Blogs have been a huge part of my life for the past few years. I started watching YouTube beauty videos towards the end of high school, and quickly transitioned to reading fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogs religiously. I don’t even want to know the hours I’ve spent reading or the money I’ve spent on recommended products…blogs have influenced so much of my life, and now I have my own! By no means do I claim to be a prominent or successful blogger, however through reading blogs upon blogs, I’ve discovered what I like and dislike in a blog post. If you’re thinking of starting a blog of your own, here are a few of my tips for what blog lovers (myself included!) want to see and will continue to follow. I dare myself to say the word “blog” one more time.
1) Proofread. PLEASE.
I cannot stress this enough. I am a grammar and spelling freak, and it pains me to see blog posts that have blatant errors! I know not everyone considers writing to be a strong suit, but proofreading is a major asset to any blog!
2) Have Your Own Voice
I love reading blogs where I feel like I know the speaker. Being well-written is all well and good, but having a unique point of view is key. Whether you’re sarcastic, witty, or a professional in your field, it helps to have a consistent tone. An example of this is Emilie Etc.; she is crazy sarcastic, and it makes me want to read more!
3) Play to Your Strengths
I envy those bloggers that have a niche and stick to it; I’m still trying to find my genre of blogging, so for now I stick to general lifestyle. If you have a skill or something you LOVE to post about, do it! Passion shows, and this makes your reader want to keep following you. My good friend Elanna Pecherle recently made the switch from general fashion/beauty blogging to how-to and all about beauty posts; that is what she is good at, and she is killing it!
1) Too Many Sponsored Posts
Those girls that live a sustainable lifestyle off of blogging are enviable; it would be amazing to make enough money from blogging to make it a career! However there is nothing that bothers me more than bloggers who rely solely on sponsored posts to fill their website. I don’t mind when a blogger does promotional posts; however recently I’ve come across a few blogs where every. single. post. is sponsored! It makes me question the blog’s credibility and not want to hear their opinion anymore.
2) Post Sporadically
I know I’m guilty of this, and it’s something I’m working on. If you are going to commit to a blog, come up with a schedule! It sucks to find a blogger who’s voice you love and content you enjoy, but they never post. Even coming up with a weekly series can help you get on track to posting consistently. I love bloggers that post once or twice daily- it gives me a procrastination tool while I’m at work…
3) Sacrifice Quality for Quantity
This relates to #2…while it’s great to post as often as possible, don’t sacrifice quality content just for the sake of posting. There have been a few times where I’ve felt like I need to post something, and I’ve written a post that I wasn’t sold on. You should be proud of everything you post…take the time to come up with content that you want to promote, and your readers will thank you for it!