7 Things All New Bloggers Will Understand
Tuesday, May 05, 2020AD - This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclaimers page for more info!
I have been blogging for over 4 years across multiple different blogs, but every time I start a new one, there are things I learn all over again. Love, Em is reaching two years old, and I am always learning new things about blogging. Even as an experienced blogger, there are things I forget! So I've decided to channel back to when this blog started to give you 10 relatable things that all new bloggers will understand (And what things really mean!)
There Is A Lot That Goes Into Blogging
It isn't as simple as sitting down and writing about something. Well, part of it is. But you have to wear many hats as a blogger. A lot of time and thought goes into creating ideas, taking photos and promoting posts. I understand why bloggers hire virtual assistants or specialists for certain things! There is a long list of things you need to do and know as a blogger and jobs you have to try. Here are just some of the things you'll find yourself doing:
- Brainstorming ideas, keywords, photo ideas
- Content creation
- Website building, SEO and design
- Social media marketing
- Model and photo editor
- Customer services & manage comments
- Backlink gatherer
- Guest writer
- Networking specialist
- Data analyser
As a new blogger, it can be hard to perfect all of those skills from the get-go. It's something that comes with time, and in the beginning, your blog may not run as smoothly. And that's okay! I also offer virtual assistant services, should you need some affordable help to get you off the ground. The blogging community is a wonderful place to find help, advice and comfort when you're starting out.
Building A Blog Can Be Frustrating
While we know we won't blow up overnight, it's sad when your views are lower than expected. Building a blog and growing it takes A LONG TIME. It can be frustrating when you don't go viral in a week, but it is better to have a small, loyal following than a load of inactive followers. Tons go into building a blog, from designing a logo and website to writing content and building a social media following. I am a good few years into this blog, and there are still things I am changing and developing. Building a blog is hard. It takes time and can be expensive, depending on your vision.
So, where do you start when you want to build the blog of your dreams? I'd start by thinking about a blog name and what you'd like to talk about. Then, set up an email and WordPress blog. You can also create a logo or hire someone to do that for you! Write some SEO friendly blog posts and publish them to your site. Research what social media works best for your niche, and start content creating! There is so much more that goes into setting up a blog, which you can read here! It will take time, and you will feel frustrated but don't let it put you off writing. It can be a rewarding hobby.
Brand Collaborations Are Exciting
It is so fun to work with brands. When you work with a brand, you feel recognised. A brand likes my work!? It feels like a dream come true, and it is exciting to receive a product or talk with someone. You can often find products that you love. One of my favourite planners was gifted by a small stationery business. I continue to purchase it yearly! I wouldn't use anything else for my weekly and daily planning. You also gain communication skills and contacts which may help you down the line. There are also times you can get paid for your work, which is even better as gifted items get taxed but don't help you pay the bills!
I feel like sometimes, smaller bloggers could be exploited. Rather than a gift, you must buy something with 10% off. It's not worth paying for an item. You are giving the brand payment and free promotion. There isn't much in it for you, and it can ruin it for other bloggers too. If you pay for an item, brands expect that from other bloggers.
You Want My Media Kit?
I used to have a blog (when I was 13), and I never had to use a media kit when working with brands. When I started blogging properly, I was asked for my media kit for a collaboration. I scavenged other bloggers' sites to find out what it was and spent an hour making one. A media kit is a rundown of your blog stats, about you and previous collaborations. It shows the brand what you can offer them and is usually a page or two long. It's worth having on hand when you're looking to work with brands. You should update it regularly, especially if you're stats are climbing quickly. It should be as accurate as possible to attract brands! A media kit is handy when pitching to brands as it has most of your blog information already.
What Is A DA Score?
While making my media kit, I found that many had a DA score. I also saw a lot of opportunities that wanted DA scores of 25+ to be considered. Again, this was something I never needed on my old blog. Bloggers seemed to celebrate their DA scores increasing, so I wanted to know what it was and how to improve mine. A DA score is out of 100 and ranks your website based on several factors. 100 is the best score possible. A DA score is just a rank and doesn't mean too much. Brands will still work with you if your score is lower, but it's worth working on. The higher the score, the more backlinks you will have to your blog. This can mean traffic from external sources, which can help your stats! I have written a more in-depth post if you're still confused!
SEO? More like SE-NO!
This is another load of letters I didn't understand at first. Search engine optimisation is essentially the keywords and stuff that you use to have your blog appear higher on a search engine...or something like that. It's something I didn't consider when I first started blogging, and it took me a while to fix later on. SEO helps your blog rank higher in search engines and gain more organic traffic. It's worth looking into when you start blogging, especially if you want to monetise your blog later. It's where you look at keywords, meta descriptions and other behind the scenes bits that help your blog on search engines. When I first started blogging, I didn't think about SEO. I was simply writing because I loved blogging. That's okay if you want to write like that, but I wanted to monetise my blog. It took me a while to fix old content and make it better. Even if you implement a few things from the start, it can help a huge amount later down the line!
Purchasing Domains & Going Self-Hosted
When you start a blog, you should consider purchasing your domain. Purchasing a domain is when you get your own blog name, and remove anything extra from the URL. For example, I own loveemblog, and that is my domain. It's worth investing in a domain name as it shows brands you are more committed to your blog. It also looks professional and more put together. I found an increase in traffic and opportunities once I had sorted my name!
It appears that the many bloggers are all self-hosted. Self-hosted is different from just getting rid of the .blogspot or the .wordpress. Being self-hosted is where you have complete control over your website. It can be scary and costly to go self-hosted, especially if you aren't committed to your blog as much. If you're looking to go self-hosted, I recommend using Lyrical Hosting for all your domain & hosting needs. If you use my code, LoveEm10, you get 10% off of your first purchase with them!
There are many things I have learnt as a blogger and hope others can relate to. It's daunting to start a blog, especially when you're unsure of where to start. There is lots of information telling you different things and how to run your blog. It can be hard to know what to follow or what works for you. What things have you found as a new blogger? Let me know in the comments below!
Other relatable content for new bloggers!
31 comments
I still for the life of me don't understand DA scores and how to improve them.
ReplyDeleteNope nor do I! I'd love to know how to make it better! Thank you for reading
DeleteEm x
As a blogger of a few years, my biggest regret is waiting so long to go self hosted. You won’t be building a genuine DA score while using a .blogspot.com site.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re serious about blogging I’d make the switch fairly soon x
Thank you for your advice. I am going to look into it but would like a bit more of a presence first. I also need to figure out how to do it! Thank you for reading though
DeleteEm x
Love this post! There is definitely so much more that goes into blogging than you realize! I did not know anything about SEO or DA until I was about like 4 months into blogging lol so it is nice that you are figuring it out so soon on your blogging journey!
ReplyDeleteI have seen it pop up a lot on twitter! I am glad that I came across it so I at least have a chance to figure it out. There is so much people don't realise about blogging. I didn't realise how techy things were and how much time actually goes into things! Thank you for reading :)
DeleteEm x
I can relate to every single one of these! Having only been blogging just over a month myself I think I'm finally getting head around SEO a little more! haha
ReplyDeleteI knew some stuff about SEO when I first started but it took me forever to learn about DA. Media kits were all anyone seemed to talk about when I first started so I got mine figured out pretty quickly. I started off self hosted so I didn't have to worry about transferring anything over if I wanted the jump later, and making that small financial investment from day 1 helped me stick with it too x
ReplyDeleteSophie
www.glowsteady.co.uk
Wow thank you! I hadn't ever thought of going self-hosted like that before. Perhaps I do need to look into this sooner rather than later. Was it expensive to go self-hosted? I managed to figure out a media kit but defo need to work on it a bit! If you have any tips or posts, i'd love to read them
DeleteEm x
Still struggling to get my mind round SEO and DA scores to be honest hahah! Some great tips here x
ReplyDeleteDA scores are the one thing that annoys with because I can never get mine to change. You're going great as a new blogger but I'd definitely say wait a while for being self hosted, at least until the honeymoon time of blogging is over. I waited two years before I decided self hosted was for me.
ReplyDeleteSame! I am trying to figure out what things change it but one day it'll be 6 and the next it'll drop!?!? Thank you for the advice, I am defo still in that honeymoon space as it all is going super smoothly. I also think I need to gain a bit more presence before I jump. Thank you for you kind words
DeleteEm x
I've been blogging for 7 years but I can definitely relate to feeling these things along the way! I have a post about DA and media kits if you ever need any advice! x
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! I shall have a look at the post! Do you have a link for it :)
DeleteEm x
I’m definitely still new at this. I’m familiar with SEO but I don’t know anything about DA (I assume it’s not District Attorney).
ReplyDeleteNo, it actually means Domain authority but unfortunately, that's about all I know! Thank you for reading :)
DeleteEm x
I wish I had learned about SEO sooner! It would have saved me a lot of work going back and editing like 100 posts to improve them. For DA, getting backlinks helps (other people linking to you) Good luck with your blog! It's a long game, but fun once you get it figured out!
ReplyDeleteI'm new to blogging too and it feels like there's so much to learn! As you say it's tough to grow your blog quickly but I try to keep reminding myself how much I've learned and achieved already!
ReplyDeleteI am too new in blogging and don't know about seo and DA too. but writting is fun too that I can't stop.😄😄
ReplyDeleteGreat post, and these are all too familiar for me! I feel like I had a bit of a head-start in the SEO side of things thanks to my job at a digital media company, but I'll be honest the rest of it I've picked up from other bloggers! There's so much to learn and there's so much to do but the blogging community is so supportive so you'll be in safe hands for sure! Jenny in Neverland has some fab tips on DA/SEO and general blogging so I would definitely recommend her blog!
ReplyDeleteAmy | sassycatlady.com
You are so right. Blogging is a lot more than just writing. I am still learning new things every single day.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. This time last year I was fresh to blogging and I was so desperate to fit in and be liked. Now I'm a year into blogging and I'm just taking it at my own pace.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with this! DA and PA used to confuse me a lot but media kits have been something that I've been asked for more recently too. I had one about 3-4 years ago for my blog and no one ever asked for one and now I don't have one- everyone wants one !!
ReplyDeleteStill struggling with it all to be honest, my DA Score is not that great either, hope it improves :)
ReplyDeleteNic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes
These were definitely some of my thoughts when I was a new blogger! All the terminology like DA, SEO and media kits can be really overwhelming. Luckily the blogging community is full of lovely, helpful people who are always happy to assist newbies :) x
ReplyDeletehttps://www.femaleoriginal.com
This is such a helpful post thank you!!!! I learnt so much :) also great name BTW ;)
ReplyDeleteEm - planningwithem.com
It's a helpful post. Thank you
ReplyDeleteWow you seem to have done so well so far! I went self hosted after a year and I'm still pretty clueless now 😂 there is so much more to blogging than meets the eye, we probably spend the least time actually writing! But we're all in this journey together x
ReplyDeleteI like having my own domain as it gives a sense of ownership and you can take a lot of pride in your work to build something up.
ReplyDeleteThe domain fee can be a regular cost, but I just view it as an expense that would be expected to pay for any other hobby.
DA was a mystery to me too! It can be so tricky to build it up and I'm having trouble with it too- thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteHave been in the blogging world for some time now but since I've only just started to take blogging more seriously (as a way I might be able to earn money), all these terms are also very new and confusing for me! I've been thinking of self hosting but I know it can be costly and I also don't know yet how I can transfer my posts from my current blogging platform onto the self hosted one. Sounds very time consuming! Must read more bout it!
ReplyDelete