What are some of the best practices for creating and maintaining a professional website or blog?

The most important thing is to be clear on your personal brand and your target audience. The second most important thing is to just START writing. Now you can create amazing pieces of content leveraging AI tools to help you. Once complete, you can repurpose that content across many platforms. Personally, I pick one primary location (e.g. LinkedIn Newsletter) and the share it in my email list, Medium, website, and even a Twitter thread.

Buy your own <name>.com You may not have much use for it right now, but it might come in handy later in life. Don't fret about all the other extensions, the *.com is the most common and widely used.

While having a memorable domain name is important for brand recognition and ease of sharing, it is crucial to remember that content matters more than the platform itself. Regardless of the platform you choose, the quality, relevance, and value of your content will ultimately determine your success. However, it is worth considering whether you want to own your website property or utilize platforms like Substack. Owning your website provides more control and flexibility in terms of design, monetization options, and branding. On the other hand, platforms like Substack can offer built-in audiences and promotional support, which can help with initial discovery. It is essential to weigh the pros and cons based on your goals.

All of this should be from the perspective of your reader / TG. The simplest is to set up a simple layout, with the most commonly used fonts. Use a white background with dark lettering or switch the scheme(also known as a dark theme). Images, funky graphics, etc, all can come later. Make the content helpful, insightful, and actionable. Your reader should take away something from the post. You can use ChatGPT to format and check language etc. On the responsive design bit, almost all website/blog platforms today offer it as a service. You do not have to think too much about this for a personal blog. Substack (https://substack.com/) is a good place to start.

Before tackling SEO tactics, it's worth noting that answering your audience's questions naturally often leads to effective SEO. By focusing on creating valuable, informative content that addresses the specific queries and concerns of your target audience, you naturally incorporate relevant keywords and phrases. This approach aligns with search engines' intent to deliver the most relevant and helpful results to users. A fantastic resource that delves into this concept is "They Ask You Answer" by Marcus Sheridan. This book emphasizes the importance of addressing customers' questions and providing transparent, comprehensive information to build trust, establish authority, and drive organic traffic through effective SEO practices.

Use ChatGPT for help on SEO, keywords, etc. here is a prompt that might help: "Please give me: 1. SEO description 2. X number of keywords for the following text:" (copy the text) Updating your blog regularly is a MUST! what schedule to follow is really up to the content you have and your readers. If you are writing about F1, you might follow the race calendar to make sure you have your readers engaged around the same time, but if you are writing on a topic like AI, you might want to send out posts as soon as something new hits. Most commonly used are, weekly and daily.

I disagree with the notion that updating your blog regularly is solely about consistency. While consistency is important to keep your audience engaged, the focus should always be on quality over quantity. It's far more beneficial to deliver well-researched, insightful, and valuable content, even if it means updating your blog less frequently. Quality content not only provides genuine value to your readers but also enhances your credibility and encourages repeat visits. Striving for a balance between consistency and quality ensures that you're delivering meaningful content that resonates with your audience, rather than simply churning out posts for the sake of meeting a schedule.

This is key especially if you are a new blogger. People need to know about your product and services and your blog will help you do that so its important to promote it across multiple social media channels regularly.

I agree with Aahuti. The only small tip I might add is, to ensure that the social media post has something of value. DO NOT just copy the link of your blog post or website and share that. Have a lead to the link. Share the core insight in the social media post. Make sure your followers are getting something for the attention you ask them to give when you update your social media.

Collaborating with other existing experts in your field can add a depth and richness to your work that you could not create alone. Two minds have twice as many possibilities, as well as opportunities to contribute to each others ideas and respectfully disagree on some points. Reach out to people who have an area of overlap with yourself and create content that helps both of you- for example being on each others podcasts or writing a guest blog. This has benefited me in many ways- from increased connections to new job opportunities. And you might strike up a new friendship.

I created a bank of inspiring blogs as a reference for my own blog. Whenever I felt lost, I would check them out for help. It really works for me, even now.

Be okay with constructive criticism about your content. When I first created a website, I was so proud of myself and shared my excitement on LinkedIn - a well wishing UI expert inboxed me to tell me my website wasn't great. After being offended for a few minutes I reached out asking them to help me make it better. They put their expertise to use and now I know why they are an expert in that area - they improved my website immensely! Here it is if you'd like to check it out: https://henricamakulu.wixsite.com/website

Before starting a blog, ask yourself - is this a hobby/passion or a business? Once you have this clear in your mind, you will be able to run your blog more efficiently. Because if its a business, you will need to invest and work towards building a substantial income from your blog by creating value-added content, SEO-focused articles, and affiliate links. Eventually, you will also be able to run ads that will become a source of your passive income. If its a hobby or a passion, you need not stress much about all of the above.

The one advice that really made a difference to my writing and hence blogging was 'write for someone specific'. You can also think about this as 'write for yourself or 'write to understand a topic you are interested in' When you write with a reader in mind, you are creating something that will resonate.

The best way to maintain consistency and longevity is to be true to yourself. Finding a niche that truly resonates with what you are interested in or passionate about will help you with consistency of content. Creating content should not be a chore.