I have been blogging for a little over two years now and when I first started I was such goober when it came to all things blog related. I didn’t know all the jargon and the Google rules for example. If someone said DA I thought they meant dinner appointment! I honestly read some of my first posts and just cringe. And the photos. Urrggghh.
I have written two posts before about what I wish I’d known when I Started Blogging (you can read them here and here) but I thought I’d add a few new points for newbies as I get asked it a fair bit from friends and people that are thinking about starting a blog. I also look at newer blogs and just want to say to them ‘use keywords’ or ‘share your post on Twitter’, when I see that they aren’t doing that – not to be super annoying but just to help – I would have wanted someone to tell me those types of things when I was starting out.
- Get Your Own Domain & Self-Host
I started out on the free WordPress and purchased a vanity URL, which was great to start building up my content and a bit of a following but the options for making money are basically non-existent due to WordPress’s terms. So then I became self-hosted. There are several ways to so this, but getting a domain makes a big difference. You could even look for something unique like a .me domain. I didn’t really know this at the start so if you are just starting out, I’d recommend going self-hosted from the start.
If the idea of self-hosted is really scary to you, I’d recommend using Blogger and getting a vanity URL as you can start making money straight away then. But overall, I much prefer WordPress.
- Work on Building up Your Domain Authority
Basically, DA is a number from 1 – 100. the higher your DA, it means that you have strong traffic and a high rank. I have found that PRs use this as a metric to see who they will work with so it is important to work on improving it.
You won’t have an actual / reliable DA if your URL contains .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com – you need your own domain or a vanity URL.
Ways to improve your DA is to get rid of bad links and to work on improving good links. Bad links can be deleted or requested to delete. Good links come from:
- Creating lots of linkable content and use internal links (see what I did there) 😉
- Guest post on bigger blogger’s sites, comment on other blogs and join in with linkies – all ways to get good backlinks for your site.
- Make sure your SEO is on point – think about word count, tags, keywords etc. I had no idea that posts should be over 300 words long to be the most effective for SEO.
- Be patient! A big score won’t happen overnight but being aware of it and being proactive will make it improve faster than those that do not.
- Social Media
- If you want your blog to grow, you need to be on social media.
- Interact with other bloggers and comment on other people’s posts.
- Join in with blogger chats on Twitter.
- Share and link other blogger’s Facebook content.
- Join groups and communities on Google+ and Facebook to share content and discuss topics.
- Make ‘pinnable’ images so that they can be pinned and repinned on Pinterest. Use the right hashtags on Instagram. The list is endless and it all helps to improve your blog and get new followers.
I’m by no means an expert but just sharing some of what I have been learning on the way – there is more to share and more I need to learn too!
What would you add to the list?
Rebecca x
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Hi Rebecca, great post. I’ve been blogging about 4 months and never heard about Domain Authority. Just been to check it out and looks like I have some work to do 🙂 Thanks for letting us know about this, very useful #justanotherlinky
good luck! I’m constantly learning!
Great tips after one year of logging I have just purchased my own domain and am proud to be.com I hope that PRs will take me more seriously. One negative was I lost all of my comments from Google+ gutting to be starting again. #justanotherlinky
ah that’s a shame. Having your own domain will definately help though
I so agree about getting a url quickly I regret not getting mine sooner it has taken ages to rebuild my DA x
very true! Thanks for sharing your experience
Some great tips,I agree that you need to work hard to see the results but it’s worth it in the long run.#justanotherlinky
thanks Helen 🙂
Great advice for newbies. I don’t fuly understand how to get rid of ‘bad links’ to be honest, so I need to look into this. It’s crazy how much there is to learn about blogging and how clueless I was when I first set up my blog – you really just think it’s all about new posts but that’s just a small part of it. #justanotherlinky xx
So much to learn isn’t there?! I’m always working on removing back links – so much to do all the time x
Some of these are really useful…I never knew about the 300 words either! Very interesting. I’m glad I went self hosted…prefer it but hard to keep blog secure compared to Blogger!! xx #justanotherlinky
yes true, it’s constant work! x
Great tips for anyone just starting out! I feel like I’m constantly learning even having done this for while now. #KCACOLS
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
me too – so much to lean, and do, all the time! x
I’ve been blogging for nearly a year however consider myself a new blogger. The information about DA is very helpful for me! Thank you! ☺️ KCACOLS
Glad it;s useful Becky 🙂
Some very good advice and tips which will no doubt come in handy!xx #KCACOLS
yay, great! x
Great advice! I also wish someone had told me some of the mistakes I was making as a newbie. A couple of people did point out some of them and I was so grateful!
I would add using keywords in the alt tags on images too 🙂 #KCACOLS
Debbie
that’s good, I wish I’d had people point it out too x
These are perfect tips for new bloggers. I only started learning about DA recently (I’ve been blogging for about 9 months, I don’t know why I didn’t know about this before) and how important it is. I think social media interaction is so important too. xx
Social media is very important, completely agree x
These are perfect tips for new bloggers. I only started learning about DA recently (I’ve been blogging for about 9 months, I don’t know why I didn’t know about this before) and how important it is. I think social media interaction is so important too. xx #KCACOLS
I have been working hard on improving my SEO recently and I too had no idea when I started this blogging thing about any of this. I started on a .wordpress and moved to a .blogspot, then came the vanity url and now I am self hosted and I was mortified when I looked back at older posts totally cringing. Thanks for the tips I love to read other bloggers tips as I am clueless most of the time! #KCACOLS
Great post – there’s so much to get your head around when you start out! I’ve had a few blogs before this one too, but this is the first time I’ve taken it ‘seriously’, as it were, and there was so much stuff I’d never even heard of. 🙂 #KCACOLS
so true, so much to learn and it does take a certain level of commitment I think x
I am a new blogger at 4 months so these tips are really helpful. I am planning on going self hosted over Xmas to kickstart a great 2016 #justanotherlinky
Good luck! it makes the world of difference x
Great tips thanks! I am currently stuck in the rut of being on wp . com and too scared to go self hosted! So I really wish I had done it from the start! One day I will get up the guts 😉 Thanks for sharing on #KCACOLS Becky x
It took me a while, I’ll be honest. It costs more but I paid WordPress to do the transfer for me – I knew I’d never do it myself! x
Great post as I have not long started properly blogging and sometimes get a bit lost with terms myself! Thank goodness for google! I have yet to look at my DA properly and I want to start using Pinterest in the new year 🙂
#justanotherlinky
Good luck! It is easy to get a lot of traffic from Pinterest x
Some great tips here. There really so much to learn once you start blogging. It’s a whole new language – SEO, DA ….!
Thanks for the advice – there seems to be a never ending amount to learn! #KCACOLS
Some lovely tips. I own my own domain on WordPress but really want to go self hosted, but it’s all so confusing to me I have no idea where to start! #KCAOLS
It is pretty crazy. I didn’t do the transfer myself in the end as I knew I just wouldn’t do it otherwise x
Some great tips for newbie blogger like myself, didn’t even know what a DA was, so thank you for explaining it clearly X #KCACOLS
Great tips. Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky xx
This is a great post. Perfect for new bloggers, especially if they don’t know what DA means! I am always interested in posts like this which include info about DA as I am working on mine to be higher!
Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky
These are great tips Rebecca!! It really takes time to understand everything that you need to know in order to get your blog to a different level. I was lucky to find lots of posts with blogging tips when I started which was really helpful. I have a self hosted blog since day one which the best decision ever. Knowing about DA is really important. I also think that it is good to try to keep your Klout score up if possible. A lot of brands like to know how influential you are and they can find that through Klout. Blogging is not easy, it is actually very hard! You have to be consistent. You are doing great! I love your blog! Thanks so much for sharing this at #KCACOLS. I’m happy to have you again this week! 🙂 x
I honestly had no clue about most of the things you wrote!! I think I need to book an evening or week to find out everything that you know about the blogging industry!!! You are incredible!! x