April 08, 2018

My Blog Resources: Tips To Help You Start Your Blog

Starting a blog can be difficult and I found it quite hard to know which services to use and the ones that would be helpful. I looked all over to find answers and I found that Makeup Savvy's guide to be most helpful. So now iv decided to make my own guide of services that I use to help out new bloggers like me! 

Blog Platform

Your blog platform is very important when starting a blog, this is where you would design your blog and upload your posts from. When I started out I changed my platform a few times to find the right one for me. 

Blogger: Firstly its FREE! Most other platforms can charge you for different services. Blogger is an older website but it does everything you need and it isn't too confusing with editing and writing posts and it also allows you to track your page views at any time.

Domain Name

To make your blog look really professional it looks great to have your own domain name. This isn't essential when starting out but you may want to do so in the future. 

Go Daddy: I chose to use Go Daddy because I've seen many other bloggers using it. It's very simple to use and if you need support (which I did) they are very easy to contact either through the phone or on their site. To get a domain name for your site you can get a .com or .co.uk for as little as 99p!

Blog Theme

Having a good theme and layout for your blog is very important and can determine who views your blog and comes back each time you post. Finding the right theme that doesn't cost loads of money can be hard because you want it to work on every device. 

Etsy: When looking for the right theme for me it took me days to find a site that doesn't cost over £30 for a theme and then I looked on Etsy. A lot of the themes on Etsy start from around £8. You get to see so many different designs from different sellers to find the right one for you and most sellers give amazing support if needed. 

Photography & Editing 

For a blog, photography is very important and you can also change an image in a matter of minutes with the right editing tools

iPhone 7 (For photographs): When I first started my blog I wanted a camera that I couldn't really afford because I thought you needed one for good quality photos. I then started to use my iPhone 7 camera and was really impressed with the results, as long as you have the right lighting and editing tools you can make an image look like it was taken with a very expensive camera!

PhotoScape Photo Editor: PhotoScape is a free programme that you can download on your computer to edit your images for FREE! Im not really techy so I needed an easy tool to help me edit. On this you can brighten, deepen, contrast your images and more. It also allows you to add text to your images and add different effects. 

Before Editing...                                                    

After Editing...

Canva Blog Designs: When I make all of my blog graphics I always use Canva! again its free but you can also get a paid versions with more features. I make all of my Pinterest photos on this site and they give you a layout that you can edit to fit your theme. Its very easy to use and you can make all different images with all of their layouts like snapchat story images, your logo and your website banner. They also have an app so you can make images on the move. 

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0: For my images where I want to remove the white background I always use this, its so easy and can literally take minutes when you practice. Photoshop can be expensive so their are also many other sites that do this for you as well. 

Photography Props and Items

To make your images look really professional it is essential that you add little bits and pieces to make an image. 

Ebay and Amazon: When finding little props like fake flowers and ribbons I always look on ebay or amazon for the best value and they always have so much choice. You can usually find anything your looking for without spending too much money. 

B&M Stores: If you live in the UK you have probably been to B&M because they literally sell anything! From B&M I've brought things like a jewellery dish for as little as £1.99 and a candle holder for £1 each! 

Background (For Flatlays)

For any blogger I think we all like to make flatlay images for our blogs and having the right background can make an image look so much better.

Ebay & Amazon: When looking for backgrounds I went for contact paper which you can stick to a board to lay your items on it for your pictures. These sites have so many different options to choose from and you don't have to break the bank finding ones for you. 

Hobby Craft: To get different coloured sheets for your backgrounds Hobby Craft is perfect. They also have many options and there is usually one in most cities (in the UK) making it easy to get things when you need them. 

Affilate Links & Ad Clicks

To start making money on you blog can be hard and finding the right services that work and thataren'tt too complicated to understand how to use. 

Amazon Affiliate Links: Affiliate links can be a really good way to make some money on your blog especially if you talk about different products a lot. Whats good about the Amazon Affiliate links is that Amazon will probably have any product that you need a link for and the site is so simple to start. You will need to fill out a small section before starting but then your ready to go. 

Google Ad sense: Using Google Adsense is very useful, its easy to use and to view your progress. To start up you need to meet their criteria before you get approved to use their ads on your blog. I haven't yet been able to use this because my blog hasn't been running for over 6months but when it has im definitely going to be using it. 

Media.net: For the adds that I have on my blog at the moment I use media.net, its very easy to use and you dont have to have a specific amount of page views before you can use them so its very good for new bloggers like me! 

Pin For Later...

Starting a blog can be hard so I hope my guide helped you or can help you to create a blog that you love and that your proud of. What services do you use on your blog?

Aaliyah xo