My First Two Weeks Blogging: What I Learned

My Thoughts On Blogging

I have officially been blogging for two weeks now, and I wanted to share with you my experiences so far. I also want to share what I have learned–which is actually quite a lot! I’ll take you through all the things I have done so far and tools that I have been using.

First I must say that I am really enjoying blogging. It is a lot of work for sure, but it is work that I really like. And hopefully the work will pay off in the near future, but even if it doesn’t right away I am still creating something I am very proud of.

Setting Up a Domain and a Website Host

Of course, the very first thing I had to do to start my blog was set up a domain and get a host. I looked around at a lot of options and did quite a bit of research on this. There were a lot of options I found to be very expensive. I also found more affordable options that made you pay for an entire year or two up front which honestly really turned me away.

Finally I settled on using IONOS for my domain and to host my blog. They offer multiple plans, but I chose a small and simple one to start out with. It costs $3 a month which was by far the most affordable option I found.

Setting Up WordPress and Choosing My Theme

The second crucial step I took was adding WordPress to my blog. It took me a while to settle on a theme because I can be pretty picky about aesthetic. I finally found a theme I really liked and added it to my blog. One thing I knew I wanted was a theme I could customize a lot.

Once I settled on my theme I began to customize it to my liking and tailoring it for my own blog. I also added in all my personal information like my socials and more. This step was a lot of fun for me!

Creating My First Blog Posts

Now that my blogging website was set up I needed to add content! My head was (and still is) buzzing with ideas for posts so this wasn’t much of a challenge. I outlined my posts in my blogging notebook, and then wrote them out on WordPress. I made sure to add photos and beautiful, eye catching graphics. After that there wasn’t much to do except hit post!

Setting Up Google Analytics and Adsense

My next step was setting up google analytics and adsense. I wanted to do this because I wanted a good way to keep track and get insights on my blog traffic. This whole process was a bit of a headache, but I finally worked it all out and was able to set it up.

I also wanted to set up google adsense, because as much as I love blogging on its own, it would be nice to make money from it as well. Currently I am awaiting approval from google adsense.

Setting Up a Blogging Pinterest Business Account

One of the most important things I have done in these past two weeks was set up my pinterest business account for my blog. There are a lot of advantages to having a business account, one of which is getting access to your analytics and insights.

This is a really helpful tool because Pinterest is one of the top platforms to share and promote your blog. Pinterest analytics helps you to see which of your pins and posts people are loving the most.

Joining Group Pinterest Boards

Going along with the previous step, the next thing I did was search for and join group boards related to topics I focus on. This is a really good thing to do because it helps you connect with fellow creators such as yourself. It also helps get your pins out to an audience that probably have a similar audience themselves. When those people share your pin with their audience it’s a snowball effect and can quickly reach more people.

Tip- At first I was having a hard time finding group boards but I discovered a good method. First, I search a topic that I focus on such as ‘productivity.’ Then I click on the very top pins that come up and go to the profile page of whoever shared that post. Usually it is a well established blogger and if you scroll through their boards they almost always are a part of group boards. Then, you can click on those group boards and read the instructions to join in the description! Bam! You are now a member of some great Pinterest group boards.

Getting Started With Tailwind

Tailwind has been one of my absolute favorite tools so far, and I have a feeling it’s going to stay that way. If you aren’t familiar with Tailwind it is a post scheduler for Pinterest. It chooses the most optimal times and automatically schedules pins you’ve chosen to share on your Pinterest.

Tailwind also has something called tailwind tribes and this is a super cool thing. You can join ‘tribes’ that correspond to different topics or niches and share your own pins while also scheduling other bloggers pins. It is a really great way to get your content to a larger audience and make connections with fellow bloggers.

Taking the 5Ways2Thrive Challenge

What is the 5Ways2Thrive challenge you ask? Well, it is a challenge created by Adrian the owner of helpfornewbloggers.com that guides you through a step by step process to optimize your Pinterest. Adrian helps you to set up your Pinterest account and make it as effective as possible. It helps you grow not only your Pinterest but also your blog. Sign up for the challenge here!

Becoming An Amazon Affiliate

Like I said earlier, as much I love blogging, ultimately my goal is to also make money from my blog eventually. That is why I took this next step and signed up to be an amazon affiliate. Everyone loves and shops with amazon, so I figured what better place to become an affiliate with. I was actually surprised with how easy of a process it was!

Keyword Research

Another thing I did these past weeks was keyword research. SEO is a lot to learn, and I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. But, I started with getting a handle on keywords and keyword phrases. The 5Ways2Thrive challenge is actually what taught me how to do key word research and it is a skill I am grateful to know.

Creating Pin and Blog Graphics With Canva

This particular step is one of my very favorites. I love love love creating graphics for my blog posts and pins. The program I use is Canva. I have actually used Canva for years and it is by far my favorite application for designing photos and graphics. Their is a pro version that I am sure is terrific but so far I have been using the free version and it works super well for me.

Commenting and Interacting With Other Bloggers

Another thing I did was find fellow bloggers whose blogs I genuinely enjoyed and I showed them some love. I read, shared, and commented on other bloggers posts. Not only does this help you make connections with other bloggers but it gets your name out there for other people to see! Besides, I had a lot of fun and found some really great posts!

Installing the Yoast SEO Plugin

WordPress has these things called plugins that you can add. The Yoast SEO plugin is definitely the tool that has helped me the most with search engine optimization on my blog posts. It sort of acts as a guide as you write your posts and choose your keywords so that you can get the best optimization possible. Needless to say, it has helped and taught me a lot.

Research, Research, Research

Finally, I have and will continue to research like crazy. There is so much you can learn from other successful bloggers and their is and abundance of articles and videos to help you learn. I have found some really helpful tips and ideas to put into practice on my own blog. There is a lot to learn when it comes to creating a successful blog and the more guidance I can get the better it will be!

Thank You

That’s just a little summary of my blogging adventures these past two weeks, and I know there is lots more to come. If you’ve read this far thank you so much! I hope that you enjoyed the post and that I’ll see you here again soon!

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What’s your top blogging tip? Favorite blogging tool?

Let me know in the comments!!