When I tell you it has been such a rollercoaster ride this year with this damn blog, OMG! I had nightmares and stayed up plenty of nights crying and deciding if I was going to keep this site up or shut it down! I don’t know if you are aware but it costs me a pretty penny to keep this site working properly and functioning monthly. All those high res images that you see me post daily etc? Yeah, I have to pay for that crap and I can’t even imagine what huge bloggers pay, Oh my goodness! That’s why you see me only post a few things daily now because it is literally eating up all my funds!
I was even thinking of starting a go fund me page but then I changed my mind lol. Then to make matters worse, my ad agency Mode Media filed bankruptcy a few months ago and did NOT pay us bloggers for placing ads on our sites. So I’m literally out of a few hundreds of dollars with them. Not too bad though considering that some bloggers they owe thousands to. So yeah, I have not been in the best mood and then another blow was that I changed the layout of my blog which resulted in a lot of hiccups, slow loading, site crashes and that made me lose lots of readers. I almost gave up but then I thought, I will not be defeated! I really like blogging and I’ve said it a million times that its a stress reliever for me. So I thought to share some tips that I have for newbie bloggers if you just don’t know how to get readers to your site. Heck I lost a few but now they are back!
First things first, are your posts engaging? I try my best to atleast blog one heartfelt story once a month about something personal that is happening in my life besides just going to events and posting regular stuff. People like to feel like they know you and that makes a difference. Blogs get boring when its just about other stuff and not you.
Do you have quality imagery? Photos will make or break your blog, I can’t stress this enough. Great photos make the eyes brighten up and it tells the story when you don’t have to say much. If you have cell phone pics, make sure you state that in the beginning of your post, that people know ahead of time. Say something like “Oh by the way, these were shot with my cell while out and about”, always let your readers know ahead of time. Dark, grainy images make your blog look very unprofessional.
Content and Consistency: One thing about me is that I’m very consistent with my blog posts. My readers know I will have something up daily. I don’t care if I am traveling or really busy, I try to atleast post one thing a day. Great content is key too. Just blogging to be blogging is just a waste of time. Have something interesting to say, that will keep your readers coming back. People always tell me when they see me out, you are always on the go, wow how do you do it? Yep, I plan to be going into the new year busy too lol.
Do you need a refresh? Is your blog still old fashioned looking and stale? Are you still on blogspot.com, have you still not bought your domain name yet? Same blog layout since you first started? You might want to invest and find a web designer to help you redesign the look of your blog. It’s scary, costly and time consuming but well worth it.
Traffic, how to get people to your site? Posting to all your social media outlets and promoting you is the best way. Tees with your logos, coffee mugs, appearances on tv all help you promote you and your blog. Branding is key and ofcourse networking. If you have blogger buddies, ask them to retweet your posts, like them and you do the same. It’s a collective effort on all parts. Try having small blogger workshops or events to get your name out there. Attend or join blogger groups via Facebook or elsewhere. I frown down on blogger conferences because I never learn anything new but if you are a newbie, it might help you. Since I’ve been a Disney blogger, my traffic has grown tremendously because they have a huge network and are known to help each other, retweet each others posts and be very supportive to other bloggers in need.
I hope these few tips help and happy blogging!
I am glad you didn’t give up the site. I really do enjoy it. I will admit that the format through me for a loop and it took me a while to warm up to it. I like the content and like another commenter said, we can’t stay away for long.
Why did it throw you for a loop? If you visit other sites, this template is the norm lol. Thanks though for your comment.
I never see you giving up! This post was everything and the tips was even better. You are one of the bloggers I look up to to keep me going when I want to give up blogging. Keep up the good work, you have a loyal fan base……me being one! 🙂
@Tammi, I usually view from my phone. The first few times I tried it it wasn’t compatible (things weren’t lined up. I figured it was a droid thing).
Oh ok, its still not 100% because we are trying to figure out why some of the photos that are viewed on mobile devices are upside down or sideways lol. Thanks Mell! xoxo