So…I decided to write this post about my blogging journey so far, even though I am still a beginner in training with a lot left to learn. The amount of information I have taken in and lessons I have learned since the start of this super fun path, have been huge. So, while I have been blogging for just 6 months, it almost feels like an anniversary…mile stone of sorts. (It helps that I have managed to meet a couple of small goals I set for myself in the beginning.)
I finally reached 500 visitors per month, on my website and my follower list has grown past 50!
(Again…small goals, but still accomplishments!) It’s those little things to keeps you motivated and excited to get to work! We all need just a little boost, so we know we’re heading in the right direction!
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While my time in the blogging world has been brief, there have been valuable things I have learned that are worthy of pointing out. Some things, you just learn through experience!
If you are reading this post, it is likely you are either blogging already or are interested in starting a blog. I hope I can provide a little more perspective and insight to help you along..
In The Beginning…
Technically speaking, I guess I actually started my journey about a year ago. That’s when the idea of blogging initially came to mind, and I started doing heavy research into the subject. When I say heavy research, I do mean I buckled down hard on learning every single thing I could about blogging. If my eyes were open, they were focused on an article or YouTube video with tips and discussions on the various aspects of blogging. This is still the case most days!
I absorbed advice from many different bloggers out there, both new and seasoned. Certain topics seemed to come up. I took it all in…everything from which platform to go with, to turning your blog into a business, to the most efficient monetization strategies to explore.
When I felt educated enough to create the site, I signed up with Bluehost, paid the fee and went to town on designing!
When you're first starting out in the blogging world, it is really difficult getting noticed.
You've done all of this research. You've taken a few courses. You've watched endless youtube videos. Yet, your pageviews look sad every month, on your reports. You begin to doubt yourself.
That's when it's best to seek a little help from the more experienced creators out there, who aim to teach you the ropes.
Driving traffic to your site requires a strategy, one that involves several different tools and approaches.
I've had success with a few different courses and ebooks, and I've had a few that weren't as helpful as I would have liked. So, when I do find a good coach, I like to pass the recommendation along to you so can benefit as well.
Ana with The She Approach is one of those coaches I've learned a lot from, and tend to check out for a variety of skills I'm trying to learn.
This particular ebook is a good start for anyone who's struggling to gain traffic. It covers all of the important SEO points, along with social media strategy and pinterest tips. It's a great all-in-one tutorial to get you well on your way to a larger audience.
Just a quick run down of what is included:
- 100+ pages of blog traffic tips and strategies
- A complex, but easy to grasp SEO tutorial
- A social media strategy breakdown
- An in-depth Pinterest tutorial and resources
- 25 Tailwind Ghostwriter Credits (worth $30)
- 100 Places To Promote Your Blog Checklist
- 100 Facebook Promo Groups For Bloggers List
- Access To My Resource Library For Bloggers
To go a little deeper into the lessons, grab her bundle, which is this ebook, "Boosting your blog traffic", as well as her full Pinterest tutorial, "Making Pinterest Possible"!
Tip #1
Which brings to mind the first tip I want to share with you as something I found extremely important when I decided to start a blog…The website hosting platform. I’m glad I followed all of the advice to use Bluehost, with WordPress for the design end. WordPress is super easy to use and comes with all of the major design tools you will need if you plan to monetize your blog.
From my personal experience, I find that Bluehost as a hosting provider, has an excellent customer service team. That is something you really need on your side, especially as a beginner. Every time I have ever had to call tech support with a problem or for help with something, they have been very attentive and resolved the issue at hand.
And believe me… there have been a time or two that I became really frazzled by some kind of mistake I made!
The only thing I would note, is the upfront costs associated with a blog you plan to monetize. While the hosting through Bluehost is just $3 a month for the basic plan, there are a handful of back end tools and plug-ins that are wise to attach to the plan. My upfront costs for the site in the end, came to $155.00. Some of those plug-ins require the service to be paid for annually, starting with activation. I chose basic start up services that were widely recommended and have proved to be very valuable. Involved with the start up costs, were things like Domain Privacy Protection, Essential Security Plug-ins, and Yoast for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
(This is just a “Head’s Up” that while you can build a blogging site for virtually nothing per year, you will need a bit of spending money in the beginning for some of the better tools out there.)
Quick Things To Note…
One of the other things I have heard often through the process, is that the About Me page of your website and social media accounts are important for building a strong relationship with your audience. I have gone into those pages a time or two for tweaking, but I did establish at least a rough introduction from word go. Why expect anyone to relate to your content without having an idea of who is behind the words and advice, right?
Another piece of advice that is often repeated is to relax about being perfect. It’s best to go live as soon as possible, so Google begins to recognize your site and it’s content. While I did try to launch with the best content I could produce in the beginning, I didn’t go crazy with the perfectionist aspect. There’s always a way to go back and do a bit of editing, later.
That Brings Me Back Around To Yoast…
Yoast for SEO was an excellent choice. I signed up with Yoast based on a lot of the reviews out there and I’m quite pleased with it. It will tell you improvements you need to make in your blog post, so you rank higher with Google. My quality of content has dramatically improved over time, thanks to Yoast SEO. My key words are getting better, as are my headlines and overall article structure. Great tool to have!
I just wish I had payed a little more attention to it in the beginning. It would have saved me a lot of editing!
Community…
One of the other more valuable things I have discovered is that blogging brings along with it, a great sense of community. While everyone has their own social media strategy, I love the fact that all of the social forums I use, have communities specifically for blogging. I am connecting with my readers through Pinterest and Facebook. At the same time, I’m establishing connections with fellow bloggers that I can learn from and collaborate with.
I use both, Tailwind and Canva for Pinterest post creation. I have been a bit slower engaging with the communities on Tailwind and Pinterest, but I’ll get there. At the end of the day, one thing seems certain. These communities are a great way of building brand awareness as well as establishing valuable connections with others you can relate to.
*(Get 50 FREE Ghostwriter AI credits when you sign up for a paid plan through the link above for Tailwind!)
Side Note – I have discovered, another good way of getting my blog to be seen, is to comment on other blog posts and social media that I relate to. Since I am trying to monetize my blog, getting my name out there as much as possible is a major goal. Giving a like or comment on other content goes a long way to getting my name seen to a broader audience. The content gets more engagement at the same time for the creator. Win/Win!
Over the last couple of years that I have been blogging, I have tested many different ways for driving traffic to my website, including paid ads on social media.
Sure, I get a quick boost of traffic initially with paid ads, but it always seems to be short lived.
The one thing that does remain consistent, is this...Pinterest brings me traffic.
In fact, Pinterest tends to be my biggest traffic source most months.
Why? Two Reasons:
- Pinterest is a search engine (just like Google), with over 400 million active users monthly.
- It is a fact that people respond better to visual elements over written. Pinterest is a search engine, specifically tailored to visual search elements.
What's even better is that the folks who visit my pins (and consequently, my site), often times revisit and follow me!
If you are a blogger just beginning, or seasoned and haven't put much energy into Pinterest, now is the time for you to make a change.
As soon as I began posting pins, my traffic numbers went up substantially, and it hasn't slowed down yet.
Pinterest, like anything else, does take a bit of study, if you are to use the platform for it's full potential.
Between algorithm, fonts, scheduling times, pin templates, and everything else you need to pay attention to, learning to use Pinterest can seem daunting.
If you're anything like me, you want to get that traffic going sooner than later! Sometimes, it's best to seek out an expert on the matter at hand.
For Pinterest guidance, I rely on Ana with The She Approach, specifically this Making Pinterest Possible Ebook. It includes...
- A 180+ pages eBook with detailed strategies on how to get started with Pinterest, craft an advanced pinning schedule and boost your blog traffic like a PRO
- Access to 17 case studies from bloggers and biz owners who mastered Pinterest (+ their best kept secrets)
- Free Video Training: How To Create Stunning Pinterest Graphics And Templates (For Free) In Canva
- Free Video Training: How To Find, Report, Take Down & Prevent Stolen Pins on Pinterest
- Free Masterclass: How to create a manual pinning schedule in a Google spreadsheet, easy as 1-2-3
- Two free months with Tailwind for new users ($30 value) and an invitation to my exclusive Tailwind Tribe
- (NEW BONUS) 15 unique Canva pin templates to help you create stunning graphics in just a few minutes
**This isn't the only thing I've gone to Ana for. She's also the one to go to for Amazon affiliate training. Check her out!
Good luck with your blogging adventure! I'll be seeing you around 🙂
Setting The Pace…
Consistency is also something I hear often from bloggers that have been doing this longer than myself. I’m glad I listened and set publishing goals I can stick to. If there is a day I have something planned or randomly need a break, I’m able to catch up and still accomplish what I wanted for the week. My audience isn’t left wondering if I still exist and I’m not burning out quickly. In aiming toward consistency, I have tried to be realistic when it comes to setting my goals. It has definitely paid off.
I am finally getting to a point where I am ready to begin the next stage of my journey and it’s exciting! The more I learn as I go about all of the helpful material I can create for my audience, the faster I want to add finishing touches to content I am currently trying to tweak.
As soon as that’s done, I can put my full focus on other goodies I feel inspired to create! That’s of course, in addition to signing up with other affiliate programs. While Amazon is a favorite company of mine to promote, having all of my eggs in one basket, would be a poor choice.
That is yet another common sense bit of advice I hear from successful bloggers who have been doing this a while. If you’re going to try to monetize your blog, be creative and develop a strategy that has more than one income source involved.
I must admit, it is often hard to force myself to take a break…Well, Because I am enjoying the blogging life. It’s hard to step away when you’re having fun at work! Remaining Consistent while maintaining a good pace, is not easy. It does take patience! The rest will come as it comes.
Not Everything…
While the tips and advice in this article are certainly not all of the little lessons I have learned along the way, they are the more important lessons I have learned in the brief 6 months of following this rainbow.
While there are so many beautiful parts of the blogging journey, it does require a lot of hard work. There are so many technical things to learn when designing a website. There are certain essentials you will need to maintain and monetize your site. It does require a lot of reading and watching articles and videos from other more experienced bloggers. You will have moments when something is not working or turning out exactly as you planned.
You will find it hard to stay motivated when you are getting virtually no visitors. It does require a huge amount of creativity and faith in yourself. SEO by itself is really daunting, confusing, and still something I’m new at learning. Keeping up with the analytical end of your site and all of the reports that are available, can be really difficult.
In Conclusion…
The blogging journey as a whole, has definitely been interesting. Better than that though, the journey has been Super fun! I find my motivation to get through the tougher bits, by keeping in mind all of the various possibilities. I’ve only just begun! I’m making new connections every day and I’m gaining more perspective every day. I make my own schedule and have full control over the content I get to create.
So, how has my 6 month blogging journey, gone so far?
Absolutely Glorious!
Now all I have to do is work harder at getting paid 😉
Where are you in your journey? Have you hit any goals recently that gave you a little boost? Any favorite tools or websites that help you in a big way? Let us know in the comments! We can all learn something from another approach!
Until Next Time,
Happy Blogging!
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This is such a helpful article on blogging tips for beginners. I wish I had read this when I started my blogging journey a few years ago. Thanks for your honesty and suggestions!
Thank you for reading! I’m sure I will be elaborating in the future…still have much to learn! LOL
Thanks for the tips. I’m barely starting my blog and I’m always trying to find guides and inspiration.
You’re welcome and I wish you the best of luck! I very much enjoyed your Georgia State Railroad Museum article 🙂
Thank you for sharing! I’ve been blogging for technically a year and have been sharing on Twitter and Facebook…but…I’ve only JUST started doing things right 6 months ago with consistency, and the topic of my niche and I’m NOW trying to stay consistent with Pinterest LOL.
I am right there with you…trying to keep up with it all can be a bit tough, especially Pinterest! LOL
Love it! I’m fairly new at the blogging world as well and can totally relate to alot of this and you had some great tips too! Keep at it 💪 👏
Thank you for reading Lisa!
These are great beginner tips!
Thank you!
blogging can be a tedious journey but sometimes worth it
Agreed…I would say, Tedious sometimes but definitely worth it! Thanks for reading 🙂
Loved your article. Great tips for beginners. I’m struggling with some ideas and content. This helps me get better organized and create a plan.
Very helpful post, I wish I read a post like this before I started blogging. It’s definitely a lot more work than I had originally imagined.
Thank you for reading! I feel like after studying so much already, there are just a couple of things that need to be reiterated. It can be so overwhelming and even the best bloggers can only touch a bit on each aspect.
Loved all the tips and I agree with them all. It just takes time and patience.
Agreed…Time and Patience. I wish I was blessed with more of the later! It can be difficult to have patience when excited at the same time 🙂
Love these tips!
Glad you enjoyed…thanks for reading!
Thanks for all of the helpful advice!
I hope it helps…thanks for reading!
Congrats on your blog accomplishments!
Thank you!
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