TIPS| How to Grow your Blog in 6 Easy Steps for Beginners

Currently locked my room door so no one disturbs me Lol.

 

So today’s post is all about growing your blog I mean i’m still a beginner and i still have a lot to do/learn but for some reason I get requests about how I curate my instagram page, how I blog and how they have noticed the growth of my blog, how I do it and get collaborations with brand. To be honest I’m not so sure HOW! but last night I got a DM and I was like “You know what I’ll help you out, i’d put together a blog post specially for you (@Jiksmia )” And this is me trying to scribble the little I know coupled with a bit of research.

Hence, this Post is for My bloggers who are just starting out and feel lost one way or another. Or Maybe a blogger who has been at it for more than a year and you feel there’s this certain stagnation with your blog. I hope this helps 🙂

Okay!

The Six Tips to growing your blog as a beginner

In no order whatsoever here are my six tips to growing your blog and getting noticed by brands:

1) STAY CONSISTENT

“Stay Consistent, Stay Relevant”

I’m sure you hear this ‘ALL’ the time, of course! Its major key not just in blogging but Life in general. From research I read that by blogging consistently,  you have a way to potentially generate 67% more leads. i.e more traffic to your blog.

Truth be told: It’s never easy staying consistent but when you have a goal with well laid out plans it makes it easier to follow. Blogging requires commitment & passion, It also needs promotion.

 

2) SET DEFINED GOALS FOR YOUR BLOG

Whenever we embark on a project or even a day out with friends I’d like to assume we all set out a goal even if its simply ‘having fun’ or ‘Eating out’ or ‘Talking about the latest episode of Game of Thrones”. As with any project or endeavour, setting defined goals will give you a vision and purpose and making short term plans to achieve this goals is even better.

Think about these few things( I took out of my research) to establish your goals:

Can you determine your “why” for writing?

Who will your content focus on and specifically target?

What value will your content bring to readers?

Is there a specific tone or voice you’ll deliver your information with?

Tbh none of these is easy to answer but as time goes by you’d find your place. So hun trust your instincts.

 

3) BLOG DESIGN MUST BE NICE

It’s one thing to drive traffic to your blog its another to keep them coming back for more. Your blog design is important. It’s like the cover of a book. If it’s boring, or cluttered, it will drive some people away even if your content is great.

For bloggers still on a ‘wordpress.com’ like ME its safe to use free themes, you do not need to go extra but when you decide to finally move to your own official ‘.com’ its okay to purchase a premium theme that suites you just make sure its clean.

A few of my fave blog designs

 

4) FIND YOUR BLOGGING VOICE/COMMENT ON OTHER BLOGS

When I first started my blog, I honestly didn’t know what direction I wanted it to go in or what my “blogging voice” was. I wrote a few posts and then along the way I found it. I’m not one to use big words (you’d have to google) I’m more of a narrative writer. Its okay to ask a few good friends to read and give an honest feed back.  Depending on what you want for your blog you work towards that.

Leave a comment on other blogs: This would help but your blog out there and noticed  

PS: Pleaseee for the love of God Be sincere, write more than a sentence. And you know what? If you’re really sweet and motivating, OTHER readers from that person’s blog will click over to view your blog.

 

6) PUT EFFORT INTO SEO 

Instead of those funny names “2017hmn.JPG” Name your photos something that has to do with your post. Also, add a keyword to your post and try using it in your post’s title, content, meta description, etc. Use relevant tags, and add a meta description (the description that shows up under your post title in a search engine). At work we use a plug-in called Yoast WordPress SEO it’s quite easy to use and extremely helpful. 

For Me; My Personal Blog, I still use a “wordpress.com” this limits my SEO to a few features, I have control over just my photo titles and alt text.

Very little things that matter about your blog?

• Proof reading every blog to ensure your spelling and grammar are correct before publishing.
• Checking that your site navigation and links all work properly, when you share a link be sure to always check it from another device.
• Ensuring you have an About page that tells people who you are and what your blog is about.

 

6) TAKE  LIT PICTURES/ HAVE A CLEAN THEME TO YOUR INSTAGRAM FEEDS

Yess! It’s the sixth for a reason, This is so important and what brands notice the most asides your following and engagement. As a Fashion/Style Blogger its advisable you take quality pictures & videos (My secret weapon, most brands like that), we all love looking at good images so why not give the best you can?.

+ A well coordinated instagram page would go a long way. Let it be clean and have a theme to it. Go through your fave bloggers or even style influencers who have a clean instagram and learn a few things. Is it a white theme you want? or Dark? or maybe with a lot of colors? You decide! Just stay consistent and go for something you know you can commit to.

About having pictures to post?

If you have a 9-5? Pick a weekend in a month and take pictures for the month both your style edits and your flatlays ( this helps in staying consistent ). If you do not have a camera you’d definitely have to reach out to a photographer who would be willing to help. In some cases you might have to pay (Take it as an investment). For flatlays no camera needed a good phone camera + perfect lightning + editing would do the trick.

Its always advisable to go through a few of your favorite bloggers, see what they have on their site , how they curate their instagram feeds, take a cue from them it would help guide you. Don’t copy just take a note of what they have or what you liked on their page and make it yours.

IG Page (@Thisthingcalledfashionn )

IG Page (@Tostos_)

 

IG Page (@Alealimay)

IG Page (@FindingPaola)

Research/ Read Up on your Niche

Researching is always good you learn, take time out to read about the niche you are blogging about, It’s an amazing way to gain insight on the latest style trends or blogging tips! Sites such as www.whowhatwear.com and www.refinery29.uk are great for learning how to grow your style and blog!

You might not be growing your following or reader base with this tip but you are doing is taking the time to learn the best ways to style looks or the best ways to grow your blog and that’s Important 

 

 

EXTRA TIPS

I haven’t tried any of these tips out, came across it while researching but i plan on trying the tips out, i’ll let you know how it goes or better still you can follow me here and see how they both work out for me:

Get Social On Twitter: I’m sure by now we all have an online presence on all the social media (Facebook, instagram, pinterest, Google+, twitter, snapchat etc.). For Me anytime a post goes up on my site it goes on twitter too, it’s automatically linked. But apparently you can do more than that.

-Start by following your favorite bloggers (Check their sites for username or link to their twitter). Click here to follow your fave blogger 🙂

-If they tweet something you like, Join the conversation or Get it started. And if you come across a blog post that you really like, share it and tag that blogger’s username. Not only are you doing them a favor that they will remember, you’re also giving your followers something new to read.

 

Schedule your posts: Oh Yess guys its totally possible, there are tons of free and paid programs that can help you do this, such as Buffer, Hootsuite, and CoSchedule.  I haven’t tried any, been meaning to though. It makes it easy to stay consistent.

-Schedule your posts so that they are sent through your social media outlets at varying times, several times a day. Why? Because your readers are all very different. Perhaps they live in different time zones or work at night as opposed to in the morning but you can always check your Instagram Stats to know where most of your followers reside, not so sure of facebook and twitter.

via Pinterest

 

In all you do it’s important to put yourself out there and NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK! Funny i’m still learning how to do this. I’m one who believes that if you do a good job people would be forced to notice regardless of you going up to them but still its important to network and make friends in the blogging world you can share moments with.

 

That’s all from Me

 

|Thanks for reading|

Till next time

 

xx

Nayonde