
Welcome to Crochet Blogging 101! Haha original right? I have had this series on my heart for a while now, after all its been almost 2 years since I started this blog and what good is all the information and tips I’ve learned if I can’t share them with you.
This a breakdown of what we are going to cover:
- Starting your crochet blog (Today’s post!!)
- Things a great blog post needs for success
- How to get people to actually read my blog
- Making money with my crochet blog
Now as we get going I may need to add more topics but we will see how it goes.
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Choose a name for your blog
Sometimes this can be the hardest part about starting a blog. There are a few different routes you can go here.
If you have established social media accounts or shops you could use that name. It is a good idea that your name be the same everywhere so as not to confuse your followers if they were to do a search for you.
You could also start from scratch with a brand new name and social media accounts. This is what I did.
Some tips on picking a name:
- Use the correct spellings of words. For example, Kathy’s Crafty Creations instead of Kathy’s Krafty Kreations. Think about the searchability of your name.
- Take in to consideration what kinds of patterns and crochet information you’ll be offering on your blog. Your name is part of your overall style and brand. For example, if you’re going to be offering patterns for super modern adult wearables you may not want to go with some thing cutesy like Kathy’s Crafty Creations.
- Use a play on words (but spell them correctly lol). This is what I did for my name! You can read about its meaning here
- Use your name. We’ll use our friend Kathy as an example again: Kathy Smith Designs.
Once you have a name picked out make sure it available on social media (facebook pages, Instagram, pinterest, etsy maybe) and as a domain name. If it is available go ahead and set up accounts and purchase your domain with your blog name.
It also a good idea to get a logo made or make a logo yourself. I made my own using the online design and photo editing program called PicMonkey.
Pick out web hosting and install wordpress
If you are serious about growing your blog into a business I would go ahead and start right away on a self hosted wordpress site. To do this you will need to choose a web host. I use and recommend Siteground. Their customer service has been great and I have had 100% uptime since I signed up with them.
This being said, be sure to do your research, I originally signed up with host seamingly well reviewed by alot of bloggers and had nothing but trouble. So bottom line, do your research. If you decide to sign up with Siteground I would love it if you used my affiliate link below:
Sign up for web hosting with Siteground!
After you sign up for hosting just follow their instructions to install Wordpress. Congrats on starting your very own blog!
Now comes the fun part! Making your blog pretty.
Now you can choose a “theme” for your blog. There are thousands of them so it can seam very overwhelming.
I use this free theme but I am planning on upgrading to one of these pretty themes from Angie Makes very soon.
Some important things to consider is the amount of support available to you if you have questions. Are there tutorials on how to set it up? Can you customize it to your liking and is it easy to customize? Is it mobile responsive? Can you add your logo?
let’s add some content to your brand new crochet blog!
Decide what types of content you want to offer your audience.
What does your audience want to read? Are they other crocheters looking for crochet patterns interested in learning new techniques and stitches. Are they customers from your Etsy shop where you sell finished items looking for advice on how to wear, use and take care of the items they have purchased from you?
If your blogging as a compliment to your Etsy shop products it doesn’t make sense business-wise to write about crochet patterns and techniques because your audience just isn’t going to relate to it.
On the other hand, if you’re a designer, blogging about your designs (weather they are free or paid patterns) and the crochet techniques used is a great idea and is something your audience is going to want to read about.
Now that you’ve thought about what your audience might want to read, make a list of blog post ideas and start writing!
I am going to go more in depth about what a great blog post needs to have in it later in this series.
It doesn’t have to be perfect
Done is better than perfect. Nothing is going to be perfect right out of the gate. You’re just learning this whole blogging thing after all. So, cut yourself some slack and breathe a little bit.
There are so many blogging and business support groups on Facebook, I highly suggest joining a few. Blogging can feel a little lonely and having a place you can ask questions and get support from other people who “get it” is so important. Please feel free to ask questions in my crochet group on Facebook too.
PIN IT!!
There you have it, Blogging 101: part one. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging. Next week we are going to talk about the components of a great blog post. Yay!
I’m glad I found your site. When I am ready for a website I’ll definitely use your link. I’ve been looking for a web host for Wordpress add and haven’t been happy about things like Shopify forcing me to use their payment site. I’m just looking into a blog and although I’ve crocheted since 1974 and I keep up on new stitches and techniques, I’m not sure what I’d blog about. I sell my finished amigurumi. I don’t write patterns and don’t want to. What would you suggest?
Hello, I love your blog. I remember when I first come to your website and saw this article, after I started blogging and at this moment I have more than 600k Followers on social media.
I love my crochet blog!
Thank you
Hello, I remember when I first come to your website and saw this article, after I started blogging and at this moment I have more than 600k Followers on social media.
I love my crochet blog!
Thank you
I am anxious to read your upcoming posts from your Crochet Bloggig 101!!! I’ve been “blogging” (if you can even call it that ha) since February of this year, but have focused down to a niche now and am super excited to see where it goes! 🙂