7 Crucial Things to Think About If You Want to Create A Successful Blog

Creating a blog might sound simple.

If you’re considering creating a blog, you probably love to write or have something to say.

So it’s easy enough to put your thoughts into each soon-to-be post, but you might realize it’s not quite so easy to create your blog as a whole.

There are a lot of things to think about when creating your blog.

It’s going to be your baby in a sense- your creation, something that shows who you are to others.

The crazy and awesome thing about blogging, is that so many people out there that you’ll probably never meet will know your innermost thoughts. Or at least the ones you post!

Though there are so many things to consider, I’ve narrowed it down to seven main things for you to think about in order to create a successful blog.

Also, please note that a successful blog doesn’t *necessarily* have to rake in the big bucks. It should, however, meet your goals, such as sharing inspiration with others.

1. Audience

Who are you writing to? Not just “girls.” Not even necessarily “girls who love to travel,” though that too may be true.

Think about who would benefit from reading your blog. Though all sorts of people read my blog (and I’m thankful for each person!), my blog has a specific audience.

Though different people could benefit from different posts, as a whole my blog inspires people who want to travel or be a travel influencer.

This matters because it’ll give you direction.

2. Niche

And a big part of that direction is your niche.

You’ll see I have a few food recipes under my Lifestyle section that almost NO ONE VIEWS. Food is NOT my niche.

Are those posts a waste of time? No, they were part of the foundation of my blog- when I was trying to figure out my niche.

Having a specific niche is important in attracting subscribers. People generally come to blogs for a specific reason. They subscribe because they know they’ll get more of whatever it is in future posts.

Don’t be afraid to experiment before setting your niche- it’s all a learning experience anyway!

3. Platforms

You might just want to have a blog, but a lot of people branch out to different platforms as well.

I love Instagram because I absolutely love creating beautiful photos (shameless plug- you can follow me here!) and use it as a way to connect with others and hopefully drive some traffic to my blog.

I also love Pinterest as it is a huge tool for people coming to my blog as well.

What are you interested in? Are you good at witty tweets? Or talking to a camera as a Youtuber?

If you are choosing a platform, I’d recommend picking one or two– don’t spread yourself out too thin.

Dedicate your time to one before trying to dominate them all.

Trust me- unless you have the energy of a toddler, it’ll exhaust you trying to do it all!

Another aspect of your platforms is what platform you’d like to use to potentially generate income.

There are two main sources of income from blogs: affiliate links and ads.

Affiliate Links

Affiliate links give you a commission if someone clicks through your link and then purchases something through it.

My favorite affiliate programs are Amazon and RewardStyle.

I prefer these because they are easy to use and have great potential.

Amazon is especially a great program because if someone clicks through your Amazon link, even if they don’t buy your product, you get commission off of anything they purchase.

RewardStyle is a great option if you are a beauty or fashion blogger.

Ads

In my limited understanding, Google ads are put on your site and income is based on clicks (you’d need a high volume of traffic for ads to be successful).

Companies such as Media Vine are a great source of ad income, but you can only apply to be on Media Vine after you have a certain number of monthly views.

(I’ve heard that number is at least 25,000 a month, but don’t quote me on that!)

4. Marketing

Like I mentioned above, social media can be a great source of traffic for your blog. And that is HUGE.

You could have all of the best content in the world, but no one would read it without proper marketing.

You could have all of the best content in the world, but no one would read it without proper marketing.

I find that Pinterest is the best way to get traffic. People use it like a search engine, so advertising on Pinterest can be a great investment.

However, you don’t need to use paid advertising on Pinterest to have it work for you.

Some of my most popular pins on Pinterest have never been used on a Pinterest ad.

Succeeding on Pinterest takes research, time, and constantly staying up-to-date on the latest Pinterest news.

5. Goal setting

This comes in two parts:

Part one: What is your goal in creating your blog?

To answer this, ask yourself again why anyone would read your blog. Is it for inspiration? For tips? For how-to articles? Your goal should line up with that.

My heart is filled with joy when I get emails or comments about how helpful an article was, or how inspiring my blog is.

That is how I measure success.

If you’re in it just to earn money, it’ll be draining to write blog posts about things you’re not passionate about.

So think about the goals you have, and orient your blog around that.

And the next part:

Part two: What are your goals when it comes to your timeline?

How many posts do you want to write a week? What do you want to accomplish each day on your blog?

What is your goal for this year?

Set goals that are specific, attainable, and measurable.

For example, my goal for 2019 which was specific, attainable, and measurable was getting to 25,000 monthly page views. (Fast forward several years and now I’m at over 200,000!)

That goal is specific (it has a number and an end date), attainable (I’m focusing on Pinterest and SEO to build my viewers), and measurable (I can easily check my Google Analytics or Jetpack results).

6. Brand

Branding is important because this is what people see. If you have a consistent style, voice, etc. it engages your readers.

One personal example of this is in my photos.

I edit my photos in Adobe Lightroom with my own presets to create a specific look. That look ties all of my photos together- those light blues, light pinks, low shadows, etc. It’s part of my branding.

This definitely has developed over time for me, but it’s something to still consider when you’re creating your blog.

7. Spending

When you’re starting off, it’s probably best to be frugal. Some blogs become successful rapidly if a lot of marketing and effort are put into them.

But the reality is, it can take months or years before a blog starts generating any sort of income.

So if you put a ton of money into your blog right off the bat, you might not see much fruit from it, and it could just downright depress you. (That’s how I would feel at least).

I’m generally conservative with my money and I’m a pretty big saver.

What I do is spend as little as possible and only spend more when I’ve earned something. So whatever I earn goes back into my blog.

Here was my first year’s spending pattern:

• When I started off, I only paid for web hosting through BlueHost and my URL. Those are the bare necessities. I definitely recommend BlueHost for anyone creating a blog from square one.
• Next I purchased my WordPress theme, since I had written about 20 posts on the free theme and it was time to let my then-Instagram followers (all 500 of my friends and family) know that I had created a blog. To prep for that, it was time to upgrade the look.
• I paid for a few Pinterest ads, which have to potential to do wonders for traffic as I stated earlier.

As you can see, there’s a lot to think about in blogging. Hopefully these seven tips help you on your way!

Comment any questions or suggestions below!

Xo,

Jasmine

PS. If you found this post helpful, please share it to Pinterest! That way you can save it to go back to later or share it with others. It would also help me out as a blogger!! You can use the image below for easy pinning!