What SheSeeks HQ has a new look website, three months under the belt blogging and a sparkly new Sony Alpha camera for travel photography. Find out about the lessons I’ve learned as a new travel blogger. What has she been seeking without being able to travel? Here’s the low down.
Welcome! I’m back after three long weeks of building my newly designed Travel Photography blog site! After plenty of tears and late nights I am finally happy with it. I hope you like it too?
I have lots to things to catch up on in the blogosphere having not been able to write posts whilst the website was being created. Despite being grounded by COVID19 in the UK and not being able to travel, I have tried to use my time productively and creatively.
Time Well Spent
Like many other new bloggers I thought setting up a new blog would be a breeze. Lockdown presented the perfect opportunity for me to start my new project. To turn my dream into a reality.
However, once I started to think about it as a serious project I realised I didn’t actually have a clear outline of what my niche was, how I wanted to brand What She Seeks or who my audience was…..i could go on but I think you get the message. I just wasn’t prepared!
Read about the birth of What She Seeks and how i got here
Follow What She Seeks on Pinterest
The more I read about what made a successful blog the more I felt completely overwhelmed by the task at hand.
A few weeks into it and mountains of reading, list taking, joining community forum’s for bloggersand basically trying to work out what is was all about, I hatched a plan. Despite wanting to learn everything immediately (I can be quite impatient!) I decided to focus on a few things but aim to do them well. These were:
Create my brand identity
What did I want What She Seeks to say to the world? What audience did I want to attract to my new blog?
Build a visually appealing website
Then carry this theme across my chosen social media channels such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Build a loyal following and my very own ‘Travel Tribe’.
Focus on learning Pinterest strategy
Drive traffic to my website. Learning Tailwind, Pinterest’s partner scheduler to track what was working in Pinterest and what wasn’t.
Getting to grips with basic SEO
Using Search Engine Optimisation for my site and understanding the power of keyword search. From this, planning what topic’s I will write about so I have a flow on continuous, quality content (which I need to get up to speed on writing some of it!).
Want to learn more about the power of Keyword search when running blog? I found this article of great help by Eb Gargano from: Productive Blogging
Keyword Research Step By Step
https://www.productiveblogging.com/keyword-research-step-by-step/
Mind Over Matter
Whilst I have managed to achieve and learn a lot in the past 3 months, I have only touched the tip of the iceberg. I quickly realised that within each area of running a blog there is so much to master to make it a success. Like any new project you only get out of it what you put in…….but, is this really the case with a new blog?
It apparently takes around one year for a blog to take off. So maybe I was expecting more in return for the hard work i was putting in?
At times I have felt like giving up. I wrote a couple of blogs and took a lot of time making them look pretty and well presented in my website only to get a few hits on them. It was really disheartening (and still is at times).
Having the foresight to look at the bigger picture was important in keeping momentum during the days I felt it wasn’t worth the hassle.
I decided to take a different perspective after a lot of self-inflicted brow beating. I realised that the whole point of me starting a travel photography blog was to inspire people with my story to maybe take an adventure or two their selves.
I remembered that I had always wanted my own blog to display my photography and share my experiences. Why complicate it? It is a hobbie afterall.
If i didn’t make page one on Google Search Console in the first 6 months was it really the end of the world? No.
Check out my Photo Diary and read about some of the stories behind my shots
Little By Little
After climbing a psychological hill, I am now in a position where I am enjoying owning a blog more and appreciating the freedom it allows me to be creative.
Each week I set myself a to do list (which I never get to the bottom of!) and I aim to combine a mix of study, writing and photography. If I can’t fit it all in then so be it, the task gets moved to the following week.
When I go back to work after my extended (erm… cough cough) ‘break’, I am going to have to accept that I won’t have half as much time to dedicate to it. We will see how this pans out!
Follow WhatSheSeeks on Pinterest for your daily Pinspiration!
What Do Travel Bloggers Do When They Can’t Travel?
So the big question is, what do travel bloggers do if they aren’t travelling? Well, we constantly think about travelling! Thats the curse of Wanderlust! This time at home has had some positives. Having subsequently lost 3 months work due to the pandemic I have appreciated the time to be able to rest and work on this blog.
Check out my photo gallery here
I do have a confession to make. A week ago, I turned down a job working in St Tropez. If I had accepted it I would have been there a week already.
You must think I’m crazy right?
Well, opting for UK rather than the French Riviera does sound a little bit out there but without going into the details I had my reasons for turning it down. The job wasn’t the best match for me.
Now things are slowly opening back up after the pandemic I hope to be back out there before the month ends so watch this space!
Afterall, I need to give the impression to you guys I have this amazing life after all (wink, wink).
Lisa.x
How have you spent your time during lockdown? Are you planning a holiday this year or maybe a staycation? I would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact me here.
