How to start a successful blog


It seems as though everyone and their dog has a blog nowadays and it’s easy to see why. If Zoella can make a whole bunch of money from it, why can’t you? Well, not all bloggers ‘make it big,’ but a blog is a great way to get your opinions out there, enjoy new experiences, try different products and have a real feeling of accomplishment. So how do you start?

What is your blog going to be about?

This is the first step – deciding what you are going to blog about. Do you want it to be film reviews? Travel posts? Makeup and beauty? Or just your own life? Once you have figured out what you want to write about, that doesn’t mean you can only ever write about that one specific thing – a lifestyle blog is one that covers pretty much anything that the writer wants it to but it’s good to have a starting point.

How to start a successful blog

Be in it for the real reasons

You may have heard that bloggers get ‘free stuff’ and maybe you want a piece of that pie. Well, when bloggers are sent things to review they do get sent them for free, however, a lot of work goes into photographing a product, trying it out and writing a good post. It also takes a while for brands to want to send you things – after all, why would you send your products, at your own expense, to a blogger who has only posted three posts? Other bloggers and brands can sniff out someone who is only in it for the ‘freebies,’ and you won’t get a whole lot of respect in the community. Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons – the PR packages are a nice bonus!

Be real

Don’t try to be Zoella, just be you. Your readers will appreciate it if you are authentic and real with them and it will create a bond of trust. If you always say that everything you review is amazing, they will get bored. If you review something and say, it’s great when it’s not because you are getting paid, and then your readers then have a bad experience with the brand they will lose trust in you.

Don’t stress

Perhaps you struggle with spelling and grammar and worry that that will make you a bad blogger. Obviously good practice would be correct spelling and grammar as it makes it a lot easier to read; however, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start a blog! Use software like Grammarly to help pick up any little errors you make and as long as what you’re writing is good, your readers won’t care!

How to start a successful blog

What are you giving?

Blog posts should be entertaining, informative or useful. If you are just posting very short posts about not much at all, then don’t be surprised if you don’t get a lot of readers. Try to post regularly so that there is plenty for your readers to enjoy when they go to your website. Some people find a schedule helps but others feel that a schedule makes them too stressed – and after all, this is supposed to be fun too!

Remember, a successful blog is in the eye of the beholder. There is a whole load of metrics used in the community from Domain Authority to monthly readership, but try not to get too hung up on all of that. Those things will come! Engaged readers are more important than thousands of followers. If you enjoy writing, your readers will enjoy reading. Good luck!

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