8 Valuable Tips To Look Like Professional Blogger

[This article was originally published in June 2020 and has been republished with some of the best updates.]

I have been wondering if any of you need these tips to look like a professional blogger. But as for me, I definitely need this from a blogger when I started as a beginner. As I want to make it my future side-hustle job, I want to share some tips from my experience on how to look like a professional blogger from the beginning!

I realize that some of you blog as a hobby, because you enjoy writing, or because you need a space to share your life story. But, this does not rule out the idea of making a blog a source of income. Furthermore, in hopes of making money from blogging, you must first look to be an ‘expert’ so that you can begin earning some passive income from your passion.

I remembered in 2020, I’m still a newbie, but I want my blog to seem somewhat professional. I want to show my personality, give quality information that people need, and present a professional image – of course, every effort counts.

I’m not going to say it’s easy to be a professional blogger – let alone make money. It could be months or even a year, or maybe more. It all comes down to how DEDICATED you are. Life is not easy. You need to work hard and let your passion lead you to see your growth.

I have met a lot of bloggers through social media (thanks to that I met many wonderful people) and I believe many of them have a goal to pursue blogging as a career. And I’m here to share with you some of my tips on how to turn your blog into ‘professional’ mode right from the very beginning!

Being consistent

Sometimes I almost give up. I’ve gone through the one-year phase of my journey as a blogger. Starting out as a blogger, you will experience many moments when you sit on your comfy chair and say “GEEZ, I don’t want to do it, I’m tired, I don’t know what to do, my blog will never grow, and it’s not worth my time.” I have been there. I’ve been through these mind-blowing moments.

It’s vital to be consistent.

That’s all you need to keep doing with all the things you do!

Believe me, I always write down every single to-do list (every week) on my planner. When I look at it again in the morning, “UGH, why there are so many things to do in a day, can I finish them all?”

To be a successful person, you need to be productive. Same as a blogger, to be a pro blogger, you need to publish quality content at least one post per week or more. The more quality content you publish, on a consistent basis, the better your results are going to be – especially in the long term.

Taking this into account, most bloggers take a break and give up – whether because they didn’t see the results they want or no one reading their blog. If you want to achieve your results, you can’t treat your blog as something you do for good old fun.

It will require hard work and consistency. Successful blogger knows this – and they keep at it, publishing quality and polishing it to perfection.

Self-Hosting blog

You need to keep in your mind: if you want to seem like a ‘professional blogger’ you need to look like one.

When you have a blog domain name: ‘www.yoursitename.wordpress.com’ you don’t look pro – no offense, tho. Even though I know that you don’t want to read this, this is the truth.

If you want to take your blogging into a career, you will have to invest in your blog.

I understand that you don’t want to invest in something that …. not promising. Initially, I didn’t want to invest in the beginning, but I really want to have my own blog (which means don’t look like website.wordpress.com) and I decide to invest!

I suggest you do self-hosting right from the very beginning. It’s the best way to grow your blog + make money + start a business.

Why self-hosting?

1. You own your blog – domain name (no wordpress.com, blogger.com stuff at the end)
2. You can create your brand, and customize your blog however you’d like
3. You can monetize your blog, with no limitations
4. You have high-quality servers

By having my own blog, I have complete ownership over my blog and don’t have to follow any rules (when it comes to monetization) and I can decorate my blog with no limitations.

Start with Lyricalhost because they have a 24/7 live chat support team to help you with any issues!

Click here to get web hosting, a free domain, a free SSL certificate, automatic daily website backups, 5 stock photos/month + mystery goodies, and an easy WordPress install for around $11.99 a month (use code MERRYMOA10 to get 10% off).

Have a brand look

Having a brand will make you look more professional blogger. It’s like your home, if you want to make it look ‘homey’ you need to brand/style it.

• Choose a theme you have in your mind. I suggest choosing one from these stunning, gorgeous plus affordable themes.
• Use the same color code and color scheme for all of your graphics.
• Make sure to have these elements of a perfect blog.
• Create Pinnable images for your blog which have the same ‘look’ so it describes YOU!
• Use high-quality images. I know that most of you are not pro photographers, and neither am I! Here are some sites to find gorgeous stock photos or from my favorite one, Ivorymix. They have over 4500 styled stock photo images currently in the membership and each month they add 100’s more, so there are always photos you can use to make your blog stand out!
• Invest in some lighting to make your photos brighter!

Create an e-mail list

To become a professional blogger, you need an audience – the loyal audience who keeps coming back to your blog. And it’s really important to grow your e-mail list. You will be able to connect with your audiences on a more personal level.

If you are on a budget, I recommend using Convertkit. The free version allows you to have free 1,000 subscribers, and it’s so easy to use and set up.

If you are wanting to grow your e-mail list, make sure to create an opt-in. It’s something that you send to your subscribers for free.

Have an about, contact, and legal pages

It’s important to have about me, contact, and legal pages as a professional blogger. You will save yourself from any legal issues especially when you’re planning to monetize your blog.

Your about me page should give the audiences about who you are, what your blog’s about / purpose is, and what you offer to them. It’s not about your biography.

Your contact page must have a contact form or e-mail address so audiences or brands (when they ever want to work with you) can contact you easily.

And the important thing about that is having legal pages: Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, and Terms and Conditions.

A disclaimer is to tell your audience that you do sponsor posts and every opinion is honest (never persuade by the commission you receive). It also discloses that you use affiliate links and you will get some commission if they purchase through those links.

Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions basically let your audience know that you use cookies and that their information is safe and protected.

Write with passion

As a professional blogger, writing with passion is more than important. That’s one thing I learned from blogging. If you write down something you enjoy, you will build your confidence, and produce quality content.

Facts about me: I am an English – Indonesian freelance translator since 2014. English is not my native language and when thinking about starting a blog in English, I’m afraid. Afraid that my English is not good enough to make people want to read my content – even drop a comment – and feel … awkward.

But I throw that thought away, simply because I like writing, and sharing useful things with people is a happy thing. I’m already happy with someone reading let alone commenting on my post. And if you can even make money from blogging, why not? WIN WIN WIN.

Have social share buttons

If you want your blog traffic to grow, you have to make sure that you have social share buttons on your blog or post so that your audience can share it on their social media! I use the one from the Social Warfare plugin and it’s free.

Have social media links

Make sure you have your social media links on your blog – put them on the header, sidebar, or footer. Many themes will come with social media icons that allow you to link them to your social media accounts,

Having social media also allow you to build your network. You don’t just grow alone, but grow together with other bloggers. We can help each other’s through blogging and might even make some great friends!

To be a professional blogger and run a successful blog is a dream for many. And the benefits can be huge. However, it requires hard work, consistency, and determination. You can’t simply start a blog and hope for the best in a day – even a week.

In order to make it work, you will have to consistently publish quality content that solves problems, entertains, and attracts an audience that keeps coming back for more.