Unlock the Secrets to Tech Blogging: A Call for YOU to Step Into The Limelight

I had been considering tech blogging for almost a year, wanting to expand my knowledge of programming and help others learn from my experiences. A few months ago, I finally decided it was time to take the plunge and commit to actively blogging.

This keeps me accountable, and when I document what I learn, new questions arise that inspire me to research further.

Working in tech thrusts you into a wild world of challenges and how you respond to them determines whether you're an average or proficient programmer.

Creating a blog is an incredible way to make your mark in the tech field and show off your expertise. This can be especially useful if you’re at the mid to junior dev level and need an edge to stand out from the crowd trying to break into the industry. It can also help bolster your network of important contacts.

By writing blogs consistently, you can demonstrate your ability to stay up-to-date with new technologies and trends in the field. You may even have a chance to weigh in on broader conversations about coding practices and potentially locate problems in existing codesets.

Moreover, developing blog posts provides an avenue for personal growth as it necessitates critically analyzing technologies in relation to their specific applications. In other words, it encourages deeper thinking and strengthens problem-solving skills.

Finally, tech blogging cultivates open dialogue between developers and non-programmers which allows us to consider social implications when looking at development approaches.

Altogether, tech blogging is an excellent way to advance your career in the technology field and gain valuable experience. It is also a platform for expressing yourself creatively and conversing openly with other professionals.

With all that being said, one might wonder where they might begin their journey as a tech blogger. For the time being, I prefer to keep things simple, so I use Blogger. Blogger is a popular option that many beginners opt for because it is free, user-friendly and offers helpful tutorials. It also allows for custom domain names, making it easier for readers to find you online. Blogger also has basic SEO capabilities natively build in and allows you to control the layout of your blog posts with HTML or CSS code. The downside is that users are limited in terms of customization options available.

But there are many other blogging platforms and static site generators that are competitors of Blogger. Here are a few examples:

1. WordPress: WordPress is another popular choice for tech bloggers. It's an open-source content management system (CMS) which makes it highly customizable and can be integrated with other platforms such as Google Analytics. WordPress does require more technical knowledge than Blogger though so might not be suitable for those just starting out.

2. Ghost: Ghost is a great option if you're looking for simplicity over complexity when creating your blog posts as it has a minimalist design but still allows you to add tags, categories and create newsletters easily. However, Ghost is not open source like WordPress so there are fewer customization options and plugins available compared to WordPress.

3. Jekyll: I'm honestly torn between using Hugo and Jekyll in the future. Jekyll is an excellent static site generator mainly used by developers who want more control over their website’s content without having to worry about coding from scratch each time they need something updated or changed. It's also an open-source platform that YOU can actively contribute to, so it's definitely worth looking into to build your portfolio and network with other devs.

4. Gatsby: Gatsby is another great option for tech bloggers who are looking for performance along with modern web technologies like React JSX and GraphQL integration integrated into their blogs or websites. Gatsby comes with a large plugin ecosystem allowing users the ability to customize most elements of their websites down the line in order to suit their needs better while keeping good performance throughout the project lifetime. Like Jekyll, Gatsby is also open source, so you can contribute to Gatsby's code base and community.

5. Medium: Medium is a popular online publishing platform that allows you to write and publish articles on a range of topics. It offers a simple and intuitive interface, as well as features like tags, categories, and a built-in audience. I have a few coworkers who post on Medium. This option won't provide you with your own site, but you can build visibility to yourself or your own personal website.

6.Hugo: Hugo is also an excellent choice for developers who want to exercise more dominance over their website. It's a platform that is cherished for its agility, security, adaptability, and customization capabilities. Besides, since it's also an open source platform, it's a perfect way for developers to contribute to its development on GitHub. As a Go developer, I find Hugo to be the most attractive of the open source options because it's written in Go.

When beginning to think about tech blogging, you have many different platforms and tools at your disposal. Before making a decision on which one to use, it’s important to understand the different features of each platform.

I hope this advice will help you out. Enjoy the coding journey!