*This post contains affiliate links*

How to start a successful blog in 2022; first off what do you consider success? I have always seen my blog as being a success for me as I love writing and it’s kind of like therapy for me. I love writing and I love trying out new products and visiting new places so it’s just a combination of all those things. Any monetary gain for me is a huge positive and now this year I want to take my blog full time. I have been writing my blog for 12 years now, (you can search back to 2016 when I accidentally deleted everything older), so I know a bit about blogging and How to start a blog is probably one of my most asked questions. I have a few posts on blogging such as How to Make Money as a Stay at Home Mum and How to Gain 1k a month on Instagram that may help you on your journey but this is a more in depth how to start a successful blog run through.

choose your name & hosting

First up you want to decide on your name, purchase the domain name and set up your social media accounts. Try to stick to the same name on everything if you can, it makes finding you so much easier. I highly recommend using Lyrical Host for your domain and hosting, you can use my discount code KATIEFLOSS10 for 10% off your domain and hosting. Joining Lyrical Host has been one of the best decisions I have ever made for my blog and I have absolutely loved being with them. They are there any time of day to help me and are always so friendly. This is the only out going cost I currently have for my blog and it is definitely worth it. When I first started my blog I was over at Blogger and Lyrical host moved me over to wordpress and set up everything for me; they really have saved my ass numerous times. The name Katiefloss actually came from me creating my playstation username and I wanted my real name in it, Katie, and there was a bag of candyfloss on coffee table and I thought it sounded cute. Pick something that you love.

make it look cute

There are tonnes of free blog themes but they aren’t very cute. The place I picked mine up from is no longer running but I have linked a very similar one on Etsy if the clean look is something you are looking for. You can find tonnes of really beautiful themes here. Now time for photos; I personally take all of my photos on my iPhone, wether thats for my blog or Instagram. You definitely don’t need to spend a tonne of money on a camera. I take a photo on my iPhone using the portrait setting and then put a little preset on so all my photos are uniform. You can find lots of beautiful presets here and so many are even under £1!

now get writing

Now write. Write what YOU want to read or what people come to you for. Do you always get questions about crafts you make for your little ones? How to style certain outfits? Play to your strengths but also stay true to you and write things that you want to read. Use it as therapy. I love writing mini diaries and looking back at them; they don’t get a tonne of views but its something I enjoy doing for myself. If you don’t enjoy writing your blog it will come across and you won’t stay consistent. The market is very saturated but there is honestly room for everyone. You do you, everyone else is taken. I have recently written a blog post sharing my top posts from last year which may give you a little idea of what to write.

monestise

Monetising isn’t everything. Up until 2 years ago I wasn’t interested in making money on my blog; it was purely fun for me but a brand reached out and I thought wow. There is huge money to be made within the blogging industry and I’m going to share with you some of the ways I make money through my blog. Every now and then you will see a little Ad pop up on my site, I get paid for these through Ezoic. Ezoic is a free platform that produces ad’s on your site and pays you. Super easy and you don’t even have to think about it once you’ve set it up. Another way you can make a little income on your blog is through affiliate links. I personally use Stylink and Awin; these can bring in a good amount of income and I have known people to make hundreds each month just from these platforms. Another way you can monetise your blog is through brand collaborations, where a brand may send you a product and pay you a fee to write a dedicated blog post for them. There are many more ways to monetise you blog but these are the ones I use.

promote

Now time to promote. Personally I share on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But you can also use Pinterest and an email list. I use Mailerlite to send my monthly newsletter as it’s super easy to use and FREE if you have under 1000 subscribers. A mailing list is a great way to send out your new blog posts and keep people coming back. You can sign up for my mailing list here.

I hope this quick run though has been helpful and taught you how to start a successful blog. Running a blog is hard work but incredibly fun and rewarding too. I can’t believe I have now been writing for 12 years. Just goes to show how much I love it. Leave me a comment below linking your blog and I’ll check it out!

Katie x