Blogging has been a passion for the past decade which keeps growing with every passing minute. I have been through templates, and social platforms and yet, the internet keeps surprising me everyday. Simply because it keeps changing every day. I do not have a handle on everything, but this year I knew I want to up my blogging-game and look at this as a professional passion, instead of 'just-a-hobby'. I did my research, read a million articles on the web and applied what seemed right for me. Below are some of the steps I have taken in the last six months or so which have shown positive results. They might not work for everyone, but I believe this is a good place to start:
Esthetics are everything:
Especially if you are a women's lifestyle and travel blogger. Hence, I revamped my blog to look more like a website which was easy to navigate and represented my current "professional" state of mind.
Re-position yourself:
I recently added storyteller to my working title. I realized I like sharing nuggets from my life and experiences. I still tell the same stories I have been telling the past six years. Now I just find brands that are in line with my story and we would mutually gain from the collaboration.
I don't brand myself as a "fashion" blogger anymore because I am more than that. My interests lie in the 'human aspect' of everything, be is fashion, travel, decor, fitness. I have more to offer and I make sure I stay true to my branding and give more to my readers.
God is in the details:
I have spent hours, learning about SEOs, branding, titles, meta tags. (If you are a blogger and you don't know what I am talking about start googling now) For example, now before assigning the title to the post, I first google what people are searching for regarding the topic that I am writing about. It helps me give a title which people can actually find, and is in sync with what people are looking for, instead of blinding giving names to my posts.
I tag all my pictures with names of the places, or brands that are featured in the post. I don't give a tag for the sake of it because if someone reaches my blog looking for "tanks" and instead finds a "blouse" they are never going to come back.
I started a Digital is moving has moved towards video:
YouTube channel because that's where we are heading digitally - toward video content. It was also a move in sync with where I was mentally as a person. I also 'Snap' a lot more than I did earlier this year. It is also about being visually available. It helps your audience connect with you beyond the scope of your blog and pretty pictures.
Social Media is the name of the game:
I make time for all the various social media apps as I want to be seen as a professional who knows what's going on in her industry. Periscope and Snapchat are big now, emphasizing the popularity of video (again!). However, do not rely on just ONE social medium at any given point. Remember when everyone was going on and on about Facebook? ... And then came twitter ... And now it is Instagram! While, none of those have gone away, a new medium are always popping up. If you spend all your energy and resources building just one platform and then they
pull a Facebook on you, where you don't have the access to the audience you built without "boosting" your post, you are doomed. My suggestion: Spread your time across all platforms and give a little love to them all.
People are not stupid. Everyone can tell when a compliment is in-genuine, or a email is self serving. Be yourself, not just on your blog, off your blog too. Nurture genuine relationships with fellow bloggers and PR people. They have to be mutual, respectful and honest. Reply to all emails (unless someone doesn't even bother to know your name or hasn't even checked out your blog ever). Be up front about what you expect in a collaboration. Don't be afraid to negotiate. Or to say No!
One thing I have learnt in the ten years of blogging is that the number of followers actually DO NOT matter. For instance, my readers are in between the ages from 25-75, most of them are non-bloggers. More often than not, they do not understand what it means to "follow me" on social media. Even if they are on Instagram, they do not check the post from there. Things are not quite intertwined for them, as they are for bloggers. You have to see your blog, from a non-blogging-eye. (You are trying to visualize while you read this post, aren't you? It is hard, right?)
You could have a similar reader-base (or not!). There could be silent readers. There could be audience who prefers to bookmark your page instead of following you on various platforms, so on and so forth. What matters is that you have a loyal, engaged audience who trusts you and hence trusts the brands you choose to work with. It doesn't really mean much, if you have a million followers but they do not translate into page views and/or engagement on the blog.
I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any other tricks up your sleeve, do share them with me in the comments below.
Blogger, Stylist, Storyteller, Fitness Enthusiast, Experimental Cook. If you have questions in any of the mentioned areas or have feedback, feel free to contact me at [email protected].
