Google's John Mueller posted on Reddit about when he thinks one should pursue starting down the journey of a blog. Of course, I know something about blogging and I have to say, his advice is dead on with something I'd agree with.
You can see the advice over here where John wrote that making your own site or blog is a great way to try things out and learn SEO. But he cautioned that you should not just make a blog about SEO, instead make a blog about something you have knowledge about.
His advice on when to make a blog are these points:
- Pick a topic you have a bit of knowledge about
- Pick a topic that you'll be happy to write about even if it does not get indexed or ranked by Google
- Pick a topic where you don't necessarily have commercial intent
- Pick a topic where there isn't already over-saturation of sites
When I started this blog in 2003, I had a few years of knowledge in SEO already. I honestly did not do it to get indexed in Google, I did it to keep track of what I felt was important going on in the SEO/SEM industry. I did not start the blog to make money, in fact, I barely make that much money on this blog relative to my real job. Although yes, I do make money on this site now, I didn't for years and even if I didn't make a dime on it today, I would continue to write here. Plus, when I started, there weren't that many SEO blogs.
I do short form blogging, for the most part. But I pump out a lot of blog posts per day. On average over five blog posts here per day and then often two or so on Search Engine Land. I do it because I love the topic, I do not do it for the money.
But I know I am lucky to be in a position to do something I love without needing to worry about monetizing it.
What do you think? Do you agree?
Forum discussion at Reddit.
