Oh, weddings — there is nothing more beautiful than a wedding to you. From the bridesmaid dress trends of this spring and summer to the creative ways couples make venues their special place for a day, you love every aspect of weddings. That’s why you started blogging about weddings. At first, you were writing about your friends’ and sisters’ weddings, and then you started getting more specific, reviewing the services of local photographers and writing lists of the best apps newlyweds can use to save money.
And now, because of your passion, you have a larger readership. You’ve been thinking maybe you could make money from your blog. You know other bloggers do it, so why not you? And the fact is, you can, by following these strategies.
1. Research your Readers
Since you’ve already been blogging a while, you have a general idea of who your readers are. Maybe it’s mostly newlyweds in their twenties; maybe it’s people trying to break into the wedding industry. You can tell from the comments you get, the questions they send you, and who shares your posts with their social media circles. But if you want to make money from your blog, whether you’re selling services or ad space, you need as much information as possible.
You need to create a buyer persona, which, according to buyerpersona.com, “tells you what prospective customers are thinking and doing as they weigh their options to address a problem that your company resolves. Much more than a one-dimensional profile of the people you need to influence, or a map of their journey, actionable buyer personas reveal insights. The specific attitudes, concerns and criteria that drive prospective customers to choose you, your competitor or the status quo.”
In the case of a blogging business, this means that you’ll find out what topics are most likely to draw readers in and become loyal readers. And considering that in 2016, 47 percent of buyers in viewed three to five pieces of content before engaging with a site’s sales rep, you need to know how to reach your readers.
2. Develop your Brand and Look
Once you’ve researched your readers, you’ll know how to develop your brand and look. You’ll know what kind of logo design you need to appear on your blog and social media profiles, as well as what color scheme will work best for your blogging site. Another helpful brand tactic is to see what your competitors are doing. Take a look at websites like The Knot and A Practical Wedding to see what they’re doing, and check out other bloggers’ work, too. What fonts are they using? What colors? Are they using filters in their Instagram feed, and which ones look nicest to you? All of this will help you brainstorm what you want your look to be, both on your blog and anywhere else you’re engaging with readers.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, there’s no need to be. There are great site builders out there like Wix and Weebly that make it easy to build a site, where the only decisions you need to make are the aesthetic ones. And they’ll automatically connect to your social media profiles. The web design of a blog isn’t usually very complicated, so you probably don’t need to hire a web designer. But if you aren’t sure, check out this list of the pros and cons of hiring someone versus doing it yourself.
Whatever you choose, remember to make your site mobile friendly. Most of us are spending five hours a day on our phones now, so your blog posts need to be readable on a tiny screen. To learn more about how to make your blog mobile-friendly, check out this guide.
3. Be Smart About SEO and Spreading the Word
Now that you’ve researched your readers and developed your brand and look, it’s time to get serious about SEO (search engine optimization). If you aren’t following the right SEO rules, like using keywords your readers are drawn to in your posts or having a site that loads slowly, then your posts aren’t going to appear high up in any Google search. Which means that you aren’t going to get that many new readers, which means that you aren’t going to make much money. To learn more about SEO, take a look at these unbreakable rules.
Additionally, once you’ve mastered SEO, don’t forget to share your blog posts on social media, going the extra mile by engaging with your readers, answering questions they post to your Instagram and allowing them to write guests posts. Be sure to engage with the world you’re a part of, like interviewing a local wedding planner or talking about weddings on a podcast. The average reader spends only 37 seconds reading an article or blog post, which means that you need to use as many strategies as you can to make your blog popular.
By using these strategies, you’ll be able to make money from your wedding blog. Whether you’re using affiliate ads or selling reviews of wedding venues near you, you’re guaranteed to make money as your blog becomes popular.
What got you into blogging about weddings?
