I recently reached 1M views on this platform. ๐
I don't usually write about personal milestones but let's make an exception.
I just wanted to share who I am and some tips you can take from my journey.
Just a normal guy who is good at writing.
Iโm just someone who writes genuine technical content that is valuable for developers. I got serious in writing from the start of Feb 2024.
I started writing casually (just to share stuff), but one blog about open source really got viral. That hooked me so much that I decided to pursue writing as a full-time passion.
Since then, I've been writing on a bunch of topics, mostly related to open source.
If you're interested to know more about me, check my portfolio at anmolbaranwal.com!
Here are my top 4 sources of traffic:
- Google - 342k views
- Daily.dev - 177k views
- Devto - 87k views
- Other external referrers - 330k
Got massive readers from many platforms including Bing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Twitter, Perplexity, Facebook, Yahoo, Brave, ChatGPT, Substack and more.
A few things Iโm proud of:
โ 3x Top Author. That top 7 badge on the profile provides credibility and it's something you cannot cheat for it.
โ DEV Team introduced a new tag because of my article about ๐12 things you didn't know you could do with DEV. I created this for folks who are new to this platform.
โ My open source guide was picked by the official GitHub community. This article is the most I'm proud of because it really helped a lot of open source folks.
โ My articles have been featured in several newsletters, websites, official channels like LangChain and published one of my blogs in Level Up Coding (200k+ followers on Medium).
If you've read this far, you might have a wrong idea about me.
I'm not special.
I'm definitely not very talented.
You can find 100x better writers than me on Medium.
Getting more views doesn't mean that you're a better writer.
Even creating clickbait content can give you views, so that's a very wrong perception. It's just a number.
It does feel amazing when there are people out there who read my content. So I'm really grateful for the support of this community.
The only regret of mine is that I don't get much time to make new projects. Other than that, I'm happy with my journey.
When I was starting, there was nobody to guide me. I didn't even know who to ask for help. That is why I created a discord community where other folks can directly ask me about their doubts (free forever). If you're someone who wants to learn about this field, definitely join us.
Tips to get you started.
To be honest, I never even expected to reach 200k views let alone this. If somebody told me about this a year ago, I wouldn't have believed the guy. So, if someone like me can do it, you can too!
I'm neither a guru nor an expert.
Just sharing some tips you can take from my experience.
1) Always try to create original content.
I've seen lots of people writing the same thing. You seriously don't need to write about React concepts that 100s of articles have already covered.
But if you can include your personal experience with proper structure, that's a very different thing. Others will value your opinions if you have a concrete reason for it.
In this case, it's a personal experience and that has a lot of value in this AI world.
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2) Never use AI to write.
I've said it too many times, stop using AI to write. If you see my first couple of articles (2 years back), you can notice that it was written through AI. Trust me, nobody likes to read that cringe AI generated content.
You will neither build your reputation nor improve yourself as a writer.
Don't confuse it with learning. It's okay to use Perplexity or AI tools to learn concepts (or even building). Learn it and then write in your own words in a way that's easy to understand.
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3) Write simple titles so it's easier to understand.
Make it very simple, so that even someone who knows nothing about the field can actually understand.
Let's say you see an article with the title:
โ 11 mind-blowing proven methods for making code reviews 10x effortless
โ
11 practical tips to make code reviews easier as a developer
โ Recipe Genie supercharged with AI.
โ
How I built an AI recipe generator app.
It's a very high chance, that you will click the 2nd one in both of the cases.
According to my experience, keeping it simple would work way better.
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4) A strong title & banner catch attention.
The title and banner matter a lot if you want people to click on your blog.
You can stick to a simple theme for your banners so they look consistent. I did this for 30-40 blogs and people could recognize my style instantly.
It's just a form of personal branding. Right now, I create banners using the AI tool (because it saves a lot of effort) and I'm not a designer so it's hard for me to create a nice attention-grabbing theme.
This is my banner style. Earlier, I used an orange theme (which you can see in my older posts).
If I had to pick a perfect banner and title, this blog by Jessica would be the best example.
It's Catchy. Simple. Great.
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5) Make friends and support each other.
This is the secret no one talks about. Imagine someone regularly reading, appreciating and commenting on your blogs.
Once they do that x number of times, you will instantly notice them. They are doing it for free, so you will want to support them too. Thatโs how you grow.
Follow good writers, support them and eventually, they will do the same for you.
Itโs not mandatory, but reading is a great habit. I have learned a lot from some amazing writers here.
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6) Consistency and quality matters equally.
One of my first viral blogs came after a gap of 6 months. It was ๐ Shortcut to Find Open Source Projects 100x faster. You can check the timeline.
Solving a problem is more important than consistency. That doesnโt mean consistency doesnโt matter, Iโve been writing every month since Jan 2024. But in the end, quality matters as much as just showing up.
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7) Learn how to write better.
The best habit you can get is reading blogs (I use daily for that). Now, try to understand why did you click that one blog out of all the ones on the internet. Be curious as it will teach you more than any guide out there.
Will
you
Write
Like
This
No right? Format it correctly.
Any content should be easy to read and digestible. Learning how to write better will teach you how to structure your blog properly, like balancing text and images for context.
It would be tough if you're not a native English speaker (neither am I). I just watched a bunch of movies since childhood but writing short posts on LinkedIn gave me a basic idea. That is why I always write in shorter sentences.
It can be anything for you, just explore and see what works. You can also check out this.
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8) Share your blog everywhere.
I personally share my blogs on Discord (in my community), X, LinkedIn and Daily.
If you're writing something that provides value, share it everywhere.
Share it on X.
Share it on YouTube.
Share it on Instagram.
Share it on Reddit.
Share it in a newsletter.
Share it with your mom.
Share it with your dad.
Share it with your ex.
Share it with your coworker.
Share it in group chats.
Okayโฆ that was too much, I know. ๐คฃ
A simple rule of thumb: any platform with 1B users will always have your target audience.
It's your job to share.
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9) Don't follow advice blindly.
This might be controversial, but I'm the type of guy who believes that nobody should follow any advice blindly.
Yes, not even these tips.
Because there can be an infinite number of factors that are responsible for your growth. So, take advice and improvise based on your own experience.
Thatโs better than following a roadmap step by step just because someone said so.
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10) Learn, adapt and improve with every blog.
You would have seen a lot of people saying, Just start!
Chris recently completed 8 years on this platform and his advice is the same.
The more you write, the easier it gets.
If someone hates your content, ask them Why and most likely, they will let you know. Take feedback, improve and try to learn a lot. Thatโs all you need to get better over time.
I've got a lot of feedback over time so that's one of the strong reasons why I've grown faster.
Here are 3 lessons that stuck with me.
I've been writing for the past 14 months and have published more than 70 blogs. Along the way, people have loved and criticized my work.
Some agreed, some disagreed. And that's fine, it just means there's always more to learn.
1) Try things before jumping to conclusions.
Listicles get hate, but I wrote them anyway.
People donโt like listicles, but I still wrote and researched everything myself. Sometimes I went through 70+ projects just to find the best 10-15.
Eventually, I shifted toward writing more guides than listicles.
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2) Not every post will perform well and thatโs okay.
We as writers want to go viral with every post, but thatโs not how it works.
If your content doesn't perform poorly, you will never know where to improve. If there is no sort of improvement, you will be stuck as a writer.
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3) Running out of ideas is normal.
There are hundreds of topics we can write about, but it's hard if you want to keep things original.
Any problem you've faced recently can be a great thing to write. Instead of just explaining how to add custom instructions in Cursor, provide templates and create a full guide. That's 10x more valuable.
If you're looking for something others want to read about, you can check out answerthepublic.com.
That's it.
I've shared everything I know.
I hope you will start writing now. If you have any questions, just ask me in my community or comments.
Have a great day! Until next time :)
| You can check my work at anmolbaranwal.com. Thank you for reading! ๐ฅฐ |
  
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Top comments (12)
Hi Anmol,
Iโm truly impressed by your achievements and the humility in your words. I absolutely love your post! thereโs so much to learn!
Regards,
Ram
Awesome man. Happy to hear that this was useful :)
I simply love these raw writes. Keep 'em coming, Anmol. You've accomplished a lot to be proud of, just wow! ๐
Thanks yaar! Raw writing is really powerful, but yk technical stuff doesnโt allow us that much.
Grateful that you took the time to read this! ๐
thanks!
thanks for reading Mayank.
Woooo
Hooo. I completed it haha.
Congrats @anmolbaranwal Keep the good work!
Totally agree! I like to think we can't predict our next hit. That's why we should keep writing and sharing value. Like two weeks ago, I had a viral post. The next ones? Back to normal.
My advice for anyone starting? Just start, learn as you go, and adapt. If we wait to be experts or "real" writers, we never do it.
Anmol man!! This is awesome ๐
Thanks for sharing the tips, and keep up the great work!
๐ Congratulations! Well deserved! ๐
As someone who wants to become a better writer and post more regularly on DEV, this article really resonates <3
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