8 WAYS TO LOOK LIKE A PRO BLOGGER
One thing is to start a blog and get going, but if your goal is to get your blog to the next level, you will want to look like a blogger that people should be following. There are a few things you can do to your blog to enhance it and make yourself look like a professional blogger who has been at it for years, even if you have just started! Let me tell you how.
Read Next: 8 THINGS BLOGGING PROS DO TO GET MILLIONS OF VIEWS EVERY MONTH
HAVE YOUR OWN DOMAIN
One of the main things to do when you have decided to take your blog seriously is to make sure you have a domain. Having a domain means it’s your own URL. For instance, mine is www.thatgirlyoli.com and it is my own personal page where I can write my life away whenever I want to. As great as it is to be offered a free URL, like a .wixsite.com address or .blogspot.com, it doesn’t look good. You want to look like you actually care about your blog and aren’t just along for the free ride. All it takes is just $15 a year to own a domain and it’s worth it.
ADD A SITE ICON
Something little that is often overlooked is your blog’s site icon, or ‘favicon’. This is the icon that shows up in someone’s browser when they are visiting your site, and especially when they bookmark it.
Even if you make a simple one, this is the symbol that represents your site so it’s important to at least have one. What I have noticed is that many bloggers, mainly on the Blogger platform, forget or don’t upload a favicon in the layout section, and it makes it look like Blogger owns the site. Make sure you add your favicon to your site so your blog looks like your own space.
Most importantly, make sure your favicon is in line with your brand. Even if is something as simple as your initials or an illustration.
PERFECT YOUR THEME
Honestly, my opinion is to invest in a theme right of the bat, however, getting a free theme isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you do want to purchase a theme Creative Market is your place to go. Now, if you decide to spend money on a brand new theme, make sure you complete installation and fix every corner of your blog until is perfect. A half-installed theme or one that looks unfinished can ruin the entire appearance of your blog.
Check through your sidebar, if there is anything floating around that you don’t need? Maybe some old sponsor badges, random gadgets, or a heading without nothing underneath? Look at your page as if you were someone that has never looked like it before. Perfect every corner of your blog.
DONT RUIN YOUR PINTEREST
One thing that drives me crazy is when I find a blogger who has really good blog posts content, only to find that they post the same blog post image over and over on their Pinterest page. Their whole display collage banner at the top of their profile is the same image pinned 20 times. So make sure you are posting consistently and don’t repeat your images. If you want to repeat your images, just split it up with other pictures.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
When you have just started a blog, posting as much as you can is necessary as your blog need lots of great content to find when they land on your page. Then once you have a good mix of posts, you can then start spending more time on quality posts. Quality posts will start attracting new visitors and you will see those stats go up!
If you decide to keep creating posts that have been rushed, new readers will catch on and think the entire blog is of poor quality. If they land on a recent top quality post that you have put a lot of effort into, you bet they will be coming back when you publish a new post. Personally, if I have to scroll through the same image a thousand times, that would annoy me.
Promoting your latest blog post is key but make sure you space it out. You will attract more people if you space it out more.
BE PRESENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Did you know that the more social media accounts you have linked to your blog, the better your blog’s SEO will be? This is a plus because you want to be highly ranked on Google, this should be your top priority.
It is good to have a strong presence in Social Media, try to have as much presence as you can in different platforms. If you only have Instagram on your sidebar, it might seem like you aren’t putting much effort into your online presence. Followers would like to see that you are all over it, so they are eager to follow you.
DISCLAIM AFFILIATE LINKS
If you want to gain trust with readers, the most important thing is to add a disclaimer at the top of the post when your adding affiliate links. This will also save you from getting into trouble.
There are way more guidelines and laws amongst affiliate partners that are popping up every time that you need to comply with. You better be safe than sorry, especially in the US, UK and EU regions.
USE YOUR SUBMARK
This comes in very handy for marketing your brand. Mine is on the top of my page.
The more you use it, the more the people will recognize it and take notice of your content and social media. This is useful on Pinterest because when people are scrolling through pins, you want people to know that a certain pin is yours.
If you make these tweaks, I’m sure you will create an impact on people who find it.
