One of the most important aspects to consider before creating a tech blog is where to actually host it. Should you build a custom site on a brand-new domain, or should you opt for platforms like Medium, Dev.to, or Hashnode?
Also, if you are not a native English speaker, should you write in English or in your native language? Moreover, should your content be freely available to all users or under a paywall?
These are all good questions you must ask yourself before embarking on the journey of starting a tech blog. To help you sort out the doubts you might have, we asked Serena Sensini, an Italian tech popularizer and technical writer, author of several blog posts and even some books, to answer all those questions.
Let’s dive into this interview and learn some great insights on opening a tech blog from a successful and experienced technical writer!
How to Build a Tech Blog According to Serena Sensini
Describe yourself in a few words
Enterprise Architect at Dedalus, and tech popularizer by night. I’m extremely curious, I like to deepen every topic I deal with and I get bored quite easily. I’ve worn lots of hats during my tech journey, working as a web developer, data scientist, tech lead, and being a trainer. In 2019, I also published my first book with an Italian publishing house about NLP with Python, and in the last 3 years, I’ve published 4 more books.
In the meanwhile, I’ve launched a blog called TheRedCode.it, where I post about daily bugs, use cases, and guides working in the tech sector, and where I interview amazing experts to make the digital world more human-friendly.
Why did you decide to start blogging about technical topics?
I’m not a huge fan of religion, but I strongly believe in karma: one good action can come back in a moment of your life that you’ll really need, and that’s what I hope for my blog.
During my career, I’ve received a lot from the local tech communities I’ve been participating in, in terms of knowledge and invested time. I met some amazing people who helped me gain confidence and increase my skills with their collaboration, and that made me the person I am now. Lots of the hard skills I’ve learnt during these years have been possible by having access to different blogs, forums (oh, the dear old times), and through communities that made available different kinds of resources to train on topics such as developing and architecting software.
Giving back to the future generation has been my number one reason to start my blog and publish content every week: I wanted to thank those who helped me become who I am and help the future “me’s” to grow as much as possible having access to free resources that can be used to solve that problem at work which made them crazy, or just to get in touch with a topic that has been really tough for a long time.
How much has having a technical blog impacted your career?
I’d say a lot: in terms of communication, it has been challenging to make myself able to explain topics that could be easy to understand, but really painful to explain for those who haven’t been actively working on them. I’ve used this opportunity to stimulate my curiosity and delve into some topics I’ve been really keen on, but not having time to study.
Carving out some time to study architecture patterns, rather than to learn a new language or read some publications, has been the perfect chance to grow my skills and be always on the ball with the latest technologies available in our market.
Most developers start their blogs on platforms like Medium, Dev.to, or Hashnode. Why did you opt for a tech blog on a brand-new domain instead? And why did you choose to write technical content in your native language?
That’s a good question…
To be honest, I wanted something unique, and I wanted to experiment a little bit with having a brand-new platform to work with. When I started, I just wanted to share my work and my experience with different kinds of use cases, mainly because I’m used to taking lots of notes when I work and I’m into troubleshooting. I try to describe through schemas and words the reasoning I make to solve the problem, and then I use those to do some reverse engineering and build a post.
Medium, Dev.to, and so on are very well-known international platforms for those who work with technology, but one of the biggest issues in Italy is due to the language barrier: to be able to fully understand some topics, your English level must be at least a B2/C1, in terms of certification, and that’s not always possible. Especially for those who’ve been working for more than 10 years, English has not always been a priority, and it can be more difficult for those who are starting now on this amazing journey.
Writing in Italian, on my own website, and having the chance to grow little by little my audience has given me the chance to meet all those incredible people who read my posts and share their doubts, suggestions, and knowledge. I wanted to build something little starting from scratch and have the opportunity to see it grow step by step.
You must have learned a lot during these years of technical blogging in your native language. Any regrets, mistakes, or lessons learned you would like to share?
“Basic” content is underestimated: sometimes people reach me to ask for help on topics I may have considered trivial, forgetting that I’ve been in their shoes some time ago. For this reason, I’ve been posting on different topics dealing with different kinds of difficulties, taking into consideration those who can be a challenge for those who are starting to work with them.
Another important lesson: I’d have liked to be more prepared on social media marketing, for sure, and I’d have liked to give more credit to those people who work with them. I’ve always underestimated how time-consuming it is to be updated on how social media works and how you can take advantage to make your work successful.
What advice would you give to someone who would like to follow your path and start a technical blog?
Being consistent is the key, and being curious is the door to amazing opportunities.
Should technical content be monetized (e.g., behind a paywall), or should it be free?
It depends: I’m really into open source and I believe in open source initiative as a driver to make our world a better place; let’s say that my blog, aside from the reasons I’ve explained before, is a volunteer work. I use my free time to invest in studying or reviewing my work in order to share it: if only one person can solve their problem or learn a new skill, I’m grateful, and that couldn’t be paid.
That’s certain that content of such level, along with the hosting and the hardware costs, must be paid: since I’d like to keep this project as free as possible, I’m always looking for donations and support from communities and companies that can be hosted on the blog (following different conditions) to make it self-substantial.
Anything in particular you would like to bring attention to in the IT community?
Never underestimate the work that’s behind the scenes of technical topics: it requires a lot of time to write, represent, and test what you’ve been reading, especially if it’s dealing with some latest technologies. It can be hard, it can be challenging, but it’s totally worth it.
Serena, thanks for your time. It was a pleasure to have your insights on building a technical blog. Where can readers find you?
Conclusion
Should you start a technology blog on your site or on Medium, Dev.to, Hashnode, or a similar platform? Well, it depends…
As explained by Serena Sensini, a corporate architect and passionate tech writer, if you are looking to build something unique and want to experiment with managing a new site or target a local community, then you should opt for a new domain. On the other hand, if you aspire to engage with an international community of developers, then Medium, Dev.to, and Hashnode are all good options.
Thank you for reading! We hope this interview will help you make an informed decision when it comes to starting your tech blog.
