As promised in my previous post , I'm going to share with you some of the crucial tips and advice that I picked up whilst at the Cosmopolitan Superblogger Masterclass. Almost everyone at the event was quite new to blogging, just like myself, and I know there are a lot more of you out there. Sharing is caring and all that.
Blog Housekeeping
·
Blogger
vs Wordpress: There was a lot of
discussion about which is the best site to use when starting your blog, and
although all members of the panel tried to remain impartial, it was obvious
that Wordpress was held above Blogger in terms of long-term choice, flexibility, and
professionalism. There are also self-hosting options with Wordpress. However if
you’re having no problems with Blogger right now and you are new to blogging,
there’s no need to put yourself through the stress of moving elsewhere.
·
Online
courses /books : With 30,000
blogs being created every day, guides, how-tos and instruction manuals on the
subject are growing. Online courses and books are a good way of getting some
expert know-how on blogging efficiently and turning your blog into a business. Kat Williams from Rock n Roll Bride blog is also currently
running a Blogcademy : an event consisting of two-day workshops that travels
all over the world. For those unable to attend, she also runs Blogcademy Home
School : a series of videos packed full of essential blogging tips and advice.
· Consistency:
Being consistent in your posting is essential for a variety of reasons. Not
only does it look professional, but for your readers, knowing when to look at
your blog for new content helps them stay a regular reader, and encourages
regularity for any new readers. At the
moment I’m trying to post at least two times a week, but am on the way to
creating a schedule/timetable as to when particular posts will be posted and
how often.
·
Blog
Design – A lot of bloggers at the event were worrying that their blogs don’t
look like top notch websites, but we were all reassured that the design is not as
important as the content. At the end of the day, no amount of flashy tabs/
stunning fonts will make up for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors –
Dribbble was recommended as a good sight for design inspiration.
How to Stand Out
· Who are
you: It’s all about you and your blog’s imagery. Regardless of what your blog is about, you
must treat it like a brand, and figure out how you’re going to represent
yourself. Photography and the way you write have a large part to play in this.
Develop your own voice and style. With so many bloggers at the moment, it’s
easy to think ‘what’s the point.’ But there’s always room for new bloggers. Figure out what makes you different /weird and
run with it. This is something I personally have struggled with, so found this
advice quite encouraging.
· Social
media: Use them to your full advantage. Instagram and Twitter are the best
ways of presenting your image/ brand to the public. They should be a priority and
are brilliant ways of attracting traffic to your blog. Followers on these sites
are considered amongst your traffic by PR and brands.
·
Relationships
with other bloggers: A lot can be gained by meeting other bloggers. Not
only is it a support network, but you can learn from each other and motivate
each other. Vicki Fogwill (Social Media
Manager of Next) recommended Next Blogger Network as a way to meet other
bloggers and connect with Next.
·
Guest
blogging: Can build an audience. If you guest post for a blog with a lot
of followers, and someone likes what you had to contribute, chances are they’ll
want to check you out. Alltop.com was
recommended as a directory for guest blogging.
·
Bloglovin: Someone asked if it was worth being involved in Bloglovin, to which Fleur de
Force replied ‘Absolutely’. It is a very easy way to get into that blogging
community and discover like-minded bloggers. Also, it’s an easy avenue for
other bloggers to find you.
·
Agencies: Having checked out some blogging agencies, this seems to be something for
those more established blogs who are needing a helping hand managing all the
opportunities that are knocking on their door, but it’s something worth keeping
in mind for the future, and also something to aim towards. Fleur de Force
recommended Gleam, which is also working with Zoella , The Beauty Crush and In
The Frow.
·
Affiliates: Affiliate programmes are a little bit more accessible for those of you
like me who are just starting out. It’s a great way of working with brands and
making them aware of what you have to offer, whilst promoting them and bringing
more traffic to your blog. Fleur recommended Etsy , Reward Style and Shopsense.
Monetizing Your Blog
·
Advice: Joe
Williams (Founder of Zen Optimise) recommended Problogger as a good site packed
with tips and advice on how to monetize your blog. He also mentioned Copyblogger
for those wanting copywriting advice.
·
Pinterest:
– Apparently Pinterest can be monetized. No one at the Cosmo event went into
detail about how to do this, so I did a little bit of research, and found thisstep-by-step article as to how to go about it.
·
Outreaching
to Brands:– When contacting brands with an aim of earning money off of
whatever post you do for them, make sure your emails are well constructed. Be specific in identifying what the blog post
is actually going to be about and from what angle you’ll look at their brand/
product from. State if there is a
particular product you want and why.
· Receiving
money/products in return? Make sure any links you put to the brand or
product are ‘no follow.’ Google can get pretty touchy about these things
apparently.
·
Banner
ads: – These make it obvious that you’re available for monetized content.
·
Google
Adsense: A way of earning money on your blog through advertising.
SEO
· Title tag:
Joe Williams said it’s vital to pay attention to this area in order for
your blog to be featured on Google. I may not be interpreting his advice
correctly, as when it comes to this kind of thing I get very confused, and I’m
not even sure if Blogger has the facilities to edit a title tag.
·
Google Keyword
Finder: If you are using
hashtags/keywords etc, this is a great place to find the ones that are gaining
the most traffic/ are the most popular, so you know which ones to use when
tagging your blog/ pictures.
·
Wordpress
SEO Plugin: - This helps improve your SEO on all possible aspects. It takes
care of technical optimization whilst also helping you to write better content.
Yet another reason for considering Wordpress over Blogger.
Career Paths
·
Journalism
and PR: – There is a lot of discussion online about careers blogging can
lead to. This question was brought up at the event, and Kate Lucey (Digital
Content Lead) mentioned how when looking through job applications for
Cosmopolitan, it always helps if you have a blog. Blogging also always gives you a
multitude of opportunities to interact with PR professionals.
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