
Since 2009, I have been blogging and I am frequently asked how I got started. This post will give you a quick overview of my blogging journey and some personal tips on how you can get started.
My blog was something I did in my spare time. It was my creative outlet for my Graphic Design job, which I started six years ago. My journey started in twitter and I soon launched my website on the OnSugar platform. Melbourne Girl has evolved over the years. I started with a redesign on the WordPress platform, then finally decided to invest some money in my domain(s) and have it redeveloped/built.
After building an audience, I’ve been focusing on Melbourne Girl for the past 18months. It has allowed me to work in my husband’s landscape business and be a new mother. About three to four years after I began, I did not start making any money from what I was doing. It’s a passion of mine, so a lot of hard work went into it. I recommend that you also start it as a hobby.
I have completed many courses over the years to get to where you are today. I received a Bachelor of Arts from Uni (although I recommend a journalism or communications degree), and then I took some shorter courses on Interior Decoration_ and Fashion Industry_. My Graphic Design education was very beneficial.
TIPS TO STARTE A BLOG
What is blogging, you ask?
A blog is an online journal where you can discuss any topic you wish – fashion, food holidays, pets, or anything else that interests you.
First, blog about something that interests you. Keep your blog as authentic and honest as possible. Your readers will appreciate wisdom and honesty from someone genuine and sincere. They are here for this reason. Your blog posts must be relevant – I blog about Melbourne lifestyle and travel, so these posts are my most popular traffic sources.
* 2017 update In the past four years, my monthly blog traffic has increased from about 1,000 page views to around 40,000-60,000 page views depending on the year. My growth was slower than I would like. However, I didn’t have any mentors, advice or guidance to guide me. It was a steep learning curve.
Tips for beginners in blogging
* First, choose the name of your blog and the theme
Important: Be unique
SECONDLY – Keep the spelling simple
Have fun: Choose a blog title that reflects your audience and what you are passionately about.
* Create a new WordPress blog
Bloggers need software. My platform of choice for blogging is WordPress. It’s a simple, flexible, and fast blog script.
It has a wide range of features to make your publishing experience easy and pleasant. Follow their easy tutorials to create posts, upload photos, and more. You can count on them to provide all the assistance you need.
A few other platforms have been tried (like Blogger and OnSugar), but none compare to WordPress.
* Think about some categories
A blog category is the topic that you write about on your blog. Your blog’s category list can be thought of as the table of contents. Categories can be broadened to include smaller topics or more specific topics (i.e. tags). A category title can include several words and should be descriptive.
Before you begin blogging, it is important to choose the right blog categories. This will guide you in the right direction and help you stay true to your niche. This will help you generate ideas for posts and kickstart your blog in the right way so that your audience can navigate seamlessly.
Start publishing live content
This is the fun part!
Here is my simple formula to write a blog post.
Step 1 – Create a working title.
Step 3 – Create a compelling intro (usually one to three paragraphs).
Step 4 – Write your content. Blog posts should not exceed 300 words
Step 5 End with a quick conclusion and any weblinks, dates, etc.
Step 6 Proofread and edit your post. Make sure you check your formatting.
Step 7 – Hyperlinks: Make sure you connect to other websites so users can click through.
Step 8 Don’t forget to take photos
As important as quality photos and writing blog posts is the content. As you wouldn’t take any other’s writing, remember to not ‘take any other’s photos. It is not acceptable to include a source note or credit. Please don’t use it is the motto for all bloggers. All photos taken in Australia are protected under the Copyright Act 1968. Copyright is held automatically by the photographer. There is no registration or need to add copyright notices to works. Therefore, all photos online are protected.
I would recommend getting a high-quality camera (consult the Camera House Professionals) before doing any editing. Next, size your photos to match the dimensions of your wordpress theme. Adobe Photoshop is my preferred editing program.
Stockify is a trusted supplier that offers high-quality stock photos at a fraction of the cost. This disruptive new approach to stock photography allows you to buy exceptional-quality images and can be customized for your small business’ digital marketing.
Step 9 : Publish