My Top 15 Blogging Tips Posts for 2015

I started writing my Blog Club posts in October/November 2014 after writing a round up of a blog conference. I have covered a wide range of topics and some of the posts have gone on to become some of my top posts.  I have had some wonderful feedback from bloggers who have found them useful, which is reason enough to carry on writing them and sharing them here on the blog.

 

With only a couple of weeks left of 2015, I thought I would share the 15 posts in my Blog Club, which proved most popular (in order of traffic).  I think it is really interesting that numbers 2-5 are all about pro blogging and working with brands.  Just goes to show that this is what a lot of people want from their blogging.  Hopefully, this round up might highlight a post you missed the first time round.

 

The Linky List

This post is quite old now, but the important document – the actual list is regularly updated.  This post is used time and time again by a lot of the parenting blogger community. I can’t believe I almost canned it, as just before I published it, another blogger published something similar, but organised in a different way and not as thorough as mine. I was in two minds whether to go ahead with my planned post, but went for it anyway and I am so glad I did.  A good reminder that hardly any content is 100% original, things are redone often and what matters is our vision and what we put into the post.

 

Blogging, a full time job?

This has been such an evergreen post for me and it’s one of my all time most hit posts.  I was a little fed up of people saying I got things for free through my blog and so this posts was my response.  It struck a chord with many of you too.  In the post I explain what exactly goes into creating my blog and so it gives an insight into the time and effort we all put into our blogs.

 

How To Become A Brand Ambassador

I am lucky enough to have worked as a brand ambassador for a number of brands and so I thought I would share a few tips. Hopefully, it has given those who want to work more closely with a brand more of an idea of what’s involved and things you can do right now to you blog to put yourself in the best possible position to be accepted onto an ambassador programme.

 

 

How to Work with Brands

I get asked A LOT by other bloggers how to get into working with companies and PRs.  This post was written to answer the main recurring questions and help people break into brand work.

 

 

Professional Blogging – Are You Ready To Go Pro?

I have had a relatively short journey to becoming a pro blogger.  If you think of it in terms of the hours invested (as I work a lot of hours!) then it probably doesn’t seem that quick, but I was pro about 12 months after going self hosted and 16 months after starting my blog.  I just wanted to share some ideas which might help those of you out there who want to ‘go pro’ have the confidence to do just that.

 

A Blogger’s Guide to Linkys

I think I get asked at least once a day on Twitter, what a linky is.  I also feel I have a lot to thank linkys for. They helped me build a community and make friends, they contribute to my backlinks and they give some structure to my editorial calendar. This post explains linkys, and highlights the difference between these and blog hops and blog carnivals.

 

How to grow your Twitter following

Twitter is my strongest social media network.  I have been on Twitter since August/September 2013 and I now have 14.3k followers. Most of my traffic comes from Twitter and out of all the social platforms, I believeTwitter is the easiest to grow.  So I gave you the tips that have helped me, in the hope it would do the same for you.

 

20 Apps & Tools To Help Your Blog

We all want an easier life, a more streamlined workflow and to be more productive.  We all have our go to apps and tools to make our work lives run smoother. I love to hear what other people use, as sometimes it’s something which could help me too AND make a big difference.  So here the things I use.

 

10 Facebook Groups to Help Your Blog

Facebook can be a great place for bloggers to network and support each other in lots of different ways, but only if you know where to look for the right groups.  Here I highlight ten of the best groups I have found.

 

SEO for Bloggers – 13 Tips To Maximise Traffic

SEO is another thing that is important for us bloggers to get our heads round.  Some people write with SEO in mind and manage to cram in keywords, tagging and optimising to perfection and others, well they don’t do anything. They just hope that the wind is blowing in the right direction and someone finds their posts.  This post highlights ways in which SEO done well can maximise your traffic.

 

Blogging as therapy

I wrote this post in response to a personal situation.  A comment that I can’t have been suffering from PND as I had written about a day out and put in on my blog.  I shared why I blog and who it helps me everyday (and still does!). This post has been great evergreen content for me and must be one of my most retweeted posts. Blogging is so powerful, I am so glad others feel it too.

 

 

How to Grow Your Blog

Again from personal experience I outlined all the things I have done over the past two and a bit years to grow my blog to the position it is now; an income provider and ranked #27 in the Tots100 rankings.

 

 

Develop a Killer Social Media Strategy

We need social media to make our blogging lives richer in terms of relationships and traffic.  There are so many platforms and it’s all about finding which works best or you.  You have to be on them all, you don’t have to win them all.  This post outlines what I do in my social media strategy.

 

 

My Top Ten Blogging No No’s

There is always so much to learn about blogging, however long you have been doing it.  New developments, new focuses and new passions.  I shared the things I don’t like about some blogs I see; the things that make the blog harder to read, difficult to navigate and not be as aesthetically pleasing. Things that might make people bounce straight back off your blog.

 

 

Finding Your Tribe & Why You Need One

The best thing to come out of blogging for me has been the friendships.  I have made the best and lasting friendships with some amazing people, my tribe.  I feel that to succeed and to get the most out of blogging, you need a tribe; people that have your back.  I explain why this is so important and how you too can find your tribe.

 

Have you enjoyed my Blog Club this year?  Do you have any topics you would like to see me cover in 2016?