It seems that today almost everyone has their own blog of some kind. So if you are a software tester, why not start one too? Software testing blogs are now quite common covering everything from automation, people in testing, to security and lots more. There is always room for more. So if you have something on testing you want to write about, this is a guide to setting up and starting your own testing blog.
#1 Know Yourself
First of all, you need to know yourself before you start trying to figure out who you will be writing your blog posts for. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Why should you start a blog? – Think about the reasons why you want to start your blog. Is it just a hobby? Do you want to earn money with your blog? Perhaps you want to educate others about software testing.
- How can you find the time for it? – Consider how much time you can regularly dedicate to running your blog. You could be posting daily, several times a week, once a week, etc. You need to know beforehand how much time you have and how much content you create during that time.
- What are your long-term goals? – How many readers do you want to have in a month, year, etc.? How many blog posts do you want to be creating regularly? Do you want to be running your blog on your own or do you want to build a team over time?
#2 Identify Your Audience
Once you understand your own motivation and resources, you will need to identify the target audience for your blog. Well software testers isn’t it? It might not be that straightforward. Think about you are writing for. Is it other testers or people managing testers. Are you sharing how-to’s with code or is it more about people management? Knowing who your audience is will help you plan your entire blogging strategy and future campaigns for promoting your blog.
Consider things such as demographics, level of understanding of software testing, other interests, etc. all in relation to your target audience. You can do some research and see what other blogs from testers do and what kind of people read them.
#3 Choose Your Platform
The most basic route to take is creating your own blog or website with the help of a builder like Wix or Squarespace (or using WordPress). On the other hand, you might want to choose a different kind of platform for blogging.
Influencers on social media platforms are essentially bloggers too, so you could start your blog on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or elsewhere if you feel more comfortable posting on one of those platforms. However, you should remember who your target readers are when choosing the most appropriate platform for your blog.
#4 Get the Right Tools
Once you have chosen your platform and created your blog, you will be ready to start creating content. This is when you will need to use different tools to help you. Here are some examples of the tools you can use:
- Writing – Writing your blog posts can be difficult at first, especially if you have no writing experience. This is why you can hire a professional writer from the writing services reviews site Rated by Students who will write your first blog posts for you before you get comfortable doing so yourself.
- Proofreading – Always make sure to proofread your blog posts so that there are no linguistic mistakes. You can use Grammarly to check your texts automatically. You can also use Hemingway Editor to improve the readability and stylistic qualities of your blog posts.
- Editing – In addition to your texts, you will also need to use different kinds of visual content. Use Canva to edit your images and create new ones using the numerous templates offered by the tool.
#5 Create Your Content Strategy
Now, you will need to create a clear plan for your blog and for the content you create for it. Your content strategy will need to include things such as:
- Goals for your content
- Types of content you will create
- Content formatting and quality standards
- Topics you will be writing about
- How you will engage with your audience
- Additional marketing activities
#6 Plan Your Content Schedule
Last but not least, before you start creating your content and posting it on your blog, you will need to plan your content schedule. This schedule will determine how much content you create, how often you publish it, and when you publish it.
Go back to your own resources and abilities. Then, decide how much content you are able to create and post. Experiment with the first posts and see when your content performs the best. Then, decide how much content you will create, how often you will be publishing it, and the exact time when you will be publishing it.
Final Thoughts
Starting your own blog as a tester is not that hard, even if you don’t have much experience writing or blogging. You don’t have to commit to so many posts a week, just what you feel comfortable with. The first step is the hardest so get out there, create a blog start posting.
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