As a full-time blogger with 3 blogs, I would like to share my best advice for new bloggers. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, often costly on my blogging journey and I hope by sharing this advice that I will save you from the same mistakes.
Deciding to become a full-time blogger has been a wonderful thing for me, I absolutely love it but you don’t need to be a full-time blogger for these tips to be helpful. Even if you can only dedicate a couple of hours a week to your blog, you’ll find value in these tips.
DISCLOSURE – Please be aware that I will be sharing affiliate links in this post. Please know that I only ever share products and services that I actually use or have used myself and found great value from.
I love sharing affiliate links with my blog readers and I find this a really genuine win, win, win for everyone. A really useful post to read is How to find affiliate programs for your blog
I recommend things I really love and potentially earn a commission (win), my blog readers learn about things that can help them (win) and the business I recommend get’s a potential new customer/sale (win). You can also read How I make money on my blog.
Get started now
I hear so many people talking about wanting to start a blog and then months later they still haven’t actually started. In my humble opinion, there’s way too much overthinking goes on. My advice is to get started straight away and learn as you go.
Get great hosting who’ll give you great support
The one thing I do recommend right from the very start is exceptional hosting for your blog. I’m with Lyrical Host. I really do think they’re amazing.
I recommend that you read my review post on them titles Cheap Blog Hosting With Exceptional Support. If you type in MBC at checkout, you’ll get 10% off your first hosting plan.
They’ve saved me so much time, stress and money since I swapped to them and they really genuinely want you to succeed with your blog too.
I’ve also written How to start a blog for free – I would always recommend investing in your own domain name and good hosting if you possibly can.
Create, create, create
You must get that content out there and lots of it in the early days. You can slow things down later but when you’re just starting out with your blog, you need to get the content on there asap.
Aim for posts over 1000 words wherever you can. It’s not always possible but where you can without babbling on, do it.
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Update as you learn more
All of the successful bloggers that I know update their blogs over time. It’s a good practice for all bloggers. So, your first blog posts may not be the very best blog posts ever but you can go back as you learn and update. They’re not set in stone.
Learn How to Blog Well
I did all sorts of small things to learn how to blog and keep in mind that I started blogging solely to support my coaching business initially. It was in 2017 that I switched focus to being a full-time blogger.
Once I decided I wanted to stop coaching and focus on my blog, I gave myself a year to build my income. As a single mum, I had to make it pay if I was going to do this blogging thing.
The best thing I did was invest time and money into learning how to blog well. I signed up for Elite Blog Academy and that totally changed things for me. I started to see my blog as my business rather than just a little bit of my business.
I’ve heard people say that blogging is not a business. I totally disagree. Without this mindset shift, I do not think I would have been able to achieve my goal to stop coaching and earn a full-time income from my blogs (I had two at the time) in 1 year.
Elite Blog Academy only open their doors for enrollment once a year for a few days, so I recommend that you get on the waiting list now.
You’re under no obligation to sign up but at least you’ll get notified. You’ll also get free tips to help you with your blog.
Here’s a freebie that I am able to give you from EBA – SECRET BLUEPRINT FOR BLOGGING SUCCESS and also check out these BLOG RESOURCES.
Get My Free BLOG POST CHECKLIST
Learn SEO right from the start
I’ll put my hand up and tell you that I didn’t really focus on this very much at all. The biggest reason was that it confused me and overwhelmed me.
My own top tip is to write key posts and then write connecting posts that lead back to the main key posts.
For example, I wrote a review of the SEO course that I recently took and found really useful. As it’s a big thing for bloggers, I am then able to link to it from other related posts, just as I have done here.
Also, as a minimum, install the Yoast plugin to help you get the basics right in each blog post.
Learn how to use Pinterest well
At the time of writing this post, Pinterest drives the largest amount of traffic to my blog but I do invest a good amount of time into this. Pinterest is actually a search engine rather than a social media platform. People search for what they want to read about.
To give you an idea of what I do on Pinterest, I post 5+ pins of my own daily. It’s usually between 7 and 15 depending on whether I’m adding a new post on that day or If I’m creating new images that day. I also share pins from other people regularly.
This is a really useful post to read for using Pinterest – Pinterest tips for bloggers and for scheduling tips Tailwind scheduling for bloggers.
I don’t have a set ratio for sharing my pins v’s sharing other people’s. In the early days, I shared a lot from other people to keep my boards active but now I have so much of my own content, I am much more choosey about what I share from other people.
I usually add 1 pin to a blog post and then I’ll create 2-3 more pins and add them directly to Pinterest, scheduling them out over a week or so.
I am also constantly creating new Pins for older posts. On an average workday, I create 3+ new pins for older posts to keep attracting new eyes. Also, some pins do really well and others don’t.
I’d love to tell you I know how to create the perfect pin but honestly sometimes it’s the image I least expect to do well that performs well. Other bloggers I know create 10+ pins for each new blog post straight away.
I’m currently trialing only using the Pinterest Scheduler rather than Tailwind. I’m finding it a bit more time consuming and you can’t schedule too far in advance but for new bloggers, it’s a great place to start.
You may also find these posts helpful Pinterest to attract the right people and how to schedule Pins for 3 months. (using Tailwind).
Be prepared for changes
Whist as I write this post, Pinterest drives a lot of traffic, things are always changing. Keep an eye on other platforms and adapt. There was a time when Twitter and Facebook drove a much better amount of traffic but now I see hardly any traffic from them. Maybe your place will be Instagram and maybe new platforms will pop up and take over them all.
Also, appreciate that these platforms will change over time. It’s a really good idea to follow a trusted person who can keep you up to date with best practices.
I listen to the Simple Pin Media Podcast for Pinterest news and best practices. And I know Mari Smith is a great person to follow for Facebook news.
Monitor by the month
Compare the same month each year. Most blogs go through ups and downs throughout the year. Knowing this will help. I’ve got caught out on this.
For example, I’ve had really good blog sessions which have increased over 3-4 months which has also shown up in higher blog revenue. Then I’ve panicked because I’ve seen a big drop.
Whenever this happens check your sessions and income for the same month from the previous year. I have always found that I’m still doing much better than the previous year.
This really helps to keep a clear head and stay focused on what’s working rather than going into panic mode and thinking what you’re doing isn’t working anymore.
Keep sharing your old posts
This is really important. Keep sharing your old blog posts. Obviously, it’s important to share new posts but you also need to keep sharing old posts over time.
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Invest wisely – You don’t need everything
At least you don’t need everything right away. If I was to have my time again, I’d invest in this order. Of course, this is once your blog is set up and you have great blog hosting (remember to use MBC at checkout if you buy a hosting plan).
- How to blog to as a successful business – I recommend Elite Blog Academy – Get on the waiting list as doors only open once a year.
- SEO training – I recommend SEO Navigation
- Pinterest training (though other bloggers would say Facebook, Instagram… Judge where your audience hangs out the most.
- I’d also probably invest in a course on email marketing but I admit I’m not that great at this. But I totally appreciate that it is a good investment
There will be smaller ongoing investments such as Canva to create images, scheduling, software to create downloads…
Advice for new bloggers
I really hope you’ve found this advice for new bloggers post helpful. Of course, this advice is based on my own experience but I feel it’s very good advice for any new blogger in any niche.
Please share this post wherever you can. Thanks so much
