9 Valuable Tips To Look Like Professional Blogger

This post was last updated on November 22nd, 2020 at 09:06 am

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I have been wondering if any of you need these tips to look like a professional blogger – but as for me, I definitely these to start my blogging journey. As I want to make it my future full-time job, I want to share some tips from my experience on how to look like a professional blogger from the beginning!

Of course, I know that some of you choose to blog as a hobby or have a passion for writing, or need a place to share your life journey – life advice. But, this also does not rule out the possibility of making a blog as a job to make money.

And to make money from blogging, you need to look like an ‘expert’ from the beginning so that you can start earning some passive income from your passion.

From the beginning, I’m still a newbie but I want my blog to look like a pro. Simple, show my personality, giving quality content people need, and not look like a ‘newbie’ blogger – of course, each effort counted.

I’m not going to say it’s easy to be a professional blogger – let alone to make money. It could be months or even a year, or maybe more! It all comes down to how DEDICATED you are. Life is not easy. You need to work hard and let your passion lead you to see the growth.

I have been met many bloggers through social media (thanks for that I meet many wonderful people) and I believe many of them have a goal to pursue blogging as a career, SO I’m here to share with you some of my tips on how to turn your blog into ‘professional’ mode right from the very beginning!

Being Consistent

I have mentioned this many times when you start a blog. Sometimes I almost give up – oh please it’s not been even a month. I know. Starting out as a blogger, you will experience many moments when you sit on your comfy chair and say “GEEZ, I don’t want to do it, I’m tired, I don’t know what to do, my blog will never grow, and it’s not worth my time.” I have been there. I’ve through these mind-blowing moments.

It’s vital to be consistent. That’s all you need to keep doing with all the things you do! Believe me, I ALWAYS write down every single to-do list (every week) on my bullet journal – when I look it again in the morning, “UGH, why there are so many things to do in a day, can I finish them all?”

To be a successful person, you need to do something productive every day. Same as a blogger, to be a pro blogger, you need to publish quality content at least one post per week or more. The more quality content you publish, on a consistent basis, the better your results are going to be – especially in the long term.

Taking this into account, most bloggers take a break and give up. If you want to achieve your results, you can’t treat your blog as something you do for good old fun. It will require hard work and being consistent. A successful blogger knows this – and they keep at it, publishing quality and polishing it to perfection.

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• 10 Magic Ways To Create An Epic Blogging Schedule
• 8+ Tips To Be Organized And Motivated From Inspiring Bloggers
• 13 Simple Blogging Mistakes Most Beginners Bloggers Make
• Things To Do In Your First 2 Months Of Blogging

Self-Hosting Blog

You need to keep in your mind – if you want to seem like a ‘professional blogger’ you need to look like one. When you have a blog domain name: ‘www.yoursitename.wordpress.com’ you don’t look pro – no offense, tho. Even I know that you don’t want to read this, but this is the truth.

If you want to take your blogging into a career, you will have to invest in your blog. I understand that you don’t want to invest in something that …. not promising? Initially, I didn’t want to invest in the beginning, but I really want to have my own blog (which means don’t look like monodreame.wordpress.com) and I decide to invest!

Fact about my blog, I bought my domain in October 2019 and keep this blog as my workplace – I regret that I don’t start blogging right from the start. And I spend my translation payment to upgrade my theme. I damn glad I finally did! 🙂

I suggest you to self-hosting right from the very beginning. It’s the best way to grow your blog + make money + start the business.

Why self-hosting?

1. You own your blog – domain name (no wordpress.com, blogger.com stuff at the end)
2. You can create your brand, customize your blog however you’d like
3. You can monetize your blog, no limitations
4. You have high-quality servers

With having my own blog, I have complete ownership over my blog and don’t have to follow any rules (when it comes to monetization) and I can decorate my blog with no limitations.

Start with Bluehost because they have 24/7 live chat support team to help you with any issues! They also give you free SSL certificates – a must for a blogger – and fast server speeds. So, self-hosting doesn’t mean you’re alone – they will help you if you face any problems.

Have A Brand Look

Having a brand will make you look more professional bloggers. It’s like your home, if you want to make it look ‘homey’ you need to brand/style it.

• Choose a theme you have in your mind. I suggest choosing one from these stunning and gorgeous PLUS affordable themes on CreativeMarket or Bluchic.
• Use the same color code and color scheme for all of your images.
• Create Pinnable images for your blog which have the same ‘look’ so it describes YOU! You can create it easy and free with Canva or with these 20 eye-catching pin templates.

• Use high-quality images. I know that most of you are not a pro photographer, neither am I! You can download your free photos from Unsplash or from my favorite one, Ivorymix. They have over 4500 styled stock photos images currently in the membership and each month they add 100’s more, so there are always photos you can use to make your blog stand out!
• Invest in some lighting to make your photos brighter!

YOU MIGHT LIKE:

• Color Palette – 3 Secrets To Create Your Brand
• 40 Best WordPress Themes For Blog: Make Your Blog Looks Stunning
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Create An E-mail List

Have you read my e-book Start A Blog – A Guide For Beginner?

If not, you can get it for FREE and it’s really handy for you to start your own blog and making money from it.

To become a successful and professional blogger, you need an audience – the loyal audience who keeps coming back to your blog. And it’s really important to grow your e-mail list. You will be able to connect with your audiences on a more personal level.

I recommend using Convertkit. The free version allows you to have free 1,000 subscribers, and it’s so easy to use and set up.

If you are wanting to grow your e-mail list, make sure to create an opt-in. It’s something that you send to your subscribers for free.

Have An About, Contact, Legal Pages

To be a professional blogger, it’s important to have about me, contact, and legal pages. You will save yourself from any legal issues. Especially when you’re planning to monetize your blog.

Your about me page should give the audiences about who you are, what your blog’s about / purpose is, and what you offer to them. It’s not about your biography.

Your contact page must have a contact form or e-mail address so audiences or brands (when they ever want to work with you) can contact you easily.

And the important things from that is having legal pages: Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, and Terms and Conditions.

A disclaimer is to tell your audience that you do sponsor posts and every opinion is honest (never persuade by the commission you receiver). It also discloses that you use affiliate links and you will get some commission if they purchase through those links.

Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions basically lets your audience know that you use cookies and that their information is safe and protected.

Related: Blog Legally – 3 Easy Ways To Protect Your Blog

Get Started On Pinterest

Pinterest is the key life for bloggers. All professional bloggers are on Pinterest. Pinterest is like a free marketing platform for bloggers. You create an image for your blog post, upload it on Pinterest and when people click on your image, it brings them to your blog!

I create my Pinterest in 2019 but just started using it in May 2020. I know that I start later T_T even with my blog. But I don’t want to feel regret anymore. Keep moving on.

Within less than a month of taking Pinterest more seriously, my ‘newborn’ blog traffic went from 200+ to 1,000 monthly viewers in less than 2 weeks starting my blog! It’s not much but I’m HAPPY!

With that, I create my FREE EBOOK: GUIDE TO START A BLOG (how to choose a blog name, set up your WordPress, making money strategies, etc.). I make it FREE and giving out a bunch of tips to plan your blogging journey, especially for beginners.

If you haven’t get your e-book yet, you should definitely get it now!

With Pinterest, you can keep growing your blog traffic and reaching your target audience! Create 3-5 pins for your post and post it every day to your boards – as Pinterest now focuses more on Fresh Pins.

Remember to create pinnable images for your blog which have the same ‘look’ so it describes YOU! You can create it easy and free with Canva or with these 20 eye-catching pin templates.

Write With Passion

As a professional blogger, write with passion is more than important. It doesn’t mean you have to post every day – it’s good tho, but don’t force yourself and forget to take a break. That’s one thing I learned from blogging. If you write down something you enjoy, you will build your confidence, and produce quality content.

Facts about me: I am an English – Indonesian translator since 2014. English is not my native language and when thinking about starting a blog in English, I’m afraid. Afraid that my English is not good enough to make people want to read my contents – even drop a comment – and feel … awkward.

But I throw that thought away, simply because I like writing, and sharing useful things with people is a happy thing. I’m already happy with someone reading let alone commenting on my post. And if you can even make money from blogging, why not? WIN WIN WIN.

Have Social Share Buttons

If you want your blog traffic to grow, you have to make sure that you have social share buttons on your blog or post so that your audience can share it on their social media! I use the one from the Social Warfare plugin and it’s free.

Have Social Media Links

As mentioned above, growing your blog traffic is really important with social media. To be a professional blogger, you need to connect and build your traffic with your audience or other bloggers on social media!

Make sure you have your social media links on your blog – put them on the header, sidebar, or footer. Many themes will come with social media icons that allow you to link them to your social media accounts,

Having social media also allow you to build your network. You don’t just grow alone, but grow together with other bloggers. We can help each other’s through blogging and might even make some great friends!

Wrapping Up

To be a professional blogger and run a successful blog is a dream for many. And the benefits can be huge. However, it requires hard work, consistency, and determination. You can’t simply start a blog and hope for the best in a day – even a week.

In order to make it work, you will have to consistently publish quality content that solves problems, entertains, and attracts an audience that keeps coming back for more.

Photo credit: Selina Thomas

I hope you enjoyed these tips!