Aside from being able to educate others, blogging is also a really great way to reinforce knowledge, build your brand, and earn money, amongst other things.
Most developers shy away from blogging because they think
they are not smart enough or they don't think it is important.
As someone who has been into tech blogging for quite some
time, I will be sharing some reasons why blogging is important for developers.
If you've ever wondered why developers should blog, then this article was
written with you in mind. I do hope you learn a thing or two from it.
Now let's get right into it.
Give back to the community
When you started learning how to code, you most likely read
a couple of tech articles to grasp that programming language. You know what?
Let's scratch that. You still read tech articles now that you are no longer a
code newbie.
If the assumption I made above is correct, that means you've
benefited from at least 1 tech blogger in the developer community at some point
in your career. So, why not write to help another developer too?
There's a high chance that this might not seem like an
excellent reason for you to start blogging but try to imagine those articles
that helped you out were not written by the authors and ask yourself if you
would've been able to understand those tech concepts at the time.
Blogging gives you an opportunity to give back to the
community, to help someone understand coding, and to inspire.
Improve your skill
Over the years, I have noticed that people think tech
blogging is only about educating others. But that's not true. I believe
blogging actually helps the author as much as it helps the reader.
Truth be told, most tech bloggers actually research the tech
concepts days or weeks before writing an article about it on their blog.
Because of this research carried out by tech bloggers, their knowledge about
everything they write about keeps improving. For instance, if I write about
ReactJS consistently for a year, I will be way better at ReactJS than I was the
previous year when I didn't write anything about it.
So, what exactly am I saying?
Blogging helps to educate others, but it will help you learn
about new things and improve your coding and communication skills.
Build your brand
At first, it may seem like nobody is watching or noticing
your articles. But over time, people will get to know you for the type of tech
articles you write. And that, my friend, is a good way to build your brand.
Blogging about a certain programming language or tech
concept consecutively will make you known in that respective developer
community. This can lead to recommendations, opportunities, job offers, and so
much more.
When recruiters see your blog posts, it can also increase
your chances of getting the job over others who don't write technical articles
because it shows them you are really knowledgeable about the subject matter and
you also have good communication skills. I mean, who doesn't love a developer
with strong communication skills? 😉
Make money
Oh yes, you can make money from blogging. In fact, it is
such a good way to make a passive income even while working as a full-time
developer.
Listed below are some ways to make money while blogging as a
developer;
- Ads: Adding
ads to your blog is one of the most popular ways to make money through
tech blogging. But most developers don't like seeing a lot of ads when
they are reading articles, so I will recommend using Carbon Ads because
it centered around content for developers and designers, so developer may
not leave your blog when they see these type of ads.
- Web
monetization: If you are not a fan of ads, you can
integrate Web Monetization on your blog.
- Paid
community writing programs: There are tons of tech companies and
communities that pay developers to write technical articles for them. Most
of them pay between 100 to 2000 dollars. Here's a list of some paid
community writing programs for developers.
- Affiliate
links: You can add affiliate
links from various tech companies on your blog posts.
- Community
funding: Getting community funding is also another way to make
money as a tech blogger. With a Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee account,
various people in the developer community can support you financially
monthly.
Conclusion
Blogging is a combination of sharing & gaining
knowledge. It can help you achieve great things & get better as a
developer.
My final words would be to remind you that tech bloggers have the great benefit of becoming lifelong learners because they need to be well-versed in the field they are writing to explain the concepts to readers clearly. So when you blog, you also help yourself too.