How to make a blog successful

With the number of professional bloggers on the rise, what makes some blogs more successful than others? The UK Bloggers Survey 2017 reveals the secrets of a successful blog.

The first rule is post a lot – only 13% of bloggers posted more than five times a week in 2017, compared to 16% in 2016. But for bloggers for whom its their main source of income, that number jumps to 33%, compared with just 11% of pros posting only once a week.

If you’re serious about your blog being the best, then you also need to spend time promoting the blog. In 2017, 11% of bloggers spent more than 30 hours a week promoting their blog – unsurprisingly 89% of those are professional bloggers.

Does putting more time in really yield results? Quite simply, yes.

A whopping 67% of bloggers who spend more than 30 hours per week promoting their blog have over 10,000 visitors a month – and visitor numbers are a solid method of measuring success as well as a means to lead to a commercialisation.

But true success in blogging comes from the personality and originality of the blogger in question. We spoke to leading bloggers to find out what makes their blogs successful.

Kate Watson-Smyth, winner of the Best UK Blog 2016 with Mad About The House, said: ‘I try to keep it chatty and varied but also full of proper information.’

Another interiors blogger, Antonia Ludden of #tidylife, thinks her success is down to the amount of content she has: ‘Perhaps because it has been going a while, I’ve been blogging consistently since 2012. I also like to share achievable interiors and design inspiration on a budget, plus I am adding more lifestyle content at the weekends for something different.’

For Jen Stanbrook, who writes Love Chic Living, her success is about her personality: ‘Honesty, integrity and keeping it real. I hope I achieve those aspects in most of the posts I create, whilst also giving a little bit of me too. It’s exceptionally competitive so it’s important to do your own thing, and focus on the things you love rather than watching what others are doing.’

Navaz Batliwalla of Disneyrollergirl also focuses on what’s important for her. She said: ‘I measure success by creative fulfilment and I get that by doing work that interests me. I work to build relationships with brands and PRs that have the right fit to gain access that my readers wouldn’t get otherwise.

‘If you focus on producing editorial that has meaning to you and your readers, rather than successive sponsored posts, then you win the long-term game. It hasn’t been smooth by any means but I’m still enjoying it and I’m still here!’

What makes your blog successful? Let us know in the comments below: