5 Things I’ve Learned From Starting A Blog

Happy Tuesday, my lovely ASSASSINS! Today I want to talk about the 5 biggest things I’ve learned from starting my blog thus far. MissAshleyAllison.com is still a baby, considering I only launched it three months ago! However, I am always looking for new ways to make my website and social media platforms better for you all.
 
I read in a Twitter chat that it’s great to have a small following once you first launch your blog. My immediate thought was “Why?? That doesn’t make any sense.” Then one day I noticed some minor changes that could impact my audience significantly! Do you know how grateful I am that these changes could be easily updated without thousands of people seeing/noticing it?? The point on having a small following in the beginning stages was definitely made! LOL.
 

Thing One!

All the photos on my blog were different sizes, sourced from Google and visually non-appealing. Whenever I would read the text on my homepage, the entire page would move because each photo on my slider was a completely different size! (How embarrassing! LOL) I removed all my old photos and replaced them with visually appealing professional stock photos. Also, I made sure that all photos on the homepage were horizontal; as this worked best with the slider and the overall layout of the page.
 

Thing Two

My branding for MissAshleyAllison.com was completely non existent across the board. For starters, I needed to figure out which colors were going to be used to represent my brand. This can come off as such a small task that can be overlooked however, your brand colors have a huge impact on your audience. When you think of Google, McDonald’s or Apple, what colors come to mind?
 
Once my colors were set in stone, I used canva.com to create templates for my website and social media platforms. I designed one horizontal template for my website and one square template for Instagram. Creating these templates helped me stay consistent with using the same exact colors and fonts throughout ALL my platforms. It also saves me time because all I have to do is change the background photo, update the title and then I’m done! Now whenever you see the colors blue and purple, hopefully you’ll think of me! 🙂
 
Lastly for branding, I made sure to add my website name to the Instagram template. So whenever I use that template, I’ll be marketing my website within that photo. If anyone were to repost that photo, their audience will see my website link and hopefully come to the site! This can be the same for any photo you post; adding social media handles to your photos is strategic marketing.
 

Thing Three

Why was I so naive to the fact that the photos on my website can be searched as well?? I never thought to input key information on any of my photos! Now I make sure to add the blog post title (featured image and within the post) as well as write a short “what to expect” in the description field. Now if someone is searching for a photo, my website might just pop up and be what they’re looking for! At the end of the day, this is all about gaining new readers/subscribers, right?!
 

Thing Four

Let me tell you a short story on how I was reading a blog article and got distracted by a “Related Post” link. Next thing I knew, I was on this blog for a good 45 minutes from all the related posts that kept sparking my interest! Long story short, the writer of this blog knew EXACTLY what she was doing and she did it phenomenally! What did I learn?? I went back to all my old posts and added a RELATED: 4 Business Mistakes to Avoid (You like how I did that, huh? LOL) topic to all my old posts. The key here is KEEPING your audience on the site for as long as possible!
 

Thing Five

I was the girl who didn’t care to list the entire link of my blog post on my social media platforms. It would literally look like this: https://missashleyallison.com/how-to-get-a-perfect-braid-out/ (another shameless post link LOL!) Let’s just say, I started to care because do you see how long and ridiculous that link is?!?! I created a FREE account with bitly.com and I love them thus far! They’re super quick and easy to use to shorten my links for social media.
 
Speaking of links… I also realized that I wasn’t adding my social media handles to any of my posts. To be honest, I didn’t think I needed to considering I have the social media icon links throughout my blog. Truth is, people do not want to search for them and quite frankly they probably aren’t thinking about it. So I went back to all of my posts and LINKED (not just wrote it out) all my social media handles. I’m learning that we always have to do what’s most convenient for the reader. Most people do not want to memorize your social media handle while they open their app and search for you. Why not make it easier by linking your social media directly, if possible!
 
In the end, my hope is that I can continue to grow and evolve in a way that is cohesive with my overall brand! Please make sure to subscribe and if you found this post helpful, let me know in the comments!
 

Until Next Time ASSASSINS. . . Stay Disciplined!

To stay connected, make sure to follow me on Instagram @MissAshleyAllison Twitter @MsAshleyAllison and Snapchat @MsAshleyAllison.