Advice For New Wellness Bloggers

When I started blogging I didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t familiar with terms like SEO (search optimization). I thought all instagram was good for was editing photos. I didn’t know how to use photoshop.

I was a college student, studying theater, excited to share my love of fitness with any that would listen.

In my ways I’m glad I was clueless. I didn’t launch my blog with a set strategy or end goal in mind. I didn’t have a growth plan nor was I thinking about monetizing this little passion project of mine. Instead, I focused on writing and finding what is that I loved to write about.

Later on, in the course of writing, I had a better understanding of techniques that can enhance the work quality. It is obvious that content matters a lot while writing but there could also be a need for SEO friendly tools to reach a massive audience. These few tactics helped me to enrich my writing style.
And here I am almost 7 years later, blogging away on Kayla in the City.

I am not a “big” blogger by any means. Blogging is not my full-time job. My instagram following is small compared to many others in my space. But launching this blog in 2011 legit changed my life. And I’m not being dramatic when I say that.

The landscape of blogging has changed tremendously in the last seven years. Even so, it’s still something I’m super passionate about. I still passionately read blogs. I still passionately blog. And I still passionately encourage others to create their own blogs.

Sometimes I think about going all-in on instagram. I worry that blogging is dead. Maybe blogging is dead to some extent. But I still get so many comments and messages from people saying they read something I wrote. That something I wrote about resonated with them or made them feel less alone.

I love writing. It’s what inspired me to start this blog in the first place. Nothing makes me more giddy than sitting down at my desk and writing a blog post like this one. And nothing makes me happier than knowing something I wrote resonated with someone else. I’d rather get one comment like that than thousands of page views.

I don’t have the answer for how to make enough money blogging that you can quit your full-time job. And I don’t have much advice on the design front — someone else designed my layout for me. But here is what I wish I knew when when I was launching KITC. Much of this advice goes for bloggers in any field, not to wellness, I imagine. But it goes without saying that I’m more familiar with how things work on the wellness side.

Advice For New Bloggers

Start before your ready

As they “say perfect is the enemy of good.” I don’t know who “they” are, but there is a lot of truth to that statement. I find a lot of people hold off on launching their blog because they haven’t found their voice yet. Or the content isn’t 100% where they want it to be. Or their website doesn’t look fabulous. These things are typically needed at the later stages of your blogging journey when you have published numerous blogs and your readership continues to grow. During this time, you may have to use WordPress maintenance service, SEO techniques, and interactive web design to improve the website’s performance and interface.

Launch the blog anyway. Don’t let the idea of perfect hold you back from pressing publish. All the fancy bells and whistles can wait. Wait until you’ve picked up some steam blogging before you invest any money into your blog.

I didn’t spend a penny on my blog until 3 years in at which point I hired a designer and bought my domain (kaylainthecity.com)

Do it because you love talking about wellness

And not because you think it’s an easy way to make money.

There’s a misconception that it’s easy to make money as a blogger. Yes, it’s totally possible, but know that that can take time and is not a guarantee. It took me two years before I landed my first sponsored post.

First focus on creating quality content. Then you can focus on getting paid.

Set up a blog email

This piece of advice comes from my experience at my old job doing PR outreach. Make sure you have your email somewhere on your blog (and instagram) so it’s easy for someone to reach out to you. Nothing drives me crazier when I’m doing PR outreach than having to search high and low for an email address. And don’t just have a form — it’s a pain in the ass if your boss asked you to make a Google Doc tracking your outreach.

You can use your regular email for all blog things. I like to keep the two separate and created an email address for the blog.

Cultivate your own unique voice

When I first started blogging I tried to emulate the voice of other bloggers I followed and loved. Over time I started to find my own voice and what makes me unique as a blogger and human in the wellness space.

I don’t have some secret tip for finding your own voice as a blogger but I’ve found so much of it comes through practice. As you start to create more and more content, tap into what gets you excited. Which blog posts are the most fun for you to write?

My “brand” so to speak focuses on a real approach to wellness and I target millennials close in age to me. I’m known to get super personal. On the wellness front I’m also super skeptical when it comes to anything woo-woo. I am upfront and honest about that in my reviews. As I learned from my blogger survey I did last year, my “realness” is something you guys love about KITC.

Share your blog

There is this misconception that once you press publish, people will magically flock to your blog. If only it happened that way, then you perhaps never had to worry about Google reviews (looking for “google anmeldelser” on the Web can help you understand more about this) or something similar to it! In actuality, you gotta spread the word about your blog. The main way I’ve done that is through social media. Instagram is the #1 way I share my blog. I share every blog post via Instagram stories or its own devoted post.

I also share most of my blog posts on facebook, both the KITC facebook page as well as my own personal page. I was SUPER shy about sharing my blog on my own personal facebook. I grew up in the age of LiveJournal and online diaries and worried what other people would think about my blog. Now I don’t give a crap what other people think about me being a blogger. If people think it’s weird, that’s cool. In actuality the only feedback I get is from people I’ve lost touch with. Every so often I’ll get a message from someone I haven’t seen in 10+ years saying “I loved your blog post about _____” or “you inspired me to take my first yoga class.”

I’m not a Pinterest pro, but have also seen a fair amount of traction thanks to Pinterest and sharing content there.

Focus on writing first, then strategy

When I first started blogging I didn’t know anything about strategy. I wrote what I felt like writing about. Which senior year of college was mainly about the fitness classes I was taking at my nearby Crunch Gym.

Now I’m a bit more strategic about what I write about. Certain posts I’m more focused on SEO and writing a blog post that might get a lot of hits on google (my fitness reviews are a great example of that). Other times I know a blog post will get a lot of clicks from instagram stories like my weekly favorites posts on Fridays. I first focus on writing what I’m passionate about and then see what I can do to make it strategic. And the truth is sometimes there’s no strategy behind I write and I say screw SEO.

Google is your friend

How did I learn about SEO and google analytics and all those good things? Lots and lots of google searches.

One thing I didn’t expect when I launched a blog is how much I’d learn. I’ll argue I learned more about digital marketing thanks to building Kayla in the City than I did in grad school. Seriously.

Use SEO to your advantage

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is all about making sure your content shows up on Google. For me Google is the #1 way people find my blog.

I use Yoast, which is a WordPress Plugin that helps you optimize your blog posts. I don’t focus on SEO on all my blog posts but I try to sprinkle in a few anchor blog posts that I know will do really well on google.

Look to Google Analytics for inspiration not affirmation

Even if you’re just starting out, set up Google Analytics on your blog as soon as you can.

I’m a bit of a Google Analytics junkie and can get totally sucked in for hours. Instead of focusing purely on numbers and pageviews, I’d recommend focusing on:

• Acquisition: where are people finding you. I know for me Google is a MAJOR driver of traffic and I create my content with that in mind.

• Behavior: look at which blog posts get the most pageviews. I use this in a few ways. If I see an old blog post is doing really well, I’ll check that it’s up to date and add in a few links to other similar blog posts I’ve written. I also look at what content has done well in the past when I’m thinking about what to write next.

Find your squad

One of the best things about blogging has been connecting with other bloggers and people passionate about wellness. When I started my blog I felt a bit like a wellness weirdo. None of my friends obsessed about yoga or zumba like I did. Through blogging I found my tribe of people that love many of the things I do. I’m now friendly with SO many of the bloggers I used to follow from afar my senior year of college.

The people I have met thanks to blogging have become my friends, my collaborators, and even my boss at my grad school internship.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to another blogger in your area and ask them to meet up for coffee or a fitness class. The worst that can happen is they don’t respond.

Another way I’ve connected with numerous bloggers is through Facebook groups. I’ve learned so much about setting my rates as a blogger and other tips thanks to these groups. I’m a part of a few blogger networks including InfluencerHer and FitFluential.

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Your Turn:

New bloggers: What other questions do you have about blogging?

And bloggers: What advice would you give to new bloggers?