Nikoleta Ljuljdjuraj: Blogging

By Nikoleta Ljuljdjuraj - 10:30 AM

To be a blogger and do blogging isn’t as easy as people think. You write a post and hit “publish”- but after you’ve published your content you also need to get people to read it and of course help them in any kind of way.

When I first started this blog I would publish my posts and that would be it. I had no idea how to grow my audience. I just hoped that eventually, my potential readers would just “find” me.

In today’s post, I’m sharing a few ways that have helped in a way to increase my audience.

POST MORE FREQUENTLY

This is my number #1! I noticed that my traffic started to grow substantially once I started posting more frequently. If YOU write more that will not only keep your readers coming back, but it’s also great for bringing organic search traffic to your blog- Google gives higher priority to websites with new and fresh content.

With that being said always go with quality over quantity. Don’t post crappy content, for the sake of posting. It all depends on the type of content you create. I know some of my favorite bloggers post only once in a month, but when they do the audience simply loves it.

WRITE SHAREABLE CONTENT
Pinterest and Facebook send me a ton of traffic. Pinterest alone refers tens of thousands of new visitors to my blog, on weekly basis.

So what does “shareable content” mean? It means creating content that is somehow helpful to your readers. If they find it helpful or useful in some way, they’re much more likely to share it with others, pin it for future reference or bookmark it. Analyze your posts, see which ones get the most hits, what are some things you often get asked about? What are your strengths? Focus on that. You also need to make sure that your content can be easily shared with others- installing “share” buttons like Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook are crucial.

CONNECT WITH OTHER BLOGGERS

As your audience grows, responding to each and every comment can be a bit overwhelming. Nowadays, it usually takes me a few days to catch up with comments on my blog but interacting with other bloggers and readers is what makes blogging so special. It lets you build a relationship with your audience and grow your blog’s community. Commenting is not just about “plugging in” your blog link- they should always be meaningful and bring some value to the conversation. Getting a ton of traffic is great, but engagement is worth a lot more.

BLOG DESIGN

Your blog design should be easy to navigate. When I visit a blog for the first time, one of the first things I want to know is the blogger’s name- so make sure that it’s visible somewhere right away. If you have several categories on your blog, make sure that it’s easy to navigate and search through those as well. If you want people to comment, you also have to make it easy for them to do. Last year I switched from Blogger to Disqus and I love it. I’m getting a lot fewer spam comments and don’t have to moderate them anymore- which saves me a ton of time.

PROMOTE OLD POSTS

Don’t let all that great content get buried! Reference your older content whenever it’s appropriate, always link within your posts. Re-share it on Pinterest, Facebook. Some of the most popular posts on my blog, are ones that I’ve published years ago. They still continue to bring me traffic, on regular basis.

BE CONSISTENT

Be consistent and stay patient. Most of the emails I receive say “I’ve been blogging for x amount of time, but it seems like no one’s reading my blog. What am I doing wrong?” Truth is, growing your blog is a lot of work, but one thing that will definitely help you is being consistent- with your content, images, posting schedule. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try new things it means that you should pay attention to things like your analytics. Which posts are most popular? What type of content does your audience seem to enjoy the most? Whatever you blog is about, make sure it’s something you love, otherwise, you’ll get bored easily.

Bottom line is, blogging is a lot of work. If you want to expand and grow your blog, you have to put in the work. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend every single free minute you have working- if you’re smart enough you can have a blog, a job, AND a life.

What are some of your favorite ways to grow traffic and promote content? I’d love to share them with me!

Nikoleta Lj, xoxo.

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BloggerLife

7 Things to do When You Feel Stuck

By Nikoleta Ljuljdjuraj - 1:05 PM

95% of the time, writing, and photography come easily to me. The other 5% of the time I can spend hours working on a blog post and not get anywhere. I can know exactly what I want to write about, but once sit down with my laptop, the words just don’t seem to come as easily as they usually do. Feeling stuck it's the worst feeling, let's be real. It’s even worse when you feel like you DO want to get something done and can’t stand being still or unproductive, but you don’t seem to get anywhere. I know that I’m not the only one who experiences this once in a while. I think it’s just a part of having a creative outlet. You count on that creativity and inspiration to always be there, but the truth is, you can’t.

So how overcome this feeling stuck?

TAKE A BREAK

This is the first thing I do when I start feeling that creative block is coming. Sometimes this is all you need. Step away from what you’re doing; whether it’d be writing. Put some distance between yourself and the thing/s that you’re working on and do something else, something that has nothing to do with blogging.

TRY SOMETHING NEW

Don’t be afraid to write about something different from what you usually do. What are some of your other interests? I originally started as a beauty blogger. I really wanted to start writing about things like blogging, or wellness, share some of my personal struggles (like anxiety) and how I overcame them. BUT, I was SO afraid. I’d think to myself “what makes me an expert?”. Well, when I started writing about those things, in addition to beauty.

See, until you try something new, something different, you won’t know whether or not it’d work for you. So, you either succeed at something, or you’ll fail but you’ll learn a lesson.

WORK ON YOUR DESIGN (OR SOMETHING ELSE)

When you don’t feel like writing, work on a different aspect of your blog. Update your social media profiles, make sure all of your links work (especially in Disqus- I come across broken blog links in my comments all the time, therefore, I can’t visit your blog!). Improve your blog design, update your “about” page. There is still plenty to do around your blog, even when you can’t get yourself to write.

RE-PURPOSE + MAXIMIZE YOUR OLD CONTENT

Chances are, your audience is larger than it was a year or two ago. Go through some of your old articles and see if there’s anything that you loved working on, but didn’t get the attention it deserved. Edit it, update it, add some links and re-publish it.

Another way to maximize your content is going through your old posts and updating them by changing featured images, adding a Pinterest-friendly image and re-sharing it on social media. This is a great way to make your content work for you and you can bring traffic to your blog, without having to write anything new.

READ

This is a great way to find some inspiration. Read a book, a new blog, a magazine; read everything that you can get your hands on. Reading will not only help you find inspiration or create ideas, but it’ll also make you a better writer. You cannot expect to be a good writer and write great posts if you don’t read.

CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT

If you always do your blog work in the same spot, try to switch things up. You can try going to a different room, or you can go to a cafe, or a park if it’s warm enough. During spring, I love grabbing my laptop, sitting in my yard and writing. I think that some of my best posts were written from my favorite spot in my yard. It’s a completely different experience than writing when sitting at my desk. I can smell the fresh air, feel the sun on my skin, hear the birds chirping. It’s really great to switch it up once in a while.

SPEND SOME TIME OUTDOORS

Nowadays, there’s a pill for everything. Feeling tired, feeling slightly nervous, upset, sleepless. Well here’s something that can make you feel better when you feel stuck and/or overwhelmed: breathing. Go outside, close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose, while counting to four, then exhale through your mouth, while counting to four.

Fresh air and spending time in nature can work like a mini getaway. We’re constantly connected. Constantly surrounded by noise; from our phones going off, TVs, computers, laptops, radio. But when you go for a walk in a forest, or go for a run in the park and take in all of your surroundings, hear the wind, feel the sun and the air- you become more still. As you tune out all that noise that accompanies you pretty much 24/7, you get clarity. That can be all you need to get past feeling stuck.

Do you recommend any other tips when you feel stuck?

Nikoleta Lj, xoxo.

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Blogging

10 Tips For Being A Successful Blogger

By Nikoleta Ljuljdjuraj - 5:09 PM

Hello my lovelies,

Today I decided to write and post something different. Starting from myself how I started my blog and what made me do that. Beauty is my passion, all the things that are related with beauty interests me and I love that. I started my blog a half a year from now and I totally love it. I can write whatever I want and help you guys, sharing my tips and beauty stuff that I try. Hope you enjoy this blog post, have a nice weekend! Nikoleta, xoxo.

Many people have contemplated starting a blog at some point in their life. These days setting up a blog takes only minutes for a bare bones site. But there is a big difference between having a blog and being a blogger. Running a successful blog is not easy and requires a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun if your heart is really in it. First of all let’s clarify what “success” means in the blogging world. A successful blog is one with a steady traffic flow and a constantly growing audience that keeps coming back for more.

Here are 10 tips for becoming a successful blogger:

1.) Passion – If you don’t have a real passion for the subject you’re writing about you will never be a successful blogger. It’s a long and tough road building a blog audience and without true passion you’re guaranteed to fizzle out.

2.) Bloggers Must Blog – 1 or 2 blog posts a year is not going to cut it. Writing a blog post when you get around to it will not work. If you dread having to write a post you probably shouldn’t be a blogger.

3.) Be Consistent – This goes hand in hand with tip #2. The more blogging the better but being consistent is almost more important. From day 1 you need to figure out realistically how often you can blog and then stick to that. If it’s every day, 3 times a week, or every Saturday you need to stick with that. The way to build an audience is to have an established posting schedule.

4.) Make Your Blog User Friendly – Make all the content you’ve worked so hard to write easily accessible. Have a list on your sidebar with recent posts. List other articles you’ve written of potential interest at the end of your posts. Include an archive too so people can read your older content.

5.) Collect Email Addresses – I cannot stress enough how valuable it is to collect the email addresses of your readers (should they choose to give it of course). This is not so you can SPAM them but so you can send them updates about the blog or send them a weekly list of all your posts for that week or month. Sending out a weekly or monthly newsletter can be very effective at building an audience.

6.) RSS Feed Link – Make sure to put a link to your blog’s RSS feed in a prominent place. You want to encourage people to subscribe to your posts.

7.) Talk To Other Bloggers (Successful Ones) – Reach out to other bloggers in your niche. Blogging is not a “me vs them” competition where one blogger has to fail in order for another to succeed. If they write about the same things as you they are not the enemy. Having relationships with already established bloggers in your niche can make all the difference in the world. They may link to one of your posts or recommend your blog to their audience.

8.) Comment on other blogs – Be a regular in the comments section of other people’s posts in your niche. Become a part of the community. This goes hand in hand with tip #7

9.) Make Social Sharing Easy – Your readers need to be able to share your posts to their favorite social network with a single click. You want your content easy to spread around and share. The most important sharing buttons to have are for Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. If you have nothing else make sure you at least have those! While we’re on the subject, feel free to hit one of those buttons at the top of this post or at the side and share it!

10.) Be Patient – Your blog is NOT going to be a success overnight. If you are not in it for the long haul don’t bother. You can start to see a nice stream of traffic and some regular readers in a few months depending on how much time you put in, but it usually takes years for a blog to really take off.

What do you think guys? Any more tips to recommend me?

Nikoleta Lj, xoxo.

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7 Ways to Increase Your Blog Traffic

7 Things to do When You Feel Stuck

TAKE A BREAK

TRY SOMETHING NEW

WORK ON YOUR DESIGN (OR SOMETHING ELSE)

RE-PURPOSE + MAXIMIZE YOUR OLD CONTENT

READ

CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT

SPEND SOME TIME OUTDOORS

10 Tips For Being A Successful Blogger

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