How to Start a Lifestyle Blog – In Just 8 Simple Steps!

1 Find Your Niche

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The term ‘lifestyle’ can feel broad, and many subjects could fall into this type of blogging: from beauty and self-care, to health and fitness. Therefore, to create content to target a certain audience, you’ll need to figure out what your ‘niche’ is – that is, what you can do to stand out from the crowd.

With a specific niche and a more narrow focus, it’ll be easier to attract your target audience and do better than your competitors. There are a few simple steps that can really help:

• Figure out your passion, skillset and what aspects of your life can pull readers in.
• Explore other lifestyle blogs to find out what they’re doing online.
• Research competitors and have a think about what you can offer that’s unique.

Carry out keyword research to see what your online audience is searching for with free online tools, such as Google Trends, Google Adwords, and Ubersuggests.

2 Create a Brand

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To become recognizable to readers, you’ll need to create a sense of identity. When you start to create your brand, think not only about your target audience, but how you want them – and your blog’s readers at large – to see you. Know who you’re writing for, as well as what they like and want.

The following tips will help you get started:

• Pick your name and logo – make sure they’re easy to recognize and remember.
• Consider your tone of voice – this will need to be consistent, and appeal to your target audience.
• Think about how you want readers to perceive and remember your blog.

3 Buy a Domain Name

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Once you’ve created your brand identity, it’s time to select your domain name. 

A domain name is an address that’s unique to a specific website, that you type into a browser when you want to access the said site. It’s important to get your domain name right at the start as it’ll affect your website traffic, so opt for something memorable and catchy, and that’s relevant to your niche. If you get this right, people will be more likely to remember your domain name – and to share it with their friends!

You can buy names from domain registrars such as Domain.com and NameCheap, where you’ll be asked to pay an annual fee to register your domain. This usually costs around $10 to $15 per year.

4 Sign Up to a Blogging Platform

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Next, it’s time to sign up to a blogging platform, where you’ll manage, create, and edit all of your lifestyle content, with templates to customize your blog and make it your own. There are so many user-friendly platforms available that you won’t even need to know how to code.

Here are the three website builders that we’d recommend for starting a lifestyle blog:

Squarespace

Squarespace is favored amongst bloggers, small businesses, and creatives, and it’s easy to see why. Prices start at $16 per month, and it comes with impressive templates that are ideal for visual blogs, as well as effective SEO tools to help surface your blog with relevant readers.

Wix

Used for blogging and online portfolios, Wix is straightforward and great for beginners. It costs around $16 per month, and it’s an intuitive site builder that’s full of user-friendly features and effective themes to get your lifestyle blog off the ground.

Weebly 

Weebly is one the the easiest website builders to use, and comes with hundreds of appealing design templates that would work for lifestyle content, as well as apps and features to help your blog grow. Prices for this builder start cheap, at around $6 per month.

Once you’ve selected your website builder, you’ll be asked to choose your monthly price plan, as well as enter your personal details and domain name before you can start customizing your blog. Then, you can start to get creative!

5 Choose and Customize a Theme

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This is your chance to choose a theme and have some fun. Lifestyle blogging is very visual, so selecting the right look and style is key for success. Choose something unique that will showcase images well, as well as being user-friendly and easy to navigate for your readers (and search engines!).

Then you can start to build out your blog with images, content, menus, and navigation bars. This may vary depending on which builder you’re working with, but Squarespace, Wix and Weebly all offer drag-and-drop customization, allowing you to design pages with ease and move elements around.

Here’s some info on how customization works on our favorite website builders:

• Squarespace has drag-and-drop customization that’s more section-based – this might take a while to get the hang of using, but it’s worth it! There are also a whole host of minimal and modern templates to choose from.
• Wix has various themes to choose from and you can drag-and-drop your content anywhere. This means you have more creative freedom, meaning you can easily customize your blog and make it personal.
• Weebly has a cool selection of sleek, simple themes that will work for lifestyle blogs, although the drag-and-drop customization is a little more limited.

6 Install Apps

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So, how can you add more functionality to your lifestyle blog? Luckily, website builders now allow you to install apps – such as social share icons and email marketing tools – which will make your lifestyle blog even more useful and engaging.

Here are some of the apps in each builder that you might find useful:

• Squarespace offers creative design apps such as Art of Where, as well as a number of sharing apps, all of which will make the site more visually appealing and easy to use.
• The Wix App Market also has hundreds of apps to choose from, including product review apps such as Editorify.
• Weebly also offers a wide selection from traffic-boosting apps to Weebly’s in-house selection, including payment buttons if you’re looking to monetize your blog.

7 Plan and Create Your Lifestyle Blog’s Content

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Once you have a functioning theme in place, you can start creating pages. We’d recommend adding your static content first; a homepage, an ‘About me’ page, and a ‘Contact me’ page with details about yourself. The homepage creates that all-important first impression for visitors entering your blog, so it needs to grab their attention!

Before writing your first post, it’s worth choosing some categories and drafting ideas.

For instance, say you are a fashion blogger, some of your categories might include makeup, skincare, haircare, health and wellness tips, and so on. For each post that you write, you can put it in a specific category when you publish it on your blog. It’s also important to have a consistent frequency for posting your articles, so create a content schedule to follow where you can plan what you’ll post, and when.

8 Promote Your Lifestyle Blog

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You’ve now created a lifestyle blog and it’s time to encourage people to visit it. To do this, you have to begin promoting your blog to get it in front of the eyes of your target audience.

Here are our top digital marketing tips to help you focus on growth:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): SEO is the best way to get your new website seen by your target audience. Best practices for SEO are always changing, and as a lifestyle blogger, it’s important to do your research to discover current trends so your website ranks high in the search engines. For more info, check out our top 7 blog SEO tips.
• Social media marketing: Few platforms are as effective as social media for growth. Whenever you publish a blog post, always share it on social media. Use snippets or sections from the content to attract your target readers to click through and read your content.
• Email marketing: As a lifestyle blogger, you should start building your own email list of subscribers on your blog. But at the start, you can send emails to your existing contacts with a link to your blog and ask them to share it with their own contacts.

9 How to Start a Lifestyle Blog: Summary

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Lifestyle blogging is more popular than ever, and can be the perfect way to channel your creativity and passion – not to mention create a lucrative venture while you’re at it! With our help, and a little time and commitment of your own, you’ll be well on your way to starting a thriving lifestyle blog.

Here’s a quick look at those 8 key steps on how to start a lifestyle blog: 

1. Find your niche
2. Create a brand
3. Buy a domain name
4. Sign up to a blogging platform
5. Choose and customize a theme
6. Install apps
7. Plan and create your food blog’s content
8. Promote your food blog

Good luck!