Top 5 Questions Every Newbie Blogger Needs to be Asking- Part 1
Photo by Lauren Mancke on Unsplash
A quick disclaimer before I begin this post because I have gotten a lot of questions lately about why I have been posting a lot more blogging tips. I created this platform to help people however way I can, and right now, most of my readers are newbie bloggers, hence the new category. This is not to say I am limiting myself to just blogging tips! HECK NO! I am always excited to try new things and right now you seem to be loving the blog tips and I love whatever you love (get the coming to America reference?) New content will be coming soon under the other categories of my blog though so make sure you stay tuned to this space... but for now... here are 5 questions every newbie blogger needs to be asking! Cheers.
What Do I Blog About?
This is one of the top questions you need to ask yourself before you begin a blog, what are you going to write about? When I first started blogging, I remember getting so confused because of the several niches I read about and I didn't necessarily know where to start. I had so many ideas and cutting my ideas down to just one idea was so frustrating. I wrote about my struggle with finding my own niche here, and in that post, I got a lot of great comments that helped me along the way! So here is me, trying to help you. Make sure you do your research on what you are most passionate about and that is what you write on. If you dive into blogging head on without fully knowing what type of direction you want to go, you lose passion real quick and begin to see your blog as a chore. Find several topics that interest you and write on them, your readers, in the long run, will kind of gear you to what they really enjoy reading and that will eventually be your niche. I remember starting off writing a dear diary series and then I kind of realized after a while that no one cared to read that, so I switched it up to something more relatable and views increased. Do not be afraid to play with different ideas in your head... slowly but surely you'll find a winner!
What Platform Should I Use For My Blog
I struggled to write/give advice on platforms even while writing this post! But I have gotten this message a lot and so I had to try to do a lot of research on the several platforms available. Most of the articles I came across were so technical which was very overwhelming for myself not to talk about bloggers who are just getting into this. So, I'll list four platforms that I am familiar with and link to their pages and you can decide which one works for you. I won't be talking about whether you need to self-host or what works best for google analytics because that is not my forte and that will be a full blog post on its own.
These four are the most common platforms that I am familiar with. I currently use Squarespace because of its beautiful interface and it is extremely easy to use! Make sure you do tons of research on whatever platform you pick first and also reading this ARTICLE is a step in the right direction. What platform do you use for your blog? Let me know in the comments below and if you need me to write a blog post all about platforms specifically, Let me know, I just might read through all these confusing articles and simplify it for you!
Do I Need To Have An Instagram To Start A Blog
When I first started out with my blog, my main source of traffic was my Facebook page. Several social media platforms serve different purposes, so make sure you find the right platform for your brand. I use Instagram because I love taking pictures and the app is incredibly easy to use. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are all several social media platforms that can drive traffic to your bog. I will suggest focusing on at least one or two platforms primarily when you start and then if you feel like you want to extend your reach you definitely can. I mostly use Instagram and Facebook to drive traffic to my blog but I know bloggers who use Twitter as their main source of traffic. It all depends on your blog and what platform you are most comfortable playing around with.
How Much Will Having A Blog Cost Me
Paying for the platform that hosts my blog, Facebook and Instagram ads, general upkeep of the blog itself and several other technicalities cost me about $60 a month. But, paying photographers, buying outfits, going to shoot locations and other miscellaneous expenses usually amount to either $100 or more monthly. Now, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SPEND THAT MUCH. I spend this because I choose to invest in my blog and I am gaining something in return. The first three months when I was broke (i still am), I recycled old outfits to shoot for my fashion blog and I got photographer friends like @candidlycreole to shoot me. I also spent very little on ads and mostly focused on getting great content out there. A lot has changed since then obviously but I will advice spending what you know wouldn't hurt the bank account. Recycle old outfits, ask friends to take your pictures, share your posts on social media instead of paying for ads, use all these resources when you begin before you invest too much in it.
How Can I Drive Traffic To My Blog
In the previous paragraph, I mentioned getting most of my traffic from Facebook, but this is not the same for everyone. Depending on your knowledge of SEO, you can get your traffic also from organic searches on google. My first few months, I averaged about 150 views a month and I thought I was failing, Right now I am at about 2000 views a month, which from my understanding is good enough for a new blogger, and I am also not as consistent as I would like! Traffic varies with the different types of blogger niches. Most "how-to" blog bloggers average about 20000 views and beauty niches maybe just 6000. Following bloggers like Melyssa Griffin who I wrote about in this post here, is a step in the right direction. She gives great tips on building your blog traffic and if you want more SEO specific traffic, TheBlogTyrant is an amazing resource as well. Do not expect immediate traffic when you start your blog. You will have to work very hard to get readers to listen to what you have to say but once you have found that base, the rest is not as hard.
That is all I have, for now, I think I will do more of this type of series as time goes on. Let me know in the comments what types of questions you would like me to answer in Part 2 or any topics about blogging you need answered! I will try my best to reply and hopefully, we can share some more knowledge.
Cheers,
Sofi
