Welcome to 2021! 2020 was definitely a tumultuous year of epic proportions, and it is no small feat that you made it out in one piece. Like most people, you are probably looking forward to spending this year with more intention and meaning.
Even while our circumstances remain unchanged and we are still stuck in a global pandemic, you have likely built the strength and grit to do things differently this time around.
You are bolder, wiser, and no doubt, ready to let your voice be heard and start your very own blog. Then, you have come to the right place because this guide will show you how to start a successful lifestyle blog in 2021 and make money from it, too.
But first thing first, here is a quick overview of our article:
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Some Thoughts Before You Blog
You are eager and willing to begin, and that is great. However, mere enthusiasm is not enough to put up and sustain a blog that will last you in the years to come.
Did you know that blogs take up a massive portion of the web – over 152 million of them, in fact (as of late 2020), with a new one popping up every half a second?
Yes, the numbers are staggering, but this is not to discourage you. If you believe that what you have to share is valuable and relevant, you can use the competition to your advantage and still leave your unique imprint on the internet.
Let your “why’s” lead you into making that first step. Once your mind is set, following a few of our best content marketing tips for lifestyle bloggers will help you gain the traction and traffic you need later on.
Building Your Blog’s Foundation
First things first, what is your hook? Think of your lifestyle or personal life details that you believe your audience will be interested to read about. What are your strengths and interests?
Before we go on to the rundown of all the technical requirements, you need to establish what your blog covers. It will help you decide the type of lifestyle blog you will have:
- A niche-focused lifestyle blog.
- A generalized lifestyle blog.
A niche-focused blog, as you might have already guessed, is topic-specific. With lifestyle, it is as easy as writing about your life and related topics. Parent blogging has become a popular sub-group in recent years. If fashion is more your forte, you can even zoom in even more and focus on sustainable fashion, local brands, thrift or second-hand fashion, etc.
Meanwhile, a generalized blog covers a vast range of subjects. For example, if you are into the holistic lifestyle, you can write about healthy eating, yoga and meditation, mindfulness practices, sustainable living, and many others.
Selecting a lifestyle blog is a popular choice that comes with tons of opportunities for sponsorships and monetization. The biggest challenge here is to create it in a way that sets it apart from the crowd, so you gain the visibility to grow your audience.
Remember, it is not only about writing about you and your life; you need to make sure that your words deliver value. This is your foundation on how to start a successful lifestyle blog in 2021.
For a burst of inspiration, you can check out the following bloggers who are killing it in their chosen topic. Pay close attention to their content, writing style, persona, content type, consistency, and engagement. The way they have set up their sites are some of the best content marketing tips for lifestyle bloggers you can ever find.
Lily Pebbles, Beauty and Style Blogger
Her interest in blogging sparked after attending a digital marketing module at her university. She got into YouTube when her blog started growing, quit her full-time job, and decided to become a full-time blogger. Now, she collaborates with powerhouse names such as L’oreal, Kate Sommerville, and Ole Henriksen.
Blair Eadie (Atlantic Pacific), Fashion Blogger
What started in 2010 as a passion project to document her east-coast-meets-west-coast style aesthetic, Blair Eadie has become a true fashion influencer, working with multiple world-renowned brands (like Nordstrom, CoverGirl, American Express) and retailers (i.e., Amazon, Bloomingdales, Target), and was one of the pioneers to launch ‘Shopping with Creators’ on Instagram.
Chiara Ferragni (The Blonde Salad), Fashion and Beauty Blogger
Now one of the most powerful digital entrepreneurs, Chiara Ferragni started her blog in 2005 highlighting her personal style. As her name rose to stardom, becoming Forbes’ 30 under 30 shaping Art and Style and a nominee for Most Powerful Fashion Influencer in the world, her blog has evolved into a full-blown lifestyle website and e-commerce platform.
Adam Gallagher (I Am Galla), Men’s Lifestyle Blogger
A true fashionista since childhood and starting his blog at 17, he quickly rose to fame for his impeccable taste in style (particularly his own trend with California style with a hint of New York twist). This award-winning blogger is amassing great wealth from his influence – from Instagram and sponsored ads, as well as his frequently sold-out merchandise.
Over time, once you fully get to know your blog’s demographic, you will need to consider their needs over your own. To keep your blog’s relevance, you need to figure out your audience’s pain points and passions so they will continue to follow your blog in the coming years.
All the Technical Essentials
Now, for the tricky part – the actual blog setup. Here is a 4-step checklist you can follow to help you get started:
- Decide your domain name
- Choose your host and install WordPress
- Build your theme
- Add plugins for extra functionality
1. Domain Name
This will be your blog’s identity. Make sure you come up with something catchy and brandable that is easy to remember and share. You can start by listing down a few keywords and ideas between 6-14 letters long.
Here are a few examples of lifestyle blog names and some existing ones to get your ideas flowing:
Pro tip: your chosen name should be easy to say and spell and contain no hyphens or numbers.
2. The Platforms, WordPress, and Hosting
There are plenty of platforms and hosting options to choose from.
You have likely seen many bloggers on Medium and Instagram. These two make a wonderful place to build your audience, but it is not ideal for keeping your blogging solely there as it is not your own, and you do not have full control.
Should these sites believe that your content violates their policies, all your hard work on creating content and building an audience will be flushed down the drain.
WordPress, on the other hand, is one powerful and most trusted website builder around, and it is currently powering over 455 million websites. It grants you full control and ownership of your blog and gives you the option to monetize it.
When choosing your host for your WordPress site, here are a few tips to consider:
- Ensure your host can support your site as it expands. Look out for price jumps between packages.
- Check reviews on their support team as well as their documentation on WordPress-centric advice. You need expert and timely support to keep your site up and running.
- A consistently good overall reputation is a good guide.
3. Theme
Just when you think you have gotten to the easier bit, you may just find yourself a tad bit overwhelmed with thousands upon thousands of themes available on WordPress.
Make it a little less time-consuming with these choice tips:
- Go for themes with layouts that favor images.
- Via the blog page, check the layout types and how easily you can switch between them.
- Choose themes that let you control the number of columns. These help with content organization and highlighting the featured image.
- Pick themes that lets you place categories in different areas (i.e., beneath or above the headline) to aid in drawing attention to them.
- Opting for a theme with a sticky menu lets readers navigate the page easily.
For lifestyle blogs, in particular, going for the Hestia theme is often advised, given its flexibility to let you switch between list and grid layouts. List layouts deliver posts in their published order, while grid layout arranges content as blocks and focuses on images.
4. Plugins
The more functional your blog is, the better. Installing plugins will help you do that. To help make your site stand out, make Yoast SEO one of the first ones you install.
If you need a few tips for writing SEO-friendly blog content, having a good SEO toolkit in your arsenal is an absolute must. The plugins will aid you in optimizing your site and impact your rankings.
For your lifestyle blog, consider adding the following plugin as well:
- Orbit Fox. The free plugin lets you and your readers share your posts on social media with simple social sharing buttons.
- Optimole. Lifestyle blogs require a lot of images. Optimole gives you several options for image optimization, so your page is not heavy and sluggish to load.
How to Monetize Your Blog
Finally, putting up a lifestyle blog is so much more rewarding when you can make money from it. Once you start earning well enough from your site, you can live a more free and nomadic lifestyle as most successful bloggers do, so you can focus on bettering your site and content full time.
There are many ways to monetize your lifestyle blog, but here are a few of our favorites:
- A lifestyle blog is a natural way to promote products and services. That is why affiliate marketing is a top choice for bloggers.
- Once you have a large enough audience, you can start doing sponsored posts. Create an advertising page and sign up to networks.
- You can also sell your site’s ad space. Try integrating Google AdSense on your site.
- Set up your site for e-commerce, let your creative juices flow, and create and sell your own merchandise.
To Wrap It Up
Learning how to start a successful lifestyle blog in 2021 is not as difficult as it seems. All it takes is one’s passion for what one does and the dedication to learn how to set things in motion in the best possible way.
The way to a great blog is by integrating content marketing strategies from successful predecessors and inspirations as well as incorporating these well-known bloggers’ styles as tips for writing SEO-friendly content.
Following this guide ensures your blog gets the followers it deserves and stays in the game for the long haul. Should you require professional content creation service for the beauty and fashion industry, we are happy to lend our expertise to your site. It will be just the content you need to gain an audience and keep your current readers hooked.
Send us a message, and let us start blogging!
Header Image Source: Photo by Damian Zaleski on Unsplash
How did you like May Thawdar Oo’s blog post “Your Guide To Setting up a Money-Making Lifestyle Blog in 2021”? Let us know in the comments if you have anything to add, have another content idea for beauty content marketing blog posts, or just want to say “hello.” 🙂
