I get asked this question a lot, so today I’ll be sharing my tips on how to start a blog. It may be a little overdue, but better late than never, eh? So in today’s post I’ll be sharing a guide on how I started my blog and went full time in under 14 months. Let’s dive in!
Blog name:
First you’ll want to come up with a short but catchy blog name. The reason being is that you want it to be something that people can easily remember. I tossed around on 3 different names for a few weeks and asked friends and family what they thought. Your blog name will ultimately be your brand, so keep this in mind when deciding.
Hosting:
I started with blogger and bought my own domain from Go Daddy. Eventually I ended up switching to WordPress, due to growth. But blogger is a great place to start and so easy to navigate! I know bloggers that have bigger traffic than me and they still use blogger, so it’s all up to you which one you go with. Blogger also has free hosting from Google, which is a nice perk. However with WordPress you’ll have to pay for hosting. The only two hosting sites I trust are Bluehost and Siteground. They both have 24 hour customer service which is really important if something happens with your site that you cannot fix yourself. I personally prefer Siteground because they offer free switching from Blogger to WordPress and more importantly they have the most reliable servers in the entire web hosting industry.
Be original:
Ok so now that you figured out a catchy name and hosting, let’s cover being original. It’s really important to be yourself and not copy off of others. Some bloggers are exact replicas of other bloggers, and it’s super easy to spot. I’m not talking about getting inspiration from other bloggers, because that’s something that we all do. But when bloggers copy everything from one specific blogger even down to the pose. It’s super noticeable and not original. Remember, you are trying to create a brand and if you’re copying someone else, how does that set you apart and make you stand out in a sea of bloggers? So be yourself, because you are amazing!
Quality over Quantity:
Trust me 99% of the articles you will read about growing your blog will tell you more is better and that’s how you get lots of traffic to your blog. I can in-fact tell you that isn’t true. Promoting your blog post (Instagram, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Chictopia and ect.) should be where you spend most of your time. So don’t worry about having a ton of content starting out, instead focus on quality being creative, and promoting your blog posts. I wish someone would have told me this in the beginning, because I felt constantly pressured to upload 3 times a day to Instagram and put out more blog post, when in-fact I should have been focusing on quality photos and posts. Now I’ll skip a day here and there and won’t upload anything to Instagram if I’m not truly inspired by the content I’ve created.
Be consistent:
When I first started my blog in October of 2015, I set a goal of one blog post a week. This may not seem like a lot but when you’re working full time, trust me it’s plenty! After a few months I was able to work my way up to 2 posts a week and then so on. And eventually that led to me being able to go full time a year later. Consistency is key, so try to blog specific days of the week and schedule your posts for the same times each day. For example my readers know that I’ll have a new blog post out on the weekdays at 9am.
Thanks for reading my tips for how to start a blog! I hope you enjoyed today’s post, and please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
These are really useful tips! Thanks so much for sharing
Beauty Candy Loves
I found this really inspirational, I’ve been trying to expand my blog recently and been struggling a little. On social media I feel like I gain 10 new followers but then loose 20, I must be doing something wrong. As you said it’s not important to post daily on Instagram for example as long as when you do post, it’s good quality. I’ve been trying to only post images taken with my Canon Camera instead of iPhone as it’s better quality.
I like the fact you mentioned about being original as this is so important. It’s easy to copy other bloggers these days without even knowing it, and since your blog can get lost so easily in a sea of others it’s important to try and maintain your style of writing and the topics you love. Don’t just write about a topic because everyone else is unless you have a valid point for doing so.
I’ve also been thinking of moving over to WordPress but haven’t made the move yet I think working full time makes it difficult to maintain everything and make any changes necessary. I think i’ll get things together shortly, thank you for sharing this post 🙂
xx
Oh girlie I totally feel ya! Social media is changing by the hour it seems, and it’s hard to gauge. Hang in there girlie, I think this year will be a big year full of new opportunities for us influencers! xx
awesome post! YEah, I wish someone had told me that too. lol.
Haha! Yessss! xx
Thanks Tiffany for this helpful post!! Love reading about other bloggers’ advice!!!
xx,
Areli’s April // On Bloglovin
Tiffany,
Thank you for such a helpful post! I’m currently working part-time as a wardrobe consultant & personal stylist. I’m in the unique position where I’m working locally with a few select clients, but I want to leverage my blog and social media accounts to drive traffic to my blog and someday be able offer my styling services online.
xx
Jonathan
Thanks lovely for such wonderful tips.
Hey I have just discovered your blog and I’m instantly in love! I have just a quick question. You mentioned you went from blogger to WordPress. Was this an easy transition and how did you do it? I have mine on blogger but what to transfer to WordPress. Is it an easy process for someone who doesn’t have current knowledge in coding etc?
Thank you
Aw thank you so much! So I actually recommend starting with blogger if you are new to blogging. It’s very user friendly and I love that you don’t have to do a lot of coding. The switch from Blogger to WordPress was very smooth I would say, however maintaining it takes more work. Also I would not recommend switching on your own. I had my web design person do my switch for me, because switching would definitely require some heavy coding. Hope this helps and let me know if you have anymore questions! xx
Your photos are amazing! What camera/lens do you use? And do you edit your photos?
Aw thanks! I make my own presets in lightroom (which I highly recommend, or VSCO) My camera is a Nikon D750 🙂