10 Expert Tips From Established Irish Bloggers On Growing Your Online Presence

In the May issue of STELLAR – our Blogger special – we ask established bloggers and online influencers what they wish they’d known starting off. You can pick up a copy of the magazine now for €1.95 to read advice from Cherry Sue Doin’ The Do‘s Susan Jordan, fashion blogger Ciara O’Doherty, Vlogger Claire Cullen and more. Here, we’ve got even more advice from leading bloggers. Enjoy!

1. Imen McDonnell, Farmette.ie

“I’d have opted for a ‘sign-up for emails/newsletter/updates’ button as opposed to the simple Feedburner option if I knew that newsletters would become the most efficacious way to build your reader contacts over the years, and the best way to send updates instead of just the published posts. This particularly would have come in handy now as I launch my book, which is based on the blog, and I’m sending out invitations to launches and book events.”

2. Rebecca O’Byrne, Haute So Fabulous

“Something I wish I knew – or perhaps trusted more in the beginning – but love knowing now through the wonders of hindsight and the constant learning of experience, is that being a blogger is a really personal journey; it takes lots of twists and turns, a whole lot of hard work and although totally worth it, it’s not always easy.

“It’s important too to remember that it’s okay not to always know everything. I started it purely as a passion and had no idea it would one day become my full time job. I’m naturally a shy person so I didn’t want people to know it was me at the start, but then slowly I let myself be my blog and I’ve found people really respond to the fact that I truly live and love what I do and whatever I share.

“A lot of amazing things have happened and genuinely cool opportunities are always coming, but whether I’m paid for a particular project or not I never endorse or share something that isn’t truly me. I’ve learned it’s important to say no if something isn’t right and doesn’t fit with your own brand – other opportunities always arise. So really, it’s about staying true to yourself, living what you love with authenticity and from there it’s amazing the fun and fabulous life you can have.”

Our Instagram followers chipped in with their learnings and advice too:

3. Be individual

@igersdublin
“Developing an audience is the most difficult part! Be yourself and don’t be afraid, is the big secret! Too many bloggers talk about the same thing and it’s boring. #belikeyou”

4. Specialise

@sugahgal
“My blog will be eight next month – it took a few years before there was any sort of blogging community in Northern Ireland but there’s lots of us now. I wish I’d kept things super simple – Sugahfix is more like an online magazine and I tried to cover all female lifestyle in NI, but then had to pare it back. I wish I’d specialised right at the start.”

5. Be confident

@zaramcnally
“Don’t try to compete with other bloggers or compare your content to anyone else. It’s a huge market and there’s room for everyone! Make your content something that you are passionate about and that you’re proud of.”

6. Make it interesting

@ginakiely_
“I only publish content that I would want to read myself or talk about in real life. Also go to blogger meet ups when possible, it seems like a daunting community but when you get to meet fellow bloggers you can make great friends.”

7. Proofread

@mylittlelovestories
“Re-read your blog posts for errors before posting.”

8. Never stop learning

@she.prevails
“My 10 top tips:

1. Keep a notebook handy and write all post ideas down as you think of them.
2. Create a roadmap/ business plan written with your audience in mind.
3. Learn to use analytics to track what is doing well on your blog/what’s not.
4. Spend time learning about SEO and other digital marketing tactics. Learn about how your site works.
5. Update old posts to drive new traffic.
6. Deep link to past posts.
7. Add a question to encourage discussion.
8. Write posts that either entertain, solve a problem or educate.
9. Use Pinterest to pin all your blog photos to grow audience and increase traffic.
10. Imagery is everything, create a unique and consistent flow of images.
    Bonus: Stay true to yourself and don’t worry about what others might be saying.”

9. Don’t fret

@porridge_pia
“Don’t worry about what people you know might think and don’t take it all or yourself too seriously, if you’re not enjoying posting, then what’s the point?”

10. Plan, plan, plan

@marionsmythmakeup 
“You need a plan, good communication and be interactive with your readers (buddies ) be clear with your posts. I’m all for having a personable touch but less of the babbling. Blog at least one/twice a week. Share the good with the bad, be honest. Be realistic before you start a blog – it can be time consuming. Ignore what everyone else is doing. Comparisons are hard not to make.”

Got one to add? Leave us a comment or tweet us @stellarmagazine, using our Blogger Issue #blogon hashtag.

• blogger advice
• Blogging
• blogon
• how to
• inthemag