Can I share with you a secret? Just promise you won’t tell anyone. Femaleblogpreneur was my first blog… Whaat?! I know. Yes, my first blog was a blog teaching people how to blog. Funny right? Well now that you know let me tell you how I managed to look like a pro even though I’m just a beginner.

Well I completed a Diploma in Blogging and Content marketing, which gave me a basic foundation for blogging but in all honesty I couldn’t depend on that alone to achieve success as a first time blogger. There was so much more I had to learn myself and here are tips that have helped me to gain recognition in the blogging world. I hope these tips will help you in your journey as a blogpreneur.

1. Planning is key

To be honest when I found out the shocking stat that 75% of blogs fail in their first 6 months, I was kind of discouraged. But I thought about it and realized its most probably because most bloggers don’t plan their blogs the same way one would need to do when making a business plan.

If you want your blog to become a business, then plan it as if it is one. If you don’t want it to become a business, then simply don’t. It’s not as hectic as it may sound. It’s small things like planning how you are going to market it, which platforms you will use, how often you will post, who your target audience is and how you will reach them. Things like that.

Plan your theme, your hosting platform and all those details, and you will realize that you will look like a pro even when you are novice at blogging.

2. Research will make you an expert

Do a lot of research about your niche so you are up to date. Research your post ideas before you publish them. Can’t emphasize this enough. Look for people in your niche, find out what they are posting about and make sure your posts are better than theirs so that you’re not just posting but you’re adding value and unique content to the world. If your content is either of less quality or is indifferent from your competitors or other people in your niche, then nothing really separates you from them and readers have no reason to prefer your blog over theirs. So uniqueness is key!

By researching you also get more knowledgeable about the topics you blog about and this helps to establish you as a professional in your niche. Most times when people are on the internet they are looking to learn something new or to be entertained, if your content is not well researched or planned and doesn’t reflect relevant experience then it will most likely not be interesting or educative to readers.

So research, research, research!

3. Connections are the way to go

The blogging community is one of the most supportive and friendly ones out there. We are all trying to reach a wider audience so helping each other is the best way for all of us to grow.

Find fellow bloggers to partner up with, befriend, follow and support. These connections will help you grow as blogger and also helps you to learn from others and get inspiration from them. The best places to find these connections are on social media.

Which takes me to my next tip…

4. Social media should be your best friend

Not in a literal sense cause we all need a real best friend, but in the sense that it should become the cornerstone of your blog marketing. I use social media to drive most of my blog traffic and you should too. Learn and try out different strategies to find out which ones work best for you, as well as which platforms you prefer to focus on. There are several social networks these day, don’t try master all of them it most probably won’t work (speaking from experience) instead pick 2-4 depending on how well you can manage to spread your efforts among them.

Make use of social media scheduling tools like Tailwind (for Pinterest scheduling) and Buffer for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They will lighten the burden of social media for you and you can be able to spend less time on it while maximizing it.

Be active and use hashtags to reach more people.

Here’s a brief guide for my most preferred platforms:

Pinterest

First of all, switch your Pinterest account to a business account, if you intend to use it to drive traffic to your blog. Follow other bloggers especially those in your niche. Share your posts’ pins (high quality ones please) and re-pin other bloggers’ pins so that they can do the same for yours. Next, look for group boards where you can promote your pins and ask the admins to add you. Once they’ve added you, you will be able to reach more people by pinning through those boards.

Follow my Pinterest account to find examples of group boards I use, as well as inspiration on how your pins should like here.

Instagram

Firstly, switch your Instagram account to a business account and include your blog’s link in your bio. Include updates of new blog posts in your Instagram stories. Follow other bloggers in your niche as well as other niches in general. This is how you can use Instagram to network. Like their posts and comment as well (genuinely) and in so doing they may follow you back and replicate the effort. Their followers may find you as well and they may become yours too.

Facebook

Look for blogging groups to join (there are many!) and share your links on each blog promotion thread they have. That’s what of them are for. This will drive traffic to your blog as well as make you connections with other fellow bloggers if you make an effort to engage with the group members. Also find some Facebook pages to follow that are related to your niche. Most people will post blog updates and some other inspirational information you that can help you grow. To be honest this is one platform I need to put more effort on for my blog, I haven’t gotten much response for the page as I would have liked. You can check it out here and help me change that.

Twitter

I underestimated Twitter the first days of blogging but it has been my second best source of traffic after Pinterest. On Twitter look for blogging pages or blogger RT accounts and these will help you reach a lot of people on Twitter if you use their hashtags. The platform is not as saturated as the other three so chances of exposure are higher if you master it. Follow my account here to find some examples of such accounts to follow.

5. Hard work pays off

Be consistent in your efforts and eventually it will pay off. Produce high quality content always and prioritize that over quantity.  People will keep coming back for more and if your blog is monetized then the income will soon come rolling in. If you put in the work, then you will reap what you work for. Try not to work too hard though, instead work smart; it’s the more productive way to go.

It’s easy to lose motivation sometimes but if you keep your head in the game and work smart then you will soon see results. Follow my Instagram page for regular motivation and positivity here.

6. An effort a day keeps the traffic coming

One of my daily goals is to do at least one thing a day that will benefit my blog no matter how small. Now I’m not talking about writing and publishing content on a daily basis but I mean doing some little research on your niche a day (e.g. an article from another blogger), posting on your blog’s social media, re-pinning pins to grow your blog’s Pinterest account, participating in blogger networks or other things along those lines. But try to make it a daily habit to do a least one small thing that will benefit your blog or blogging expertise. Little efforts go a long way!

7. Your blog design speaks on your behalf – maximize on its design

Invest in a premium theme! Its honestly not that much if you buy from the right places and it will be so worth it for several reasons other than the professionalism of your blog. It will boost your site SEO and enable you to add extra features not available on free themes as well support for specific features you may want to add to your blog.

My top recommendations to find high quality themes at affordable prices are Themeforest, Creative Market and Restored316 (you can find more on my Resource page. And if you want a powerful and modernized theme for all uses then Divi is definitely the way to go. It is super easy to use because of its powerful and simplified front end editor.

A nice looking theme will easily make your blog look professional and can hide the fact that you’re a newbie blogger. It basically speaks on your behalf and gives a unique impression on your blog visitors that your writing doesn’t. You’ll be surprised how many people will come back not because they like to read your content but they are just drawn to the design of your blog, so make it count!

I hope something there was helpful. If so, please let me know in the comments below.

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