Not anyone can start a beauty blog. You need to be an expert in the subject to provide valuable and reliable information. On the other hand, if you are already in the industry, for example, if you are a hairdresser, a stylist, a make-up artist or run a salon, beauty blogs could be a superb way to use your expertise to earn more money and target more customers. Beauty blogging has many other perks. Apart from earning money, you will get an opportunity to work with popular brands and get free products from them. You will stand a chance to win thousands of followers on social media platforms.
However, you have to dedicate a lot of time to set up your website and research information to share on your blog. If you achieve success by blogging, you could be a product reviewer, be hired by agencies, become an influencer, and ultimately make blogging your full-time business.
If you are seriously interested and up for the challenge, this blog will help you learn the steps for starting a successful beauty blog. That being said, remember that you need patience, perseverance, and passion to begin any business.
Steps to follow a Beauty Blog. Let’s get started
Step 1: You Need To Plan Your Blog
Decide if you want to blog for someone else, probably a brand or a company or start your own Skincare blog. You can also do both. Deciding your platform is very important and both types require dedication and several responsibilities to be fulfilled. However, if you decide to work for someone else, you will first need to have enough followers or social media interest, in the form of likes and shares. You can be a freelance beauty blogger or a journalist. The best place to search for job opportunities is LinkedIn, Freelancer.com, Career Search Websites, and Facebook.
If you have planned to start on your own, follow the next steps.
Step 2: Pick A Platform To Start With
Although there are tons of platforms in the market through which you can start blogging, such as Blogger, WordPress, Medium, Tumblr etc., the most famous and highly recommended is WordPress.org. If you are serious, then this platform should be your first choice.
Okay, before you get confused, WordPress.com is different from WordPress.org. WordPress.org is meant for professionals who want more control over their site. WordPress.com is used for fun blogging or maintaining a journal. It is not highly regulated. But if your blog site means business and money, you need a more professional and goal-oriented platform like WordPress.org.
WordPress.org allows you to self-host your site cent percent. You can install themes, plugins, add new styles, and improve technicality. Unlike in WordPress.com, you will be hosting your site on your own server. These sites are also easier to monetize.
More than 32% of the websites on the internet is self-hosted WordPress. And the good news is, almost all beauty bloggers use this platform.
If you are not sure how to work with self-hosted WordPress, you could consult a web-designing expert for guidance. WordPress.org is also quite cheap. You will only have to shell out a few dollars per month to maintain it.
Step 3: Identify Your Niche
Niche is a subject where you can show your expertise. It could be a topic with a specific focus in this case. You have to think about a topic that makes your beauty routine unique or something that you relate to. Don’t settle with the first idea that comes to your mind. We suggest that you make a list of topics on which you can blog. Research then to find out the amount of competition you have for that niche. You do not want to choose a niche that is very general, with hundreds of thriving bloggers; nor do you want to select a niche that has no demand or competition at all.
On the other hand, do not choose a topic that is specific and has no scope for expansion. Some of the niche ideas we can think of for a beauty blog include:
- Hairstyling tutorials
- Make-up tutorials
- DIY products
- Cosmetics
- Makeupbrands
- Hair
- Eye
- Product reviews
- New product tutorials
You can brand yourself by bringing in new elements to a general topic. For instance, you could produce blogs about hair management and make a separate section for frizzy hair. Or you could provide make-up and beauty tips for specific occasions, like weddings or office goers. Choose a niche that has several sub-niches so that you may never run out of ideas.
Step 3: Pick A Domain Name For Your Blog Site
For a blogger, the name of the site is everything good and bad, profit or loss. The success of a blog highly depends upon its name. So, you need to be very wise when choosing your domain name. It is going to be a permanent address on the internet. For example, the domain name for this site is careerlancer.com. You will be able to relate freelance opportunities to this website easily.
Similarly, your domain name should tell what kind of blogs audience would find on the site. Invest some time to research on a good domain name. In fact, you should write down at least 10 names and ask your family and friends’ opinion. Most beauty bloggers use their name for their domain, such as MakeUpByDivya.com. You could do that if you like. Or you can get a little creative with your ideas, such as glamrs.com, callmebeautiful.com, makeupmyday.com and so on.
There are no specific rules for choosing a good domain name. However, you need to keep certain things in mind to avoid picking the wrong ones. They are:
- Avoid numbers and hyphens
- Keep it simple and easy to read
- Use .com instead of .in, .ca or .uk for people to remember and make your blog universal
Step 4: Hosting Your Domain
To self-host your domain, you need to sign up with a domain hosting company and register your domain name. Hosting is basically the engine behind running a website on the internet. You could use free web-hosting sites or choose a good, yet reasonable web hosting, something like Bluehost.
Make sure the company, along with a domain name, also provides an SSL certificate and install WordPress for you. The price usually begins at $5 per month. The web hosting company will guide you on how to open an account, install WordPress software, pick a theme, and get everything started.
Themes
The theme of a blog is very important. It dictates your blog. It works as an outfit for your blog site. To find themes for your website, enter “Best Beauty Blog Themes for WordPress” on Google Search. Once you have found yours, install the theme and add it to your site. You will find a beginner’s guide to installing WordPress Themes on the website itself.
Plugins And Add-Ons
Plugins provide functionality to your website. Plugins are as important as looks are. For instance, you would find many blogs displaying Instagram feed or Twitter feed in between their content. It is the work of a plug-in. With a plug-in, going through technical-set up to insert feeds is minimized. Depending upon the kind of functionality you are looking for your site, your need for plugins will change. Finding Plugins is not a difficult task for WordPress sites. However, since beauty blogs are very image-centric, you might want to install a social media plugin or image gallery plugin.
Step 5: Start Writing – Things You Would Need
You need to focus on quite a few things and have to practice them to achieve a professional blogger status. You cannot be an exceptional blogger over a night. You need to practice, patience, research, and motivation to find success in it. However, what is most important is writing effortlessly, without any grammatical errors. Here is a list of things you need to work on when you start writing:
- Edit and proofread your content. Use Grammarly for spelling mistakes and typos.
- Do not copy-paste any content. If you are curating, make sure to write content in your own words. Plagiarism is a serious crime and you may be fined for it if found.
- Make-up blogs are mostly about images and video tutorials. So, invest in proper camera & accessories, and lightings.
- You can collaborate with a photographer or purchase your own camera. Since you are just starting out, your phone camera should be able to do your work. For video recording, you can rent a video camera from your friend or family. Make sure the phone camera you use is at least 15 MP with branded lens and clarity.
- Look for a good photo-editing software for editing and resizing your pics, and adding effects.
- Best photo editing software in the market today is Adobe Photoshop. Optimize your pics as per to the internet protocols so that they do not decrease your page load time.
- Add many images in your Beauty The more, the better!
- Use natural lightings for shooting. 10 am to 4 pm is the ideal time for great natural light.
- If using studio lights, consider three light sources. Use tripods to click pics and shoot videos.
If you are launching your own site, make sure you have at least four to five articles ready to publish. Again, the more, the better! Your numbers could go up to 15 too.
Step 6: Buy Products
You cannot become a beauty blogger if you do not own or buy products. Of course, if you are part of the industry, your knowledge will be extensive. But, if you are starting out of passion, you would probably need to purchase beauty products you want to write about and try them closely. Make sure you photograph each step. As you establish in your career, you will get free products from various brands as samples. In the beginning, you may not have such a luxury.
However, you can acquire samples even as a beginner. Check with local beauty stores and find out if they have any free sample product. Or, you can visit big brand showrooms or departmental stores and say that you are a blogger and you were wondering if they would provide free samples that you can use to write blogs and reviews.
Step 7: Become Unique And Voice Your Thoughts
You need to find your voice to become unique and appeal to many. Your aim should be standing out of the crowd in a good way. How you talk differently, you should write differently too. We suggest you do not copy the style of other bloggers. Make your own statement and adhere to the SEO rules. You have to remain consistent in all your blogs. For that, you have to identify a few characteristics of your writing abilities. Make a note of them and try to inculcate them every time you write something new. With practice, you will be able to develop your key voice. You just need to retune it every now and then.
Step 8: Start Promoting
The best way to promote is by creating a strong online presence. You cannot be a star-blogger overnight. However, you can use the common tactics that will help you grow faster. For instance, make your website really appealing and eye-catchy, like refining it with easy navigation, great content, fine colors, and a good call-to-action connecting to your contact page. Add your website to beauty blogger directories, join forums, and network with other bloggers.
Stay active on social media. It is the biggest boon for beauty-bloggers. Comment on other people’s blog. Ask questions and interact in as many ways you see fit. You will actually get to learn a lot from other beauty bloggers and posts while doing so. Don’t forget to create a business page on social media networks. However, focus more on creating new blogs and utilize your time in researching.
There are umpteen number of ways you can use digital marketing to your benefit. Hire an expert digital marketing agency and get their help to promote your content. Let us know how you found this post.
