I wish I had read something like this 6 years ago. Blogging is tough and not a lot do it for a long time. With the following tips, I hope to inspire you to keep pushing through if blogging is your dream.
If you are looking for an advice on how to make money with your blog etc. , you’ll find more suitable material in the Blog resource section, as this post won’t deal with this topic. But please feel free to read the following text as well if you plan on becoming a full-time blogger and stay one.
I read a comment on another blog this week, where a person that bloggers do not share their „secrets“ or what they do in order to be successful. They would fear that people might copy them and eventually steal their audience. Well, I think I don’t lose anything by sharing what made me successful. I don’t mind if people have the same theme on their blog like me (because it is a really good theme and every blog will look different anyway!)if they use the same plugins as I do or if they follow the same Pinterest strategy as I do.
HOW TO START
Many people ask whether they should go with a free WordPress solution or buy a domain and find a hosting partner when they start. When I started I had a free WordPress blog for almost a year and it WAS ENOUGH! Seriously, your blog has to grow you cannot expect it to be perfect from day one and spend a lot of money on it at the beginning won’t make your blog more popular. Remember it is still the content and your way of writing that attracts people and makes them come back again and again.
When you have over 50 blog posts you can still migrate all of your content and pay for your page. This will take you less than half a day. I changed my blog many times, adjusted it and changed it completely. I personally think it is a wonderful thing because you grow with your blog and your blog grows with you.
OUTSOURCE OR LEARNING BY DOING?
What I learned in this 6 years is that I found it really helpful that I have built up this blog all on my own. Of course you can let other people make your blog look nice or source it out to an expert but the problem is as soon as there will be a technical problem on your blog (and there will be many! I am not sugar coating anything here) you will have no idea what is going on and have to turn to the person who did it for you and eventually pay again. See it as a chance to get to know CSS or HTML. I know all these codes can be pretty scary but there are tons of Youtube videos where you can do step by step manuals. Believe me, you will be so proud when you implement your first plugin or make your first change in the code.
THE LOOK
With so many blogs popping up during the last months, it can be kind of a challenge to find your place and space and distinguish yourself from others. Many bloggers start a blog with great motivation but after some time, they stop posting or they loose interest in improving their page and interacting with their readers. Professional blogging is nothing different from a real job. It can get boring sometimes and then it is on you to chance something. This can be the look or the „style“ of your blog.
I would never deny that for me my blog is like a baby. I want to treat it the best way possible and always make sure that I can add new features in order to improve and grow.
THE RIGHT DESIGN (YOUR THEME)
When you start your blog the one thing that is the most fun but also fundamental decision is how you want your blog to look like. If you like the design of my blog, it is the Foodie Pro theme. I explain my love to this theme a little bit more here. But to sum it up you should look not only for a theme that looks pretty but also make sure you have a contact person there that can help you when you have a problem or question with something. I think I texted Shay from the Foodie Pro 6 times in my first month and she always replied and helped me. The Foodie Pro theme allows you to put in ads and has further the option to show a beautiful big slider of pictures.
When I started my blog I had one of these templates from WordPress for free and I really enjoyed changing it every single week to another one. When you start a blog it is fun to experiment and it is also really what you should do in order to learn all the features your theme offers. Don’t be afraid as it might be overwhelming at first, but soon you will be familiar with all the tools.
I switched my theme to the Foodie PRO as it allows me to do a lot of customization. Further, the owner Shay, provides a lot of information in tutorials about the implementation of widgets and the set-up of the theme. Also, most themes are messing with your mobile design, whereas the Foodie Pro theme adapts so nicely and let the pictures even on the phone shine brightly.
EDIT: 4 years later I am still rocking the FOODIE PRO theme that I’ve now updated to Foodie Pro 3.0 (for free)
APPEALING PICTURES
Of course, the blog lives from its content. Unless you are a pure food blog I guess. But still, then I love to read the story around the food. My favorite blog for years is the Vanilla Bean Blog (not biased because of the name ;)) from Sarah. I mean listen how she describes a chocolate cake:
And yes, this cake is amazing. It is elegant: dark and deep, like a dreamy daze from one drink too many. The chocolate and cinnamon hits you at once, while the wine takes it’s time, working itself through your mouth, slowly setting off your taste buds. Then the cream cheese topping finds you; the tangy cheese and vanilla beans compliment the chocolate and the wine perfectly, and it’s all one lovely flavorful affair. You find yourself reeling for another bite, and you give in.
Ok, sorry I drifted away with that chocolate cake, but now I am back to pictures.
I mean it would be very hard to describe this moistness and chocolate heaven only in words right?
Over the years I figured that I have more talent to picture food than anything else. (I started as a very very bad photographer but thought my pictures were kind of OK when in fact they were really bad :D) (if you are interested you can see a timeline of shame here.) Of course, I did not want to post personal blog posts and then a cake next to it. (It would be nice but also kinda weird). So, what I do, is that I go to free picture websites and chose pictures that match my content when I don’t find the ability to do it by myself. There is no shame in doing that. My favorite page to pick a picture is Unsplash.com. This is also the place where I have the pictures from the first collage picture of this blog post.
THE TALK
TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE
You can have the best analytics tools and spend hours on analyzing everything but you will never know what people really think when they read your articles. Until you ask them. Seriously. Blogging is not about me sitting on my bed, sending some words and paragraphs into the universe and then forgetting about it. It is about talking to people. I am doing this on a weekly basis where I ask people on Insta stories what they like, what they think, how they feel? You can learn so much from people and that is why I appreciate every single comment on the blog so much and I answer every single one.
I often feel that no one is really interested in reading my stuff but then I get this one text where I girls write me that she is so inspired and loves to read my blog. If you are a blogger this means the world to you and I am begging you to tell people more often when you like what they do.
ENGAGE
Why are you blogging? Of course, you love what you do. If you would ask me some years ago I might answer because it is fun to write and upload pictures and have a collection of what I’ve done so far. Like a nice online diary. But then blogging became a place where I could actually exchange myself with other people and connect. Show your readers who you are and that you’re a real person that wants to connect with them makes you seem more human and approachable.
Don’t hide behind the computer. If you are reading this and you don’t know me feel free to get to know me. I wrote a very personal blog post and told my readers some fact about me. Since then I feel like people have a better understanding who’s the girl behind the dough. It was so worth it.
SPREAD AND GROW
NEVER STOP EXPLORING BUT ALWAYS STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF
As the years go by many bloggers let their blog down or stop completely. Blogging is like a job as I said and in order to be motivated, you have to reinvent yourself and your blog. Always be curious and open for new things but always stay true to your values. You will find stuff that you are good at, that you like and you will try stuff that might not fit and that you have to give up. Check out my personal fail project where I thought I could make great Youtube Videos 😛
PINTEREST AND GROUP BOARDS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS
Pinterest has been and still is my number 1 traffic source. I joined group boards where I fit in and my pins spread like crazy since I did that. if you like you can check out my Pinterest boards from Vanillacrunnch. I also started doing large pin collages with the title on the picture. Those pictures seem to be way more popular on Pinterest.
PAGE SPEED
Make sure you check your page speed! you can do this with the Google Speed tester. There is nothing more annoying than a page that is not loading or just slowly. Most of the time, huge pictures are the problem. It is totally enough to upload your pictures with 200K in order to maintain a fast page.
BE VERY VERY! SELECTIVE ABOUT SPONSORED POSTS/BRANDS AND DON’T RUIN YOUR BLOG WITH IT
Nothing to add here you know what I mean.
So ein toller Blogpost Lara ????????! Vielen Dank für die vielen Informationen und deine Mühe ❤️.
LG Marcel ????
Wow, was du schon erreicht hast. Ich finde es toll das du uns dein Erfolgsrezept verrätst 🙂
Liebe Grüße Kristina von KDsecret
PS: Momentan gibt es bei mir eine Kleinigkeit von Flaconi Blog zu gewinnen.
Vielen Dank für die Tipps.
Sehr gerne! Bei weiteren Fragen einfach fragen 🙂
Liebe Lara, das ist wirklich ein toller Bericht geworden. Ich mag deine offene und ehrliche Art sehr. Hab einen schönen Tag
liebe Grüße desi
Vielen Dank Desi! Solltest du weitere Fragen haben einfach fragen 🙂
Moin,
sehr toll und sympathisch geschrieben. Viele erzählen ja gerne wie sie erfolgreich mit ihren Blogs geworden sind, aber die wenigsten sagen einem das Fehler machen dazu gehört und wichtig für die Entwicklung des Blogs ist.
Auch wenn man das eigentlich weiß, tut es gut das mal bei anderen zu lesen. Das macht Mut. 🙂
Ich stehe noch ganz am Anfang und habe erst vor 3 Wochen angefangen.
Zu sehen was andere so zaubern hat mich die letzten Tage ziemlich eingeschüchtert, aber dieser Beitrag hat mir wieder richtig Mut gemacht und gezeigt das es ok ist sich auszuprobieren. Und wenn es doch nicht das richtige Thema, Layout oder der richtige Schreibstil war, einfach etwas anderes zu testen.
Danke 😀
Liebe Grüße,
Jacky
This was great – thanks for sharing! I have one question – how do you actually join a group pinterest board? Do you need to be invited? Thanks a lot!
Hi Rosie, yes you can comment on one of the groupboards pictures and ask who the admin is and they can invite you. That is what I do ????
Cooler Beitrag, vor allem finde ich ziemlich spannend, dass du viel Traffic über Pinterest bekommst. Von Pinterest habe ich noch recht wenig Ahnung, da ist es gut zu wissen, dass es sich lohnt, sich damit mal genauer zu befassen.
Unbedingt! Geradevwenn du gute Bilder hast lohnt sich das sehr!!
Hey!
Ich bin ein relativer Blog-Neuling und mach immer noch Fotos mit meinem Handy (ja, ich weiß ur furchtbar) und spar momentan Geld für eine gescheite Kamera. Das macht einen riesen Unterschied, da hast du vollkommen recht! Bemühe mich auch gerade meinen Pinterestaccount auf Vordermann zu bringen, dank dir. 😉
Leider kann ich mir oft aus gesundheitlichen Gründen nicht genug Zeit für meinen Blog nehmen. Momentan ist er wirklich noch ein Tagebuch für mich selbst. Werde mich aber bemühen ihn schöner zu gestalten, damit auch andere ihn gerne lesen wollen.
Danke für die tollen Tipps!
Sehr gerne! Ich wünsche dir nur das Beste und gib nicht auf!
Liebe Lara
Ich bin gerade auf deinen Blog aufmerksam geworden und mega begeistert! Manchmal zweifle ich nämlich doch, ob es möglich ist „hier“, also in Bern, überhaupt sinnvoll zu bloggen. Umso schöner zu sehen, dass es bei dir klappt. Ich habe mich direkt in deinen Blog verliebt 🙂
Danke auch für die vielen Links und Querverlinkungen in diesem Post, sehr interessant, spannend und hilfreich 🙂
Ich habe vor einem Jahr meinen eigenen Blog gestartet (weil die Experimentierfreude in der Küche eben auch so gross wurde und geteilt werden wollte und es schön ist, sein „Leben“ zu dokumentieren). Deine Seite ist eine tolle Motivation, danke 🙂
Herzliche Grüsse aus Bern
Pascale
Liebe Pascale ich habe mich gerade sehr über deinen Kommentar gefreut! Schön zu sehen, dass andere die gleiche Leidenschaft teilen. Ich finde deinen Blog superschön. Unbedingt weitermachen <3
Liebe Lara,
einmal mehr einen super hilfreichen Beitrag, danke dir dafür. Besonders freue ich mich in diesem Beitrag über den Hinweis mit den Collagen-Bilder mit Titel für Pinterest. Ich habe dies auch gleich versucht – allerdings weiss ich nicht, wie du beim Hochladen einen Titel und Beschrieb einfügen kannst. Wie und wo machst du das? Damit du sicher weisst, was ich meine: Beispielsweise dein Collagen-Bild, das oben in der deutschen Übersetzung integriert ist „Aquafaba Vegan Chocolate Mousse“ erscheint auf deinem Pinterest Profil ja mit
– dem festgedrückten Titel „Aquafaba Vegan Chocolate Mousse – 3 ingredients, vegan & gluten free“
– und dem Beschrieb „Today I am going to show you how to make a heavenly, vegan and gluten-free chocolate mousse out of Aquafaba“
Darunter auch noch die Zubereitungszeit und Zutaten.
–> wie macht man das? Bin mega happy wenn du mir da einen Tipp geben kannst.
Liebe Grüsse
Andrea
Liebe Andrea
Besten Dank für dein Feedback ich habe mich sehr gefreut! Zu diener Frage: Das sind sogennante Rich Pins. dafür musst du eine Page auf Pinterest verifizieren. Am besten googelst du mal Rich Pins da gibt es mehrere Dutzend Tutorials die dir zeigen, wie man das macht.
Lieber Gruss
Lara
Rich Pins – vielen Dank Laura.
Hab ein schönes Wochenende!
Andrea
Hey Lara (sorry, vorhin hab ich deinen Namen falsch geschrieben!!)
Bin gerade die Rich Pins am ausprobieren (vielen Dank für deine Hilf!!) und hätte nochmal ein, zwei Fragen:
– Pinnst du die Bilder immer von deinem Blog oder lädst du auch Bilder in Pinterest hoch und verlinkst diese dann mit dem Blogbeitrag? Wie machst du es, dass die Schrift ganz scharf ist?
– Bisher habe ich die Bilder aus meinem Blogbeitrag gepinnt – auf Pinterest erscheinen die Bilder dann immer irgendwie unscharf. Ich verstehe nicht, woran das liegt? Hast du mir da einen Tipp?
Vielen, vielen Dank & liebe Grüsse
Andrea
Hey Lara, thank you so much for the post. It’s really interesting and I found good tips 🙂 Now, I will optimize directly my blog 🙂 and will follow you on Pinterest! Sunny greetings, Alexandra
Hi Lara
Thank you for sharing your experience and your knowledge to all of us! So helpful! i am in the very beginning of my food blog, i have no experience and at that time i am trying to find a name and learn things about how to start! so i think i am gonna read all of your resources 🙂
i cant wait start creating!
Zoe