How to Choose the Correct Tags for Your Blog Posts: A discussion for New Steemers to Consider.

This morning, I responded to a comment form a new steemer named @brevebronovan who asked me a very good question: "How do I choose the best tags for my blog posts? "

I thought that this question was so good, that it prompted me to write a whole post about it, from my perspective and share it.

Let me start by saying that I am not an expert in choosing tag-topics. However, I have been on the Steemit platform for approximately 9 months and I contribute regularly in several topic categories that both pique my interest and are a match to my life experience.

Generally, you want to write about what "lights you up" and makes your soul shine.

This, in my humble opinion, will produced the biggest rewards for you, in the long run.

This means that I often choose to contribute to existing topics that I know something about, personally or that I might be trying some new technique in.

Usually, my posts are related to something that I think is worth sharing with others whom I think might share the same interest or have some existing experience in and be able to contribute to a discussion about.

To find a list of common, already established tags go to the home page on your Steemit Feed page, you will see the list of "already established" Tags and Topics on the very far right of your computer screen. (Look at where my arrow is.)

Continue to scroll to the bottom of the list and then click on Show more topics.

(The hand-icon is pointing to the link you click.) This will take you to a list of the Trending Topics. This is where your analysis skills come into play and you can match your interests to a tag based on the respective tags' posts, comments and payouts by volume.

Be selective about what tags you choose and look at the calibre of the posts already included in the tag. This will take a little bit of research time, on your part, to find out what other successful steemers have done in their posts. (Don't forget to pay attention to the other 4 tags that they thought were appropriate to use.)

You will quickly notice that both the "photography" tag and the "art" tag have lots of volume in them respectively but unless you are a photographer or an artist it could take you a considerable amount of time to grow a following in these tag categories due to the sheer volume and calibre of already existing content. It could be more difficult for you to become noticed. I'm not trying to dissuade you from using these tags but I always ask myself: "Is my photography good enough to use photography as a tag?" "Will my sun-set picture stand-out among the 1,000 other sunset pictures that already exist?" "Is the subject matter original and unique, enough?"

The screen-shots that I have used in this post are horrible and... on-purpose, I am using them in this way, to illustrate this point further.

I would never use photography as a tag on this post because it will only clog the photography tag and no one will be interested in computer screen-shots...even though they are unique to a period of time. They simply aren't good enough and they don't match the tag topic...if I set the shots up and used some kind of fancy lens or unique photography skill that I then discussed in my post, then they might warrant tagging my post in "photography". 

Now, you can establish new tags and topics of your very own, but it takes time and "repetition of use" before the Steemit platform recognizes it and will establish a new tag. So, if "drifting your car" is your thing and you want to establish "drifting" as a new tag/topic you would need to write about this subject very regularly and always use "drifting" in your tag selection.

Your first tag selection is the most important. My understanding is that once posted, it can never be changed.

However, the other 4 tags can be. Do your absolute best to tag your posts correctly the first time so that you don't have to change them. Know that if you choose to use a tag that doesn't yet exist or has low volume performance, it will likely be quite some time before other Steemers will see your posts and even know that you exist.

Being consistent in everything you do, gets noticed...even if you are writing in a topic that you don't normally, be consistent and you will be successful, but acknowledge that it will take some time. 

The exception to this, would be if you are already coming to the Steemit platform with a huge following that has migrated with you from another platform like twitter or your own already established blog, for example. Many new Steemers do come to this platform with an already existing follower base and consistently original content that they tend to blow everyone else out of the water with, and are instantly a Steemit sensation. This is not the norm. For most of us, establishing a reputation in a tag or topic takes time.

Another example of a personal Steemit experience, that comes immediately to my mind are the tags: Gardening and Steemit.

I'm an avid fruit, vegetable and flower gardener...but I'm not a Master Gardener, nor do I have a degree in botany, so I consider myself to be a gardening hobbyist, who is mostly learning. I also am not hugely savy on the intricacies of how Steemit truly works but I do think that I can shed some light on some basics from the perspective of someone who is middle age and was willing to give this platform a try.

Last Sunday, I wrote a post about deciding to take the plunge and plant asparagus roots and having the courage to try this...even though I was told by others that it is difficult to get these plants established and that it would be at least 3 years before I would achieve a harvest. I also drew the comparison between taking this gardening risk and the "supposed risk" of getting involved in Steemit and other cryptocurrencies because, just like planting the asparagus, a lot of other people "think" Steemit and cryptocurrencies are a waste of time and warned me against it.

I write about my gardening efforts a few times a month, but I never write about how the platform works.

 In this post, I used the tags: steemit, gardening, garden-trail, story and life because I wanted to express the idea that sometimes we have to test theories. We could be totally surprised by the outcome. (I have been surprised with Steemit and I'm so glad that I have given it a try... even though most of my family and friends won't and think that I am crazy for doing so.)

This post has done "o.k." and I'm happy with the outcome, given that gardening as a topic doesn't always show up on the trending tag and topics list and I hardly ever write in the "steemit" topic. It was an experiment for me and if I want to establish myself as a writer in these topics, I know that I must step-up in the consistency of both my garden posts and my steemit posts with the value of my post content. This post may have done better if I'd chosen another topic, rather than Steemit because although it is the truth, I was ultimately preaching to the already converted crowd who is taking Steemit and crypto-coins seriously.)

If you look closer at my own blog page, you can see that when I write about a topic that makes my soul sing...like cannabis plant medicine or food, for example, these posts do much better. This is because I have been consistently writing in these topics for months and I have trained people to expect content from me in those areas.

With all this said, of course there are exceptions and I would lead you astray if I didn't acknowledge that there is still a huge element of chance and there are other factors at play.

You also need to consider the number of active followers you have, the time of day of posting, along with the respective day of the week that you post. All of which are separate topics for analysis and discussion.

If you have anything that you might like to contribute, please comment and share your strategies. I think that "our chain" is only as strong as our weakest link and I for one, would like to see all Steemers strong with abundance at their finger tips.

@everittdmickey, if you see this, please note the change: Steemers, I will not be a wimp. ;)

I welcome your comments and invite you to follow me on my journey.

~ Rebecca Ryan