Over the past couple of years, blogging has become increasingly popular. It is thought that there are around 6.7 million people using blogging sites and 12 million people blogging via social media* – that’s more than the population of Portugal!
Bloggers are starting to get a lot more recognition, with a number of successful bloggers appearing in magazines, being invited to glitzy events and even winning awards. The blogging community is expanding and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Through advertisements and promoting of products, some bloggers can make enough money to turn blogging into a full time job. Some bloggers are progressing onto ‘vlogging’, or video blogging, and enter the world of YouTube. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll probably have heard the name Zoella popping up everywhere. With over 6 million subscribers to her YouTube channel, Zoe Sugg was first and foremost a blogger.
Fancy hopping on the blogging bandwagon but not sure how to go about it? Here’s a step by step guide on how to get started…
1) Decide on what you want to write about. It could be anything at all, as long as you have a keen interest in it.
2) Come up with a creative name. You want to capture people’s attention and draw them in. The shorter the better!
3) You don’t need to be a hi-tech web designer to create your blog. There are a number of user friendly sites including Blogger and WordPress.
4) Ensure the layout of your blog is appealing. It doesn’t have to be anything too fancy to begin with. The main thing is that it’s readable. Most blogging platforms have ready-to-use templates, so all the hard work is done for you.
5) Keep your posts short and sweet. Getting straight to the point is key. You don’t want to bore your readers with a two page essay on what you did at your gran’s last week.
6) Use social media to your advantage. Don’t be afraid to promote yourself! Post links to new posts on Facebook or Twitter and watch your number of readers grow.
7) Be patient! Your blog won’t be an overnight success. Even the most successful bloggers on the web started with no readers. It’s easy to ‘forget’ to post and let your blog slip into oblivion if it’s only your best mate and mum reading it. Aim to post something at least once a week and keep it as active as possible.
It’s important to remember that not all bloggers make a living from their blog. The majority of the blogging population do it as a hobby and because they enjoy it. It’s a way of sharing your interests and opinions with the rest of the world whether that be fashion, health and fitness or films. It’s your very own corner of the internet and if you stick with it, who knows what it will lead to? You may even become the next Zoella…
* REF: http://www.social4retail.com/the-blog-economy-blogging-stats-infographic-2014.html
