I’ve been blogging for about 7 months now and I wouldn’t say i’m a new blogger anymore but i’ve experienced things which I know every other newcomer will probably relate to and long-time bloggers will have been able to relate to at some point!
1. ) DA score?; Domain authority is something that goes over my head. I first came across it when looking under the #bloggerswanted on Twitter. A company wanted a blogger with a DA score of 25+ and I didn’t understand it. This lead me to do a little research and came to the conclusion that the higher your score, the better. My blog had always been on DA score 1 and although I wasn’t bothered about it because I didn’t understand it, I decided to check again and my DA score turned to 11! I’ve never been so happy about something I don’t understand before. If any bloggers have posts on DA and how to increase your score I’d love to read.
2.) Thinking going self-hosted is having your own domain; I always thought if you went self-hosted it meant getting your own URL (thediaryofellie.com instead of thediaryofellie.wordpress.com) and nothing else. After researching into it a lot more I can understand the difference and how just having your own URL and still using the normal WordPress or Blogger is not going self-hosted. I found a good blog post which explains it a lot better here.
3.) SEO is not the same as a CEO; Call me dumb or stupid but when I first saw some people on Twitter talking about their SEO, I was slightly confused as to why they were talking about a chief executive of a company. Obviously SEO isn’t a a very high ranked person in a company, it’s actually search engine optimisation. It has a load of stuff to do with keywords for your blog to appear on search engines and you can help to control it. Don’t come to me for any advice on this because like with DA, I truly don’t really know much about it much!
4.) Collaborations with brands are amazing; As a smaller blogger I feel as though it’s a lot easier for brands to take advantage due to the fact you’re more likely to work/collab with a brand for free. When I was on about 100 followers, a fashion company reached out to me asking if i’d like to collaborate. They had cute clothes and accessorises and I was like why not! Their terms were that I had to buy some products off their website (although I got 30% off) and then write a blog post promoting the product with a discount code for my readers. All seemed legit but I didn’t really want to buy any products, I just wanted to work with a brand. After a lot of research and seeing tweets, it was evident that the company like to exploit smaller bloggers for the very reason I mentioned- you aren’t knowledgeable in working with brands. If a company reaches out to you, you should never have to pay or buy one of their products to promote it because it should be the other way around! You live and you learn but I feel like chances are, this may have well happened to you when you were just starting out.
5.) Thinking that numbers are everything; When I first started blogging when I reached 20 followers I felt so happy! I was also over the moon when i’d reached about 500 page views. All the high numbers felt like I meant something to the blogging world and that i’d found my place. But I think you slowly realise that they’re just page-views and that person might not have even read your post. What’s more important and meaningful (which I think as you grow a little more you start to realise) is genuine comments on posts. Whether that’s someone saying your blog photography looks good, or that they really enjoyed reading your post is so much more meaningful than a few views which don’t let you know if someone enjoyed the content. 
Was there anything that you can relate to? I’d love to know below! I also think it’s so important to support people who are just starting out and i’d love to give a shoutout to my friend Charlotte who i’ve known since primary school! She’s incredible at art and wants to start doing more artwork on her Instagram, check it out here. She’s got a few pictures of her artwork on there and a video of her portfolio and i’d love if you could give her a follow and support her work.
Click here to find out what I got for my 19th birthday!
Don’t forget my social media;
Lovee this post! I can relate to pretty much every single one but especially SEO and DA, it’ll be a miracle the day I learn that haha!
Phoebe x
https://itsphoeberose.com/
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I’m glad you could relate haah!x
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Hey all, this is better and informative psot.
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This is a cool post. I’ve been blogging for more than a year a half and I am not really a new blogger. But I only blog when I am free which is not very often. And I find that all these stuff are super relatable! And the views and likes. Oh my, yess!! I think getting to know bloggers is a lot amazing than getting them to view or simply like your stuff.
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Wow Ellie, I honestly thought you had been blogging longer than 7 months, you have such a fab blog & great content! I can totally relate to not understanding DA and SEO, I’ve nearly been blogging 6 months and still dunno much about SEO 🙈. I had to google DA when I saw an opportunity as I had no clue either he he. This is a great post with excellent advice for new bloggers, especially about not worrying about the numbers too much 😘 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
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It feels like ive been blogging forever haha! But thanks so much!!xx
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Loved this post Xx
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Hahaa..~ I just started out and I’m already haunted like when will I get followers, when will I get likes, do people like what I do, what is this, what is that..~ but the joy of being a blogger and enjoy the thing helps a little 🙈
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It’s such a journey!x
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I love this post, Ellie! I totally agree with you about the first one! I kept seeing DA and didn’t understand it but I kept checking and kept checking and like you, I jumped from 1 to about 11/12. It made me laugh when you said about SEO and CEO haha but it can be confusing! Great post x
Em ~ http://thisisemsworld.com
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Thanks for reading!x
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Brilliant post, can definitely relate to so many of these! Been trying to decide whether to get my own domain or not for a while now…
Alys
http://www.alysjournals.wordpress.com
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Loved this post! I’ve had a few brands message to do this version of collaborating and I think if you like the company it’s a good way to build your blog but if you don’t like the company then there is no point!
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Exactly!x
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I really enjoyed this post and being a new blogger I can relate to alot of it! I’m gonna have to study up more about the domains though. I’m in my 4th month of blogging and still getting used to the ropes!😊 thanks for sharing!
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I still find there’s so much more to learn but at the same time it’s so much fun learning as you go along x
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I agree!!🌼
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These things are so relatable. Also I have no idea about DA. Might have to google that. I’m almost a month old in this blogging world and there’s so much to learn!
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I loved this post so much & can really relate! I really struggle with getting to know all the DA stuff and whatever so will be reading those posts that you linked Xxx
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Really enjoyed this x
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Such a relatable post! Loved it Ellie – DA scores still kind of confused me haha Xx
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This is a pretty great post. Honestly I recently started getting back into blogging after stopping for a few years and man has things changed and gotten more intense. I’m really just learning all of this as I go along. I thought your post was a great intro for anyone who’s clueless about the blogging world. Good job.
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Thanks so much x
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I had my SEO figured out from day 1 but it took me ages of guessing before I finally caved and googled DA! It’s so much easier to be taken advantage of when you’re small but I guess that’s all a part of the learning curve! x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
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This was so relatable lmao I’ve been blogging for a month now,but despite these things I love the blog world.I also love your aesthetic and photography,it’s very similar to mine.I would love for you to check out my blog as well!lots of love.
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Thanks so much!x
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Loved this post!! You shared some great advice xx
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Do you have any tips on getting people to read my blog, liking my blog and gaining followers? PS. I really love reading you blogs❤️
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Use Twitter to promote your blog and join in with Twitter chats such as @bloggerstribe and @GRLPOWR
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Ty for the advice. It means a lot❤️
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Hope it helps xx
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So relatable, great post x
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To this day I still don’t get DA but I have a good idea of everything else. Loved how relatable this was! Brings me back to when I first started blogging x
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This was a useful read! I don’t know much about DA or SEO either. I will definitely keep a lookout for companies trying to exploit if/when they reach out to me. I also agree that comments are far better than page views! xx
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I’ve been blogging over two years now and I still haven’t a clue about DA hahahha! I have read counntless posts on how to increase it and it doesn’t seem to work! x
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Oh God I feel so oblivious, I’ve never even heard of DA??? how do you find your score?
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Just search on google ‘DA score’ and theres a few websites you can go on x
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Really loved this post an eye-opener thanks for sharing
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I’ve never heard of the domain score. I will have to do some research on it now! Great post. And btw, I gave you a follow! 😉
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I can surely relate to the last one. Great ppst!
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Post*
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Loved reading this blog post and there were SO many things I could relate too! I’ve never even heard of a DA score until now and I’m still confused😂 x
https://rebeccarose2017.com/
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This is so helpful 🙂 thank you so much for posting! Iv read so much about this – it was just confusing me more 🤦♀️ Lol. But this has made it so much easier! Xxx
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Im glad it has!
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Hey this post was so helpful for a bew blogger like me…. Please check out my blog too…. I hope you like it…
https://shrishtysays.wordpress.com/2018/04/18/trying-to-fly-high/
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Love it…So helpful…
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Thanks Ellie this is really useful. I thought DA meant daily average until I looked it up. I thought I was doing well as getting about 10-20 views a day 🙃
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I am brand new to blogging and I am so glad to have found you. I just wrote down DA under things I need to research. Thanks so much!
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You’re so welcome!x
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I’ve been a blogger for a year and this is my first time ever hearing about DA. *buries head in hands and contemplates her entire life*
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REALLY LOVED THISSSS
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This has been very helpful! I am suuuper new to the blogging community and am learning everything! Definitely going to be researching a DA score! 😂👌🏻🤓
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I am a new blogger myself so I can totally relate, thanks for sharing your thoughts
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I impressed your post
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Please read my first post.
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I am a new blogger.
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I really loved this post! It helped me so much being a newbie to the blogging world ! Thanks Ellie x
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This is helpful! I have been blogging since the start of the year and have done a few of these things.
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Thanks for sharing Helpful and informative article
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It’s my 7 month now. Loved it. It is completely relatable. Especially jumping at the opportunity of collaborating although I would prefer to do so with bloggers for now.
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Love this. I got scammed by a company giving me a discount code when I first started for their clothes. I thought it was amazing 😢 I ended up deleting the posts I did for them on my social media after I found out 😂 also, DA used to confuse me too! I had no idea what it was! Xx
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As a new blogger this is so relatable, fab post! 🙂 Mol x
Mollycatherinee.com
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This is true, when you start blogging, you don’t know what you are getting into.. You learn slowly.
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Your blog is lovely! ANd such a great post. That DA score can be a bit tricky 😂 I’ve been blogging on and off for years, and I don’t fully have my head around it! My blog is new and hasn’t much to offer right now, but I will be writing writing/blogging advice, fiction, lifestyle/inspiration articles, and posting my art journey when it suits. (I’m not much of an artist, but I do occasionally get the urge to sketch…)
Anyway, I’d like to share the eulogy I’ve written for my grandfather to as many people as will read it. I have it featured in my nav bar, despite it being personal and void of SEO. It stands as an example of the exception, where something close to home overrules the standardised rules of google. I want the eulogy to be one of the first things people see when they arrive on my blog, and that’s how it’s staying 😉 Here’s the link if you’re interested…
https://gdholdawayauthor.wordpress.com/2018/09/19/a-eulogy/
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Brilliant posts I really like your posts. Thanks for sharing.
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I totally can relate to the last one; genuine comments are what matter most because it shows that people actually read our posts and enjoy them. ☺☺
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