A Word of Advice to New Bloggers
Hello, hello!
The end of May and beginning of June is usually a time for me to go through the blog, rework some things, and do all of the work that I’ve been putting off for the past year. I’m out of school and I’ve got a lot more free time and mental space to think about and work on the blog.
As I was doing my annual blog clean up, I noticed some major mistakes that I was making throughout my first few years as a blogger.
As June 4th of this year, I will officially have been blogging for 3 years. How insane is that? I also think I can now classify myself as an experienced blogger who can actually share some advice on the subject. This post is a long one, so buckle down and get ready!
First and foremost, go you for starting a blog! You’ve just entered probably the most supportive community on the Internet. I’m so proud of you for putting yourself out there and creatively finding a way to express yourself. No matter the reason behind why you started your blog (as long as it’s not to make money because that is not a valid reason), being a blogger is something that not many people can say they do. It’s impressive, and you’re going to realize the benefits go far beyond what you ever imagined.
Keywords, Categories, and Tags
This summer, I’ve made it my goal to go back through all of my posts and re-tag and re-categorize each one. Quite frankly, the mess I made of my tags and categories from day 1 is why I wanted to write this post because right now as I’m having to manually go through 250+ posts, I am hating myself just a little bit for adding a ridiculous amount of tags and categories to each post.
I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did 🙂
Keywords
Keywords are what search engines use to find and index your site.
There’s long-tail keywords and short-tail keywords and to be honest, I don’t really know how to use them. I have Yoast SEO installed and I somehow manage to come up with a keyword/keywords for most of my posts and it seems to work pretty well.
My one word of advice is to make sure your keywords are in the post itself. For example, if I tagged this post with the keyword ‘rabbits’, chances are the SEO for this post would be horrific because this post has nothing to do with rabbits. (well maybe except the fact that I really want a rabbit)
Categories
Categories are the skeletal structure of your site.
I’d say an ideal amount of categories is between 3 and 10. If you have any more than that, then you may want to rethink what you’re posting about.
For me, I have a 7major categories and then subcategories under each of those major categories:
- Blogging
- Beginner Blogger
- Blogger Roundtable
- College
- Dorm Room
- Dorm Room Recipes
- Study Central
- Fitness
- Beginner’s Guide to Fitness
- Project Comeback
- Workouts
- Lifestyle
- Chit Chat
- DIY
- Favorites
- Holiday
- Health & Beauty
- Food
- Other
Every post I write either falls under a major category or one of the subcategories. Of course you’re not going to be able to completely map out all of your categories when you first start blogging because you don’t even know where your blog may go.
Basically, keep the categories to a minimum.
Tags
Y’all. I had over 800 tags. Tell me why any blogger needs over 800 tags for 250 posts…
Tags are like categories in that they group your posts together, but I think of tags as a more casual version of categories. Think of hashtags. They group together all the posts that are related to a specific hashtag. That’s how tags essentially function on your blog.
You shouldn’t tag a post with a tag if that tag only relates to that post. Tags should relate to multiple posts. For example, with this post, I’m going to tag it with ‘blog advice’, ‘social media’,
You don’t need to tag every little thing that is in your post. Tagging posts is a personal decision in that it’s really up to your style and personality. If you want to tag your posts with #hashtags instead of words and phrases, go right ahead. If you like to add silly tags to your posts, that’s perfectly fine, too!
The most important part of tagging posts is that a tag relates to multiple posts, not just one.
Self-Hosted
Self-hosting was the very first big girl purchase I made for my blog, and it was a decision I debated for almost 6 months.
I waited until my 1 year blogiversary to purchase a domain and hosting plan because I knew that if I stuck with something for that long, I must enjoy it and it’s something that I need to invest some money into. We all have our own timeframes when it comes to making big decisions, and I would suggest figuring out the timeframe you need to know whether or not you’re going to stick with something.
Self-hosting can be expensive, but it is hands down, 100% worth the money. I’ve never once regretted clicking that ‘Pay Now’ button on my hosting plan.
If you want to save some $$$ on your own hosting plan, I suggest keeping an eye out for sales or use my affiliate link for HostGator. It won’t cost you anything extra, and it’ll help support the blog so I can keep providing you with awesome content!
Graphics, Blog Design, Branding
Your blog design is going to change on a regular basis, and you’re most likely never going to be 100% content with how your blog looks. Don’t expect to have this magnificently designed blog from the get-go. It’s going to take a bit to get it to where you want. Through that process, though, you’re going to learn a lot more than you even know.
I mean just look at my throwbacks to what my blog used to look like in my 3 Year Blogiversary post. It’s insane how much things have changed in 3 years.
My number one tip would be to find a color scheme that you LOVE and stick with that. The thing with color schemes is that once you have one, you can change up any other design elements on the site as much as you want, and as long as they’re all a part of that main color scheme, it’ll all go together.
Create Friendships with Other Bloggers
I’ve never met a blogger who isn’t friendly and isn’t willing to answer questions.
Questions from other bloggers are what we live for, trust me. If you have questions about anything, just ask them. There are no stupid questions when it comes to blogging because after all, we’re all in this together. Even if your favorite blogger has been blogging for years, I can guarantee you that they’re still learning every single day.
Don’t be afraid to reach out. You never know who you’re going to bond with and what friendships can come from there.
Posting Schedule
Should you post 3x a week, twice a week, every day, once a week, once a month???
To be quite honest, no one actually really knows. If you’re putting out sh*tty content 5 days a week because you feel like you need to be publishing all the time, chances are that’s hurting more than helping you.
I’m a huge proponent of quality over quantity. You might have realized that if you’ve been following this blog for a long time. I used to post 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday like it was my religion. These posts were awful. No one wants to know what my top 5 dorm snacks are when it’s just a list of the most cliché college food ever.
And oh lord I thought the world would end if I missed one of my scheduled upload days.
Now I don’t stress if I miss an upload day. Why? Well I’d rather have a post go out that I’m stoked about and I poured my heart and soul into instead of something forced. Your readers can tell when you’re being genuine and when something is being published for the sake of being published.
Stay true to yourself, post when you can, and remember, quality is much better than quantity.
Social Media
YOUR FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA DOES NOT DEFINE YOUR WORTH.
Social media is a great tool to show another side of your life, but it shouldn’t become your life. With all of the different social media channels (Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube), it’s easy to be overwhelmed and frustrated. Of all the social media channels, I’d say that Instagram is the most frustrating, and sadly, that’s where a lot of bloggers feel like their worth comes from.
Instagram is a fun, amazing, wonderful platform that loves to screw over influencers. It seems like the Instagram algorithm changes at least a few times a year, and trust me, it drives every single influencer insane. I have seen my follower count stay at around 830 for the past 3 months. Something doesn’t seem right about that…
I’ve honestly stopped setting goals for my Instagram, and I just let it do its thing. As long as I’m happy with the content I’m putting out, that’s all that matters.
Side note: Be authentic and be you. Social media has a reputation of being the curated version of the ‘perfect’ moments of someone’s life. Yes, share those good times and your successes and your accomplishments. But also don’t be afraid to share when things go wrong. I’d much rather be known for being real and raw instead of being #goals.
Even though I’ve been blogging for almost 3 years, that doesn’t mean I’m not still learning. I am constantly doing research on the best ways to improve SEO, I’m figuring out the best Pinterest strategy that works for me, and heck, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to write about! So remember, a blog is a constantly growing and changing thing. It’s going to grow and change with you, and it’s sure as hell never going to be perfect. But that’s the beauty in it.
As long as you’re happy with what you’re doing, you’re proud of what you’re creating, and your entire heart and soul goes into your work, it is all worth it.
You’re amazing & take pride in being a blogger!
~abigail gray
