Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts

5 STEPS TO TAKING SUCCESSFUL INSTAGRAM PICTURES

Saturday

This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you purchase a product through these links, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, please see my disclaimer.

Since becoming more serious and consistent with my blog, I decided to try and grow my social media channels. Mainly Instagram and Twitter because I think these ones work best for my blog and I reached 3000 followers on Instagram recently. I did give Pinterest a good go in summer and it worked well for a while but I felt like it was taking up all of my time so I took a step back. Maybe I will try with Pinterest again but I just thought a break was needed and I haven't really gone back since.


Durdle Door, Dorset

Anyway, since I have been trying to grow my Instagram, I've been putting more care into the pictures I take and upload and I am going to be sharing how I do this. As you may have seen in my Goals for 2021 blog post, growing my Instagram is one of my main blogging goals this year.


I will also write a post all about how I am growing my Instagram in the near future too because that's the channel that is growing the quickest for me. But for now, I will just be sharing some tips on how I take my pictures. This could work really well for you or not work for you at all, it's just interesting to see different approaches in my opinion.


Tips on how to take pictures for Instagram


1. Upload content you love


Baked Camembert from The Wheatsheaf in the Woodfords, Wiltshire
In order to stand out from the millions of other people on Instagram, you need to be uploading content that is authentically you. If you are uploading content that you think your followers will like but isn't really you, then your followers aren't really going to engage with your brand and what you're all about. For example, if you're posting pictures of fashion when you are a book blogger then chances are your followers won't be interacting with your blog.

2. Try to create a theme


The accounts I see do well on Instagram are ones that have a theme. That means your photos on the grid look kind of similar to each other and there is a colour scheme. I don't actually focus on that too much because of my first point of uploading content that is you, but it can help to have a theme. This can be done by using the same preset on your photos, which I will come to in my next point.

If you are looking to create consistent branding for your Instagram then check out this Instagram Branding Pack.

3. Use Adobe Presets


Difference between ordinary image and Adobe Presets
This is not sponsored, I just use Adobe Presets for all of my Instagram pictures and it makes such a difference and really enhances my photos, making them look more professional. Presets can also help you create a theme without being inauthentic. You can take pictures that you love and that express you and enhance them and try and create a theme with presets. You can create your own presets on the Adobe app or there are a lot of people out there that create and sell great ones - whatever suits you best.

4. Treat everything as a photo opportunity


It's better to have more than enough photos because posting consistently is important for Instagram growth. If I am going out, a lot of the time I will take pictures even if something doesn't really look that Insta-worthy. You can always delete them later and they could look Insta-worthy once you have worked your magic in Adobe Presets. Even if they don't get uploaded, it's nice to create memories through photos.

5. Show your face


Lauren Kenny at Sculpture by the Lakes
For me, my most liked photos are the ones that have me in them. I read somewhere that audiences prefer to see your face across your channel because they can put more trust into you that way. I know lots of selfies and images of yourself might not fit with everyone's brand, but you should be uploading one or two, even if it's just introducing yourself. Then, people can see the face behind the account and know who they are following.

Sorting your content and deciding on the type of thing you are going to post and being consistent with it is the key to success on Instagram. At the end of the day, the images you put out there are the line between someone following you and connecting with you or not. 

If you found this post helpful, I will post about how I have been and am still growing my Instagram and will share my top engagement tips too. It's not just the pictures you post, engaging with others and using your insights is also important if you want to grow.

For more consistent branding across all of your social media channels, check out these Social Media Templates for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram Stories.

Do you have any Instagram tips? I am always looking for new strategies.


Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.



Wool of the King
read article

5 STEPS TO TAKING SUCCESSFUL INSTAGRAM PICTURES

HOW I REACHED 10,000 MONTHLY BLOG VIEWS

Tuesday

This post contains affiliate links so I will earn a small commission when you buy through these links. Please see my disclaimer for more information. 

As a lot of you may know, I have been blogging on and off for over 4 years. It was kind of just a hobby for me as and when I felt like it, and it wasn't until the coronavirus lockdown until I started blogging regularly. After regular blogging since April 2020 and putting in more hard work, I am proud to announce that I received 10,700 blog views for July 2020. This is a massive success for me since in April, I had just over 1000 blog views for the month. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and supporting my blog over the last few months.


Celebration balloons


How did I achieve this?


I still wouldn't call myself an expert when it comes to blogging and I know that there are people out there with a lot more views than this. I am still always trying to learn more about it, but I'd just like to share with you how I got to 10k monthly views in the hope that I could help some current or aspiring bloggers. 

It's also important to keep organised and you can do this by using The ULTIMATE yearly blog planner from Of a Glasgow Girl.


Sharing my blog everywhere


After writing and publishing a blog post, I would promote it over every social media channel. I will create an Instagram story of the post, prompting people to click the link in my bio to see my blog. I will also share the blog on my Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and sometimes LinkedIn if it's relevant to my audience on there.


Twitter


The main source of my blog traffic comes from Twitter. I will share 3 blog posts a day on Twitter, including new ones and old ones. I schedule these posts using Buffer. Make sure to tag in retweet accounts when tweeting blog posts as the blogs will be retweeted and will reach more people.


Here are some of the blog post retweet accounts I tag:

  • @bournemouthbloggers and @sotonbloggers - make sure you use your local equivalent of this if there is an account for it. 
  • @bloggerstribe
  • @cosyblogclub
  • @BloggersHut
  • @theclique_uk

On Twitter, there are also daily blog post engagement threads that you can add your blog posts to. Post your blog on these threads and be sure to interact with other creators and comment on other blogs. I use threads from the following Twitter accounts:
  • @GoldenBloggerz
  • @unpredictedpage
  • @_kayleighzara
  • @cosyblogclub
  • @theclique_uk
  • @BloggerDreamsRT
  • @TRJForBloggers
  • @BloggersHut
  • @LaurenyLoves

Pinterest

I only started using Pinterest a few months ago and I am still learning lots about it, so I am by no means an expert. I managed to get my monthly unique viewers on there up quite rapidly but the clicks through to your blog is the main thing. Some people get most of their blog traffic from Pinterest so it's worth using for your blog.

Basically, you just need to create lots of pins for each of your blog posts to promote it on there. There are lots of useful guides out there about using Pinterest to attract traffic to your blog, I am still getting to grips with it at the moment but I managed to get over 100 views from Pinterest in July so it was a good addition.

Advice if you are starting a blog

If you are new to blogging, I would just say set aside some time to promote your blog as well as writing it. Consistency was the key to reaching my goals for me so just try and give yourself a routine.


I haven't spent lots of money on my blog and don't think you need to in order to be successful, it's just your personal preference in how you'd like to invest in it. Also, spend time trying to grow your social media too as the more followers you have on there, the more members of the potential audience you will reach by sharing it on there.

Once again, I'd like to say I'm not an expert and I am still learning about blogging every day. Let me know if you have any blogging tips that I've missed out, I'd love to know how you promote your blog!

Some extra blogging resources


Wool of the King

read article

HOW I REACHED 10,000 MONTHLY BLOG VIEWS
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

latest 'grams from @_laurenken

© WOOL OF THE KING.
Theme by Eve.