7 Tips For Starting A Successful Blog in 2022
UPDATED: August 2022
If you’re looking to start a blog but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re new to my blogging journey, let me give you a little background. I’ve been blogging since 2009. Even before that, I treated my Myspace page like a blog, displaying all of my favorite things. I started my blogging journey on Tumblr (my page was called Androgynously Styled) before Tumblr got really big. Then, I moved to my blogspot, which was called StuddedBows. As you can tell by my previous blog names, I’ve always had a thing for dualities; edgy and girly, menswear-inspired fashion, and now, luxury and minimalism.
After changing my blogspot to The Luxe Minimalist, I bought the domain and web hosting and moved to WordPress, and now, here we are. Through my years of blogging and moving digital real estate, I’ve learned a lot and I’m sharing my best tips for getting started in the blogging world.
7 Tips For Starting A Successful Blog in 2022
Pick a niche that you’re passionate about
Most successful blogs have a specific niche or topic they stick to. I’m interested in so many things so I decided to do a lifestyle blog so I can write about more than one category. But I still picked a niche i.e. luxury minimalism and I write from that perspective as someone who likes high-quality things & experiences. If you pick a niche or topic that you’re passionate about, that will hopefully keep you going when the page views, money, or followers aren’t coming fast enough. This also helps you find your people who are interested in the same topics, and who will become your loyal readers.
Put your readers first
This was one of my biggest struggles when I first started because I’d treat my blog like my personal diary, which is fine if you’re not looking to grow your blog into something more. But if you want your blog to be successful and attract more readers, then you have to put them first. It’s fine to infuse your personality, stories, and opinions into your posts – actually, you should! – but you should always ask yourself how you can be a resource to your readers to help them solve a problem or answer a question. If you’re a fashion blogger, you can answer questions like how a popular brand or item fits, or if you’re a beauty blogger, you can answer how a foundation wears on oily skin.
You have to give your readers a reason to want to keep coming to your blog to help them in some way. For me, my mission is to help readers discover the best luxury beauty, fashion, home decor, and travel experiences on a budget. I answer questions like if a designer piece is worth the price & where to find similar alternatives. I love writing, so I may throw in a few personal posts but I try to include a helpful message and tips within those posts so we’re both getting something from them.
Be consistent
Sharing a new post consistently, whether it’s 1 post per week or 5, will build trust not only with your audience but also with Google. I won’t go into how Google works but the more you publish quality content on your site, the more Google will start to show your posts in search results. Getting on the first few pages of Google is the ultimate goal, as this will bring so much more traffic to your site, which will help you continue to grow your audience.
To stay on schedule, I suggest writing posts in one day, taking all of your photos on another day, then scheduling them to go live on your specific posting days. If you can schedule a few posts ahead of time, you’ll be setting yourself up for success.
Do your research
Invest time in learning about how to make your blog the best it can be. Most blogs are very dependent on photography. I personally don’t follow blogs that don’t have quality photographs. If you’re not already skilled in these areas, start with learning how to take and edit photos. Look into how to be a good written storyteller. And when you’re ready, maybe take some courses on Google SEO, Pinterest, affiliate marketing, and blogging in general.
TIP: You don’t need a fancy camera. You can use a phone and some good photo editing apps. One way to ensure great quality photos is to take them in natural lighting, next to a window. This will make editing so much easier.
You should also learn everything you can about the topics you’re writing about. Readers want to come to you to learn more about whatever topic you’re blogging about, so you should be reading about current trends in your industry/niche to stay up-to-date.
Get a professional layout
Your layout should be minimal in the sense of not being too cluttered or distracting and it should be easy to navigate. I suggest having your contact info & social sites at the top of the page so it’s easier for people to contact you and find you on your social media platforms. You’ll also want to have a hi-res photo of yourself and a little blurb about you and your blog so new visitors can quickly learn a bit about you.
TIP: You can find stylish themes on Etsy, PipDig, 17th Avenue Designs, & HeartenMade to name a few.
Create timely & relevant content
I receive the most traffic when I post about new product launches and popular products. This is because these are the things people are searching for on Google. Your posts should be relevant and SEO friendly (aka they should be searchable so they’re easily found by Google). I can go into detail about how to use SEO to boost your traffic in another post but keep this in mind when creating your blog.
Promote your blog
This is a tip that I’m still working on myself but you have to promote your blog if you want to increase your readership. I used to be very protective of my blog and in some ways, I still am but you can’t be too scared of what people think if you want to grow. Pinterest is the number 1 way to get your blog out there but you can also promote your blog on your other social media channels, as well as in person.
Have fun & be yourself
This tip is really important now that blogging has become a profitable career path. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the appearance of the lives of other successful bloggers. But those bloggers who become successful have worked really hard and the success didn’t come overnight for most of them. Blogging is a lot of work and that’s why you should blog about something you really love. This way you’ll never get tired of it.
People see through it if it’s not done out of passion. Blogging can become a career if it’s done right and you are patient. Also remember to do it your way. There are enough bloggers that are doing the exact same things. Try to be original and just have fun.
This is the first of many posts I want to do about blogging. I have been blogging since 2009 and until now, I wasn’t too consistent with it. Though I wasn’t always consistent, I have learned so much and I want to share what I’ve discovered. Now that I’m ready to take TLM to the next level, I’m hoping I can help others start/grow their blogs. Leave in questions in the comments below and I’ll do more posts based on the questions you have.
You can also send me questions on Instagram, and Facebook. Find more blogging tips here.
