service that can be used for images
Aluminum Cases November 24, 2010 - 3:41 pm
Yes finding quality images can take some time. I don't agree with just putting up the first appropriate image you find. If you care about your blog, you would take the time to find good images. Those add to the quality of your blog's content. If you have lousy images, people may not even bother reading your content.
used tires November 23, 2010 - 1:05 am
It is really important to manage your time and making sure what it is you are doing is the most efficient you can be. Overtime though you gain experience and are better at doing it, thats at least what I've seen. Time can either hurt you or help you so just make sure its helping you is what I would say! Till then, Jean
Software Development Company November 23, 2010 - 6:25 am
Update your blog regularly and engage with blog readers are important part of blog succeed.
Data Entry Jobs November 25, 2010 - 11:09 am
I am guilty of #5 until I read somewhere in the net that says "there is no problem with just black and white...." so images are not one of my primary concerns anymore.
Harsh Agrawal November 25, 2010 - 3:52 pm
Ben nice article..Though I would suggest use Flickr to get images... Since images on Flickr are of high quality...You won't be spending much time wasting finding images...
alex November 26, 2010 - 5:38 am
Great tips. I am forever racing to get all the stuff done that needs doing. It is often hard to make time to properly SEO your blog and keep up with content writing.
Rajesh Vinaykyaa November 26, 2010 - 1:17 pm
Want o ask one thing ZK, how many a times a day or week or month one can post blogs. Is there a penalty by Google to post too many blogs? feel scared as read somewhere..
Harshad December 9, 2010 - 3:06 pm
A new site or blog with 100s of new pages in a day will raise a red flag for Google. Imagine how many new pages are generated by top news sites or blogs. Posting consistently is the best option for both readers and search engines.
Ray | PortableFans.co.uk November 26, 2010 - 3:22 pm
I think the idea of sourcing images from Flicker is a great one. Always credit the photographer. Now, I was just wondering if anyone had an idea for adding more hours into the day.....:) Ray.
used tires November 26, 2010 - 10:02 pm
@Ray I think we would all love extra hours in the day for sure! The best thing I could say is just always try to get the proper amount of sleep, the recommended 8 hours and you'll be way more productive than pulling the allnighters, at least from my experiences. Till then, Jean
Rob@Spokane Web Design November 26, 2010 - 11:40 pm
If you get a nice account at one of the stock image companies, your image searches are way easier. Sure it costs a bit on the quality sites, but if your running multiple websites or blogs, you save more money by not wasting time looking at lame images.
Jens | SportPicks.WS November 28, 2010 - 2:54 am
I absolutely agree that content is a KING !! no more comments in content :) If you take keywords in post subject use top search keywords for that.. I have not use keywords form for fill keywords and left in blank good luck
SEO Miami November 28, 2010 - 3:44 pm
Thanks for the great tips! I definitely learned some new time management techniques!
George November 29, 2010 - 11:18 pm
Thanks for the tips.actually the image searching part is the most tedious one and also time sharing... but it would always be better if you have a relevant image with your blog post..
Iphone 4 Jailbreak December 1, 2010 - 1:37 am
good time managemant you can help one to create content on a regular basis .... i maintain a daily scehdule of my work ... helpe me keep organized
Jaime Beal @SEOP Reviews December 1, 2010 - 6:36 pm
This is a nice and great post. Time management is important most especially if you have work while maintaining you blog.
GSP vs Koscheck December 1, 2010 - 7:04 pm
I have this photoblog and I spent up to an hour publishing the photos writing good alt text just to get a good impression from Google, but now I understand why I don't need to spend most of my time in this area. There are a lot of people out there who simply asks questions even though the answer is already inside the content. Sometimes I mark them as spam and sometimes I still answer them. Badly need time management!!! And I agree that "Content is King!"
eCommerce Development December 4, 2010 - 3:38 am
For me last tip is important because I am wasting more time to find out the best possible image to my blog rather that time allocating to build relationship via facebook or twitter.
Harshad December 9, 2010 - 3:02 pm
Every blogger should have these tips in front of them all the time. Make a note of them and stick it on the wall in front... does help a lot :)
Seo company Kanpur February 5, 2011 - 11:39 am
That's really a nice advice with a positive direction on time managment for blg.I think that time management tips give bite size chunks of practical advice on how to make your personal time management system work. Thanks Raj.........!
eCommerce Features February 9, 2011 - 6:47 am
The tips at last is something to think about because search engine doesnot optimize the images and it is the waste of time. It only make the blog so attractive but does not increase the readers.
diet reviews August 23, 2011 - 12:07 pm
Thanks for the information and great content. I am always going through the internet looking for good content to get ideas for my home based business opportunity web sites and future articles on this general subject. Again thanks for the excellent content and a nice looking web site.
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