Blogging Basics: Everything You Need to Know About Blogging

Elna December 16, 2021 27 Comments

Are you a total newb when it comes to blogging, traffic and getting people to subscribe to your dang list?

I know I did when I first started blogging, and I still am with this new blog!

But, I’m sharing my journey with you to growing and monetizing my blog here on Twins Mommy in hopes of helping other mompreneurs in the making!

And what I’ve been doing is working!

I can’t believe it.

So, I thought I’d do a little blogging series on the basics of blogging.

Because I know there are a lot of you who want to blog, but just don’t know how.

Or, there are a lot of you that have a blog, but it’s going nowhere!

So, before you start growing your blog, you need to hone your blogging skillz, mama bloggers!

Ask Me Anything!

Recently, I’ve been getting emails from you guys (I love it!) asking me about some of the more technical aspects of my blog.

Stuff like themes, images, fonts, opt-ins, plugins, hosting, tools, you name it!

I’ve also been getting a lot of people asking me about email marketing with ConvertKit specifically, and some of the tricks I’ve been doing with that platform.

As far as design goes, I could talk about colors, graphics and fonts all day…sorry off topic, but does anyone watch The Middle?

I don’t watch a lot of TV (twins, work, life) but I love love love that show! Has anyone noticed how Brick is “into” fonts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MXYab-_Zs8

#freakfontfly

I always get a laugh out of that when they mention it, but then I look at myself, and…k. Any other mamas totally in love with the latest scripts and brush fonts?

I could seriously blow an entire month’s budget in minutes over on Creative Market.

I’ll Even Cover the Tech Side

I’ll be the first to admit I’m no expert on the “technical stuff” but luckily I am married to one, and he helps me out A LOT. (Thanks honey!)

When I was first getting online, I loved when bloggers published a series of how-to posts.

So I think I’m going to start doing a series of posts covering some of the tips, tricks and behind the scenes of blogging.

I’ll probably start off with these topics:

Growing your traffic
Blogging and WordPress
Building your list and email marketing
Tools and online services I use

I’ll mix in some videos and webinars (I love doing them but I need a bit of practice) and just have a lot of fun sharing what I know.

Now before anyone points out the obvious, yes it’s true this blog is only a few months old (I have others) – although I can’t believe how fast it’s growing!

If you have any ideas or suggestions on what you’d like me to cover, I’m all open.

Who Am I (By the Way!)

I’m Elna – a mompreneur in the making with twins.

I love coffee.

I love the Walking Dead and SYTYCD.

I love digital marketing. Whenever I hear conversions, email marketing or sales pages, my eyes light up and I get excited.

It’s definitely a favorite topic of mine around the dinner table.

But, what experience – if any – do I have?

Well, I’ve been personally running a handful of blogs the past few years, and I have a course for freelance writers, and many clients, so I feel I have a little something to offer other bloggers and mompreneurs.

I’ve made a ton of mistakes during all this, but that hasn’t stopped me from trying and refining again…and again!

New to Blogging?

So, my blogging friends, if you’re new to blogging or if you’re a new mommy blogger and want to learn some blogging basics, go ahead and let me know your questions in the comments and I’ll try to answer them in my blogging series!

Here are the topics I’ve covered so far:

Blogging Basics: How to Find Your Niche and Rock Your Blog

Blogging Basics: Why Every Blogger Needs a Gravatar (And How to Set One Up)

Blogging Basics: How to Write a Blog Post That Gets a Ton of Comments

Blogging Basics: The Best Types of Posts to Have On Your Blog

Blogging Basics: A Ridiculously Simple Way to Find Your Target Audience

27 Comments

Hi! I am such a newbie that I am having trouble with all the terminology. I am 2 weeks into starting a WordPress blog website and not sure if I’m on track. I can read the title of an article and think it will answer the question I have and I’ll finish with 200 more questions. I’m even lower than basic I feel like. How do I know if I’m doing anything right?Reply to Sharalee

Hi Sharlee, You are going to have to take that “jump” sometime! Trust yourself and your instincts on this. All you need to know is to write a blog post and put a “free” stock photo as your image and publish it! Have fun growing!Reply to Elna

Elna, I love the Walking Dead too!! The walkers are in my dreams often since I watch it after my girls go to bed before my bedtime. That font podcast clip made me LOL thanks for brightening my day. i love your style. xxReply to Clare

Hey Clare! Good to hear! Yes the font clip is LOL funny! 🙂Reply to Elna

This is so funny! I always felt a deep connection with Brick because I also have a thing for fonts! I’m learning so much from your site. Thanks for being so easy to relate to!Reply to Chris

Hey Chris! Yeah right? He’s such a funny character. Too bad the show is gone 🙁Reply to Elna

This is JUST the kind of thing I’ve been looking for! Yay! I’ll have to read through all of these posts, thank you so much for simplifying everything for newbie bloggers like me!Reply to Brandi

Hi Brandi! You’re so welcomed! Happy that you found some great tips in this series!Reply to Elna

Hi, I’m Wendy, a just-launched-3-weeks-ago newbie! I’ve read a handful of your posts now, and I think you have a great balance of style, simplicity, and great advice. Some blogger sites are still way over my head. Ha! I had no idea how much computer tech, social media, and marketing went into blogging. I am a health care provider that happens to be reasonably good at writing. Totally, naive, I know! Thanks so much for all your help!Reply to wendy

Hey Wendy! Thanks for commenting! That’s great you launched your new blog. I hope my basic blogging series will help you create a successful blog! There is A LOT to learn with blogging, but the first step is taking action and you did that! Great!Reply to Elna

Hi Elna Do you have thoughts on different WordPress Themes? I have tried a lot and can’t seem to get the look I want with the customization. I’ll be attending your webinar, so I’m looking forward to learning some great blogging tips!Reply to Rachyl

Hey Rachyl! Thanks for supporting me and joining the webinar. You’ll have a blast (hopefully!). As for my thoughts on WP themes, I don’t have a preference but Pretty Darn Cute has some well, pretty darn cute themes! 🙂 https://prettydarncute.com/ Check her out. I used one of her free themes when I started Twins Mommy (you can see a screenshot of it in my post about growing Twins Mommy here: https://twinsmommy.com/grow-blog/). Good luck!Reply to Elna

Hi Elna, Happy to be here again! This time i am here via Mary’s page glad to find your link on the fb pages Oh this is really an informative piece for any new bloggers to keep follow with Thanks for sharing Though i have been in the field for some time I could pick up some valuable tips from this post Thanks May you have a great rest of the week Keep sharing Best Regards ~PhilipReply to Philip

Hi Elna – I’m looking forward to following along with your new series, sounds very exciting 🙂 In regards to the comment above, where you mentioned emails going to promotions, I don’t remember if you use a header or image of some sort in your emails, but Michael Hyatt did a lot of research on this and found that having an image or a link near the top of your email pretty much guaranteed that it would go to Promotions. I’m going to try sending a few without my banner at the top, and see if it makes a difference in my open rate. It might be something you want to experiment with also.Reply to Kelly

Hey Kelly! Thanks so much for stopping by. I’m excited about this blogging series and I loved your A-Z blogging tips over on your blog. Thanks about mentioning Michael Hyatt. I did read that post and I generally don’t use a header image or link at the top of my email, but I was using one of MailChimp’s templates and also a lot of my newsletter were being tripped by spam just due to the nature of the content (working from home). But, I’ve since resolved that and will write a post on that for the blogging series soon!Reply to Elna

What a great resource! I am definitely pinning and saving for later 🙂Reply to Dana

Thanks Dana! I hope you enjoy this on-going series. I’ll touch on many blogging tips 🙂Reply to Elna

I am a huge Walking Dead fan too! Who wouldn’t be, right?! Amazing. Ok I always have lots of questions! 🙂 any tips for growing your Facebook page? Thanks!Reply to Francesca

Hey Francesca! Glad to meet another Walking Dead fan. Missing it but enjoyed the other spin off Fear of the Walking Dead! As for your FB question, I haven’t explored Facebook much but I can say if you start a Facebook group you could drive likes to your page that way? Also participating in social media profile threads in FB can help! Not sure if I’ll touch on Facebook too much in my blogging series, but I’ll see!Reply to Elna

I love the look of your site! I think I’ll be spending some time reading and learning here!Reply to Diedre

Aww thanks girl! I’m loving this blog too (it’s my second personal type blog). I’m having fun growing it and meeting so many awesome ladies and mama bosses! Be on the lookout for a webinar this month! Wha-what?!Reply to Elna

Lol, Im still part of the MailChimp club too! If you’re going for simplicity, Mailchimp is super.Reply to Olivia

Hey Olivia! Thanks! Yeah MailChimp is working for now. But I have several lists and all are growing so I think I’ll have to upsize soon! Thanks for stopping by and I love your site.Reply to Elna

hehe I love the middle!Reply to Dee

Hey Dee! Me too! LOVE the Middle and Brick is hilarious with his fontpodcast! Too funny. Thanks for stopping by.Reply to Elna

Okay I am a lover of MailChimp, maybe because that is where I was trained but it works. I will keep an eye on you for the tips to get into more inboxes~How does Mail Chimp tell you it didn’t get there? Is that the bounce #?? Also that video made me laugh straight out loud. I am going to share with some of my font conscious friends LOLReply to Jessica

Hey Jessica! Thanks so much. I like MailChimp too but it’s just not that great for content upgrades. I know my emails are going to Gmail Promotions because I send one to myself and my husband’s Gmail account and it was going straight to promotions. I can also tell by the open rate. If they don’t open it, I’m assuming it’s because it’s in Promotions. And yes, the video is HILARIOUS! I busted out laughing too 🙂Reply to Elna

Ask Me Anything!

I’ll Even Cover the Tech Side

Who Am I (By the Way!)

New to Blogging?

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27 Comments