A well maintained blog is a labor of love more than anything else. The number one compliment I get for this space is “I don’t know how you can do it so consistently!” I’m not a professional by any means but I love my blog a lot. I want to get to posting every day and have blogging as a full time job. For now I need to work on developing interesting blog content, a creating a professional brand, and growing my viewership.
My blog looks the way it does because I’m developing my own style and voice. I could set up my photos and content to mirror how other blogs look and feel. If I did though, it would feel less personal to me. I’m always trying new things and I’m developing my own unique look. Every time I sit down to work on a post, there are a few steps that I take to ensure I have success with what I write.
Concept
This blog is about my life in The Netherlands. I feature content on what I do, what I experience and how the world around me works. For now, as I only post 3 times a week, I base my posts on those three topics. I consider what I would want to read in another blog and determine if it’s worth me writing about it. Once I get a definite idea of what I want to write about, I brainstorm.
The thought process
Depending on what the idea is, I think of how to build on it. If the topic is factual, I gather facts from educational information and the experiences of others. Most of the time I’m able to talk about subjects that are based on opinion so that keeps it easy! I keep building on the ideas and write them out. Eventually I piece them together and create a post with subtopics included.
SEO
I make sure to think about what my main topic is so that I can use it for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). When I write the post I make sure to include a topic phrase often so that it stands out in SEO. For this particular post, blog content is my SEO. You’ll find it a few times here and there. I have an app that determines the quality of my SEO. It’s important because it lets others find my blog when they search for those key terms.
The photography
When we go out, I take as many pictures as I can. I take photos of everything. The camera I use is a pretty old model but it’s reliable. I save the best photos and use them as I need them. When it comes to photos that can shot the same day and in house, I make sure I shoot by a window. I take at least 20 – 50 shots and decide on the best one. I’ll do an updated tutorial on how I edit my photos because my style has changed since the last one! Anyways, I choose what I want my focus to be and create either a spread or a one item shot. It depends on the topic but sometimes I can get away with a single item in the photo. I’m still loving on the one from my favorite iced teas.
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