7 Must-Have Blogging Skills (Without Them, You Won’t Succeed)

Last Updated on June 10, 2023 by Jordan Alexo

Are you ready to start your blogging journey, or already have but not sure how to do it?

Well, you’ve come to the right place.

I’m about to share seven important skills every blogger needs to know.

This includes blogging skills like writing eye-grabbing content and optimizing your blog posts so that Google will send you more traffic, using WordPress to create a professional-looking website, and more.

Plus, I’ll explain exactly the best ways to develop these fundamental skills so that you can become a successful blogger in no time.

So, buckle up, and let’s start this exciting journey together!

Key Takeaways

• Creating high-quality blog posts is crucial to be a good blogger. This means you must express your ideas clearly, give practical advice, and ensure you answer your readers’ questions or help them solve their problems.
• To get better at writing content, try to write something every day. Also, read a lot, especially about the things you blog about. You can make your posts easier to read using bullet points, key takeaways, headings, pictures, short paragraphs, and simple words.
• If you want your blog to earn money, you must figure out the best way. This can be through affiliate marketing (where you earn money by promoting other people’s products), advertising, selling your stuff, or even asking your readers for donations.
• Learning SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) is crucial. This means understanding how to choose and use the right keywords, optimize your blog post, create links to your post, and build topical authority. All of these can help your blog rank better in search engines.
• You can also use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make blogging easier and more effective. Some AI tools can help you come up with ideas for posts, write your posts, and pick the best keywords. And tools like Grammarly can help you fix mistakes in your writing.
• If you’re a blogger, knowing how to use WordPress is required. This is a tool that helps you set up and manage your blog.
• Understanding how to use tools like Google Analytics can also be very helpful.

What Skills Do You Need To Be A Blogger?

So let’s take a look at the seven skills you must learn to become a professional blogger.

Skill #1 – Writing Sweet Content

Solution #1 – How To Improve Your Blog Writing Skills?

To improve your blog writing skills, here are some tips:

1 – Write Every Day

You don’t have any easy way around this, practice makes perfect, and the more you write, the better you become.

2 – Read a lot

Read books, other blogs, and anything else that interests you. However, if you want to be extra proficient, read mostly about your blog topic. Not only will this help you develop your knowledge but also your writing style and vocabulary.

3 – Improve Your Content Readability

Make your content easy to read and understand. You want people to be able to skim through your posts and still get the main idea. This includes:

• Bullet points: Explaining your ideas in bullet points makes them easier to read.
• Headings: Have a good heading and subheading structure to make your content scannable and easy to navigate
• Images: It helps to break up long blocks of text and add visual interest to your posts.
• Short Paragraphs: Should be no more than 2-3 lines long
• Use simple language: I like to write content imagining most of my readers have a 7th to 8th-grade reading level. Not trying to dumb it down but making it accessible to everyone.
• Use Key Takeaways: I enjoy adding this section at the beginning of my blog post to summarize the main points. Some people may not have enough time to read the full post but can quickly get the main ideas from this section.
• Search Intent: You must understand why someone is searching for the topic you’re writing about. Do they want to buy something? Or are they looking for information?

So the essence of good writing nowadays is more about effectively communicating your ideas quickly.

Skill #2 – Monetization Skills

So, how are you going to make money from blogging? If you want to run a serious blog, you must have this skill set.

In fact, you should have an idea of how to monetize your blog from the very beginning.

Otherwise, you may start blogging on a niche that isn’t profitable later down the road. Either because the niche is too small, like “antique pencil sharpeners,” or too competitive, like “weight loss.”

Honestly, I’d rather be on weight loss because you can always find sub-niches or micro niches.

Anyway, you don’t need to learn every monetization method under the sun; Instead, focus on the best methods for your niche.

If you’d like to learn more, read this post, “How to monetize your blog from day 1“.

Solution #2 – How To Learn The Right Monetization Methods?

Not all monetization methods work well for every blog. It depends on your niche and the size of your audience.

For instance, affiliate marketing may be your best bet if you have a new “weight training” blog with a small audience. You can promote affiliate products like protein powders, gym equipment, and workout plans to earn commissions.

However, going immediately for 1-on-1 coaching services or creating your products may not be the best approach as nobody knows you yet.

On the other hand, let’s say you have an organization to save animals; promoting affiliate products might not be the best approach. Therefore, asking for donations or running crowdfunding campaigns may be the way.

Here are some ways to monetize your blog:

1 – What Is Your Niche?

You need to know what your niche is before you can decide on your best monetization strategy. For most blogs, affiliate marketing is a popular choice.

But for others, like entertainment, news, Google ads, and sponsored content may work better.

Also, because you start with affiliate marketing, that doesn’t mean you need to stick with it forever. Later once you have a sizable audience, you may consider other options like creating online courses, selling physical products, or offering consulting services.

But for starters, focus on one or two methods that work well for your niche.

2 – Learn Everything About Your Chosen Method

Once you have chosen your preferred method, you must learn as much as possible about it.

You can do this by reading articles, watching YouTube videos, or taking online courses that teach you how to monetize your blog effectively.

3 – Apply What You’ve Learned

After you’ve learned about your chosen method, it’s time to apply it. For instance, if you decide to go with affiliate marketing. You probably need to write product reviews, comparison articles, and how-to content related to the products you want to promote.

On the other hand, if you decide to run Google ads, you need to focus on optimizing your blog for traffic and ad clicks. In a way, your blog must be built around your chosen monetization method to be effective.

Skill #3 – SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

You must understand some basics of SEO. See, search engines have robots or crawlers.

These crawlers scan your blog content to decide where to rank you in search results. For this reason, they seek specific keywords or search terms within your content.

Based on these keywords and other factors like website authority, search engines rank your website.

Solution #3 – How To Learn SEO?

To master on-page SEO, you have to learn about the following:

1 – Keyword Research

You must understand how to find relevant and low-competition search terms your target audience is searching for.

Often this involves using tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs to discover potential keywords that you can use in your blog content.

I wrote a fantastic guide, “How to find low-hanging fruit keywords,” that may help your research.

2 – On-Page Optimization

After you find some relevant keywords, you need to write high-quality content around those keywords. You want to include your main and semantic keywords in your content, including:

• The title, meta description, headings, and subheadings.
• URL
• Body of the content and image alt tags
• Internal and external links to relevant sources

If you want to take your on-page SEO a step further, you can use Neuronwriter. This tool can help you optimize your content. It analyzes the top results for your target keyword and provides suggestions for improving your content to outrank them.

3 – Build Backlinks (Off-Page SEO)

Many bloggers say, “-Oh, you don’t need to worry about backlinks, bro!”

But the fact is backlinks are still super important! If you want to rank for money-making keywords, you must build some quality backlinks. Most of these search terms are very competitive.

For this reason, you’ll have a hard time ranking them without backlinks.

Most people say this because building backlinks can be boring and challenging work. Often you need to outreach to other websites asking for a backlink or create high-value content that naturally attracts backlinks.

And for some people, that’s pretty uncomfortable.

You have several ways to build backlinks from:

• Guest Posting: You write a blog post for another website in exchange for a link back to your website.
• Niche Edit: You reach out to website owners in your niche and ask them to add a link back to one of your blog posts from within their existing content.
• Sky Scraper Technique: You find websites that have linked to similar content as yours and reach out to them, asking if they would be interested in linking to your updated and improved version.

Choose one of these methods and learn about it.

4 – Topical Authority

Another important aspect is topical authority. You want to build content on a specific niche or topic.

Google doesn’t rank well websites that are all over the place. For instance, your blog about cooking one day, and the next, you blog about cryptocurrency.

Instead, you want to go deep into a specific niche. For instance, if you have a vegan food blog, you want to talk about recipes, the health benefits of a vegan diet, and other related topics.

You need to make a website that replies to as many search queries related to your niche.

With time, Google will start seeing your blog has a reference for this specific niche. As a result, it will rank your related content higher in search results.

Skill #4 – AI Tools

Blogging these past two years or so has drastically changed. Long gone are the days you could simply write a blog post once a week and expect it to rank high in search results.

With the advancement of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, bloggers can write content faster and more efficiently.

Using AI tools is an essential blogging skill in today’s age. If you want to build a business, it’s hard to get around without them.

Here’s the difference:

• Blogger Without AI Tool: Probably spend a day or two writing a post with around 2,000 or more words, researching keywords, and formatting the content.
• Blogger With AI Tool: You can complete the same post in a matter of hours with the help of an AI tool that suggests relevant topics, optimizes keywords, and formats the content.

You simply can’t compete against a solo blogger publishing over five pieces a week; when you probably only have the time to publish because of your job, studies, or other commitments.

Solution #4 – What AI Tools Should You Learn?

I suggest that bloggers should learn and try out various AI tools like ChatGPT (or Jasper AI, Writesonic), Grammarly, and Neuronwriter (or Surfer SEO).

I learned to use these AI tools by watching YouTube video tutorials. You can learn nearly anything on YouTube these days.

Anyway, let’s break down some of these AI tools:

1 – AI writers

These tools help you write content faster and more efficiently. You can use them to create blog posts, get topic ideas, craft catchy headlines, and more.

Nowadays, I like to use ChatGPT to help me summarize and sometimes even write my first drafts. However, you need to be good at providing good prompts to get the most out of ChatGPT.

Otherwise, you will only get crappy results. If you prefer more specialized AI writers, you can try out other tools like Jasper AI or Writesonic.

Anyway, you should always use these tools as an assistant and not as a complete replacement.

2 – AI SEO Tools

These tools help you optimize your content for search engines. You can use them to audit existing content, get keyword suggestions, and analyze the competition.

Normally, these tools analyze the top-ranked pages for a given keyword and suggest changes you can make to improve your page’s ranking.

Furthermore, you can write content based on the suggestions from these AI SEO tools to ensure that your content is optimized for search engines.

My favorite one is Surfer SEO, but you can also try Neuronwriter (a more budget-friendly option).

3 – AI Editing Tools

It’s funny how many people have problems trying out ChatGPT or other tools because they consider it like cheating or not “real” writing.

However, most people use Grammarly and other editing tools without hesitation to ensure their content is error-free and professional.

I suggest that bloggers always check their writing with an editing tool like Grammarly.

But the best way to use these AI editing tools isn’t by blindly accepting all suggestions. Otherwise, it may kill your writing style and personality.

Instead, use them to correct obvious grammatical errors and improve your overall writing.

Skill #5 -Using WordPress

Another skill you got to learn is to use WordPress effectively. At least 43% of websites work on this CMS (Content Management System), so it’s a safe bet.

And the reason is simple:

• WordPress is Easy-To-Use. You don’t need to spend hours killing yourself learning to code.
• WordPress is Versatile. You can build any time of blog with thousand of designs and plugins available.
• WordPress is SEO-friendly. Google and other search engines love the crap out of sites built on WordPress. Also, you can install plugins like Yoast SEO or Rankmath to optimize your content for SEO.

Solution #5 – How To Learn To Use WordPress?

You have awesome YouTube tutorials that show you how to set up a website and manage WordPress.

Additionally, if you prefer a more structured way to learn, you can take an inexpensive online course on websites like Udemy or Skillshare.

Although it may sound complicated at first. But once you learn a few basics, like installing plugins, customizing themes, and publishing content, you can manage your WordPress site like a pro.

Skill #6 – Understanding Analytics

If you want to see whether your new content strategy is working, what search terms bring traffic, and how visitors interact with your site, you need to understand analytics.

Understanding analytics is a critical skill for bloggers.

It helps you determine what’s working on your site and what changes you need to make to improve engagement, traffic, and revenue.

Solution #6 – How To Learn About Analytics?

One of the best tools for analytics is Google Analytics, and it’s free to use.

Now I find that Google Analytics is overwhelming for beginners. It has so many options and reports that it’s easy to get lost in the data.

And once again, the best way to learn this tool is through online courses, such as Google’s Analytics Academy or Skillshare. Also, you have great YouTube tutorials that can help you get started.

Skill #7 – Adapting, But Never Giving Up

And after a few months, they get discouraged when they see their Google Analytics account still showing low traffic and engagement.

Fact: Often, blogs take six months to a year or more before they start seeing significant traffic, revenue, and engagement. For this reason, commit not to give up too soon and focus on consistently publishing quality content.

2 – You Need To Write Until Your Eyes Bleed

Don’t expect just a handful of blog posts to do the trick. You won’t even notice a dent in the traffic and engagement of your site.

Fact: You may need to write fifty to one-hundred niche-related posts before seeing results.

3 – Adapting Is Essential

You shouldn’t hammer your head against the wall expecting it to break. It won’t break; well, perhaps your head might. And the same thing happens with blogging.

Fact: If you notice that your content isn’t working after several months, you need to analyze and adapt.

You are probably targeting too competitive search terms or writing all over the place instead of staying within a niche.

Solution #7 – How To Learn Never To Give Up?

One of the easiest ways is to commit to keep going, no matter what. You can write down your reasons for starting your blog and the goals you want to achieve.

However, you can read books and articles on persistence and goal setting, such as “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey or “Think and Grow. Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

These resources inspire you to keep pushing forward, even when the road seems tough. Also, you’ll notice that most successful people have “never give up” as a common trait, and blogging is no exception.

Sometimes, it’s not the most intelligent or talented people who succeed. Instead, those who have an iron will and refuse to give up when things get tough often come out on top in the end.

Last Thoughts

So there we have it to become a successful blogger! Let’s quickly recap the seven important skills you need.

Remember, your blog is your platform to express your ideas, offer valuable advice, and solve your readers’ problems with high-quality posts.

Also, don’t forget practice makes perfect. You’ll get better by writing something every day and reading a lot, especially on topics you blog about.

Using bullet points, pictures, and simple writing can make your posts easier for your readers to understand.

Furthermore, you should consider monetizing your blog in several ways, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and advertising. Or if you have an organization asking your readers for support.

Another crucial part is to learn SEO to make your content more visible on search engines. You should use the right keywords, build internal and external links, and focus on topical authority in your niche.

And don’t forget to use AI tools! They can help you brainstorm ideas, write posts, pick keywords, and correct grammar mistakes.

As you move forward, remember these seven skills and continue to refine them. They’re your guiding steps to blogging success.

If you have any questions, leave them below. Jordan Alexo will reply shortly.