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WHY?
Ask yourself why you want to open a beauty blog, this is the first question you should ask yourself. Do you want to share your creations? Get to know people with the same interest? Is it because you like make up? Is it because you are searching for a hobby? Do you want recognition from companies and get invitations to events? Or do you want to get free products?
The main reason why I started with this blog is because I wanted a hobby I would stick with and because I had interest in skincare products. Through my blogging years i've gained interest in nail art and make up products as well. The worst reason to start a beauty blog is for free products or recognition from companies. I think it's the worst, but we must face the reality, a lot of people are actually creating a blog because of that reason.
STARTING A BEAUTY BLOG
The next thing you should think of is a name. This can be hard since the best ones are usually taken. You don't want to make it too complicated, otherwise people won't be able to remember your blog name. Remember, your blog name doesn't have to include words that are obviously related to beauty. There is nothing wrong with it if you are mainly talking about beauty. However, when naming it try and consider if there will be a possibility that you might want to blog about something else in the future. This was one of the mistakes that I made in the beginning. I started with this blog when I was in China during my study exchange and I blogged about my adventures there, so I named this blog Memorable Days. After I was back from China, I started blogging about beauty. The name Memorable Days & Beauty, doesn't really make sense, I know... When you think of this name you probably will think that this is "my diary blog" or something. I'm still hesitating to change my blog name, what do you girls think, shall i change it to Kawaiipeachies or leave it Memorable Days?
Also remember, the shorter the name, the better, because it will be easier for people to remember and I recommend to avoid words which are hard to pronounce. This is also a mistake that I made when I thought of this name. I noticed that many people have difficulties to pronounce the word: Memorable, especially Dutch people. As you can see, a blogging name is extremely important.
BLOGGING PLATFORMS
When you have a name, you need to find a blogging platform. There are free blogging platforms, like WordPress and Blogger which you can use. These are the two popular ones. It only takes a few minutes to set up. Blogger is a lot easier to use (I've been using this for almost 3 years) compared to Wordpress and no HTML/CSS knowledge is needed to set it up. If you are planning to use Wordpress, you do need to know a bit HTML/CSS in able to use it but you can do a lot more with your layout. So, it's all up to you which platform you would like to have.
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LAYOUT
When you have picked a blogging platform, you need to have a layout. Remember, a new visitor is always looking at your layout in the first place. If your layout is a total mess, they tend to press the X-button. Don't use the standard layouts, make sure your layout is different from others. You want your blog to stand out and you want to have your own signature so that people can recognize that its YOUR blog. It's always better to create your own layout. I didn't know anything about HTML when I first started with blogging. However, I started to read more about it online and it's actually not that hard to learn. If you don't have inspiration, you can also get some ideas from the website: www.blogskins.com.
TIP: DON'T ADD MUSIC TO YOUR BLOG!
It's a big NO to add music to your blog. Seriously, I always press the X-button when people have music on their blog. Sure you can have a music player, but don't let it play automatically since it will scare people off. If they want to listen to it, they can click on the play button themselves.
OWN DOMAIN
It's not a must but it is better to have your own domain. It looks more professional, your website will be easier to find through the search engines, like Google. In order to own your own domain name, you would need to pay a company like Dreamhost to host it. Most web hosting companies have various packages where you can choose from, depending on how much GB space and the options you want. It's not expensive, some hosts offer it for 10 euros per year for just a domain name. Like I said before, it's not a must to have it. However, as a new blogger I do recommend one, since you want people to find your blog easier.
SOCIAL MEDIA
When you have your name settled, you may want to secure that name on various social network platforms. I'm using Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. This doesn't mean you have to use it all at once, but just to make sure that no one picks the same name. I will give more tips about social media in future posts.
This was it girls. I hope this blogpost helped a bit. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Blogging Tips!