Firstly thank you so much for all the lovely feedback in the comments of the first post (which you can find here) it really is appreciated.
Whilst writing these tips I realised I hadn't included anything about photography/images so I think I will write a separate post on that!
7. Use your Google/Blogger Analytics for blog post inspiration
If you have been blogging for some time you will know that you can go through phases of being uninspired or just not knowing what to write about. Or sometimes it can even be a lack of comment/interation/pagviews that leave you feeling deflated and not knowing what to blog about. But them answers can be found in your Google Analytics.
What I like to do to get a few ideas for new posts is to look at which posts have been viewed the most in the past 6 months and also what people have searched for the most to find my blog. Just from doing that I know a lot of people want to know about Makeup Storage and SLS-free products and my most viewed post in the last 6 months was this blog post - here so I could try some more creative nail posts. It only takes a few minutes to find out and gives you instant feedback that can inspire future blog posts.
8. Start a series of blog posts
I have wrote a few series of blog posts on my blog now - My Quest for Perfect Skin, Face Mask Friday, Steal of the Week and a few blogging related series. Even though it doesn't make you blog better per se it does help you stick to a bit of a schedule and also gives your readers a heads up on what to except from your blog more. My newest series is my Sunday Lazy Links posts which are designed just to be a relaxed post that can give you a few links to look at on a Sunday. So you can could match the type of series you a writing to a day of the week - for example a positive up beat post may be good mid-week on a Wednesday and a pampering type post could be good for the end of the week on a Friday or even a Sunday when people have the time to relax. Tips - Remember to keep the same title each week, create a tag for the posts so they can be all read together if wished, let readers know it will be a series and on what day you will be posting it each week.
9. Download some new free fonts for images
Text over blog images can bring a blog post to life and cand also make the images informative (if you include the name and price of the product) but you don't want to be using any old font. Downloading fonts it a lot easier than most people think! Firstly I would recommend going to 1001 Free Fonts and downloading/saving as many fonts as you like to your desktop. As each font folder will be a zip file you want to 'extract all' by right clicking then dragging the font folder onto the desktop. Next open up 'Control Panel' then 'Fonts' and drag the font files into the window and they will install automatically. All your new fonts will then be with all the other fonts in every program you use!
10. Write quality content
Firstly what am I meaning by quality content? I'm talking content that is unique, knowledgeable and useful. But why write quality content? The more interesting and valuable the content the more likely it will be shared by others thus growing your readership and follower base. This could be a helpful guide, even a creative DIY post or your own experience of something that can benefit others.
Of course not every post is going to be 'quality content' and you wouldn't want it to be... I mean I am never going to stop my haul posts, or rambles but if you are knowledgeable in a certain area that relates to your blog or even something you have never wrote about before then write about it and create a great quality post packed full of information. Posts like these will get your readers acknowledging the time and effort you have spent on it and also they will have hopefully enjoy reading it so will want to share it either by tweeting about it, referring to it on their own blog or sharing it with other people they know.
I actually had a blog post shared on Stumbleupon back in 2010 and even now I still get quite a lot of traffic from Stumbleupon each month, so sometimes it is worth writing something that little bit different that people will want to share!
11. Drop one thing that doesn't benefit you
For me this was stopping writing beauty box posts. I do like beauty boxes but I found it hard to stick to writing the reviews as I like to try out all the products and not just report what is in each box. So from now on if I like something that was in a beauty box I will mention it but in a post about lots of other products or if it's extra special I will do a product review of it and of course mention which beauty box it came from. Just by dropping that one thing I now don't feel the pressure to hurry up and write about it. So it could be a post you write that doesn't get many comments or something you do that takes too much time or you disliking doing. Whatever it is just drop it and remember it is your blog!
For me this was stopping writing beauty box posts. I do like beauty boxes but I found it hard to stick to writing the reviews as I like to try out all the products and not just report what is in each box. So from now on if I like something that was in a beauty box I will mention it but in a post about lots of other products or if it's extra special I will do a product review of it and of course mention which beauty box it came from. Just by dropping that one thing I now don't feel the pressure to hurry up and write about it. So it could be a post you write that doesn't get many comments or something you do that takes too much time or you disliking doing. Whatever it is just drop it and remember it is your blog!
12. Blog about something different once in a while
Writing about something other than beauty from time to time can be a breath of fresh air. I'm personally a bit ocd, which is why I created Makeup Savvy Extra so that I could blog about random things but you totally do not need to do that, as trust me your readers will like that you are sharing something different with them. I know I love when my favourite bloggers share what they have been reading or their non-beauty favourites or even a personal post.
13. Don't hold back! Be helpful
I guess I am putting this tip in to action right now by writing this post and sharing a bit of what I have discovered/learnt from blogging in the past 3 years. But this isn't me patting myself on the back here at all. My point is there is no need to feel like blogging is a competition and we have to keep all the things we learn to ourselves in fear of people using the information to become better bloggers than us. I promise you the internet is big enough for everyone and you will gain fare more sharing things you have found, little tips, and things you have discovered through trail and error, than if you keep them to yourself.
Really hope you have found my tips helpful and if you have any ideas for future blogging posts then let me know in the comments!
Fee xo.
Really hope you have found my tips helpful and if you have any ideas for future blogging posts then let me know in the comments!
Fee xo.
