Hints & Tips | Starting a Blog

I don't claim to be an expert on blogs or starting one up, but I've had my blog for about 3 and a half years now, so I think I know a little bit about blogging and what it really takes to stay at it. Yes, I've had a few months off here and there (not once this year, yay!), the only difference is, I kept coming back. Its something I enjoy doing, I not only look forward to writing new posts, I also thoroughly enjoy the photography side and sometimes I like to change the design of my blog up a bit. It also makes me happy to interact and connect with my readers, I get to know the people who enjoy reading my blog, it provides some encouragement to keep going. I know they'd be disappointed if I suddenly stopped (which would never happen by the way).

Anyway, going off track a bit aren't I xD ? I want to provide some help to those of you who have spoken to me via Instagram or Google Plus about starting a blog yourselves, but either aren't sure where to start or what to write about, I hope this post helps in solving those predicaments :)

THINK OF A SHORT BUT CATCHY NAME

This might take a few tries, I've changed mine from 'TheSweetPeaX' (still in my web link) to 'Lorna's Leaning'. I do want to change my web link however it would be a pain in terms of clicking links in old Twitter posts etc, I want people to be able to read what I've produced, so for the time being I will keep my domain the same :) I created my (first) blog name when I created my first YouTube channel when I was about 13, so its a little embarrassing, hence why I changed it.

Pick something short and simple, but also catchy, don't try and copy other blog names, be original so you don't get mixed up with someone else :)

KEEP YOUR BLOG DESIGN AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE

Deciding on a name was the hard bit, this however is the fun part. I would say to keep your design simple, but not boring, there's a big difference. Don't pick lots of different colours either as it may get way too loud. Simple doesn't mean black and white or black and grey. You could keep a white or plain-ish background, but give your text a pop of colour, keep all headers the same colour so it doesn't look mis-matched, go for colours that go well together. If colour is something you want, go for it, but I would limit the colours on your blog to just four that look good all together on the same web page.

WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING YOU LOVE

There's no point writing about makeup (because you think its what young readers want to engage with) when you have a bigger love for fashion or cooking. The more you believe in something, the more your readers will believe in it and in turn, they will trust your opinion which also makes for a loyal audience.

If you've found a niche, stick to it, be consistent if you wish. If you want to write recipes to go on your blog, you write those recipes, if you want to keep it all fashion based, then keep it fashion based, but if (like me) you worry you could run out of blog post ideas for your specialist blog, then branch out a bit, write posts on anything and everything. For example, over the (nearly) four years I've been blogging, I've had a mixture of beauty, fashion, travel, food, and lifestyle posts. I've written about my favourite lipstick in one blog post and thee next week I was showing you photographs I'd snapped on Winter dog walk. If anything, It widens your audience, however, with a variety of posts comes a variety of people, some will be more interested in what blush I've been loving this month, while others might want to know how I make a low fat spag bol, despite this, my audience has grown and grown. Keeping my blog up to date with a variety of different posts means there's something for everybody and more importantly, I really enjoy changing things up :)

BE INFORMAL

Don't write a blog post the way you would write a letter to a University or a potential employer, keep it chatty, don't use big words, use simple ones, but lots of simple ones. For example, don't use the word 'nice' three times in three consecutive sentences, it will get boring. If thinking of alternate words isn't your forte, you can always look up new ones in an online thesaurus or do it the old fashioned way and pick one up off your book shelf, get more words in your vocab to make your writing more interesting and entertaining.

THROW SOME PHOTOS IN THERE

Get creative. Don't write posts without any pretty pictures for readers to look at. Often, a lack of photos can make or break a blog. If you plan on writing a 'Get to Know Me' tag as your first post and you have two dogs, a hamster and two guinea pigs, snap some photos of them and upload them to your post, give your readers something to go on as well as show off your (probably amazing) photography skills :)

Try and keep your photos bright, for example, take them in natural light, if they look blurry, take them again. Always look at your photos properly before packing everything away, because you'll kick yourself when you come to upload one and its out of focus, it just means you may have to set everything up again to take a sharp resolution photograph. If the photo is too dark, move around the room a bit, find out the best place and time to get good natural lighting, you want your photos to be clear and crisp, not dull and blurry.

Whether you wrote a post...

On your latest stationary haul...

The flowers you recently purchased...

How you chill out on a Sunday evening...

Or your favourite makeup products...

...liven your post up a bit with a few simple photos :)

BE CONSISTENT

Publish your posts regularly, don't publish five in a row and then not publish anything for two weeks, its not helpful to your readers, they need to know when to check back. If you're inconsistent then people will eventually stop trying to keep up with your uploads. Look at your lifestyle and figure out how often and on what days you can upload. If you have a busy work/life schedule then perhaps post once a week, if you have a little more time, perhaps twice or three times a week? Pick a day to upload on so your readers can simply check back on the day rather than wait for a Twitter or Instagram update.

KEEP A NOTEBOOK FULL OF IDEAS

When you're feeling creative and your wonderful ideas are coming to life in your head, make sure you have some paper and a pen handy, preferably a small notebook you can carry around with you so you don't forget what you've initially thought of. The more you get down, the more you have to fall back on if you should suffer from 'Bloggers Block' at any time :)

MORE IMPORTANTLY...HAVE FUN

Don't take it too seriously, don't treat it like a job, if you do, you could lose your love for it. If you miss a day, no worries, just publish a post when you can or when you feel like it. Don't go out and get fancy photography equipment which will cost you an absolute fortune, if you're happy snapping creative pictures on your phone, then carry on doing that, if it makes you happy, do it :)

I hope you enjoyed this post guys, whether you took something from it or not, enjoy creating and writing your blog, if you make one, let me know in the comment section or via my social networking links below! See you Wednesday with a brand new blog post for you :)

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