The fashion industry is one of the most booming and creative industries today. If you have a wonderful sense of style and know what goes in and out of different fabrics, and moreover want to do something with your expertise in fashion designing and styling, you could easily start a fashion blog and what’s more, you can actually earn a living out of it.
In this blog, we will take you through the steps involved in starting a fashion blog and provide you with some expert tips in becoming a successful blogger.
Do You Have the Thing?
First, you need to gauge your skill and understand if your passion lies in the fashion industry. If you are one of those people who is frequently recruited for designing or selecting their friends’ and families’ wedding outfits, or if you are asked many times to style them for functions or events,and even asked to refurbish their wardrobe entirely, the fashion world is the thing for you. If you know what’s hot in fashion and what is not, how to accessorize clothes, and if you are often complimented for your dressing sense, then yes, fashion is definitely the thing for you. With the internet being your biggest ally and largest source of information and ideas, it will be much easier for you to demonstrate your skills to a larger audience base.
The internet could also be the biggest source of revenue as well. It is very easy to start a fashion blog with so many free and paid tools at your service. Creating is easy, running it well is in your hands.
Steps to Start a Fashion Blog
Step 1: Choose the Blogging Platform
A blogging platform or more specifically a Content Management System (CMS) will determine how your blog will look like and perform. The blogging platform will eliminate the complicated process of designing your website and programming it. Popular blogging platforms that allow users to add and modify the content of the blogs easily include WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.
Among these three, WordPress is the leading and most effervescent CMS. It can let users do multiple things simply and comfortably. Today millions of popular fashion bloggers’ number one choice is WordPress.org for blogging. It won’t disappoint you, let us assure you.
Be it a responsive website or a highly attractive blog site, be it is for a media company or a large corporate, WordPress.org caters to all requirements and all industries.
Like most newbies, you may get confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.As a new user, you will have both the options to start a site. The difference is WordPrss.org is a self-hosted site where the user gets ultimate power to run and host his website. You will get full control of your site, right from selecting the domain name to adding add-ons to the site. On the other hand, WordPress.com, although supports WordPress, is hosted by a company called Automattic. Unlike WordPress.org, users of this site need not have to download the WordPress software. However, it has limited storage space and gives users very few, in fact, nil control over their site.
If you want to look and be like a professional fashion blogger and make your blog site a thriving business, choose a self-hosted paid site, such as WordPress.org rather than a free, hosted site.
Using a CMS will make working with website and blogs easier and seamless. You can customize your blog according to your interest, theme, and budget. There are thousands of custom options for fashion bloggers on WordPress.org. You will be able to create highly professional and dynamic blogs with zero coding and programming knowledge. If you want to launch your blog site in your regional language apart from English, WordPress is available in most world languages
Step 2: Select a Good Blog Name
This, in fact, is the most essential step for a fashion blogger. The blog site name or your domain name will have a major influence in determining the success or failure of your business. From Amazon to Flipkart, from Facebook to LinkedIn we know these sites by their names. And, that’s how your site will get its due recognition – through its name. So, your next step will be choosing a domain name, which means the URL for your site. Here are some important tips you must keep in mind when selecting your domain name:
- Do not opt for long names. The shorter the better. People have to memorize your blog name among the million other that’s on the Do not crowd the name with too many information. Just mention the crux of the niche. Your name should be small, smart, easy to write and definitely catchy.
- Indicate the topic of your blog in the name, unless you are already a popular figure in the fashion industry. Keep it niche specific so that people are able to find you in search results. An example can be, “fashionallseason.com” or “theweddingstylist.com”.
- Do not use the common terms that are already making rounds on the internet. Be funky, genuine and about the business. You can use your name in the blog if you are already a reputable fashion advisor. Something like, “stylebyMia.com” makes perfect sense. On the other hand, if you are just starting out, do not include your name. Rather introduce yourself in your blogs. There is this fitness site name that we really find catchy and interesting – popsugarfitness. It is all about popping bad fats and introducing good carbs. Just make sure your blog name is something like this.
- Do not use unpronounceable words. No one has the time to memorize the spellings. So, use simple English language. Also, do not use words from an already famous blog site. This could be misleading.
Look up the internet to find out if your chosen name is already taken by another site from your industry or whether the name is trademarked or not. Make a list of 10 or more names, ask suggestions and take opinions of your friends and family, and then select your name. Once you create the domain name, there is no turning back; you gotta stick with it forever. So, take time, there is no hurry.
Step 3: Select Your Web Host for the Blog
Once the name is decided, you need to select a great web hosting service provider to develop your website. Web hosting means providing storage space on the server for individuals or organizations. Storage space will access the website via WWW. There are different types of web hosting services, including shared, VPS, and dedicated servers. Shared servers are cheapest to buy and dedicated are expensive but most benefiting.
WordPress has its own hosting, and since it is the most widely used CMS platform, today all popular hosting sites now come with easy WordPress installation options. Some bloggers prefer to get their domain name and hosting from two different providers, while others take this as an entire package.
As per statistics and records, BlueHost is one of the leading hosting service providers around. You can also use WordPress.org for web hosting for they are equally competitive.
While each hosting providers have different starting steps, most will have these five common steps:
- Choose a plan (we suggest to choose a basic plan and upgrade it to unlimited plan later)
- Choose or select your domain name. Hosting sites like BlueHost generate a list of suggestions from the word you have typed.
- Register or create your account
- Proceed to check out
- Log in and change the theme of your blog site
- Log in to WordPress dashboard to start the blog site
Step 4: Start Blogging
WordPress wizard will help you set up the dashboard along with necessary tools for writing a blog. We may have two to three topics on which you want to write blogs. WordPress has beautiful add-on features, which you may want to explore in the future. For now, create a simple blog, add a few images, and you are good to go. Make sure you add a title and description of the blog. The description will quickly outline the contents of the blog.
Before you officially launch your website, we suggest that you have saved at least 4 to 5 fashion blogs on the dashboard, so that you can publish them all together.
Step 5: Make Your Blog Site Perfect
With your blogs up and running, it is time for you to explore new things, such as finding great themes for your blog. AlthoughWordPress comes with a default-installed theme, with some sample pages and posts, you should consider adding a theme that suits your fashion blog. You can choose from the 2000 plus themes that are available on the WordPress repository. There are a thousand others available at a premium on other websites. Make sure the theme you choose is compatible with the features you want and that makes your blog function smoothly. You may want to look at a storefront or specific performance metrics before choosing the theme.
Themes are available for free and at a price (premium). And the price range is from $3 to $1000. You can preview a theme before you pay for it. This will give you an idea of how your blog site will look to your readers.
However, make a list of functionalities you would want your blog to have, such as drop-down menu list, slideshows, full-width preview, columns, etc. Make a list of absolutely needed features and another list for optional features. Then make sure, the themes you go through the match with your list every time.
You should opt for a theme that is responsive, has quick load time on mobile devices and look perfect on screens of all sizes.
To enhance WordPress experience, add more plugins to your website. Plugins make your blog look attractive, user-friendly and streamlined. They are used to add new features (such as social share buttons on the picture, Instagram plugins, subtitles to your post etc.) or make your slide rich in user experience (like pop-up windows, rotating slide shows, subscription reminder and so on).
Plugins are must for they serve diverse purposes and benefit the readers as well as the blogger in many ways.
Step 6: Identify Your Readers and Write for Them
You have to know your readers, which also makes a lot of things easier, such as selecting a theme, choosing subject to write, adding images, using the language and so on. You could either choose something to write that is consistent with the current trend and industry standard. Or set yourself apart from other bloggers by going creative and opting for a new fashion that only a few have explored.
Your reader could be anyone from school going teenagers to 65-year-old fashion diva, from smartly dressed men to sports freaks. You have to choose your niche readers and write blogs to share information with them. Alternatively, you can select a subject and spin blogs around it. Readers interested in that particular topic will automatically start visiting your page, provided you have a strong marketing game point.
Brainstorm and write as many topics as you can and share them with your readers. Try to keep your content original and written from your perspective. Use first language (You and I) instead of addressing crowd generally (we, she, they etc.).
While writing your fashion blogs, keep these tips in mind:
- Write about what you care for and do not follow what others do.
- Be consistent and regular. Post at least one blog every week, if not every day.
- Do not give up. It may take a while but you will soon receive a good following.
- Stay to the niche subject and diverse your categories. Include tips, DIYs, latest trends, reviews, style options, interviews, etc.
- Get personal with your audience. Ask their feedbacks and reviews and work on improving your posts based on the results.
- Add images for defining your content.
- Be business minded and think of ways to earn from your blog.
- Share content on your social media profiles.
- Add a contact page on your site.
- Engage with readers and other fashion bloggers through comments and feedbacks.
We have told you how to work on your fashion blog. If you already have one up and running, do share the link with us in comments below. Hope our article was inspiring. Good luck.
