Developer blogging and Online Presence
Sessions 2 of #hashnodebootcamp III was by Ali Spittel who is a Senior Developer Advocate at AWS Amplify
Overview
Roadmap
How to start, i.,e her story, what works & how to pick a theme
content
gaining an audience
When she started blogging and writing tech-related articles, she gained a million readers and half by the end of the year
She started a blog on medium titled On learning new things which she wrote in October 2017 was mainly for herself wanting to tailor her learning and to get exposure
Pure CSS art written on October 23rd, 2017 gained 36 views in the first month
ELM reflections written on 1st Nov 2017 gained 262 views within the first month. She embraced cross-sharing across her blog and practical dev. After that, she quit blogging for some time before getting back fully.
Zen of Programming, this was her blog built using Gatsby.
"This blog is for Ali of a couple of years ago and all the people like me to younger self(developer) dealing with imposter syndrome" this was her goal when setting up a blogging site and writing her articles.
Building a kickass portfolio written on 2nd August 2018 got 18, 451 views on DEV.to and 4500 on medium
25 tips for New Developers written on 7th August 2018 got 55069 views on Dev and 10000 on medium
At times, there was "Reddit Gate," where people left rude comments on personal social media, and self-taught developers were low-paid.
In 2019, she built WeLearnCode, an "Ali-friendly guide to your questions," which has led to jobs and many income sources for her.
Why you should blog
To write the past that would have helped the past you, i.e, it's difficult to learn, therefore study and figure out how to teach someone else.
Establish yourself as an expert in your future career.
Less selfish note to make new friends and teach
"Don't need to follow the advice just pick and choose tips that are good for you be reasonable try yourself and set realistic goals."
Naming things/blog: it's hard, you can use your name, come up with something funny, or think about SEO.
Target Audience: have an ideal person in mind (previous self or Bootcamp learner), i.e, who do you want to read your writings, how to write in a way to appeal to them, and pitch yourself to the audience, i.e, why are you writing, show it to other people. Remember that people who like stories try to integrate them into technical content.
Coming up with a topic: go-to person on a very narrow topic, i.e, challenge yourself, research on what works at your content, what does well, and other people's blogs. Think about a year now, write more about it or too much so on.
Have a content calendar, i.e, different posts and when to release. She uses a Trello bot she created to track her blog writing and scheduling when to post.
Content Types
You have a blog on your site, [Hashnode](https://hashnode.com/@Jebitok/joinme, Dev, or other content like video or podcast.
Blogging Platform
Don't build a blog site until you know you like blogging, i.e, have a repository of content before the site. - You can build a blog using Next.js, Gatsby, Nuxt, or GridSome.
Thinking of a hosting platform, you can consider Amplify, which is cheaper.
Make time for content, i.e, batching where you have a batch of content at first, then schedule more content, i.e, to use a calendar for specific things or writing at coffee shops on Sunday, maybe a blog post for the week.
Content
- What to write about
getting started guide, demo projects, common stumbling blocks, things you struggled with along the way, your story, write about when you google a bunch of things and couldn't find an answer, ask an audience like Twitter (topics they'd like to see written about)
Don't worry about being 100%, be unique and revolutionary, i.e, don't copy other people's work. Write down topics as you think of them, not when you're trying to write. If you're experienced enough to write about a topic, put in that you're learning, i.e, write about your learning experience.
Title Tips
Be catchy but honest, i.e, good representation
People like numbers in titles
Talk about the number you're solving
Be fun, i.e, don't be boring
Writing Process
Brainstorm topic
Keyword search
Write demos
Super rough outline
Fill in headers
Revise, revise, revise
Check your grammar, i.e, use Grammarly or Hemingway Editor
Add in multimedia, i.e, you can create visuals on Canva
Advice of Content
Break up walls of text, i.e, people don't want to read.
Using multimedia appeal to different learners, like code snippets, images, lists, and visualization
Break into sections
Write to your audience
Add why and where to learn more, and cite sources or code samples
Building an Audience
Writing for yourself vs still perfect for others.
Don't rely on just one source, i.e, Twitter, LinkedIn, Hacker News, Reddit, Quora, Instagram, Pinterest, among other platforms.
Grow on Twitter
Join talks and contribute to chats like #DevDiscuss on Tuesdays and #CodeNewbie on Thursdays, and the newly launched Twitter Spaces. Goals:- non-promotional tweets, i.e, tips, funny stuff, promotional tweets, i.e, promote someone else's content, respond to other people's tweets, engage and build genuine relationships.
SEO
Use keywords use low competition and low volume principle first. You can use sites like Keywords Everywhere, Mangools, Ahrefs, which also have a domain authority checker, and use backlinks through social media. Remember that quality content answers several questions, i.e, don't give medical advice, and site quality is determined by time on site, site speed, and accessibility. If you build your blogging site, you can use LightHouse to test site speed.
Email Lists
Only one thing you can own, and there aren't algorithm changes through Lead magnets, Newsletter
- "A lead magnet is the free value you offer to convince your visitors to give you their email addresses. Getting their email is a transaction. You want their email, so you have to offer something they want in return. Your job is to sell the idea of subscribing to your list and you need an attractive lead magnet to do so"
- "an email newsletter is a type of email sent out by companies or individuals to a subscriber list."
e.g, Tinyletter, which allows upto 2000 subscribers, Mailchimp, Buttondown, Convertkit, which has tons of bloggers, and also Hashnode has a newsletter for its writers.
Cross post
Use canonical URL, i.e, URL of the page that Google thinks is most representative of a set of duplicate pages on your site, to post elsewhere and get more eyes on your post. Hashnode allows this; you can cross-post your articles.
Building hype around an upcoming post: share teasers and a sneak peek of upcoming posts using Twitter threads or other ways.
Consistency: the audience knows what they're going to get, and when this differs for everyone.
Dealing with H&Rs, i.e, screenshot & delete
It can be rough, but don't be hard on yourself for struggling. There's a support system of other bloggers
Monetization:- Patreon, Ads, i.e, carbon, media vine, codefundio, sponsorships, products, or Affiliates.
Thank you for reading through this article that compiles Ali Spittel's session you can check her blog, WeLearnCode, or check her podcast where she talks amongst her friends in tech.
