Whenever someone tells me they want to start a blog, their biggest concern is usually around if they’ve missed the boat. There is an impression that to be successful blogging you needed to be one of the first, that it is over saturated and people no longer want to read long form content. I just don’t believe it. Online content is more popular than ever, and whether you want to start a blog for yourself personally, or for your business, providing you’re doing it for the right reasons there are so many benefits that blogging can bring. Here’s why you should start a blog in 2021, and what you need to consider before you launch.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Font Bundles, but as always all opinions are my own. I use Font Bundles and the apps mentioned alongside them myself.

I will cover some of the reasons why you should start a blog, how to get ahead now during December before launching, and some of the best websites and tools to make it as easy as possible for you. What it isn’t going to do is tell you physically how to start one, so all the technical side.

These reasons will hopefully give you a push if starting a blog is something you’ve been considering.

Why You Should Start A Blog in 2021

Everything is Moving Online

2020 has been a huge year for adapting, and more businesses than ever have been forced to give themselves an online presence. What was perhaps done quickly to stay afloat this year can be improved on and polished in 2020. Blogs can be a really beneficial tool for independent businesses for so many reasons – to improve search rankings and website traffic, to tap into a wider audience, to build a relationship with your customer base, to expand on content that your website can’t, to give you personality, to compliment your social feeds, and to make you memorable – are just a few.

A Lot Of Bloggers Are Pivoting

This year especially in the travel blogging world, it has given people a chance to re-evaluate their blogging journey and where they want to take it. I can think of two big players when it comes to travel bloggers who have just decided that it isn’t for them anymore, or it hasn’t been for a while and this year was the push they needed to change approach. I don’t personally agree that just because there are bigger bloggers than you that you should quit, or let it put you off starting one.

Never compare yourself to others, especially if you’re just starting out. The point of this is that a blog will change and develop over time, no two are the same, and your audience will develop with you, or move on. That’s fine, because there will always be people out there who relate to you and your content.

It’s a Creative Outlet

It is a constantly changing world online, and technology, social media and what people perceive as good content changes so quickly. If you have a creative streak in you, then blogging could be a way to develop it, and give you the drive and motivation to channel it into one place. For me it was a combination of photography and travel that originally prompted me to start a blog, but yours could be anything

It’s a Way To Share Your Passion

To run a successful blog your main motivation should never be money. Yes, you can make a lot of money blogging, you can become full time and you will see so many bloggers or influencers sharing their posts or paid courses on how. But if you’re only motivation is money then you’re likely to fail pretty quickly. It is a LOT of very hard work, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

You need a passion for something else that you want to share. You need to want to share it all the time, every day, week, month and year. It needs to be something you love so much you won’t lose motivation for the time, effort and whole host of other skills you need to keep it up. If you have that burning desire for something, whatever it is, then starting a blog is for you.

Sharing about my travels was mine.

You Will Develop a Vast Range of Worthwhile Skills

Running a blog isn’t simply writing and sharing photos. There is everything you don’t see on a website going on out the back too. Just to start a blog in the first place is a big task that will throw you into designing, web code, SEO, networking, communication and accountancy..

If you’re looking for a career in digital marketing or social media, a blog can be a really useful tool to run that will give you some hands on experience. It won’t give you everything you need, as nothing can replace hands on work experience in a business environment, but it can really help.

You Will Meet Some Wonderful New People

The cheesy one, but it’s true. Through blogging you will make new connections, and friends that you might otherwise have never met. I’ve met some amazing people through my social media channels and blog, and I know there are concerns about spending too much time online, but I believe if you manage it correctly it’s a very positive place to be.

It Opens Up Opportunities You Might Otherwise Never get

I can think of so many things I’ve done or been a part of that I would never have been able to if it wasn’t for my blog. I’ve worked with some amazing brands who I genuinely love, some big and some small, local, niche ones too. When you honestly love a brand it is a real privilege to work with them, and something to be really proud of that they trust you to create content for them. For me it’s given me a focus this year when I’ve needed it most.

If you do stick at it and are prepared to put in the hard work, it could be a way to work for yourself, if that is the end goal. Some people really want control of their own working hours, work life balance (although I will come on to this later) and to have the freedom and flexibility that working for yourself brings. If that is what you’re looking for then blogging could lead you to that, if you’re prepared to put in the hard work to get there,

Ways To Make Starting A Blog Easier

If you’ve got this far and you’re still thinking that blogging is for you then great, here’s some tips on how to get ahead now, before you launch. What better time than in the New Year? Something about launching a project on the 1st January just seems so perfect, but any time is the right time if you’re prepared.

Consider Your Brand – TItle, Logo & Font

Your brand is who you are, so it’s probably the most important factor when creating your blog and there are so many aspects to it. Some of the main things you need to consider initially include what your blog will be called, and choose carefully as this will stick. I went for just my name as I think it gives you room to move about, and if I ever needed to I could change focus over time without worrying about domain names, and it was pretty simple. A tag line is also important to quickly and sharply summarise what your blog is about, and who you are.

Think about if you want a logo or not. I don’t actually have one but a lot of people do. You’ll need to think about colour schemes, design and where you’d like to put it. This should tie in with your actual blog design, so everything matches and creates a full brand of who and what your blog is.

One of the most important aspects of your brand will be your fonts. Your headers and titles through your entire blog will be one of the most important design elements as they need to be striking, easy to read, and consistent to encourage people to click them. Having a font that’s difficult to read means people won’t click, so make the user experience friendly. You’ll also be seeing a LOT of it, so you need to like it.

The best font types for headers and titles in my opinion are a graffiti font, or a handwritten font, depending on your personal style. Take a look at some of the bundles I’ve linked to by Font Bundles, as they come with multiple variations of the same fonts, and detail exactly what editing programs they’re compatible with. They’re also really good value for money.

Remember when it comes to fonts that the main body of your text should always be simple typeface, very easy to read and with as few clashing colours as possible. The main body font and the header/title fonts should compliment each other, and remain consistent across all your branding. People will recognise you for it.

If you want to try some out, there are even some free ones you can download on Font Bundles, I adore this Juliet one it’s gorgeous. When you get used to downloading and using them in your editing software like the Adobe suite, then it’s worth investing in a paid one as they’re always worth it.

Font Bundles is so easy to use, just have a watch of this step by step guide on YouTube for installing fonts straight into your devices.

Have a Niche

Having a niche is probably lesson one of blogging and what almost everyone will tell you. It keeps your content focused, and specific. Your niche doesn’t have to be very narrowly specific, it could be as broad as the general concept of travel if you want, but most people get success for being specific. For example ‘family travel’, ‘budget travel’ etc. Be clear in your about section what you’ll cover so people learn to come to you for those recommendations.

Claim Your Social Channels

Once you have your blog name create the social profiles to match, or as near as possible with the usernames available. It’s often better to choose a couple rather than all the social channels to focus on, as it’s so much work and you’re better doing some really well than a half hearted effort on some.

Almost everyone goes with Facebook and Instagram, but obviously it will depend on what your blog and content is going to be about. One platform you absolutely shouldn’t over look though is Pinterest. Pinterest is a search engine and you will use it for your blog and business in a completely different way to how you use it as a general user.

This is one of those topics that I could spend all day talking about, and there are THOUSANDS of courses out there about it and how to use it properly. Pinterest can be a huge traffic driver if done correctly, so the best advice I can give is to invest some time into learning it, and how it works.

A quick crash course though, create your profile and claim your website so it knows the two are connected. Create incredible eye catching pins that fit with your brand style, and where possible your fonts so everything is consistent.

The Font Bundles I mentioned before work great with Canva, which is a brilliant app for creating Pinterest Pin templates that you can quickly edit and change for each blog post in seconds. It will save you so much time. And finally make sure your key words for each blog post you pin are in the pin titles and description, as well as pinning them to relevant boards.

You might also like to create Instagram Highlight covers that match your categories and these can be done in the same way through Canva too.

Have A Thought Out Content Plan

Plan plan plan! Sit down and brainstorm as many blog titles that you can think of to cover the content you want to put out there, then sit down with a calendar and plan when. Don’t underestimate how much work a blog post takes to create, with the written content, imagery and SEO all requiring time and effort. So the best thing is to be consistent when you post, even if that is just once a week. People will learn to expect when you’re going to post and be ready waiting for it.

The worst is biting off more than you can chew and trying to do too much, which results in poor rushed content. By planning ahead you can paint yourself a picture of how it will look and what posts need to come before others. Planning my Blogmas December posts took me a month, and the plan is constantly changing so you need to be flexible. But overall a plan gives you a focus.

One last tip for planning, remember people search for things ahead of time. People start searching for Christmas towards the end of summer, so if your posts are time sensitive make sure you don’t post too late.

Make It Personal

By this I dont mean share all the intimate details of your personal life, (unless you want to), I just mean make it your own and don’t try copy anyone else. Write how you want to write, and advice I often give people is that for blogs, to write how you would talk to someone in a conversation.

For businesses this is a bit more tricky, but in general you can afford to be a lot less formal on a blog by nature of the platform.

Writing is a lot easier if you’re being yourself, or have a very clear brand identity and tone to stick to. Then it becomes second nature and much more natural. If you’re struggling to write something, I’d probably suggest it’s not a good fit for your blog and this brings us back to making sure you’re doing it for something you’re passionate about. It will make the content ten times better without you even trying.

If you’re still reading and still think starting a blog in 2021 is for you then now is the perfect time to start working on it. Create your brand, download your fonts, create your content plan, make your social media templates. Once you’ve launched your blog your time should be spent on the content itself not the technical bits or the social media templates. And good luck, the decision to start a blog in 2021 will be the best one you make if it’s something you’re genuinely passionate about.

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