It doesn’t matter how far along we are in our blogging journey, there’s always something to learn. With this in mind, this post features the best books on blogging according to 22 business owners, marketers and successful bloggers.
Attitudes change, new technologies emerge and new strategies surface as a consequence. Learning then should figure near the top of every blogger’s agenda, irrespective of how long they’ve been running a blog.
You may have heard of some of the books on this list before. They may all be new to you.
Regardless, my hope is there is a book here for everyone and that each one will offer you something that’ll help you to be a better blogger.
So here we go…
Table of Contents: 22 Books on Blogging
- The Ultimate Guide to Link Building by Eric Ward
- Bloggers Boot Camp by John Biggs and Charlie White
- How to Blog for Profit, Without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup
- ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse
- Practical Content Marketing by Julia McCoy
- Instagram Secrets by Jeremy McGilvrey
- Web Copy That Sells by Maria Veloso
- Inbound Content: A Step-by-Step Guide To Doing Content Marketing the Inbound Way by Justin Champion
- How to Write Great Blog Posts that Engage Readers by Steve Scott
- Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging by Arianna Huffington
- The Essential Habits Of 6-Figure Bloggers by Sally Miller
- Content Chemistry by Andy Crestodina
- Everybody Writes: Your Go To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
- The Nuclear Effect: The 6 Pillars of Building a 7+ Figure Online Busines by Scott Oldford
- Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday
- From Nothing by Ian Pribyl
- Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho
- Blogging For Beginners: Work from Home, Travel the World, Provide for Your Family by Salvador Briggman
- How To Make Money Blogging: How I Replaced My Day Job With My Blog by Bob Lotich
- The Badass Blog Planner by Sarah Morgan
- How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
The Best Books on Blogging – 22 Recommendations
The Ultimate Guide to Link Building by Eric Ward
Recommended by Rob Berger, Owner of RobBerger.com
This book provides everything a blogger needs to know about getting backlinks to their site. It’s not about gaming the system. It’s about creating content worthy of a backlink.
The book is a mix of strategy and step-by-step guidance, and it’s as relevant today as it was when it was first published.
How to Blog for Profit, Without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup
Recommended by Benjamin Rose, Co-Founder of Trainer Academy
Ruth Soukup offers precious, practical advice on how to create your voice online and grow a profitable and unique blog.
She covers the fundamental points of how to write valuable content, the importance of social media engagement and building multiple revenue streams.
ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse
Tanner Arnold, President & CEO of RevelationMachinery.com
This was the first book that I read about blogging and would highly recommend to blogging beginners out there.
I think it does a great job of incorporating the basics of what new bloggers need to know in a really simple and easy-to-understand format.
Practical Content Strategy & Marketing by Julia McCoy
Recommended by John Greving, Head of Content and SEO at IWD Agency
Julia McCoy built an agency on content marketing. At 300+ pages, this book includes everything you need to know to get a successful blog off the ground.
It covers everything from brainstorming topics, tracking results and earning those all-important guest spots on other blogs. Save yourself a lot of time and frustration by starting with this book!
Instagram Secrets by Jeremy McGilvrey
Recommended by Brack Nelson, Marketing Manager of Incrementors
There are many books on leveraging Instagram to drive engagement, comments, and likes, but this book is not one of them.
Instead it will teach you how to grow a large following quickly, drive traffic and generate income from the platform.
It’s one of the most relevant books I would recommend to any blogger interested in building a large targeted audience on Instagram.
Web Copy That Sells by Maria Veloso
Recommended by Thomas Rhodes, Co-Founder of Exam Strategist
This book has been instrumental in helping me learn how to write effective, actionable content that has significantly improved our sales-generating processes.
My biggest takeaway from the book is highlighted by the following quote: “Words tell, emotions sell”.
While the book delivers specific and insightful tips across mediums, the author makes sure to tie all of her points back to your audience’s primary motivating factors for buying: emotions.
Inbound Content: A Step-by-Step Guide To Doing Content Marketing the Inbound Way by Justin Champion
Recommended by Jordan Hopkins, Freelance Digital Content Writer at HopsWrites
Justin Champion is HubSpot’s content marketing guru. His book takes a holistic approach to content creation as part of an inbound business model.
Instead of addressing only how to make a great blog post, he also shows the reader how to build valuable content that converts customers.
It’s loaded with case studies, diagrams and anecdotes from Justin’s business and others’, and covers the content that’ll help you take HubSpot’s free Content Marketing Certification course.
How to Write Great Blog Posts that Engage Readers by Steve Scott
Recommended by Cristina Moraru, Marketing Assistant at Media Training Ltd.
It’s difficult to start blogging especially when you’re used to writing academic articles only, but I learned many things from the case studies presented in this book.
Scott’s book takes a step-by-step approach to help you advance your blogging skills. It’s easy to read compared to more detailed and comprehensive books where every word needs to be translated and you don’t have to be experienced in writing blog posts at all.
With insights based on personal experience you’ll find useful tips, solid information and a great list of resources to help you on your way.
Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
Recommended by Jordan Rolf, Marketing Executive at EposNow
There are many books about social media, but only a small number stand out… Likeable Social Media is one of them.
It’s a great learning tool for those looking to delight their customers, blog readers or subscribers.
If you’re looking for clear instructions on how to engage with your blog’s social media audience on a professional and personal level, Likeable Social Media is one of the “must read” books about blogging.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Recommended by Andreas Johansson, UX Specialist at AndreasJohansson.se
The reason why I like this book so much is because it captures the challenges we as bloggers and content creators face all the time.
Specifically it talks about the challenge known as “the resistance”. This is the block we might get as we sit down to start writing content, and what we as bloggers can do to overcome this challenge.
If I could only recommend one book about blogging to new bloggers, content creators and online marketers in general, it would be this one.
The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging by Arianna Huffington
Recommended by Janice Wald, owner of MostlyBlogging.com
The book is in two parts. Part one gives the basics of blogging and part two offers interviews with actual bloggers who became stars in the blogging world and you’ll also learn about Arianna’s fame in the book.
It’s an all encompassing book – you get the basics of blogging as well as interviews with stars.
The Huffington Post Guide to Blogging shows it’s possible for us to become star bloggers like Arianna and the bloggers she interviewed.
The Essential Habits Of 6-Figure Bloggers by Sally Miller
Kylie Moore, Content Manager at The Loop Marketing
It seems like everyone on the Internet is now a content creator, but what people forget is that it’s a business – and like any other business, you have to put in the work to make it successful.
Nobody gains one million followers and brand deals worth thousands overnight; it takes time to grow an audience and create a sustainable brand.
In her book, Miller doesn’t just remind new bloggers of this, she shows them in a way that other authors don’t: by interviewing bloggers who now make over $8,000 per month.
The interviews are journalistic in nature, but approachable and digestible, offering realistic insights into how successful bloggers made their blogs work for them and easy ways to make it work for someone just starting out.
Content Chemistry by Andy Crestodina
Recommended by Sydney Myers, Founder and Creative Director of Dallas Hoops Cast
Content Chemistry is an essential textbook that teaches you how to use content to grow a community, a brand, and a business.
The book covers the principles as well as the practical application of using content, social media, SEO and email marketing to bring in traffic, build an audience and increase conversions.
Andy is also a terrific teacher! He can take a complex subject and explain it in simple, easy-to-understand guidelines. The book is full of charts and visuals that you can use as reference even after you’ve read it. I pull this book off my shelf all the time to reference a technique or principle.
Content Chemistry gives you the knowledge you need to take action.
Everybody Writes: Your Go To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
Recommended by Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO Mavens & Moguls
Handley argues that in an online world everyone is a writer, so you need to learn how to create content that attracts and retains people’s attention.
She provides practical tips, easy grammar and usage rules that are valuable whether you are working with a big brand or startup and demonstrates the best practices that will make your writing better.
Great advice we can all benefit from now more than ever.
The Nuclear Effect: The 6 Pillars of Building a 7+ Figure Online Business by Scott Oldford
Recommended by Stacy Caprio, Founder of Her.CEO
In this book Oldford outlines the exact steps he has used to help his own, and dozens of other companies to use the omnipresence technique to scale and become profitable.
The principles of omnipresence are based on human psychology, and when applied to a blog or a business, they can have mind-blowing effects.
The Nuclear Effect taught me so much about marketing and how to stand out to grow your blog, and I recommend this book to anyone looking to take their blog and brand to the next level.
Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday
Recommended by Jon Dykstra, Founder of Fat Stacks
A great book for bloggers who want to learn how to go viral online and grow their blog using viral online marketing strategies.
Holiday includes incredible stories of his own experiences with creative viral online marketing strategies and gives readers a blueprint for how they can achieve similar results.
It’s a great blend of case studies and real life examples combined with practical how to advice and a must read blogging book for any business person or marketer looking to explode their blog’s growth online.
Mike Beatty, Founder of Strong Home Gym
From Nothing really does walk you through how to set up a successful blog from scratch. The main thing you will learn from is how to use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to get your website found on Google.
It’ll also help you to figure out how to pick your niche, carry out keyword research and write articles so that Google will pick them up over time. Furthermore, it provides a holistic overview of how people can make money from a website.
It’s a super useful read for anyone starting their blogging journey and is my go-to book recommendation when anyone asks.
Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho
Recommended by Michael Humphrey, Founder & CEO of Z Grills
Though the book has been published years ago, its tips and methods are still relevant today.
Rather than being a writer’s guidebook, it focuses more on the technical side of blogging – from choosing a platform to using social media effectively.
Of course, there is more information that you can find online. But for beginners, this is a great start to get an idea of how blogging really works.
Recommended by Caroline Lee, Growth Marketer and Co-Founder of CocoSign
This is a book that gives abundant insights, whether you are somebody who is thinking of a career in writing a blog or if you simply need to study the art of blogging.
With tips on getting the most from your headlines and recommendations for composing blog posts, I recommend Blogging for Beginners to anyone interested in content writing.
As a content writer myself, I keep this book close to hand for frequent reference!
How To Make Money Blogging: How I Replaced My Day Job With My Blog by Bob Lotich
Recommended by Amira Irfan, Business Lawyer & Blogger at A Self Guru
How to Make Money Blogging was a huge inspiration for me and it changed the way I viewed blogging.
I had no idea you could make money blogging but this book showed me it was possible. I would not have known the full potential of blogging and how it can motivate others if I hadn’t read it. Indeed I recently quit my day job as a lawyer and became a full-time blogger.
If you have big dreams and want to be a full-time blogger one day, I highly recommend you give this book a read!
The Badass Blog Planner by Sarah Morgan
Michael Hamelburger, CEO of The Bottom Line Group
The Badass Blog Planner is a great resource for new bloggers who want to expand their skills in terms of content planning and execution through a specially designed workbook for blogging.
You’ll never run out of ideas because this one-year planner provides recommendations on how to create effective blog content, social media posts, products and services, email newsletters, marketing, advertising, budgets and website design.
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
Ben Drew, Founder of Fortunate Feet
While this isn’t a book purely about blogging, the life tips and productivity hacks are great lessons for bloggers.
Scott Adams is the creator/cartoonist of Dilbert, the comic strip about cubicle life in the corporate world. The book is a combination memoir and self-help guide. Adams’ story about creating Dilbert, and the advice he provides along with it, are just as applicable to bloggers as they are to comic strips.
The chapter on goals vs systems personally helped me the most. The idea is that instead of focusing on goals and milestones, we need to focus on daily systems to reach those goals. It
made me realize that long-term success is driven from the small tasks we do daily.
Summary
There’s no doubt that blogging is hard work : it takes a lot of time time, effort, blood, sweat and a few buckets of tears! We can make our journey more smooth by learning from others who’ve gone before.
You may not be a big reader and you may prefer learning by experience. However, the blogging world is littered with failures, some of which may have been avoided by picking up a book.
I hope these books about blogging provide some insights for you. I hope too that you might gain the benefits that some of the panel have gained from reading them.
Regardless, it’s worth remembering we don’t just learn by doing. We can learn by reading the thoughts and experiences of others… and books provide just about one of the best mediums for us to do so.
Thanks for reading.
Paul
I’d love to hear what you think are the best books on blogging. Please drop a comment below to tell me your picks.
