Here's what I learned in the first 7 days of actively blogging as a developer.

Introduction

Saying I'm new to blogging wouldn't be entirely correct. Before signing up on dev.to, I had already written a handful of blog posts on my own domain.

But even though they've been online for years, they never really reached any audience.

Last week, while reading an article on dev.to, I thought:

"Hmm... Why not try writing an article here to see how much (if any) attention it gets?"

To start things off, I decided to write a helpful, tutorial-ish article about something I came across while working on a side project.

My first post on dev.to

And there it was, my first post (exclusively) on dev.to:

At first, not much was happening.

But 3 days later:

The Twitter account behind dev.to (@ThePracticalDev) gave me a shout-out on Twitter:

I immediately saw people reading my post and following me on the platform.

Cross-posting

I stumbled across an article on "cross-posting" articles on dev.to.

I decided to cross-post one of my previous articles "Automatic Deployment using Docker and GitHub Actions" on dev.to.

The same thing that had happened to my first post, happened to the second one:

3 posts later...

After posting another article exclusively on dev.to, this is how my stats look like, 7 days after creating my first post on dev.to:

• 1,069 reads
• 200 followers
• 9 reactions

Conclusion

Posting or cross-posting on blogging platforms like dev.to, Hashnode or Medium can help your blog reach an audience.

However, keep in mind that blogging is about so much more than just clicks. Blog posts document your projects, personal journey, and growth as a developer.

Your posts don't need to be perfect and even if they're just a digital diary/glossary for yourself, they serve a very important purpose.

But still... There's a chance that your posts can help someone out there. So why not share your projects, research, and experience with others?

I'm curious what you think. Do you have a blog as a developer?
Feel free to share your experience in the comments!

Cheers.