7 Reasons
1. Search
When potential employers search for your name, your professional blog should be the first thing they see, not your personal social media accounts. This way, your professional accomplishments take center stage rather than potentially embarrassing personal posts.
2. Standout
Having your own blog, especially with a custom domain, sets you apart from other developers. It’s a unique selling point when job hunting, as not many developers maintain their own blogs.
3. Portfolio
Your blog also serves as a portfolio where you can demonstrate your knowledge and skills on specific topics. It eliminates the need for interviewers to ask if you’re familiar with certain concepts or technologies, and affirms your expertise on the said topic.
4. Knowledge base
Your blog can act as a handy reference for solutions to problems you’ve previously solved. Over time, you’ll accumulate a wealth of personalized knowledge that no Googling and GPTying will be able to beat.
5. Learning
Maintaining a blog encourages you to keep learning and updating your skills, as you can’t keep writing about the same things over and over gain. In addition, writing about the things you’ve learned often results in a deeper understanding.
6. Communication
Blogging helps you improve your ability to explain complex concepts in simple terms, thereby honing your teaching and communication skills which are crucial for securing more senior roles.
7. Opportunities
Your blog can invite new opportunities, such as job offers, client projects, and collaborations. Visitors can get a sense of your skill level just by browsing your blog. If you fit the profile they are looking for, they may offer you opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Conclusion
Sold yet? If yes, then go start your blog, write your first post, and ping me on LinkedIn so I can checkout and support your blog.
Just a quick word of advice: don’t try to build a blogging platform from scratch. You’ll end up spending more time building than actually blogging. By the time you’re finished, you might have lost interest in blogging and still have zero blog posts to show.
Do the blogging first and if you’re still blogging after a year, then I give you permission to build your own from scratch 😜
Here’s a few basic list of blogging platforms to start from:
Ghost – highly recommended (what I’m using), minimalist but feature-rich, fast & modern feel, can be self-hosted.
WordPress – highly customizable, well established theme and plugins marketplace, may show its age, can be self-hosted.
Hashnode – highly discoverable, built-in developer community, still new so it only has very basic features, cannot be self-hosted.
See you on your blog!