5 Smart Blogging Tips To Grow Your Blog

5 Smart Blogging Tips To Grow Your Blog

Whether you’ve been blogging for under a year or for a couple of years now, I’m sure you’re always looking for new and unique ways to grow your blog. After blogging for over 3 years, publishing blog posts consistently, making money, and increasing my traffic, I’ve learned a couple of things along the way that I want to share with you today! And while no journey is the same, there are strategies that can help you grow your blog at a faster pace. So, if you’re ready to implement these strategies consistently, I’m going to share 5 smart blogging tips to grow your blog.

📌 SAVE THESE 5 SMART BLOGGING TIPS TO GROW YOUR BLOG FOR LATER!
5 Smart Blogging Tips To Grow Your Blog

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase by clicking on the link, I may be compensated – at NO additional cost to you. Read the full disclosure here. My blogging dreams would not be possible without you, so thank you for your continuous support. It means the absolute world to me! XO


5 Smart Blogging Tips To Grow Your Blog


TIP #1 EMBRACE BEING DIFFERENT

Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers

The first tip I want to share is a mindset tip that I think is super important. The worst thing you can do as a blogger is compare your blog to other blogs. Not only does this directly affect your motivation to blog and brings you down, but it also prevents you from being unique. Comparing yourself to other bloggers will make you want to copy + paste what they’re doing and make you feel like unless you blog the way they blog, you’re doing it wrong. This is a huge reason why many bloggers quit along the way. The lack of motivation, constantly feeling like you have to do what others are doing, feeling inferior, and limiting yourself can hurt you immensely.

There is room for everyone

Because no journey or niche is the same, it’s impossible to be the same.

It’s one thing to be inspired by other bloggers and it’s another to compare yourself and feel inferior to other bloggers. We all have something different to bring to the table. And while there are thousands of bloggers out there, believe me when I say that there will always be room for everyone. Many people can start a blog but only a few will remain in the game. I say this because when I started blogging, there were so many bloggers who started out the same time I did. We began our journey together. But unfortunately, only a few of all of us who started at that time are still blogging. Many quit along the way, even bloggers who I used to look up to!

Believe and love your own journey

That’s why I strongly believe that you shouldn’t compare yourself to other bloggers – who knows where you’ll be and they’ll be years from now. So no matter what blog/blogger you come across, be inspired by them but don’t compare your blog, style, and journey to them. Embrace being different because it will pay off along the way. I looked up to so many bloggers along the way, but I always embraced being different and now people are asking ME for tips. It’s impossible to grow your blog if you don’t believe in it yourself.

TIP #2 DELIVER WITH EXCELLENCE

Something that really bothers me when I visit other blogs is the lack of dedication, thought, and creativity. If you want to grow your blog, you have to stand out. You have to leave a good impression to anyone who visits your blog. You can’t except to grow your blog if you have a very poor website.

And what do I mean by a poor website?

A website that is very unclear, hard to navigate, lacking creativity, unorganized, unprofessional, and quite frankly, has nothing to offer. If you blog as a hobby, that’s fine. But if you want to turn your blog into an actual business, you have to treat your blog as a business.

Some questions you should ask yourself:

  • What impression do I want to leave to potential customers and clients?
  • What message do I want to deliver?
  • How do I want to deliver my business’ message/mission?

Use Canva to create beautiful graphics

1. CREATE Beautiful, on-brand, and stylish pins.

I like to include a branded pin on every blog post to make it easier for people to save a post + pin. I’ve had many branded pins go viral without publishing on Pinterest. Here’s an example of one of my branded pins I created on Canva:

5 work from home tips to boost productivity
2. CREATE FEATURED IMAGES FOR MY BLOG POSTS

I used to be all over the place back then with this – my featured imaged were so UGLY that I had to replace them all eventually. Now, I use stock photos from Styled Stock Society. On Canva I have a template for my featured images. So, I upload the stock photo to Canva and insert it into my template. To make all of my photos look cohesive, I have my transparency settings set to 70.

Here’s an example one of my featured images I created:

10 Day Glow Up Challenge To Become A Better You
3. CREATE PRINTABLES TO SEND OUT TO MY EMAIL LIST + HAVE IN MY RESOURCE LIBRARY.

People always ask me how I gain subscribers quickly and the answer is: printables. Ever since I started offering printables, I’ve had more people subscribe to my email list. I use Canva to create beautiful printables and graphics to promote those printables. Here is an example of a graphic I created for my fitness affirmations printable:

I created the fitness affirmations printable on Canva and then this graphic to tease my audience to subscribe to my email list to download the printable. Also, I used this photo to list this printable in my resource library.

50 empowering fitness affirmations printable
4. CREATE IMAGES TO INCLUDE IN MY SIDEBAR WIDGET

In order to have an aesthetically pleasing looking homepage, I use Canva to create graphics to include on my sidebar to promote my faith blog, my shop, designed with vision, and more! Here’s an example:

faith blog - gabbyabigaill
gabbyabigaill shop
designed with vision
5. CREATE DIGITAL PRODUCTS

I also use Canva to create my digital products and graphics to promote them on my website. Here’s an example:

Iconic Social Media Content Planner
Biblical Affirmations To Help You Navigate Life Ebook COVER
productive blogger planner cover
6. CREATE ADS TO INCLUDE IN MY BLOG POSTS

Because self-promotion is so important, I like to create ads on Canva to promote my products, my services, blog posts, and even affiliate products. I quickly create my own branded ads on Canva and include them wherever I want. Here are some examples of ads I have created using Canva:

biblical affirmations ebook ad
40 biblical truths who does God say I am?
Buy bibical affirmations ebook

Only publish valuable blog posts

Before publishing a blog post on your website, make sure your blog post has something to offer, is easy to read, and will leave a good impression.

MAKE SURE YOUR POST INCLUDES:
  • Headings throughout the post to organize your points.
  • A branded pin to make it easy for people to save your post.
  • A compelling introduction that will make your reader want to read your entire blog post.
  • Links to other blog posts. Interlink between posts to improve your SEO and to get drive more visits to your other posts.
  • A form for people to subscribe to your email list.
  • If possible, a printable to compel your readers to subscribe to your email list.
  • A keyword throughout your post: Title, headings, first paragraph, meta description, alt images, and throughout the post.

TIP #3 SPEND TIME ON THE RIGHT TASKS.

Something that I’ve learned along the way is to really optimize my time and prioritize what blogging tasks I need to tackle first. While there are so many different blogging tasks to start, maintain, and grow your blog, some tasks are more important than others. Spending your time on blogging tasks that won’t really help your blog grow is a waste of your time. And spending way too much time on just one blogging task will affect your growth.

INSTEAD……..

  1. Create a list of all the blogging tasks you need to get done (write blog posts, research keywords, post on social media, create pins, etc)
  2. Go through the list and highlight the tasks that will help you either: increase your traffic, grow your presence online, or make money. These would be the tasks that would automatically become a priority.
  3. Block time to complete these important blogging tasks and make sure you devote a necessary amount of time on each task.

If you want to grow your blog you need to know what to spend your time on because time is money! Wasting your time slows you down. So, don’t spend your time on tasks that won’t make a difference on your blog. If a task is not helping your blog grow, drop the task.

For example, I would spend a lot of time scheduling promotional tweets once a month. I would spend so many hours doing this every month. After doing this for months and not seeing much results, I decided to stop scheduling tweets on twitter and focus my efforts on a different platform. If scheduling promotional tweets works for you, do it. But if not, why do it only because others are doing it? Remember, your blog…..your journey.

Important blogging tasks

Below I’m going to list 4 essential blogging tasks, but if you want more blogging tasks, check out this post: 50 blogging tasks for blogging success.

1. CREATE BLOG POSTS FOR YOUR WEBSITE

A blog is not a blog without blog posts, so make sure you always devote time to creating articles. I only post one blog post on my blog weekly, but I do it consistently. And that’s enough to have my blog running and my audience satisfied.

2. PROMOTE YOUR WORK ON PLATFORMS THAT WORK FOR YOU

A blog post will only go as far as you take it. If you’re just creating content but not promoting it anywhere, you’ll only see crickets (of course unless your SEO is phenomenal). I like to promote my blog posts on Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram (thank God for the new link feature on stories)

3. OPTIMIZE YOUR BLOG AND BLOG POSTS FOR SEO

If there is one thing you need to work on to grow your blog it is SEO. Optimizing for SEO will help your posts rank higher on search engines. And as a result, you’ll see an increase in traffic, sales, subscribers, and projects.

4. MAINTAIN AN ACTIVE EMAIL LIST

The people on your email list are your people. So, spend time creating compelling forms to attract subscribers and sending out newsletters that will make your subscribers feel special, shop your products, visit your blog posts, and stay connected to you.

TIP #4 GROW YOUR PRESENCE ONLINE.

Even though I briefly mentioned growing your presence online in the previous tip, I want to expand a little more on this because it is important.

As a blogger, it is your job to:

  • Get your name out there.
  • Grow your following on the platforms you are on.
  • Maintain yourself active.
  • Keep your social media active and interesting.
  • Deliver your message on every platform you’re on.
  • Be the best face your brand has ever had.

How can you grow your presence online?

  • Posting consistently and frequently. I like to stay very active on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Those platforms are my go-to.
  • Networking with other bloggers in your niche. This will help you gain more authority and attract more like-minded people to your blog.
  • Being different. Again, don’t copy + paste what other bloggers are doing. Learn from their mistakes, their achievements, and their journey. But, post content that defines YOU and makes you stand out.
  • Stay on top of trends. Although you don’t want to copy and resemble every other blogger, you need to be aware of what each platform favors. Follow accounts top accounts in your niche and see what type of content is performing well for them. Use this as a guide.

Although being on social media can be draining and time consuming, social media plays a huge role in your online business. I’ve been able to drive traffic to my blog, be found by clients that want to work with me, and make sales all by using social media.

TIP #5 BUILD STREAMS OF INCOME

The last blogging tip to grow your blog that I want to share with you is to focus on building different streams of income. Because blogging is different than a 9-5 job and you’re not getting a weekly deposit, it’s important that you focus on building various streams of income. Now the good thing about blogging is that you can earn money in multiple ways.

My streams of income

This can vary between bloggers, but I’m going to share the different income streams I’ve made money from so far in my blogging journey below.

1. AD REVENUE

I get paid monthly for having ads from SheMEDIA on my main blog and Ezoic on my faith blog. The more views/visits I get monthly, the more ad revenue I receive. So the trick to increasing my ad revenue is increasing my traffic.

2. PINTEREST SERVICES

I offer all kinds of Pinterest services and work with different clients. I manage Pinterest accounts for a couple of clients and I do Pinterest project for different clients every month. Typically clients find me through google, but I try to promote my services on Instagram and Twitter every once in a while.

3. DIGITAL PRODUCTS

I sell Pinterest templates, printable planners, and a Christian ebook on my gumroad store. I promote these products on my website, blog posts, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

4. SPONSORED POSTS/BACKLINKS

I get paid to include backlinks to other websites on blog posts and to publish pre-written posts on my blog. So far I’ve been reached out to, but I’m trying to work on reaching out more this year to find more opportunities.

5. AFFILIATE MARKETING

I earn a commission every time I sell products that I’m an affiliate for. I must say that I’ve earned the least from affiliate marketing, but this is something I want to work on this year.

Please keep in mind that everything takes time – making money from blogging is no different. So, don’t get discouraged if you haven’t made any money from blogging yet. Your time will come as long as you continue to work hard and focus your time and efforts on tasks that will help you increase your traffic and revenue.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I hope you found these 5 blogging tips to grow your blog helpful. If you would like me to create more posts like this one, let me know. While I don’t claim to know it all, I enjoy sharing what has helped me in my blogging journey. Are there any blogging tips to grow your blog that you’d like to share? Comment below!

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Until next time,

Gabby Abigail

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