Today marks 6 months that I decided to start blogging and to create THIS MUMMY ROCKS.
I can honestly say that starting a blog is one of the best things that I have done for myself. Check out why I started blogging….
You see, I am the type of person who likes to be kept busy, my mind has to be working on something otherwise I get restless. I like to be doing something productive but I also love helping people. Blogging is perfect for those things!
I also know what it is like be a ‘newbie’ and feeling a little overwhelmed.
So I thought I would share with you 7 Hints And Tips For New Bloggers. What I Have Learnt After 6 Months Of Blogging.
Find Your Tribe and Network
When you start blogging it can be quite daunting at where to start, what to do and who to ask for advice. I have found lots of support mainly from Facebook groups such as The Revolution Inner Circle, Mamapreneur Revolution, The Blog Tech Women and so many more! You start to get to know other bloggers really quite quickly.
Once you have found your tribes, network. Help each other. Share contacts, follow each other on social media platforms and collaborate. Get to know other bloggers. I can honestly say that I have met a lot of amazing, like minded bloggers who are all inclusive and supportive of each other. My type of people!
Attend Conferences And Blogger Events
In the past 6 months I have attended both BlogOn X and BlogOn Toys. What an event BlogOn is. Where 200 bloggers come together in Manchester to meet each other, attend workshops run by experienced bloggers and to meet brands in the brand den! Check out BlogOn Website for more information.
Be Prepared For Your Social Media Following To Yo-Yo And Don’t Take It Personally
Oh the great follow unfollow games that go on on some of the social media platforms can be really frustrating. At the start, I used to think that if I lost followers that I had done something wrong. I now have the mentality to think. ‘I’m obviously not for that person’ and that’s ok. You can’t be everyones cup of tea! There are plenty more people out there that you will be able to connect with.
Building Your DA
In 6 months I have gone from a DA of 1 to 26. How did I do this? By joining in Linkies, replying to crowdsourcing requests in Facebook groups and contributing to guest posts for fellow bloggers. DA is your Domain authority, which is how you rank in search engines. The higher your DA the better.
Schedulers Are Your Best Friend
Schedulers are a life saver for me! My time is precious, so anything that can save me time has a massive YES! from me! For Twitter I use SocialOomph. Pinterest I use Tailwind. For Instagram I have just discovered Planoly and for Facebook I use their built in Facebook Page scheduler. It takes me a maximum of 2-3 hours a month to fill them up and then they’re ready to go!
PIN ME FOR LATER
Organisation And Planning Are Key
Have an idea of what you want to write about and when it’s best being published. Do your research. I have created a number of spreadsheets on an app and website called Airtable. On Airtable I will have spreadsheets for links, blog calendar, monthly stats and goals, amongst other things. I also use an app and website called ToDoist where you can set up to do lists. I find these keep me on track, with not only my blog but with my childminding business and general life.
Record Your Stats
At the end of every month I use Google Analytics to check my Page Views, Unique Visitors, number of sessions and bounce rate. I also record all my social media following, mailing list, position in any charts i am in and my DA. This helps me see the areas in which I need to work on. It also gives me focus and I set myself goals based on the months figures.
I hope that this has helped any new bloggers out there that are feeling a little lost and overwhelmed!
If you’re a new blogger or established blogger, what are your hints and tips for new bloggers? Let me know in the comments below.
Check out my Blogging Tips Pinterest board for some handy hints and tips I have found.
Thanks for sharing these tips. My da is 10 after a good 6 months of blogging but never heard of linkies or seen any crowd sourcing requests – were these in the Facebook groups you mentioned you joined? I am just googling Linkies now to learn about it! Melis x
Author
Hey lovely, thanks for popping by. If you search ‘crowdsourcing’ in facebook you should come across groups. They can be really useful for getting your blog noticed and contribute to others blogs. Brilliant for linking back to you!
That’s great, I will have a look. Thank you! Melis
Melis Living recently posted…Cycling in the Hoi An Countryside
I swear you’ve been blogging for longer than six months! You have done amazingly and should be so proud of yourself with your progress. You make several great points here, I might try Airtable as I need something like an online diary to help me with my weekly and monthly tasks.
Thank you for sharing this with us at #TriumphantTales. I hope to see you back next week
Always looking for ways to up my game. Thanks for the tips. Visiting from #CoolMumClub.
Author
Always happy to help xx
Yes to all of these. Having a tribe makes blogging much more fun and I love scheduling things. Haven’t been to a blog conference for over a year but they are great for meeting other bloggers and building relationships with brands. BlogOn is one I want to go to at some point. #coolmumclub
Author
BlogOn is fantastic! Hope to see you there at some point
Hi Claire and welcome. Wow you have achieved a lot in 6 months and I am feeling completely disorganised having read your list. There are some very useful tips here and I am sure planning and scheduling makes the difference when it comes to achieving that super blogger status. Thanks for sharing this with us and good luck with building your blog further. #TweensTeensBeyond
Author
Aww thank you very much! I can’t say i’m the most organised person lol.
hey you should check out #coolmumclub! Newbies always welcome x
Hey! Thanks so much for sharing – even three years on it can be helpful to remember some of the basics we picked up in the early days – it’s like driving, so many bad habits and laziness creeps in!
Thanks for linking to #coolmumclub, and don’t forget to try and add our badge – it helps our DA too, which is a small reward for all the hard work involved 😉
MMT recently posted…How to throw the perfect Baby Shower
Some great tips here – especially the Facebook Groups which I love – I’m signed up to soooo many now. I did a similar post about a year after I had been blogging, but I feel like doing another one soon! Popping over from #StayClassyMama
Lauretta Wright recently posted…Dark Tourism – The Top 10 Extreme Travel Destinations
Hey Claire, wow!! You are amazing for 6 months. You definitely should be proud of what you have achieved. Someone once said that the first 6 month and then 1 year mark tend to be key, in whether a new blogger will be able to stick it. I have no doubt that you will soar through these milestones. The only tip I would really add for a new blogger is to write. With passion. With heart. With honesty. If you write, they will come 🙂 Thanks for joining us for the #dreamteam
Annette, 3 Little Buttons recently posted…BritMums #BiBs2018 winners to be announced this Friday on Twitter!
Author
Thank you very much Annette. I’m so glad I found blogging. I absolutely love it!
My only comment would be for newbies to really think about their reasons behind blogging. If you’re not passionate about what you’re writing about, or are purely doing it for money, you’ll never stick it out.
(also, DA is about domain authority and credibility, not about where you rank)
Author
Oh yes! I second that Emma! Very good advice. Thank you!
I still need to do some of these after blogging for 2 years! My organisation and scheduling is non-existent ans something I definitely intend to work on when I get the chance! Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama (as you say, linkies are a great way to meet new bloggers and increase your DA!)
Author
I love linkies! The community behind them is amazing!
This is great advice! I’m two months in and I have like 16 people on my list and my DA is a 4. (But up from a 2 last week, so maybe I’m doing the right things.) I feel like I have a good idea of what to do basically, but I don’t have a sense of how what I’m doing affects my stats. Like I had 100 page views one day last week, but I have no idea why. As far as I can tell Pinterest and Tailwind don’t show dates like that on re-shares. Any ideas for tracking? Should I be noting down what I’m doing really specifically so I can look up what I did when I get a lot of views or pins? 🙂 Julie
Julie recently posted…22 Gifts for the Feminist Mom Smashing the Patriarchy between Carpool and Bedtime
you’ve got some great suggestions here. #CoolMumClub
Author
Thank you! I hope they help someone out there!
Oh dear my last comment seemed to disappear! There are some fab tips here that will be useful to new bloggers. It would be great to see more midlife bloggers on line too. Thanks so much for sharing with us at #TweensTeensBeyond
Hey, Lady who Rocks!
I loved reading this. You have got this down to a T. I also love linkies and trying hard to push my DA up. In fact, I stopped trying for just a few months and mine fell from 36 to 31!
I also love meeting new people and building a tribe. Starting a blog was one of the best things we ever did. It is what landed us a role on the Channel 5 show!
Great going, girl. All the very best with your blog.
Joleisa recently posted…Frugal Sights and Deeds this week
Thanks, Mama, these are great points.I’m super duper new to the blogging world. I have used airtables for about a year for my social media content and I love it. Thank you for the great advice. I will research more on how to up my DA game