I’ve been blogging on soyvirgo.com for 1 year now!

I realized I made a post like this for my very first full year of blogging. Read it here: 11 things I learned in a year of blogging.

Lavrax London reminded me I made that post when she commented on it randomly on the 9th! Thank you, LOL, I completely forgot about that one.

This blog post is different, though, I promise.

One year blog anniversary: advice and reflections

Thank you to everyone on here who reads my posts and comments or who just reads and likes and maybe you’re too anxious to leave a comment.

Honestly I get that feeling sometimes, which is bad, but that’s just how I am. Let me share with you whats happened in 1 year.

In 1 year as a Self-Hosted Blogger, I:

• closed my website on accident! Luckily my web hosting helped me reverse all the mistakes and got my site back up! I’ve been meaning to write a post on that for anyone who get’s into that mess too.
• I was contacted by a company and was given $200 for a paragraph in one of my blog posts! 
• gained 500+ likes, 200+ followers, and 9,000+ views. It’s my first time having a professional website like this so I just hope to go higher with my numbers and engagement as I learn.
• made it to #8 on Google’s search results!
• joined a bunch of affiliate programs and actually made sales. Yeah they’re cents now, but it didn’t take me months to make a sale at least. I’m really happy with my sales, like, people actually clicked my links and bought something. Thank you! 
• Little Big Bloggers featured me on their account. I know it’s not blog related, but I count it since @soyvirgos is my IG account to promote my blog, make sense? Hope so.
• I made the Lovely Cat Lovers Group for bloggers, and the Bloggers of Color Group for IG users! Still trying to balance all at once lol
• was nominated! Read the award posts here: Mystery blogger award, Versatile Blogger Award (coming soon), and a second Mystery Blogger Award. 

Let me now share my updated tips for blogging. This is what I think is important to know before you hit the 1 year mark as a self hosted blogger.

Top 5 Tips for Blogging

art by Vitoria Costa

1. Don’t buy anything

I still stand by this! All I spent on my blog so far is $2 for my theme and less than $200 self hosting from Siteground.com.

You don’t need those Pinterest courses every blogger promotes! Do your own research first, cause who knows if those courses will even help you in the end.

I’ve learned everything I know from free resources and articles. I mean, if you got the money, spend it! But you should really take advantage of the free sources first.

Read: 100+ free or cheap wordpress themes! and Setting up your own blog

2. don’t let others influence you 

You shouldn’t let people influence you to change what you blog about, buy their products or even to follow them.

When it comes to working as a blogger, you’ve got to be given respect. You may think you need to buy another bloggers products to succeed, but really be smart about your work and don’t let others influence you poorly!

ignore anyone who discredits you

I’ve had people tell me blogging isn’t really a job because the money doesn’t come in quickly, or there’s no boss or whatever. Someone has told me they would much rather work an easier job like retail. This person’s never worked before…so, they don’t know anything about working to begin with.

Just ignore these people! There will always be people in your community who think what you’re doing is great but they will never admit it.

Of course I get stressed from blogging, but at least I don’t have to get yelled at and take orders from a boss. Everyone works differently, so don’t let people tell you you’re doing everything wrong or that your career choice is not meant for you. Maybe you are doing things wrong, but don’t let people be a b**** to you about it.

3. it’s okay to ask for help 

Tons of people on my ig have asked for help in either starting a blog or setting up Pinterest. I may be too nice since I’m doing it for free, but I really think they’re nice so I don’t believe they will just take my advice and run to be completely honest. Maybe I’m too naive.

Anyways, yes it’s okay to ask for help, just be aware you could be asked to donate cause bloggers do way too much for free sometimes.

4. Use Pinterest and Google  to gain traffic

This has really helped my blog a lot. If I didn’t have pinterest or set up my blog for seo then I wouldn’t be gaining much traffic at all! The sites that bring in the most traffic is Pinterest, then the WordPress Reader and then Google!

It can be different for you, you just have to see if you like Pinterest and if it works for you. I’m telling you that it works for me, so if you haven’t given it a shot, try it!

Read: How to use Pinterest Rich Pins

 

Oops, I didn’t mean for this to be so blurry but basically I get about 250 views a week which is almost 50 views a day. I’m looking at this and realizing I need to work harder lol! My stats tell me I need to work more on Pinterest and on my SEO!

5. Engage with others!

I get that we are all busy, but we need to put as much effort in supporting others as they do to us. That is if they have a blog to support. If it’s just readers, then just respond to their sweet messages!

There’s been 1 or 2 girls who have commented on my posts asking for a follow back and once I do, they completely ignore me. It’s so pathetic cause what do they expect me to do, keep following them? 

Also, if you get some inspiration from someone, you must credit them! That is the amazing side of blogging, we are creators and get inspired by each other every day. If we don’t credit each other, who will? It’s our job to make blogging more fun and that’s one way we can do it. 

why engagement matters

So I know followers kind of matter because the more followers you have the more engagement you get. I realized though that there’s many bloggers who have tons of followers but not much engagement due to inactive users or people who just followed without planning on engaging.

Try focusing more on engaging readers and making a community, not just followers! This will be important for the long run.

Read: the road to getting 1,000 true followers | do’s and don’ts

Bonus Tips:

• Be yourself and blog for yourself. I believe that if you’re blogging about your interests, you will show your passion for it. That passion will show in your writing and readers who are also into whatever you talk about will follow!
• Be consistent. Whether you’re blogging once a day or once a week, consistency is key!
• Be ethical. Disclose properly for products and payments received in return for posts, and also don’t plagiarize or steal ideas and images from fellow bloggers!
• Make your blog beautiful! Spend time making the small design details of your blog perfect for you and your audience! Your blog should put a smile on your face but also your supporters.
• Bring Value. You want to bring value and spread light into your readers daily lives! Bring them value and give people what they want, and what you can give.
• No blog drama! It is not worth your time. If you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say anything at all! Unfollow and Block buttons exist for a reason.
• HAVE FUN! If you’re not enjoying what you are doing, you are more likely to give up. Plus, it will come through in your content, and others will be able to tell that you aren’t enjoying it, too.

Bloggers To Support

I wanted to give some mentions to some of my favorite people and bloggers.

Kirithika who was pretty much my first blogging buddy if that’s even a thing. Along with Mia, and Anny! Follow them and see if you like their content <3 These are other bloggers who I have noticed along the way and who I really love! Check them out and follow!

• Nancy @ Exquisitely.me
• Karuchan @ karuchan90.wordpress.com
• Chloe @ midnightwander.wordpress.com
• Geraldine @ geraldinetalks.com
• Nzing-ain @ nzingaain.com
• Rasya @ nurulrasya.com
• Rabia @ rabiarambles.wordpress.com
• Pooja @ lifesfinewhine.wordpress.com
• Caroline @ withlovecaroline.com
• Questionsfromateenager.wordpress.com
• Thevelocityofheart.com

All of you are the reason I keep coming back on here and I continue to try and be my own boss as a writer/blogger. Blogging is fun when you got people to support too, let’s be honest. It’s like having friends even though you never met them before. lol

What’s sad is that many people have left blogging or are just too busy with their full time jobs and schooling. I miss them!

What you can do to help make SOYVIRGO.COM better

so I got this idea from blogger Rhi! I’m gonna let you guys ask me questions and send anonymous messages pertaining to the site of course. You can send ideas of what you want to see, send anon feedback and more. Be completely honest with me, I won’t get hurt.

The link to send me messages anonymously is here on tumblr, but it will always be in the end of my posts too. Just click the “ask me” link!

Try sending me anon hate too, I’ve never gotten any before and I want to know how I’ll react lol

Thank you for reading!

K, I’m looking back and this post isn’t that much different than my first 1 year blogging post. Point is, this is one year with soyvirgo.com and not just as a wordpress user. Yay!

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Read more: What to Know Before You Move Out at 20, Questions to ask your partner, What to wear on a date with ur girls

LOVE, KIKI

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credits: 

Rilakkuma gif from tenor 

Kiki’s Delivery service from tenor 

april ludgate gif from tenor

motivational bunny gif by chibird