A Beginner’s Guide to Creating a Blog

Are you always suggesting your favorite beauty products, travel tips, home decor tips, or recipes with your friends and family? Do you often find yourself jotting down fun new things to try or activities to experiment with? If you’ve answered yes to these questions, starting a lifestyle blog might be for you. Starting a lifestyle blog might be the perfect way to combine your passions and hobbies. Sharing your hobbies and passions with others can be a rewarding creative outlet. You might ask, how is blogging different than just posting on social media? With a lifestyle blog, you have to engage your reader enough to keep reading, but also be transparent. You’re not sharing your favorite recipes or travel guides in hopes of getting a certain amount of likes, but because you already find yourself doing this for family and friends. Blogging that balance between a personal diary where you can record your ideas and adventures as well as a presentation of your hobbies. By following this guide, I will prepare you to write with that balance as well as organization in both blog structure and content.

What is a Blog?

A blog can be defined as “chronological publications of personal thoughts and web links that are traditionally text based, but also include a variety of audio and visual formats” (Chai & Kim, 2010). Blogs have become an increasingly popular and powerful social media medium, especially amongst Generation Y. Generation Y is anyone born between 1980 and 1994. In a study conducted by Cara Colucci and Erin Cho at Parsons The New School for Design, results from twenty-eight interviews and 344 online survey responses, readers trust a blog largely based on three different dimensions: post and content authenticity, curation, and post frequency.

That being said, it is important that when you start a blog, your posts have a balance between genuity, creativity, and clarity. When writing, you want to be open with your reader so they feel as if you are a real person they can take advice, recipes, designs, and tips from. If you present yourself as something or someone unattainable, readers will not see themselves in you and therefore disengage. We will get into more details on how exactly to achieve this in your posts in the “lifestyle meets language” section of the guide.

Secondly, the selection, organization, and presentation of your online content is crucial. If you cannot easily navigate, relate to, or follow then nobody else will be able to. This guide will help you sharpen your brainstorming skills to develop killer content ideas and the tools to organize your blog in a way that even your technologically challenged grandmother can follow!

In this age of instant technology at our fingertips, readers expect immediacy. They expect you to be on top of reviewing and applying new fashion trends, trendy restaurants, and uncovering new places. Nobody is going to want your “guide to holiday home decor” after Thanksgiving, but you can’t be silent from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Get creative with your content so you can get people talking. You need to make sure your adventurous side shows through your posting frequency. While frequency is important, make sure you don’t sacrifice quality for quantity. It’s about finding that balance. We will go more into depth about this in the Writing Process section of the guide.

Now that you know the three basic things to keep in mind to get your reader base to invest in you, let’s get you invested in creating a blog!

Colucci and Cho: Trust Inducing Factors of Generation Y Blog-Users

http://ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/viewFile/1504/640

Aspects of a Successful Blog

Looking at three different “successful blogs,” The Magnolia Blog, Wit and Delight, and The Blissful Mind. In this context, a I am defining a “successful blog” as having a large following and are suggested on many “blogs to follow” websites. Through observing numerous posts from these three blogs, I have discovered that the basic structure is as follows:

Brief Introduction

Have a brief introduction that usually starts with a general topic like the Holidays, for example. Acknowledge the topic. For example, author of the Magnolia Blog Joanna Gaines opens her post like so: “There seems to be no limit to the nostalgia that the holiday season brings.” After this general opening statement, give about two more sentences where you start to personalize the situation. For example Joanna’s post continues with “Every year, I find myself entirely captivated by our family Christmas tree—despite the fact that the ornaments and decorations have changed very little over the years.” She carefully opens information about herself as she expands the topic, but is not too specific yet.

Presentation of the topic 

After you have made the very general topic more personal, move into the topic of the blog. The first sentence after your introduction should be the WHY behind the article. Continuing with Joanna’s post something along the lines of: “Our family’s tradition of gifting ornaments each year began with Chip’s mom, Gayle.” After the presentation of her family’s holiday tradition, she gives a brief history, why it is meaningful, and how the tradition still applies.

Give a WHY

Although we have established that people like the personal aspects of blogs, it is important you give your post and topic some substance other than just being a part of your life. The WHY is what they find most fascinating. Joanna’s WHY is as follows: “I wanted to share this tradition of ours because I’ve grown to realize over the years that the things we choose to bring into our homes for the holidays—whether it be ornaments, garland, wreaths or stockings—serve a greater purpose than mere decoration. It’s really our family’s history that we get to unwrap year after year.” We can all relate to a family tradition we have, whether it’s during the holiday season or not, and Joanna taps into this. This last paragraph is almost as if she’s predicting your part of the conversation where you say “I have a cool tradition in my family where we give an ornament to every family member that represents our year.” We will talk about this later in the guide, but blogs are meant to be interactive and conversational. Giving a WHY is a really important element that helps to achieve that interactive experience and helps you, the writer, really focus your writing as well.

A list or pictures to further demonstrate the topic: Either before or after you’ve given a why, visual aids and structure is a large part of making a successful blog. You want your reader to live your experience–that is why you’re sharing it, so don’t make it difficult for them. Visual aids allow people to (a) imagine themselves and (b) see the specifics. People like lists and it helps people stay on track. Psychologist and author Dr David Cohen believes putting something on a list makes people more likely to do something. It makes a file cabinet in your brain. Make a file cabinet for reader! Even with simple things! A good example of a list is from Wit and Delight (witanddelight.com):

15 ways to Instantly Improve your Mood this Holiday Season:

1-Minute Fixes:

1. Drink more water: Okay, I know what you might be thinking—Drink more water, really? Yet despite the simplicity, it works. Being dehydrated can negatively impact your mood, not to mention your metabolism. So keep a bottle by your side, set an alarm, and at the top of each hour, CHUG.
2. Jump around: Whether it’s bringing out the jumping jacks, using an invisible jump rope, or cranking up the volume to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” do whatever you have to do to get those positive endorphins pumping.
3. Light up lavender: Ambient scents of lavender can work wonders on your mood, so light a candle and burn away that unwanted layer of stress. (The scent of orange has also been proven to reduce anxiety.)
4. Go toward the green: Not only does the color green symbolize happiness, but psychologists have also said it can create the feeling, too. Now, you have even more reason to stare at the tree.
5. Say cheese: While smiling can immediately turn a frown upside down, snacking on pieces of Parmesan can, too. Seriously! It’s one of the best foods for beating stress, with 400-500 mg of mood-boosting tryptophan per 100g.

Author Kathryn structures her list in a way that keeps you intrigued with a simple and fun title such as “say cheese” and then elaborates. This is a great example of how a list should function and how they are presented.

Read more about the psychology of lists:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/10/the-psychology-of-the-to-do-list-why-your-brain-loves-ordered-tasks

A Brief Conclusion

Wrap up your article in about 3 sentences. This is a good place to include your WHY. Tie everything together and end on a positive note.

Include an “About the Author”

People want to know where the writing is coming from. Write something simple and short including your hobbies, interests, and why you wanted to create the blog. It provides a window behind the content. All are different, but should be no longer than 5 sentences and should be unique to you and your voice as a blogger.

Find Your Niche

When talking about a niche in ecological biology, a niche is used to define an organism’s role in an ecosystem. In the blogging world, think of the ecosystem as every aspect a lifestyle blog could cover: health and fitness, fashion, travel, food and cooking, design, beauty, self-care, mommy blogs, etc. Now think about where you stand in relation to that online ecosystem. Where do you find most of your passions fit? You may have multiple. You may be a mom who wants to emphasize self-care through healthy recipes. While it’s ok to touch on multiple niches, it can often cause chaos and disrupt balance in the ecosystem. Having too much to cover can cause you to lose focus and therefore lose readers. That being said, it is not impossible to cover multiple topics. Most bloggers do. Once you pick a main focus then you can weave other topics in as long as they have a common thread. Let’s start by taking this quiz to discover your main niche and then we can look at an example of a blog that does a good job weaving other topics in by using a common thread.

Now that you have a good idea of what your main interests are, you can develop your niche and further develop your voice as a blogger within that niche. Below are good examples of different types of blogs for each of the four niches included in the quiz so you have a good idea of how a successful blog in your niche functions.

Home and Garden: oldbrandnew.com

Food/Recipe: foodiecrush.com

Fashion & Style: weworewhat.com

Health and Self-Care: theblissfulmind.com/category/self-care

For an example of a blog that does a great job using a common thread to weave a lot of these different topics together both organizationally and aesthetically, look at Joanna Gaines’ Blog below:

Joanna Gaines + Magnolia Blog

https://magnolia.com/blog

The Magnolia Blog is a good example because although lifestyle blogger Joanna Gaines has home decor to recipe posts, she uses family as a common way to weave everything together. All of her recipes are heavily family based as well as her posts regarding the home. She references her personal experience with her family at the start of every post. By clearly separating the different posts as well, Joanna Gaines is a successful example of how to incorporate many niches and passions in a lifestyle blog without disrupting the overall aesthetic or creating a chaotic blog.

The Magnolia Blog is successful because it can be classified as a lifestyle blog. A lifestyle creates content inspired and curated by their personal interests and daily activities. If you have multiple interests, a lifestyle blog might be the best way to go!

Pick/Design a Platform

According to my research, WordPress (wordpress.com) is the best platform to use for new bloggers for the following reasons:

1. It’s user friendly. Technology is great…except for when it isn’t. The last thing you want when first getting started is beautiful ideas and writing but then no where that showcases it because of a complicated platform.
2. Choices. With many different themes to chose from, WordPress is easy to customize even without coding or web-building experience.
3. Resources. WordPress is the most popular blogging platform, so if you were to get stuck there are lots of online resources that can help you out of your sticky situation!

Create a Unique Name

Now that you have a niche it’s time to pick a unique domain name for your blog so you can thrive in your niche. Here are 2 simple rules to follow when creating your domain name:

1. KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. Keep your name short and simple so people can remember. Make sure it’s simple, but not simplistic.
2. Hot Topic. Make sure the name has something to do with your topic. Don’t be “DoodleDandy” if your blog is about self-care. If your blog is about art and home décor, however, that is a fun name to use.

Brainstorm and Plan

When first starting your blog, you may have so many things jumbled in your mind that you don’t know where to begin. Or you have the big idea of how your blog should look and what you WANT to write about, but no specifics. You may just be completely stuck and out of ideas for creative content. Since consistent content is very important in engaging readers and earning the trust of your audience, it is important to carefully curate what you want to talk about. Here are 5 helpful brainstorming blogging tips to live by:

1. Take notes. Keep a list of notes going on your phone or a pocket notebook near you so you have easy access to write something down when inspiration strikes.
2. Make a “top 10 list.” Sit down and write down your top 10 favorite recipes, beauty products, design trends, or whatever pertains to your niche. Do a post every month with your “top 10” for that month. This is a post that is simple but allows your readers a sneak peak into what interests you. Make your list specific and personal.
3. Social media is a tool…use it! Save or pin posts that inspire you and go back to them when you’re stuck.
4. The camera as a lens. If you’re ever somewhere that inspires you (a coffee shop, a store, a restaurant, etc.) and the space just gives you a good vibe that you can’t put into words…document it with a picture. Capture the space through a medium where you don’t need to use words and then go back to the picture when you start to write.
5. Talk it out. If you’re stuck, call someone you can discuss things with. Whether that’s your mom, best friend, or cousin call someone you trust and just chat about your passion. You never know what ideas can be born from discussion.

The Writing Process

You probably always heard in your high school and college classes that writing is a process. Although blogs are not formal writing, there is still a writing process.

1. Pick your target audience. Who are you writing to? Create the person who you think wants to read your blog. Write down their age, gender, personality traits, occupation, and desires. Once you have created this perfect audience member, write to them.
2. Get your ideas down. Write something down…this is the scariest step. Once you have something written down you can have a better idea of how to develop your post.
3. Set a draft due date for yourself. Create a date for yourself where a rough draft of your newest post HAS to be done.
4. Self-Edit. Make revisions for yourself. Maybe the wording sounded better in your head, but now sounds awkward once you read everything together. Maybe something is misspelled. This is your time to smooth out your blog.
5. Get a fresh pair of eyes. The day before you want to publish your post, send it to someone you trust…your mom, a friend, or someone who has experience with blogging.
6. Be your audience. Read your post a final time as your reader. Make sure the post is easy to read, simple to follow, and interesting. Ask yourself: Would I trust me? After reading it over. If your answer is yes, POST!
7. DO YOUR RESEARCH! You need to know what you are talking about. If you do not do your research you will significantly lower your credibility with your readers and they will not trust you. Not doing your research has consequences and severe backlash, especially in this era of instant communication. For example, if you are writing a food blog about great gluten free snacks and you include ezekiel bread (a product that many often wrongfully think is gluten free) and a celiac (someone who cannot digest gluten) trusts your blog and then has a reaction, there will most likely be repercussions. So…research, research, research!!!

Language meets Lifestyle: Specific language use in lifestyle blogs

So now that you have a clear picture of your blogging path, let’s talk about the specifics. How do I actually write the content?

Keep it personal. 

Blogs are unique in that readers are drawn in by the fact that a person much like them rather than an expert is behind the craft, design, recipe, etc. They want to hear your voice. They want that rawness in your writing. To accomplish this, use personal language. First person voice and pronouns are more than welcome. Don’t be afraid to use “I” and “my.” In fact, use them as much as possible! Include personal anecdotes and stories and why this product, recipe, etc. is important or useful to you. You want the reader to think of you as a relatable person from the beginning, especially in the introduction of a post. Hook them in! Here is an example of an introduction of a post about self-care during the holidays from Wit and Delight:

Like millions of other people in the world, I live for the holiday season. The twinkling lights. The constant cycle of cookies in the oven. The Family Stone and Elf playing on repeat. Peppermint and gingerbread EVERYTHING. I mean, what’s not to love? Heck, I even adore the tacky ugly sweaters.

Be Specific

Especially when describing WHY someone should buy or do something, you want them to have clear expectations and guidance. Use active verbs, adjectives, and assertive language.

For my body, daily walks are my favorite thing. Some people hate walking, but I will gladly do it everyday because it gets my body moving, and I can’t quiet my mind at the same time. I also throw in strength training 2x a week, and I’m slowing trying to incorporate more yoga into my routine.

The above example from The Blissful Mind blog (theblissfulmind.com) detailing the author’s self care routine demonstrates specificity. Instead of simply saying she exercises to get her mind in the right place, she gives a specific detail about her exercise routine that many people in her target audience can relate to.

Make Lists      

Lists make it easy for your reader to follow along. It breaks information up and makes the information seem more “doable.” It is a simple yet effective way to present lots of information. Lists are also a good way to organize information.

Make it conversational 

Although it is highly encouraged that you do your research before writing and posting, blogs are not formal research papers. There is no reason to use formal language. Find the balance between writing exactly how you talk and gently guiding the reader through your world. Your language should be unique to you. For example, if you always say “okie dokie,” let your blog writing reflect that. It not only makes your writing come to life, but makes the reader think that you are talking to them…that you’re there own personal Joanna Gaines or Giada De Laurentiis. Let loose in your language! For example in this excerpt from lifestyle blogger Gala Darling’s blog, we get a great glimpse into her personality and the overall tone of her blog:

I started creating online courses and filming videos. I’ve now written a bestselling book (and recently finished my second!), I travel the world speaking to and teaching badass babes, and my life is fun as FUCK.

From the above example, we get information about Gala as a blogger but we also have a greater understanding of her blog as a whole.

Another way to keep blogs conversational is by asking rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions force your reader to participate. Rhetorical questions allow the reader to check in with themselves.

Show Don’t Tell 

Be specific in your language choices. Describe everything as if your reader is in the same room as you to draw them in. An easy way to show this is by appealing to the 5 senses. Going back to the example from Wit and Delight, the author uses phrases such as “twinkling lights” and “constant cycle of cookies in the oven” to appeal to the senses.

Photos and Visuals

Blogs are interactive. Meaning readers want to be a part of your experience. While you should always be as descriptive as you can in your writing, visual aids such as pictures are great ways to get your reader to experience what you want them to. That being said…

Take Pictures

Keep your phone or a camera on you at all times for inspiration, but also to aid your storytelling. Photos are a big part of blogs and help tell the story as well as aid in achieving an overall blog aesthetic.

Picky about Pics 

Make sure you select your pictures with purpose. Don’t just pick any picture…make sure it aids your blog in some way and you’re not just putting it there to fill space.

Angles

Experiment with angles so that your pictures have variety and personality.

More tips on photography can be found here: https://www.thesitsgirls.com/photography-tips

Organizational Strategies

(Attention, lifestyle bloggers: This is especially for you!)

As we have established by now, a lifestyle blogger can carefully occupy different niches. There is a particular way that makes this easier: organization. It makes your life easier and easier for your reader to follow along! For any blogger, this is also a good tip you can take to creatively divvy up your topics. Title AND label your post. Label what category your post falls in.

Other Examples

Look to these blogs for more examples of successful blogs. All exemplify the tenants of good blogging discussed in the guide:

• Wit and Delight: witanddelight.com
• Gala Darling: galadarling.com
• Apartment Therapy: www.apartmenttherapy.com

Concluding Remarks

Now that you have all the basics, it’s in your hands. Start observing, typing, and developing those amazing ideas. Starting a blog can be overwhelming if you look at examples and follow a basic outline you will soon be comfortable to find your place in the blogosphere.