Blogging is an industry of its own today. There are lots of blogs out there, tips, ideas, options and opinions. There is something for everyone, just like there is room for everyone. However, blogging is not for everyone. You need to explore the philosophical part of blogging first and make sure it is actually suitable for you – find something you are passionate about and so on. Second, you need to do it by the book – this is when the technical part kicks in. All in all, no matter where you are in the process, here are some of the best books about blogging to get you started or push you further.
Year Of The Blog, by Raven Sinclair
According to the author, blogging could be your path to happiness – build your way up and you will love the outcome. You will love sharing your passion, writing about it and meeting like-minded people. The title is self-explanatory – this is a challenge. You basically set a blog – quite easy these days – and commit to posting once a day. In other words, you take a 365 day blogging challenge that will not just give you a feeling of freedom, but it will also grow your work and push you in the right direction. It is not a difficult challenge, but a pleasant and rewarding one.
The first part of the book covers a few technical aspects, such as how to start the blog. Then, you move on to the philosophical part, when you decide what to write about. This year aims to bring in happiness and meaning through a few simple steps – find out more about yourself, discover your passion, reach the so called a-ha moment and work towards a purpose. Sooner or later, you will realize that blogging your way to happiness was only a matter of time.
How To Blog For Profit Without Selling Your Soul, by Ruth Soukup
This book features some technical aspects of blogging in a philosophical manner. Whether you have just started blogging or you are doing it for years, this book will provide excellent advice on how to make your blog more successful and actually make some money out of it. Learn from someone who has already been there – the author is now willing to share the techniques that took her to more than a million visitors a month, giving her a full time income. Most importantly, she still writes about things she truly loves.
This book will teach you how to work on your own assets, discover the secrets to amazing and qualitative content, increase blog traffic and build a social media presence and eventually boost your income. Simply put, blogging can become a profitable business if you do it by the book – this book.
ProBlogger, by Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse
This book comes from two professional bloggers earning full time income while doing something they like – in other words, it comes from people who know what they are talking about. It is addressed to thousands of bloggers – whether new or more experienced – who simply get stuck when it comes to monetizing their work. Most of them tend to fail, regardless of how hard they try – the lack of expert education or advice will take its toll. This is when the authors kick in to help amateurs turn their blogs into full time careers.
ProBlogger provides access to proven techniques and ideas to earn a solid income – difficult, but doable. Meanwhile, newbies will learn how to choose the right topic for their blogging experience. Learn why the niche is important, discover essential tools and find out how to take advantage of social media to promote your blog. Besides, learning how to optimize advertising is just as important.
Everybody Writes, by Ann Handley
Coming from a marketing veteran, Everybody Writes is a guide to reaching new people as a writer, building connections, getting and retaining customers. Everyone is a writer, whether they have a blog or a social media profile. Your writing can draw attention, but it requires certain techniques to get there. No matter how good a blog is, no one will find it randomly – it needs some backup in terms of marketing and advertising. Of course, words are just as important and a good post can easily go viral.
The author will teach you how to write, tell a story and use words in a good manner. Learn about the importance of economy when writing and add value to your test. You have to tell this story in a really well manner and this is where most people get stuck. This book will not cover blogging aspects, but writing requirements. Assess the strategies required to come up with quality content and promote it in a direct way.
No One Cares What You Had For Lunch, by Maggie Mason
The title is self-explanatory and makes perfect sense. No one really cares what you had for lunch, regardless of how good that picture is. It is a boring post and most people will simply keep scrolling. This is not the content you want for your blog. Instead, move to another level and come up with something more inspiring. This book will bring in 100 different ideas to come up with a unique topic for your blog. Whether you lack creativity or your inspiration is out, the author provides specific ideas to generate clever and appealing posts.
This is one of the best books about blogging if you seek inspiration and you need to explore the philosophical part of blogging – you may know how to set a blog, but it becomes irrelevant if your ideas are bad.
Write Blog Posts Readers Love, by Henri Junttila
You know what it feels like. It has been a while since you last posted and you know you have to do it, but you have no idea what to write about. You have to make a decision now. You can come up with a random post that most people will ignore or wait until inspiration kicks back in. There is a third option though – going through this book to get rid of writer’s block. You want posts that people like and share organically, so you can learn how to do it from someone with more than a decade in the industry.
Henri Junttila shares all the secrets discovered through the blogging adventure – uncovering your writing voice, eliminating writer’s block, ideas to help generate other ideas, step by step guides to write inspirational posts, motivational factors and post templates. In other words, you can forget about the learning curve associated with blogging – do it right from the beginning.
The One Hour Content Plan, by Meera Kothand
You have no idea what to write about. You chase trends everyday, but you are always a few steps behind them. Your content does not really link to your products or services. If you count yourself in any of these situations, this guide will give you countless ideas to boost your content within an hour only. Obviously, most of the book targets the creative part of the industry, but doing it right will inevitably attract traffic and sales. The primary goal is to help readers generate content ideas without struggling too much.
Learn about different types of content and their potential results. Find out how to discover the voice of your brand, check out the most common mistakes in the industry and figure out new ways to overcome them. At the end of the day, every piece of content will have a role – you do not want to compromise here, but make sure your entire content goes towards the same common goal.
Make It Happen, by Lara Casey
Make It Happen is a story of life. It is not necessarily aimed at bloggers, but at everyone who is afraid of doing what they want. This book tells Lara Casey’s experience as she surrendered her fear and took the leap. Finding a balance between her personal life, family and work could be impossible at times. This is when you need to go out of the comfort zone and make it happen – simple as that.
Make It Happen is great for those who find themselves overwhelmed or anxious, seek the courage to find a new adventure, struggle to do everything right and try to find a new life by purpose. Your time is finally here and if you have always dreamed about starting a blogging venture, this could be the first step in the process.
Technical books
WordPress for Beginners 2021, by Dr. Andy Williams
If you plan to start a blog, WordPress will be the no. 1. platform which you will find. It’s the most widely used blog engine globally.
This book presents the usage of the platform with visual help, so everybody will be able to master the basics of the platform.
SEO 2020, by Adam Clarke
A simple but effective guide how to improve your blog’s visibility in Google. SEO is a rough topic nowadays, we all use Google as start page when we try to find information about a relevant topic. This means SEO is a must for every blog. Adam’s approach is very practical, he introduces the basic working concepts of SEO, like link building, blog posts structure and keywords to the newcomers.
Conclusion
In the end, these are some of the best books about blogging, whether you are after the technical part of the industry, the philosophical or ethical aspects. Some of these books are just as handy for those struggling to find their creativity and imagination – a bit of research will point you in the right direction in no time.