I want to start a blog but I am not sure where to start. I am not a programmer, but I would like to run a blog. I love writing, especially about fashion, but blogging seems tiresome and time-consuming – what should I do? If these questions concern you, you are in the right place. Here we will try to give an overview of all the things you need to know about how to start a fashion blog and dominating in the blogosphere.
Fashion blogs are currently trendy. Especially if you are into writing and style and currently looking for a new career, you can combine these things and create something very useful, for both you and your readers. No matter where you look, fashion blogs are the eternal source of inspiration. And we will help you with starting it.
What You Need To Set Up a Blog
Everything starts from that ever-needed spark. And by no means is running a blog an easy job. It demands hard work and especially a lot of commitment. But everything starts from that idea of what you want to write about and the niche you want to belong to. And here, opportunities are innumerable.
Whether you want to write about shoes, clothes, baby clothes, winter combinations, business look, or all of these – the world is your oyster! Just make sure that you have a clear plan in front of you and that your idea sticks. You certainly do not want to start a crappy blog that nobody is going to be able to find and read.
That is why your blog must have these essentials:
Blogging platform.
Since your blog is obviously going to be on the Internet, you are going to have to familiarize yourself with the blogging platforms. If you are only a beginner starting from scratch, you probably still do not have much to invest in your blog, so you can look for free blogging platforms, such as WordPress.com, Blogger, Wix, Tumblr, Medium, Weebly, etc.
These obviously offer lots of opportunities, but being free also have a few drawbacks. First of all, you are not the owner of your content – the real owners are those platforms which can shut you down anytime. When their servers do not work, you do not have a blog either and you cannot even inform your readers what is going on.
On the other hand, if you choose to pay for a blog, such as WordPress.org you also get the freedom to own and adjust your blog in a way that suits your needs, you also get more promotion opportunities. And all it takes for it is 30 minutes of your time to start a website builder. What is best about it is that you are the complete owner of the website and responsible for all content and server maintenance options.
Domain name.
Another very important aspect is your domain name. If you have already chosen to use a paid CMS, you obviously need the address on the web where your website is going to be. This step is very important because it needs to be memorable and not already taken. So, there is a lot of thinking to employ and create a unique domain name, such as We Wore What, Gal Meets Glam or Song of Style, all of which are the most influential fashion bloggers of today. Try to think of your domain name as an expression of your personality – even a made up one, which will bring about your unique style or perspective and help you highlight your favorite fashion items.
Blog design.
And of course, the design part. If your blog is appealing, the users will stick and come back again. Especially in this niche, where people judge by the way you look, so you need to make a functional and aesthetically appealing style of your blog.
First, if you are not a designer, nobody asks you to be one. And that is completely okay because nobody can be good at a million things. But there is also a perfect option for downloading free WordPress themes or buying a premium Minelight Fashion blog theme which you can customize completely according to your needs, and not know a line of code.
Of course, the second option would be to hire a web design agency and have all of these things done by an experienced team of designers and developers.
After this, the obvious next step is publishing awesome content.
How To Make Money From Your Fashion Blog
Blogs obviously can bring you more profit than you have ever hoped for from an online business. If you do it right, it can pay off in the long run. However, as a beginner in blogging, you may be quizzed with what to do here. The obvious answer would be SEO, analytics, and promotion. So let us start.
#1 Learn some SEO
Search engine optimization, or adjusting your website or blog to the special requirements of search engines is the right way to go. Since Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other major search engines all have their own ranking algorithms, you need to learn them step-by-step.
We have recently written on our blog about the basics of SEO for bloggers, where highlighted that having a good structure on your site, using keywords, metadata, planning and social interactions is essential.
Additionally, if you still do not have money to pay for expensive programs or plugins, you can always help yourself with free SEO tools, such as Schema Generator, Moz Keyword Explorer, Snippet Optimizer, XML Sitemaps, Search Metrics, SEM Rush, and many more plugins or tools which can make your life easier.
#2 Analytics
When you have already set up your blog, you want to see user engagement from the very start and see it grow in time. Probably the best tool for your website analytics is GA. We also recently wrote a Beginner’s guide to Google Analytics where you will find out everything you need to know about traffic and engagement. There you will also learn how to insert the tracking code directly into your site and generate data from your page visitors – data you can learn a lot about.
Mind you that the platform has been struck by a recent update and a Beta version, which you can test and see if it works for you.
#3 Promotion
And finally, besides SEO, you can obviously promote your blog via different channels. We always recommend using as many options as you can and never relying only on one because what would happen if some of them would be gone one day? You would be left without any traffic.
So, you can divide your attention to different social networks where your audience spends time, such as Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Mind you that you need to have a different strategy for each medium, and adjust your content to it, so for example on Instagram you need to have awesome images and catchy tags. Being active is also a thing you need to keep in mind, which means that if you do not participate or build your community, the odds are that it will not pay off.
Obviously, social media are a huge source of revenue today which can help you increase visits and sales immensely, but there are also other options. For example, using Google AdSense on your money for showing ads to your page visitors.
Another option may surprise you, but the main source of revenue on fashion blogs comes from promoting brands. If you do not know where to start with this, try Amazon Affiliates, which is a great option to get exposed and so that people can learn about you and your blog.
And finally, remember, nobody is perfect. Mistakes happen all the time and they will happen to anybody, you just need to learn how to overcome them. If you make a mistake on your blog or not hit the bullseye the first time – the next one will be much better because you will enrich your experience. Just keep writing and posting awesome content.
