Investing in your blog sounds like a major commitment. It’s like the big jump between hobby blogging, and professional blogging. You might have already invested some money into your blog, whether through buying ads on other blogs or boosting your design a bit, but what else is there? What else could possibly be worth more of your money?
As a college student, I am by no means in a place to be throwing a ton of money into my blog, even if I reallyreallyreally want that super fancy Pinterest scheduler that everyone keeps raving about. I think that’s a big reason people spend money on their blog; they see other bloggers investing in something, and feel like if they don’t follow along, they’ll be a “lesser than” blog. Well that’s totally and completely not true! I’ve done my best to find every way to save money, while still presenting what I think to be a pretty dang awesome blog. However, there are a few investments that I believe are worth making, but fortunately, not all of these even cost money! Just a bit of your time and effort if you’re ready to take that step.
1. A Custom Domain
This was one of the first investments I made in my blog, and oh my gosh does it make a difference. Having a custom domain immediately presents a sense of professionalism (not that subdomain blogs can’t be professional, it’s really just the look!). It also ties together the branding of a blog, and prevents another blog from copying your name as easily. That said, if you’re using a .blogspot or other free hosting blog, check to make sure someone doesn’t already have a blog with your name as a custom domain, because if you ever decide to make this investment, you’ll be forced to change the name you’ve spent so long growing! I’d say if you’re looking to make only a small investment in your blog, this would be the one to make. I bought my first domain through GoDaddy, but I’ve since decided to drop them and purchase my domain directly through my hosting service, which is my next topic!
2. A Self-Hosted Blog
Choosing to switch to a self-hosted blog can be a surprisingly emotional, stressful, and exciting process. You can’t just decide to do it, and 5 minutes later have one. Boy do I wish. It’s a long and strenuous process, but it is absolutely worth it. I ran my blog through Blogger for almost a year, and I never had any issues, so this isn’t something you should feel pressured to do unless you know you want to grow your blog immensely. I knew that I wanted to keep this blog going for a long time, and I also wanted ownership of my content, so switching to self-hosted WordPress was the perfect choice for me. I’m currently hosting my blog with Bluehost, and haven’t had any issues with them!
3. A Beautiful, Unique Design
I say “beautiful” because there can be many interpretations of good design. Some people may say simple and clean, others may say personal and full of character. I do believe that it’s worth investing either some time or money in a beautiful design though, simply because it makes your blog stand out from the rest. Using a pre-made design is great for a while, but as you grow your blog’s brand, you should find a design that’s your own so readers know what blog they’re reading as soon as they visit. There are a few ways you can go at this, and because I’m cheap/don’t have a job/enjoy coding, I decided to teach myself how to design blogs and created this one on my own! If coding isn’t your thing (don’t feel intimidated, you’ll make a designer’s day if this is you), look into hiring a designer to create something special and unique. This will require a bit of research, because depending on your price range, there may only be a few designers that work for you. If you choose to go this route, try not to be too cheap, because there is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into designing a blog. It can be somewhat offensive to ask a designer to give you a discount or change up their packages just so you can save a few bucks, because you’re not paying a business, you’re paying a person just like you!
4. A Cohesive Brand
Similar to your blog design, having consistent branding will do wonders for your blog. This includes your logo, colors, graphics, social media, and pretty much everything people see that is connected to your blog. As you start to connect all of these together and promote your brand, readers will begin recognizing certain design aspects or names as being part of your blog, which is a huge accomplishment! I always thought that the logo was the most important part of creating this cohesive brand, but I realized that the only place my logo really appears is on my blog itself. What my readers are repeatedly seeing is my graphics, which is why I’ve decided to invest more time in creating a consistent graphic style than invest money in a logo design. If you just can’t seem to come up with a great media template or logo design, lots of designers have a brand design packages that would be perfect for you!
5. Social Media Presence
Creating a name for yourself on social media can be a huge task. It takes a lot of time and effort to get people to recognize your name and face, but having that social media following will help your blog immensely! Now when I say social media following, I don’t mean having 5,000 followers that you got from a giveaway who don’t actually want to read your blog. While that number is great for showing to sponsor companies, it really won’t do much for promoting your blog. I would rather have 200 followers who read my blog on a weekly basis and enjoy my content than thousands who scroll past my posts. Time is going to be your biggest investment here, but if you don’t have much of that, there are a few paid options that will help too, like pin/tweet schedulers that do all the posting work for you. If you choose this option though, try to spend at least a few minutes a day on your social media accounts connecting with your followers and posting personal things, rather than just feeding them post promotions all day long. I’ve made a few posts about this topic, with tips for growing your blog with Twitter and tracking the presence you’ve created, and I created a group Pinterest board last week to help you find new readers as well!
What investments have you made in your blog? Are there any that you couldn’t live without?
This is so spot on, Jessica!! :) My first investment was a custom domain last summer and I am so glad I made that decision! I think this is the most important one since it says so much about your web presence! It makes your URL shorter and it shows your professionalism of your blog! I think the investment and the thought you have put behind your blog and brand is so awesome and meaningful! :)
I totally agree, having that URL is a huge game changer! And I didn’t even think about the shorter URL, I forgot how annoying it was having that extra “blogspot” at the end was! And thank you!! :)
Excellent tips! I’ve been blogging for only a couple months, but I’m already itching to switch to self-hosted. I’m a little nervous for the initial monetary investment in a design and the hassle that comes with migration, but I don’t know anyone who has regretted making the switch! I decided to give myself 6 months to make sure I’m fully committed. How much of a time investment/how difficult was it for you to learn the coding to design your own blog? I’m not sure I want to fully design my own, but I’d like to have enough knowledge to customize a pre-made design and really make it my own. Also, your design is just beautiful. I love the simplicity and the color scheme! Also, sorry for the longest comment ever. :)
I did the same thing to make sure I really wanted to switch! I’d been thinking about it since last year but wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a phase :) I already knew how to code in CSS before switching, but I’m still teaching myself how php works, which is a major language in WordPress. If you just want to be able to customize a theme, all you really need to know is CSS, which is pretty easy to pick up on! I’ve found that http://www.w3schools.com/css/ is a super helpful website for learning basic formatting! The theme you choose should have most of the CSS sheet set up, so you’ll just have to learn how to find what you’re looking for and change a few words, rather than having to code entire lines from scratch. I hope that helped! And thank you so much!! :)
Jessica, this amazing and so, so helpful!! Thank you for sharing this awesome resource!
When I started my blog last summer, I dived right in and bought my own domain and started using WordPress.org. I honestly had no idea what I was doing with design or anything, so I finally broke down and purchased a theme that has been great for my site. I think it would be awesome to have my own design one day, but I’m good with what I have now. Definitely worth the investment to get a premium theme to start out with if you don’t want to mess with coding yourself!
I totally agree! I got to WordPress and had no clue what I was doing or how to start from scratch, so I also bought a pre-made theme and just customized it a bunch! And absolutely, some of those premium themes are just perfect!
I’m loving all of your tips! I purchased my domain, but am still trying to figure out the right timing to go self-hosted. I also am really working on building a cohesive brand look – not as easy as I thought it would be! I’m loving the look of your blog, you’re doing a great job!
Thank you! It takes a while to know it’s the right time, but waiting is great because you can make sure switching is what you really want to do! And I agree, I’m still struggling with deciding on graphic layouts and stuff. I thought it would just hit me!
Yes, yes, yes, and yes! These are all spot on and oh so important in taking your blog to the next level. I also have a year-long blog project going on with one of my blog friends, where we’re walking people allllll through Blogging 101 with different themes each month – and getting our 4 eBooks packed with exclusive content, discounts, and individual consulting is only $18! So I’d recommend that, in the least biased way possible (;
nynb2015.weebly.com
cominguprosestheblog.com
What a fun idea! There are so many different topics to cover, but I imagine in a year you’ll have time to get them all out!
This is really great! I definitely agree that having a clean design and a domain are two very important things. I have yet to venture into self-hosting… but that might be an adventure for when I don’t have classes to worry about. :)
Thank you!! And I agree, it takes up a TON of time, which is why I moved mine over winter break!
I haven’t gone self-hosted yet–while I hear many good things, I personally really appreciate the convenience of doing things through blogger. For me, it’s a tradeoff I’m comfortable with at this point. I do really love having my own domain name, though!
Blogger is pretty great! I loved not having to worry about updates or plugins or all the extra stuff that comes with WordPress, so I could just focus on making content!
I have a self-hosted WordPress blog and love it! Most people get scared off by it since there isn’t a lot of the built-in features that WordPress.com or Blogger have. They don’t really know about how to navigate plugins and which ones to get.
Also, many bloggers don’t realize that growing a successful blog can take some money. Not a bunch, but there is an amount to pay. People always say, “I would switch to Bluehost but it’s $60-80 a month! I don’t want to pay that!”
Pre-made WordPress and Blogger themes on Etsy are where people can get a good site layout without paying $300+ for a blog design.
I agree, growing a successful blog definitely isn’t free, but it takes that kind of commitment to get there! You’re getting a premium blog, so that’s why there’s a premium price. Totally worth it though!! And I love Etsy themes! They’re perfect for beginners that need to focus on content before spending too much. :)
I just switched to a self-hosted WordPress blog as well and am really loving it. It definitely has a learning curve, but I am excited about his new journey! Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations!! I agree, I’m definitely still learning, and I’ve made a few giant mistakes along the way. But that’s part of the learning process!
These are some great tips! I agree that the design and custom domain are very important :)
Thank you!! :)
How much did/do you pay for steps 1 & 2?
I would say around $130 for two years of hosting and a year of the domain (the terms just worked out that way), but that’ll depend on what plan and which company you choose for your host! :)
Thank you Jessica for sharing such great tips, Ive been blogging for about a year now and have been itching for my own custom domain and self hosted, but Ive been so hesitant due to my job and the toll it takes on my time. But reading such great tips pushes me to go for it a bit more!
-Jenn