The first session of the Hashnode Bootcamp III was titled shipping better articles faster. It was an educative session where I learnt a lot. Here are 5 specific things I learned about creating better technical articles.
- Owning your canonical URL
Publishing articles on popular blog platforms like Medium makes life easy but it has its disadvantages. One of these is that your canonical URL which is what search engines recognize as a source of truth is the host site’s URL. The only way to claim ownership of your canonical is to either host your blog independently on platforms like Netlify or use platforms like Hashnode where you can also host on your custom domain.
2.Using analytic tools to measure performance.
Improving the performance and reach of your articles cannot be done without knowing where the issues are. With analytical tools like HubSpot website grader and google analytics, you can easily track the performance of your published articles and even get tips on bringing in more traffic.
3.Sharing in relevant spaces
How and where you share your article matters a lot. If you shared it on Twitter chances are that most of your followers do not require it. This means just about a few would even open what you have spent so much time writing. Find communities and platforms with people that need your content. This way you are reaching more people and you can also get feedback that would help you improve.
4.SEO optimization
One of the most common and easiest ways to find an article on a topic is by googling it and I am sure you have done it lots of times too. So this means your article needs to be showing up on search pages. To achieve this you have to make sure your content is tailored to SEO guidelines.
Some are:
Not abusing keywords
Using good quality external links
Keeping your site and articles up to date
5.Consistency
Doing something over and over at regular intervals makes you better. This also applies to writing tech articles. Set deadlines for yourself and make sure to follow up on them. To motivate yourself you can try giving yourself rewards every time you meet your set deadline.
There it is! Five important things I learned to make my articles better. If you know of any more please share in the comment section below ! Thanks for reading. .