My Blogging Tips

As someone who has been blogging for nearly eight years now and I accumulated over 40,000 page views. I feel like I have some knowledge on how to blog, so I thought I'd share some of my blogging tips with you whether you have a blog, thinking of starting a blog or are just plain curious then this one is for you. 

Let's get started

1. Why do you want to blog?

Something really important to figure out when starting a blog is why do you want to blog. Are you passionate about something whether it's fashion, makeup, gaming etc. and you want to have a platform to share it on? Do you enjoy writing and inspire to be a journalist/writer then blogging could give you that experience? Are you too scared to start a YouTube channel because you don't want to show your face, so blogging is the next best thing? Whatever your reason is then always keep that in the back of your mind. Don't go into blogging if you expect to get millions of page views and start earning lots of money as well as getting free products because you will be disappointed. Don't go with high expectations that your blog will be successful because remember there are millions of blogs out there for many people to read and your blog is just one in a million. Of course, I am here to offer you some tips to make your blog a little more successful. 

2. Spell and Grammar check your posts

Now, you may think you are the best writer in the world that you just write the post and instantly publish it without proofreading for any spelling and grammar checks. There is nothing more off-putting than reading a blog post and it's filled to the brim with lots of spelling and grammar mistakes. Of course, you're allowed to get away with it one or two times but if it's consistent then people may not want to read your blog anymore. This is something that I did in the beginning but reading back on some of the awful spelling and grammar mistakes plus random sentences that don't even make sense I knew I needed to change. I started writing the blog post as I would but now, I copy it into a word document to give it a full spell and grammar check to make sure everything is spelt correctly. I then proofread each sentence to make sure it makes sense because sometimes you may spell words correctly but it's the wrong word you want to use so always proofread your blog posts before publishing. It just shows you care about each post you make and are making the effort to make sure each one has no mistakes in it. 

3. Include images and a title card

Including images in your blog just makes it more interesting because it's fair enough to read a blog post but it might be a bit boring without pictures. Although it's not always the case as some posts don't have images. A perfect example is this blog right now as I'm offering tips. However, I've learned that something you always need on your blog post is a title card. This makes it easier when sharing your blog online so instantly from the title card the reader knows what your blog post is about. Below is a comparison of a blog post I did in 2014 where there's no title card and I didn't even enlarge my images to a 2020 blog post where I have a title card. Which one looks more interesting to read to you? The more updated one. Also, enlarge your images because you can barely see the small image on your blog, and it just looks way better when it's enlarged.

4. Share your blog

There is no point in having a blog if you don't share your posts on social media. I know it's scary, but you need to do it to get the page views. You can't publish a post expecting people to see it if you don't even share your blog. You do notice the benefits. One thing I do is share it on Pinterest. I've created three separate Pinterest boards and every time I make a new post, I always share it onto those three boards. Another thing I always do is share it with Twitter and include lots of hashtags which I also included in the post's label bar too. I mainly use typical hashtags so that some people might search for and therefore may come across my blog post that relates to it. This is where having a title card helps because when sharing your blog post the first thing someone will see is your title card. Think of it as a YouTube thumbnail because that's the first thing someone will see of your blog. So definitely share your blog on social media. Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram are all great places to do it. 

5. Bloglovin

I'd highly recommend creating a Bloglovin account on your blog because it's a way for people to follow your blog and it's a place for bloggers to share their posts with other bloggers. It automatically shares your post whenever you create a new one and it's just a great way to know how many people follow your blog. 

6. Be consistent

This is important to do when running a blog is to always be consistent with your posts. As someone who has had numerous bloggers block and gaps between posts. An example is my 2021 blogging year. However, it might seem like not such a big deal but just think you could have lost some potential regular readers during that time if you keep being inconsistent with your posts. My biggest advice is to plan. Each time you get the motivation to write a blog post, don't just write one post. Write a few more and schedule posts. It's important to have a consistent posting schedule. Even if it's just once a week, at least your readers will be reassuring that every week there will be a new post on your blog. Plus it's a great feeling knowing you have several posts scheduled in advance so if you do have a bit of blogger's block then you won't have to panic too much because you know you have scheduled posts to go up. Consistency is key when it comes to blogging. Think of it as a YouTuber. If a YouTuber stopped posting regularly or is inconsistent with their content, then are you going to stay subscribed to them. Blogging is very similar in that sense so always be consistent with your content. Try to come up with a schedule for yourself for example posting once a week and remember to remind your readers when they can expect a new post. Have a little image or page sharing your blogging schedule so that your readers can always be reminded when to come back to your blog. It will help you out in the long run if you're consistent with your posts. 

7. Have a notebook dedicated to your blog

This may not work for everyone, but it does work for me. Sometimes an idea can pop out of nowhere and you need to quickly write it down. Having a notebook that's just for your blog helps with that so that you can list down your ideas and have them all in one place so if you're stuck for what to blog about, you can have a read of any of your previous ideas that you never got around to writing. It's also a place to plan out any posts you may have or if you're thinking of doing something special like posting every day for a month, make a list of all the posts you want to do for that month. It may be old school but sometimes it's nice to have something physical in your hands where you can write out ideas or even blog posts themselves while you're out and about. Another thing I found myself doing was writing a blog post on the notes on my phone, I found typing it on my phone to be way easier. Of course, it may turn into a ramble but at least I'd have something to work with and edit into a decent blog post. 

8. Use Pinterest/YouTube for inspiration

Every blogger will get blogger's block where you have no idea what to post about. It sucks but if you want to be consistent then you need ideas for posts. Two places I get inspiration from sometimes are Pinterest and YouTube. Pinterest is great because you can search for blog post ideas and a lot of time you will find hundreds of pins dedicated to ideas for blog posts. You can even relate it to the current season you're in or a particular topic you want to talk about such as University. Jot down ideas from your search so at least you will have a few to work on. YouTube is also a great place because you can find inspiration from YouTube videos or even interpret a video idea for example a what's in my bag post and make it your own. Sometimes it's good to look for inspiration. However, it can lead to copying which brings me on to my next tip. 

9. Be original 

It may be difficult to be original when it comes to blogging. However, don't straight up copy someone else's idea or post. Fair enough if you do something that a lot of people have done but always remember to make it your own. What makes your blog unique is you so use your own experience. If you've gone through something that maybe others can relate to then talk about it and offer your advice. If you're going into blogging trying to be the next Zoella where you copy a lot of her posts and videos, then people are very quickly going to catch on. Nobody likes a copycat. Fair enough you can take inspiration from Zoella, she's the definition of a blogging success story but don't try to copy her blog straight up. Fair enough if you do beauty posts and fashion posts that she's done but try to be original with your posts instead of doing something that she did because it worked for her. Take the idea but use your interpretation of it and make it into your own. The more original you are with your blogging then the more unique it will be, and people can come to it knowing they're not always going to get similar blog posts every time. 

10. Enjoy it

My final tip is to enjoy blogging. If you're blogging and not enjoying it then you're doing it all wrong. If you're passionate about your blog and care about its progression, then it will show in your posts. You can see it from posts, in the beginning, it was obvious I didn't care or know what I was doing but I soon grew. Yes, I made a few mistakes here and there, but I eventually learned and now I am proud of each post I make, how it looks and reads. I honestly love blogging and can't imagine not having this blog. It gives me a chance to express my thoughts and feelings plus offer my advice and stories which may benefit other people. I may not be the most popular blogger with millions of followers, but I am content with how my blog is and I wouldn't change it for the world. It is something I enjoy doing and will always continue to enjoy. 

So there we have it. Those are my blogging tips. I hope they were helpful to any of you and if you do have any other tips, let me know in the comments below so we can all help each other out. 

Thank you for reading my blog and I'll be back again soon with another post. 

See you then. 

Megan x 

*This is not a sponsored post* 

For business enquiries or just a chat email: megantimeblog@gmail.com