The most common problem of beginner front-end developers is that they don’t have online presence. Having a strong portfolio is only a part of that process. A blog can be a great tool for making yourself known and noticed on the internet. If you plan to become a contractor or freelancer, it can be a source of clients for you.
I personally ran a web development blog for 10 years, and I can say it has been one of the best decisions for my career. Let’s go over few reasons why blogging is good for your development as a web developer and obviously for the community as well.
Opportunity to learn
You don’t have to be an expert to start a front-end development blog. Everyone has expertise in certain area of front-end development. And in case you don’t think you are knowledgeable about anything, even better – it could be an opportunity to learn.
For instance, this blog post on SimpleFrontEnd about working with forms could be a great learning opportunity for the person writing it: https://simplefrontend.com/clear-form-after-submit-in-react/ .
There’s a saying that you can only truly know something if you can explain it to others in simple words. Blogging is an easy way to explain things you think you know. If it turns out that you’re not as much of an expert as you thought, then writing about it will be an opportunity to gain an in-depth knowledge.
More importantly, keeping a blog can be an opportunity to learn writing as well. It is a useful skill because web developers not only have to write code, but also comments for one another.
Stay up to date on programming trends and technologies
Blogging about front-end development is a great way to stay updated on latest changes in your technology. It can also be an opportunity to explore other tech stacks and see if there’s anything else for your application.
Sometimes you will learn a new language and have recruiters reach out to you.
Keep it focused
If you want people to follow your blog, write about one topic consistently. The focus of your blog can be very narrow, like one specific front-end framework. You could focus on React, for example. Alternatively, you can dedicate your blog to front-end development in general.
Be consistent
If you decide to publish weekly blog posts, stick with that plan. There is nothing more frustrating than expecting a new blog post and not getting it. If you anticipate that certain time will be difficult for you to write, then write in advance.
Writing technical tutorials in advance also gives you time to proofread them before publishing. It’s a bad idea to write something the day you plan on publishing it. It’s much better to proofread it the next day, or even three days later, to look at it with a fresh perspective.