A few factors that contribute to an impressive blog are the domain name, the direction, the content, the opinions and the photography. It’s important to have a think about the domain name your blog holds, so try to make sure it’s memorable. It’s also worth thinking about what direction you wish your blog to go in, and therefore what theme it holds- what will make your blog different from all the other beauty blogs out there? Are you going to try and take swatches, or focus on reviews, FOTD’s or compile an online beauty journal, which is a compilation of just about everything?
There are a few platforms to host your blog on: Blogger or WordPress. Blogger is the simpler of the two and is less technical. It takes you through the steps of creating a simple layout and is quite self-explanatory. Because it’s so easy, Blogger is however quite restrictive; you can only customize things to a certain extent. From what I’ve gathered, WordPress is more for the html savvy, from a designer’s point of view, there’s a lot more you can do with WordPress in terms of personalization. For WordPress you have to have your blog on a server, which means you see your posts but the design is all html coded, so you just see the backend of your posts. To understand how WordPress functions, you might look into the Word Press for Dummies book to help you with all the technicalities. Alternatively, you can buy a blogger template from a graphic and web design company or even commission them to personally turn your blogger visions into a digital reality. These websites will say either ‘BlogSpot’ or ‘word press’ in the URL, so if you want your own personalised URL you can buy a domain name from a host.
When it comes to content: write a blog that you would like to read. Try to be original. In order for people to have a reason to go to your blog, there has to be content worth reading and with they’re being a plethora of blogs out there, you have to differentiate your blog from the others. It’s all very well informing someone of the facts, but adding in your opinion is what people want to hear. Be honest and detailed and people will soon start to trust your opinion. Most importantly: remember to be patient-It takes time to build up readership of any blog. Try and be consistent, whether you update your site daily, every 4 days or weekly. It’s nice for your readers to know when to expect new posts.
You must remember that a blog is about the content, with the visuals only there to complement what you have written. Nevertheless, in my opinion, simpler is better in terms of template designs as it’s easier to navigate around. In terms of navigation, its good to have visible social media links and make it easy to manoeuvre from one post to another. It helps to have a way for your readers to find relevant posts, whether it’s using a search bar or categories. Try and think of how you like to read blogs and go from there!