10 Tips for Newbie Bloggers {What I Wish I Knew a Year Ago}

Blogging is hard.

That aside, it’s also incredibly enjoyable, rewarding, and worth all the time you put into it. Today I’ll be sharing my best tips for newbie bloggers, or just bloggers in general. 🙂

This post is in honor of Purely Olivia reaching 100 followers a couple of weeks ago. Thank you so, so much to all of my followers and to everyone who reads or comments on my posts! It means so much to me.❤️

That being said, I’m most definitely not an expert on blogging. If you’re looking for an expert’s opinion, then I’d find a blog that is much more popular. 😉

However, these tips are things I learned over time, and things that I’d wish I’d known when I’d started blogging. I’ve been wanting to share these tips for a long time now, and this seemed like the perfect chance. My hope is that this post can help at least one person out there! Hopefully it helps you, too, even if you’re not a newbie blogger.

1. Comment on other posts!

I can’t stress this enough. It’s so, so crucial!

Comment, comment, comment on posts that other bloggers do.

Okay, so the guy in this gif is a little intense. 😉 But seriously, this is the best piece of advice I can give.

When I first started blogging (back on my old blog and here on Purely Olivia), I thought that my blog was just going to be magically uncovered one day and then people would start reading it. I was really wrong. Without me going out and discovering other blogs, no one ever discovered me.

While some blogs might have become known without them doing anything it’s impossible it’s unlikely. Once I started commenting on blog posts, I saw obvious growth in my blog.

What I’m not saying is that you should comment only because you want someone to go visit your blog. Commenting for a comment or following for a follow isn’t cool. Of course you should have genuine comments and genuine reasons for following a blog.

The act of commenting on blog posts of different bloggers definitely helped my blog grow a lot. Not only are you introducing your blog to the blogger, you’re introducing it to anyone else who happens to be skimming the comments section and clicks on your blog.

2. Don’t worry about the stats at first (if ever)!

Stats can be stressful. And if you’re constantly worrying about them, they’ll suck the fun out of blogging.

me when i think about stats, or homework

I do think that some importance should be placed in stats (this is another post for another time), but overall, I believe it’s super crucial that it’s important not to put too much hold in them- especially as a newbie blogger.

As I mentioned earlier, blogs usually don’t become famous overnight. It can take months of work, consistent blogging, and trying your best to get out there before the views come in. Even just a year ago, just one comment on a post of mine was a rarity.

If I had just quit, because no one was viewing my blog, then I wouldn’t be here now. As a newbie blogger (or even not a newbie!), don’t let the stats bring you down. They’ll come eventually.

3. Blogging schedules help… a lot!

Blogging schedules are a controversial business. 😉

I’m a firm believer in them, though I want to point out that many people aren’t (including many people with wildly successful blogs). I’m just going to share my personal experience with why blogging schedules work for me.

I’m really busy. With school, dance, and just life, I’d fall apart without my blogging schedule. It keeps me accountable for writing posts, makes sure I don’t forget, and keeps me from taking unplanned blogging hiatuses. It’s way too easy to get caught up in life and to forget about blogging.

If schedules aren’t for you, I understand. However, I think they can be a very helpful thing for a new blogger to have as they get into the habit of blogging.

4. Interact, interact, interact!

We are people. We thrive on interaction.

Okay, so we are bookworms. Still, we do like interaction, right?!

The point is, people like it when people talk back to them. (Or type back. Same thing.) Whether it be by responding to comments on your post, commenting on others, etc., interacting with others is a great way to feel involved.

5. Use free graphic design resources that are out there.

This is a big one. And it’s so incredibly easy.

I saw all the blogs with their perfect graphic design, and their images, and their fonts, and thought, no way can I do that. I have to Google how to screenshot on a computer. And that probably costs like a million dollars.

Guess what? You can do it! Even if you’re technologically-challenged, like me, or money-challenged, also like me, there are so many easy and free resources. A few of my favorites are:

• Canva
• BeFunky
• Unsplash
• Angie Makes (her freebies are wonderful!)

And if you have no idea how to put anything together, or just want more resources, here are a couple of blog posts that really helped me out with graphic design. 🙂 I’m sure Google can lead you to many more, too!

• Free Photos and Design Resources {Clara and Co}
• WordPress Design {A Barefoot Gal}

6. Find what works, and go with it.

When I first started Purely Olivia, I wanted to post more about lifestyle. As time went on, I realized that I enjoyed writing about books and writing much more, since I was more interested in them.

Still, if you go way back in my archives please don’t you’ll find posts about my morning routine and room tour. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted my blog to focus on. As a newbie blogger, explore different topics until you figure out what works best for you.

7. Make sure you’re having fun!

I know you’ve heard it. So say it with me: “Blogging is supposed to be fun!”

And it is fun. It’s normal to become stressed or frustrated (especially as a new blogger), but don’t let yourself ever feel like blogging is a horrible chore. It should be fun, and if it’s not, then make adjustments so that it is. 😉

8. Pictures are your best friend.

There’s nothing like a good gif to make a blog post even better than it already was.

the gif says hello

That’s not to say you should put a gif after every sentence, or insert pictures constantly. It’s all about a happy medium.

Still, I tend to shy away from blog posts that are basically blocks of text, mostly because I just don’t feel like reading all of that at once. When there are images inserted in, I’m much more likely to enjoy reading it.

9. Be yourself!! It’s cliche for a reason.

I know you’ve heard that it’s important to be yourself since you were in kindergarten. But it’s cliche because it’s important.

According to Google, there are 152 million blogs on the Internet. One hundred and fifty-two million.

That is so many blogs. Oh, my goodness that’s a lot of blogs. And if you want to stand out, you can’t be like everyone else. You have to be your own self, a self that people love you for and enjoy reading your blog for. Because it’s about being you. Also, being like someone else is copying. And no one likes a copycat!

Stand out by being yourself, and it’ll pay off.

10. Always have goals on your mind, but also be proud of your progress.

I’m a very goal-oriented person.

I know what goals I want to reach, and I work hard to get to them. Having goals is super important. They keep you focused on the future and what’s to come. They keep you on the right track.

Sometimes, when you have too many goals, you let yourself down. Maybe you wanted to get 20 new followers this month, and you only get 12. You can only think about how you failed, or you can be grateful for the 12 you did get- you must be doing something, right?

Have goals, but be prepared to still pat yourself on the back for what you did accomplish, instead of thinking of what you didn’t.

And that concludes my post! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this post, and that you were able to get something out of it, whether you are a newbie or a seasoned blogger. 😉

Again, thank you so much to all my followers, commenters, and readers! You guys are the best, seriously.

Did these tips help? Do you have any to add? Do you have a blogging schedule, and what do you use for graphic design? Let’s chat in the comments!

Photo by Norbert Levajsics on Unsplash >> Credits for the wonderful photo I used in my featured image!