Good writing is an essential foundation of any blog, but there’s a lot more that goes into blogging than content alone. Although blogging platforms like Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger make it easy for anyone to start up a blog without any coding knowledge, a little bit of computing training goes a long way.
Whether it’s picking up a new programming language or new techniques in Photoshop, enhancing your IT skills can help you market your blog more successfully. Here are a few reasons why IT training can help bloggers take their work to the next level.
Understanding what makes a blog successful
To start understanding why IT knowledge is important in blogging, you should take a closer look at the blogs that you visit regularly. While you may visit some simply for the outstanding articles, chances are that the most appealing or successful blogs combine an eye-catching design with compelling content and a strong social media presence.
Giving the blog a memorable design
All of the major blogging platforms offer built-in themes to pick and choose from. You can certainly use one of these as you get started. But as you grow your readership, it can pay off to create a unique theme of your own. To do this, you’ll need to know the basics of a few programming languages, specifically at least HTML and CSS.
If you don’t know any HTML tags you’ll be overly reliant on the templates, which will give you a blog that looks exactly the same as thousands of others. To really excel with a blog’s design, you need to give it a unique twist. You can either hire someone to do this for you, or take basic programming courses to learn how to do it on your own.
There are online tutorials that can help you get started, or training.com.au offers courses in this subject. It makes your life a lot easier if you understand the ins and outs of Javascript!
Graphic design courses are also useful for bloggers, particularly on more visual platforms like Tumblr. You should add some photo editing skills to your repertoire, so get better acquainted with programs like Photoshop if you’re not already comfortable. Infographics can be a useful tool for bloggers as well, but at the very least you should be able to edit and manipulate photos to make your blog’s design stand out.
Marketing more effectively
IT professionals are often not only trained in just technical issues like programming, but also in the basics of digital marketing. Learning the basics of search engine optimization, social media marketing, and how ad revenue programs work can help you make smarter decisions when the time comes to launch your blog.
Writing strong content will help with the SEO factor right off the bat, but it doesn’t hurt to learn more about how to gain the traffic that will earn you revenue. You’ll need a strong online presence to engage with your readers, so learning how to use various platforms and target your chosen demographic online is a necessary part of becoming a blogger. Otherwise, even if you have the most compelling blog in your niche and a killer design, no one will know that it’s there!
You don’t necessarily need a degree to start a blog, and depending on your ambition you may not need any IT courses at all. But a bit of computing knowledge can help put you miles ahead of the competition relying on basic templates, helping you take your blog to the next level.
Article by Vishal
Meet Vishal Gaikar, the tech wizard hailing from Pune, India, who's on a mission to decode the digital universe one blog post at a time. When he's not tinkering with gadgets or diving deep into the digital realm, you can find him concocting the perfect cup of chai or plotting his next adventure. Follow his tech escapades on Twitter and buckle up for a wild ride through the world of innovation and geekery!
