Saturday 11 April 2015

Blogging steps to success


Hey everyone, Today i'm blogging about some of the things that make my life easier when it comes to blogging and how exactly I got to where I am now (18,000 views)!

Disclaimer: I'm not some kind of blogging genius and everything I say is from personal experience.

Successful blogging is split up into different categories in my opinion and i'm going to walk you through all of them.

1. Amazing content

I don't know how many book worms there are out there but the sad truth is that vlogs are more popular than blogs because it's relaxing, no hassle... just watch. However with blogs you have to read them. This means whatever you post has to be stuff that people actually want to read! Here are my top tips and tools for developing amazing content:

Part 1: The title and introduction

  • Make the title of the post Big, Bold and persuasive. - E.g; This post is titled "Blogging steps to success". This appeals to my target audience (bloggers) and it's something most of them would be interested in (how to make blogging successful for themselves)
  • The start of your posts need to be to the point, punchy and exciting. - A lot of people (including me) hate at the beginning when people drone on about things. To catch your readers attention they need to be interested from the beginning and the way you do this is: Let them know what your talking about straight away and what the post will consist of. 
Good example: 

Hey everyone! Today I will be showing you guys how to look the part for Spring with a small budget, a small budget and a creative mind. Keep reading for an awesome tutorial. 

Bad example: 

Hi guys, so spring is here and I was thinking about ways to get into style because the suns coming out and it's so lovely right now. Of late I haven't been blogging much because.... yadadada.... My cat died, My uncle cried and my Chicken got fried.
  • The last bullet point brings me to this one. No one is saying don't let your bloggers know about your life. Just let them know your about to tell them about your life. You can either do this through the title or through the beginning of the post. 
Example 1 (Title) : Blogging Tips to success + Life update 
Example 2 (Post : Today's post is about tips for blogging but before we start i'd like to say... yadayadayada
  • So to conclude on the Post title and the introduction here's a simple format to follow. (The answers are just an example)
Creating a title:

What am I talking about? - Youtube beauty channels 
Who am I telling it to? - Teenage girls who like beauty, fashion and Youtube 
So now think... What are people looking for all the time? - The best

Now... Put it how a girly teenage girl would want to see it E.G; The best Youtube beauty channels - Tutorials and Reviews or 10 Amazing Youtube beauty channels to make you want to be a beautician yourself. 

Creating a post introduction:

What am I talking about? - Pens 
Who am I telling it to? - Artists and pen lovers
What does this post consist of? - A review, A product overview and tips on using the product.

Now... merge it all together and make it! EG; Hey readers, today i've got a post for all you artists and pen lovers. I'm going to be telling you all you need to know about Copic markers. I've got a product overview, general review and loads of tips for using them all coming up in today's post. Without further ado lets get a move on! 

Part 2: The main body of the post
  • Here is basically where you write about whatever you want to write about. However, to get the page views flying in you really should write about what your viewers want to read. Base this on whatever your blog is based on. For example if your blog is a music blog and your doing a post on a certain album or artist, don't blog about only the things you know. Blog about new things too. You can find new information about whoever your writing about easily on Google. 
  • Don't know what to write about? This is something that happens to me a lot, but I have a way of fixing it. My Blog is based on the following topics; Fashion, Fashion illustration, and beauty. So I use a tool called Google Trends which is very helpful. You basically search whatever you want and it all bring up the hottest and newest trends/news in that niche. You can then set email alerts so that whenever something new of that category arrives, it also arrives straight in your inbox. 
Part 3: The conclusion
  • The conclusion is where you cool it off. No new information. If you add more information and then suddenly finish they'll think it's an unfinished post. 
  • This is your time and chance to really interact with your readers with some rhetorical questions. For example if your post was about a certain type of band, ask them "I'd like to hear from you guys, what are your favourite bands?" 
  • Always let your readers know that you're polite by thanking them for reading the post and that you hope that they got something from it. 
  • A way to know if your readers read till the end: "If you read till the end comment squishy!" This tells you how many readers you're keeping interested and how long. 
  • Don't leave your readers hanging, most people don't like that. Use your conclusion as a way of telling your readers what's coming next on your blog. E.G; "Stick around because tomorrow i'll be posting 6 ways to dye your hair!" 
2. A blog that's pleasing to the eye
  • Eyes get hurt by certain colours which just make them feel sick and turn away. By this I mean awful colour clashes such as a yellow background and white font... ew. Use contrasting colours that are pleasing to the eye!
  • Plenty of images and pretty stuff. Blogging is about reading and writing. However you want as much views as possible right? Then you have to think about everybody - Visual learners too. 
3. Networking
  • If your going to be a blogger then you can't be anti social. How in the world are you expecting to get views on a blog nobody knows about. Let people know about it. 
  • Get every social network in the world for your blog. Literally. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr... etc. 
  • Post about your blog constantly, it puts people under pressure to read about it. 
  • Tell your readers to contact you and leave your social network links in your contact page and every so often at the end of your posts. 
  • Little trick: I do this all the time, fetches loads of views. It's called blog hunting. Go to a really famous blog - for example... Zoella, then check her comments. There will be loads of die hard blogger fans who have left their blog address hoping that one day Zoella will look at it. Take the time to click on them individually and check one or two posts out and leave a postitive comment and your blog address. Most people are really nice and do the same back. 
  • I carry around little cards with my blog address on them, they're nothing fancy. I bought plain coloured card from WHSmith's and then wrote my blog address on all of them and I carry them everywhere I go in case I bump into someone who I feel could read Loveheart doodles.
4. General Must do's
  • Pick a catchy name and if your going to change it... change it only once. Once you've done all your networking you've used one link that you've been repeatedly cutting and pasting. Changing the name changes the link and gives you extra work. 
  • Reply to your comments, show your readers that you're interested in what they think and that you know they exist. 
Awesome! I've poured out everything I could to get you guys to do some amazing blogging. I want to take this chance to thank you guys so much for 18,000 views. It's literally amazing. Tomorrow i'll be posting about a new collection I have started illustrating. Please do comment below if any of this post was helpful!. 

Love, Lauren of Loveheart Doodles x

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