Blogging is a fantastic hobby. You get to meet new people, share ideas, build friendships, and learn some great new skills in everything from design to marketing. However, blogs can be rather time consuming, and only those that really love it, will be truly successful. However much you love your blog, you may find at times it’s just got a little stale, and you want to change things up a bit. This might be anything from preparing to monetize, to growing your following or changing the design. Here are five things you can do right now, to improve your blog.
Change Your Designs
If you fancy a change, the first place to start is design. Is your theme still working for you? There are loads to choose from, as well as customization options to make them your own. You might also want to refresh your color scheme and logo. Make sure you have created a brand, and use the same colors and logos across all your webpages and social media platforms to make your work instantly recognizable.
Check Your SEO
SEO changes all the time. Keywords are still important, so make sure you are using them. Also, make sure all of your posts and pages have meta descriptions, you use rich text where you can and that your site is completely mobile optimized. Go back over old posts and update your SEO where you need to. Look right to the very start of your blog. While you have forgotten these, they are still searchable, and you probably didn’t know as much about SEO when you first started out.
Look at Your Pictures
From an SEO point of view, make sure all your pictures have titles and alt text. But also, look at the pictures themselves. Are they well placed and relevant? Are they high quality? Try to use the width of your page, but also make some long, thin images that people will be able to pin easily.
Look at Your Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing is another thing that’s evolving all the time. Check up on new marketing ideas and see what you can use on your site. Sit down and make a proper marketing plan, focusing on one area at a time.
Clean Up Your Social Media Profiles
Social media marketing is huge. If you haven’t already, set up pages on at least Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Make sure your pages look good and are designed with your branding. Share your posts and any relevant photos. On Pinterest, consider using your branding in board covers, and make sure your boards are organized. On Instagram, consider using the same filter for all your photos to keep things neat.
Often just spending some time, looking, can make all the difference. Read your blog as a viewer would. Write a list as you go through of things you love, and things you don’t. Look at what your competition is doing. Research any new plugins or themes. Would any work for you? Just spend some time trying things out.
If you are interested in turning your blog into a successful business, consider studying for an online MBA from the University of Maryland. An online masters in business administration would equip you with all the skills needed to run a successful business, from development to marketing and everything in between.
How will you improve your blog?
