30 blog post writing challenge Archives

It’s here – my final blog post of my 30 day blogging challenge! It’s been quite a journey involving late nights, frantic Google searches and lots of cups of tea. Along the way, I’ve made some friends and my blog is definitely better for it.

sparkler by Markus Grossalber on Flickr CC

I began my challenge, hoping that I would be able to find 30 different blogs to post, and I have ended it with so many more ideas on where I want to take my blog and the kinds of subjects I want to post on. I had posted sporadically for a couple of years, struggling to find topics to talk about, now hopefully I will be able to continue blogging once or twice a week. My blogging muscle has grown, just as Sarah predicted it would.

So here are some stats for my final review:

Fastest blog post to write:

Day 25 – 3 Quotes for writers

This took less than half an hour, and felt like a very lazy post, although I do know a website that just seems to create author quotes. I was very short of time that day, though

Most fun to research:

Day 23 – 7 More crazy business ideas

There’s another couple of blog posts in there some time…

My favourite blog post:

Day 21 – Infographics. I had so much fun creating those. I will definitely be making more in the future.

Most visited blog post:

Day 17 – Testimonials about my work (51 impressions)

Day 3 – Five qualities of a freelance writer came a close second with 48. It’s telling that the keywords ‘freelance writer’ are in the second post and I might have got some random traffic because that is a popular keyword.

Most commented on blog post:

Day 28 – Procrastination & the Writer really got a good reaction. People seemed to relate to it well and I got some comments on Facebook too.

Day 29 – 30 Ideas for Blog Posts came a close second. I reckon I’m going to go looking for another 30 ideas at some point! Just to stretch myself.

Most recommended blog post for other Challengers to do:

Day 27 – Five Retro Blog Posts. It was great fun to go through my old blog posts and pick five of the best. I tidied them up, and added new pictures in some cases, but it’s a great way to showcase yourself to people who are just discovering you.

I have had such fun with this challenge. Thanks go to Kevin and Sarah for all their encouragement, emails & stickers! I would hope to come back to this challenge again in about a year for another 30 blog posts because it has been a challenge well worth taking.

If you are reading this in the middle of your own challenge then I would encourage you to keep going, you will gain so much from it.

If you have enjoyed this post, then please share it to social media.

Wow, suddenly it’s day 16 and I‘ve been blogging consecutively for 15 days! I’m really glad that I took up this challenge and I’m learning a lot from it.

April 2012 Art Challenge Tulips by COLOURED PENCIL magazine Flickr CC

So far I’ve learned:

that finding topics can be fun and that it’s important to choose a topic that I feel I can offer some information on
that I need to think about keywords more
that prioritising time to blog pays off in terms of the pleasure of seeing this blog grow and improving it with new content

This challenge has reminded me how much I do like blogging about my own subject (as opposed to writing blogs for clients) and that it is really pleasing to see the number of blog posts increase substantially. I also love getting emails each day.

Could do better:

need to set up that editorial calendar – I can see the benefit of it, but unfortunately it’s been a bit of a frustrating week at work. No excuses, though, should’ve done it!
Keep improving SEO. I use All-in-One SEO and I am finding that I understand it better so I can use it more effectively. I may investigate some other options when I have time, though.
it would be nice not to be blogging so late at night sometimes, but when you’re running other jobs alongside, better to blog late than not at all.

All these things will help me to blog more effectively and enable my blog posts to be found more easily when the challenge is over. It will also help me to continue writing blog posts more regularly.

What next?

I’m in the middle of a series of blog posts on writing a short story and editing it. I intend to continue that
Take some of Sarah’s email challenges. This is something I have not been so good at – usually because I already have some content in place
Try and be more organised with my blog posts

It’s amazing how fast the first half of this blogging challenge has gone. As I said, it has not been easy: I have had issues at work to contend with and this week the family have been around because of half term. However I am doing my best to keep blogging and I am determined to finish the challenge.

If you are reading this, thinking, ‘Shall I?’ then I would encourage you to sign up for the 30 day blogging challenge. Your blog will thank you for it.

Tag: 30 blog post writing challenge

Day 30 – 30 Day Blogging Challenge – Final Review

Day 16: 30 Day Blogging Challenge – Halfway