You Should Blog Blog
You Should Blog | Blog #
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As a software developer, you might spend most of your time immersed in code, solving problems, and building innovative solutions. But have you ever considered starting a blog? If you haven’t, let me give you some compelling reasons why you should. This is advice I give, frequently, to members of my developer group coaching program at devBetter.com.
Watch the Video #
1. Sharpen Your Skills #
One of the best ways to deepen your understanding of any topic is to teach it to others.
“To teach is to learn twice.”
When you blog, you have to explain concepts clearly and coherently, which forces you to truly grasp the material. Whether you’re writing about complex algorithms, new technologies, or simple tips and tricks, blogging helps you solidify your knowledge.
Every time you sit down to write, it’s like attending a mini bootcamp. You’re researching, organizing your thoughts, and sometimes even learning new things in the process. Over time, this consistent practice can significantly sharpen your skills.
If writing doesn’t come easily to you, well, that’s another reason to start a blog! If it hurts, do it more often. The more often you do it, the better and more efficient you’ll become!
2. Build Your Personal Brand #
In today’s digital age, your online presence is more important than ever. A blog is a fantastic way to showcase your expertise, interests, and unique voice. Imagine someone Googles your name and finds a collection of high-quality, insightful content that you’ve created. That’s a powerful personal brand!
A well-maintained blog can open doors to job opportunities, speaking engagements, and collaborations that you might not have anticipated. It positions you as an authority in your field and sets you apart from others in the industry. It also is an excellent way to establish trust. Having an online presence where you share information about yourself and your expertise in a curated and professional manner is a great way to develop an audience who, over time, will begin to feel like they know you - even though you’ve never met! Think about some of the folks in our industry you’ve heard, seen, or read content from and you’ll know what I mean. Videos and podcasts can provide an even closer connection. However, publishing text is often a much easier entry point for developers than jumping into podcasting or YouTube/TikTok…
Why do you care about your personal brand? Maybe you’re not a consultant or independent developer, but rather you just work at a regular job for some company. That’s fine, but perhaps you’ve noticed that many of those regular jobs keep encountering sweeping and often completely unexpected layoffs in the last few years. If, and hopefully not, but if you were to be impacted by such an event, would you rather be trying to find a new position as a relatively unknown entity (along side everyone else applying for similar positions)? Or would you rather write a blog post announcing your newfound availability and, with a large enough audience, have some confidence that someone would reach out to you with an opportunity to talk about a role in their organization?
3. Document Your Learning Journey #
Blogging is also an excellent way to document your learning journey. We all start somewhere, and having a record of your progress can be incredibly rewarding. Plus, it’s beneficial to others who might be just a few steps behind you in their learning journey. In fact, if you’ve ever felt like “I don’t have anything to say - someone smarter than me has already written about it” just remember, your content is going to be more recent than anyone else’s. It’s going to reflect your personal experience. Your assumptions. The latest version of whatever you’re working with. The steps you took to approach and hopefully solve any problems encountered.
Yes, someone else may be the expert, but a lot of the time beginners learn best from a fellow beginner who just went through the process. And guess what? There are always a lot more beginners than experts so writing content focused on beginners is a great way to reach a larger audience!
Your early posts might serve as inspiration or guidance for those who are new to the field. It’s a great way to show that learning is a continuous process, and everyone develops at their own pace. Nobody knows everything, and nobody expects you to know everything. Write about things that interest you, including things you’re just starting to investigate, and many others who share that interest will tune in.
4. Contribute to the Community #
The developer community thrives on shared knowledge. We’ve all benefited from tutorials, forums, and blog posts that have helped us solve tough problems or learn something new. By starting your own blog, you can contribute back to this collective pool of resources.
Your insights and experiences could be exactly what someone else needs to overcome a challenge. It’s a great way to give back to the community that has supported your growth as a developer.
5. Help Out Future You #
Have you ever solved a tricky problem, only to forget the details when you run into it again months or even years later? Blogging is a great way to document the solutions you’ve discovered, creating a personal knowledge base that you can refer back to whenever you need it. I find myself searching for “some topic ardalis” all the time to find things I’ve written about in the past. If you’re already taking notes somewhere (paper, Notion, OneNote, whatever) think of your blog as another place you can take notes, but with the added benefit of being able to search for them later from anywhere and you get all the other benefits in this article! Win-Win!
By writing about the problems you encounter and the solutions you devise, you’re not just helping othersâyou’re helping your future self. Instead of spending time retracing your steps or searching for that obscure fix you found ages ago, you can simply revisit your own blog and get back on track quickly. It’s like creating a manual for your future self, saving you time and frustration down the road. Future You will thank Present You!
6. Improve Your Communication Skills #
Effective communication is a crucial skill in any profession, and blogging is a great way to practice it. Writing forces you to explain technical concepts in a clear, concise, and engaging way. Over time, this practice will enhance your ability to communicate not just in writing, but also in meetings, presentations, and interviews.
Improved communication skills can lead to better job performance, stronger leadership abilities, and more effective teamwork. It’s a(nother) win-win!
But But But #
“But… I’m already on social media”
Social media content, generally, isn’t optimized for long term access. Some post you write on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook is unlikely to come up on the first page of Google unless it’s really popular, even if your search is literally a substring of your posted comment. Also, there’s nothing to prevent any 3rd party platform from delisting you, or changing their algorithm to stop featuring you, etc. It’s always better for you to own your own content so this can’t happen.
“But… I don’t have time”
This is a common concern, especially when you’re juggling a full-time job, personal projects, and maybe even a family. But here’s the thingâblogging doesn’t have to consume your life. Start small. Write one post a month, or even just a few times a year. The key is consistency, not frequency. Over time, these small efforts add up and can have a big impact. And remember your blog posts don’t have to be a certain number of words. Sometimes a short post (unlike this one) is all you need!
“But… I’m not a good writer”
You don’t need to be a professional writer to start a blog. Blogging is about sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge, not about crafting perfect prose. In fact, the more authentic and relatable your voice is, the better. Your writing will improve with practice, and the important thing is to get started. Plus, the developer community is generally more interested in the value of your content than your writing style.
“But… I don’t have anything unique to say”
You might feel that there’s already so much content out there, and you don’t have anything new to add. But remember, your perspective is unique. The way you explain something might resonate with someone in a way that other content hasn’t. Plus, even if the topic has been covered before, your personal experiences, tips, and insights can provide a fresh take. Don’t underestimate the value of your voice. See point 3 above.
If you need help coming up with ideas for things to write about, I posted 5 Solid Ways to Come Up with Good Blog Post Topics a few years ago, and I plan on writing an updated version of this soon (since that one doesn’t cover things like AI and how it can help you with your blogging).
“But… Nobody will read it”
At first, your blog might not have a large audience, and that’s okay. It takes time to build a readership. However, even if only a few people read your posts, those people could find your content incredibly valuable. And as your blog grows, so will your audience. Focus on creating content that’s useful, and the readers will come. And remember, you can start out by just writing your blog as notes just for you. That’s what I did, and it just so happened that other folks found some of my articles useful, too.
“But… Blogging is outdated”
Some might argue that blogging has been replaced by video content or social media, but that’s not true. While these platforms are popular, blogging remains a powerful medium for in-depth content, tutorials, and technical explanations. It’s also highly searchable, which means your content can continue to be discovered long after it’s published. Blogs provide a space for deeper dives into topics that short-form content just can’t cover.
For developers, blogs provide a great place to share content that has to do with code. It’s much harder for consumers of content to search for or pull down code from a video or a podcast. Inlining and explaining code blocks in blogs/text is much easier to consume and understand.
Start Your Blog Today #
If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog, there’s no better time than now. Grab a domain, pick a platform, and start writing. The benefits you’ll gainâfrom sharpening your skills to building your personal brandâmake it a worthwhile investment in your career and personal development.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. If coming up with a domain or figuring out how to blog is slowing you down from writing that first article, just go to DEV.to and start there. I highly recommend that you own your own content, including your blog, so I wouldn’t stay at a third-party site. But it’s a good way to get started. In a similar vein anyone in my devBetter program can blog on blogs.devbetter.com at least until they have their own site.
Blogging might seem daunting at first, but remember, everyone starts somewhere. Your future self will thank you for taking the plunge. So go ahead, start your blog today, and watch how it transforms your journey as a software developer.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or if you’re already blogging, I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. Also, if you have a favorite developer blog that isn’t already listed in the comments below, please share, and feel free to share your own as well! Finally, if you’re interested in learning about how I use AI to support my blogging habit, let me know that as well and I’ll integrate your requests into an upcoming article.
Happy blogging!