Keeping Up With The Ever- Evolving Blog Industry

Thank you everyone that joined me Thursday, July 27th on FB Live courtesy of Latina Bloggers Connect. It was so much fun and you guys were all great. 

Thank you again to Latina Bloggers Connect for the opportunity!

I wanted to share my conversation here on my blog on the topic for anyone that missed it!

Enjoy :) 

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Compared to 3-5 years ago the blogging world has evolved and has grown with new channels, platforms and a large number of influencers.

The term "blogger" I feel outdated because we are all so much more than that. When I first started my blog it was treated as an online outfit diary. But over the years as blogging has evolved you wear many more hats such as: social media manager, buyer, marketing reps, advertising rep, accountant etc. The term blogger is evolved to a more appropriate term of "influencer." 

I want to share with you quickly my evolution & tips to evolve your site and brand. I started my blog in 2012 and it was named Alana Marie Style. I didn't dedicate much time or money into my blog until 2014. This year I knew that in order to be taken serious I needed to make big girl moves. 

First I knew I needed a name change so after weeks of notebook writing & asking close friends and family and finally I chose The Style Brunch. I then purchased the domain name so that my blog went from blogspot.com to a .com. I then hired a designer to revamp my blog so visually it was more appealing & easier to navigate my last step was hiring my baby sister to revamp my media kit. 

Those were steps of evolving my blog to stand out & have a chance to become successful in this industry. 

Here are my suggestions to stay on trends & evolve:

1.) Increase your blog content

I encourage bloggers to increase their content and the number of posts uploaded a week. I used to post only once a week but to evolve my blog I now post 2-3 times a week. However with this in mind remember: Quality over Quantity. Post quality content and this will allow your mind and ideas to grow and expand to write about other areas that interest you. I now post beauty/fashion trends, 

advice , self-help articles and food. You are opening possibilities of reader relate ability and engagement.

2.) Content Value

Content nowadays is competing with social media platforms and Snapchat so in order to attract readers to your site there has to be value. Your content has to inspire, motivate, and educate them. 

I suggest for an example a fashion post to include affiliate links in the outfit details and in the same post a visual product collage and add comments to each item so that your readers understand why to purchase the items. Suggest styling tips, affordable alternate items, or what wear with this items.

3.) Social Media

We are a visual culture which explains the growing popularity of social media platforms in particular Instagram. It requires its own focus and strategy plan. Readers attention spans have gotten shorter and instead of writing a comment under a blog post we show support by liking someone's picture, retweet a tweet, or Pinning. You can strengthen your social media by getting to know your audience and uploading engaging compelling content. Using analytics to get to know your audience is a great resource tool for your Instagram to build and promote your site.