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Once you’ve started a craft blog, there are a few simple things you can do to help make your blog more successful. These are just a few ideas that appeal to readers and tips to attract a wider audience.
- Show off your craft – If you are a craft blogger, people following you primarily want to see your crafts. Sure, they might be interested in seeing your little ones’ birthday photos and probably don’t mind hearing about your latest internet find. But what they really love are your handmade items. Even though you may throw in a few family stories, be sure to give your audience what they are after—crafts!
- Never commit to anything you can’t follow through with – Technique Tuesdays and Linky Love Fridays are fun, but if you aren’t going to do it for more than a month, it’s pointless to even start. Your readers will start to expect it regularly, but when you fail to deliver you could lose followers. Instead, offer techniques and link lists, but avoid committing to any particular day or promise weekly commitments you can’t keep.
- Crafters love tutorials – Crafters love to see your crafts, but what they love even more is when you tell them how you made it! Craft tutorials are what make good craft blogs great. Readers love step-by-step instructions and photos—when you provide that, they will come back looking for more. My most popular blog post is a Copic tutorial I wrote 2 years ago, and it still regularly gets the more traffic than any other post.
- Don’t underestimate the allure of good photos – As I already noted, crafters love to see crafts. If your pictures are dark, blurry, or so tiny you can’t tell if that card has a dog or a car on it, it won’t appeal to anyone. It’s worth spending the time getting a good photo—it helps illustrate your work, and readers will love sharing them with friends and other crafters.
- Automatic music on blogs is a no-no – I see you are a big fan of Taylor Swift—that’s great! However, your readers may not be. It’d be a shame if readers came for your great tutorial but left because they hated the music. Worse yet, readers checking in during a quick work break might get caught blog hopping because suddenly some song began playing as soon as the site loaded. Eliminate the music altogether, or, as a compromise, offer it as a play list that your readers can click to play if they so choose. In the comfort of their own home, they can then read about your latest projects while rocking out to that sweet hair metal mix you created.
- Want blog comments? Be a commenter! – Participating in comments is a two-way street. It’s how we build friendships and readerships on the web. And, it’s just plain old nice. You obviously love that one blog you read every other day, so why not let the author know? It’s good “netiquette,” and it will inspire those bloggers to check out your work and make comments of their own.
- Post links to where people can find you online – Linking is especially important if you are selling your crafts online. Put links to your Etsy shop, eBay store, or other online marketplace in an easy to find spot so that your readers don’t have to go searching for the information. If you have online galleries, are on Twitter, or have a Facebook fan page, be sure to put prominent links to this destinations as well. Make these links easy to find, if readers need to search for a link to your online store, chances are they will lose interest while they are searching.
- Give credit where credit is due – Even if you weren’t the one who thought up that great idea on how to make ribbon rosettes, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share it with your readers. Just be sure to credit the person who did come up with the idea. Link to the blog or website where you discovered the technique or idea; it’s not only proper etiquette, but it can also bring new readers from the site you linked to.
- Be a regular blogger – Blogging is fun, but quite honestly it can be a bit of work to keep updating often. Unfortunately, bloggers who are inconsistent lose readers fast. In order to hold the attention of your audience, you need to have something for them to read or see. No one is suggesting that you post every day, but two or more times a week would be a good start. Blogging software typically allows you to schedule posts to publish at a later date. So if you have a lot of free time on a Sunday afternoon, you can write several posts and schedule them to publish during the week. It can really help if you have a busy week ahead and might not have time to write after taking care of work, home, and other commitments.
- Spill the beans on your favorite products – I know I already told you that crafters love to see crafts. But they also like to know what you used to make those crafts, and where you got them. People are increasingly buying supplies online due to the shortage of local craft stores these days. And with so many shops on the Internet, it is not always easy to find a particular stamp, fabric, or tool. Share all the little details about the things you use to make your crafts. Readers will be very grateful you did, especially when they are determined to make the cool project they saw on your blog because it came with a handy tutorial.
By: Simone Collins, Editorial Director for FaveCrafts.com
Originally featured on Craft Critique. Republished with permission.
What other blogging tips work for you?
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Great list! It’s related to #1, but I’d add:
Be personal… but not too personal. Readers want to know something about the person behind the projects, but discussing inflammatory topics may alienate some readers and leave others questioning why you’re discussing your (insert extremely personal information here) on a craft blog.
I completely agree. I like to have a little bit of the person’s personality come thru as I am reading. But I don’t want to know all of the family by name or face. Craft Blogging isn’t social media. However, a family blog is nice, and it is a way to get off of the social media (Facebook, Twitter) and more into writing about who you love.
This is very informative anf helpful. Thank you, Ann
Good information for your craft business!
I love your business information. It is helping me start my online business and blog.
These are great tips! Thank you so much for sharing!
Glad to hear they’re helping you!
Thank you for the great information is very helpful, I will use these tips on my blog. Thanks
The only other thing I would recommend is spell check! I usually get an idea in my head and type it really quick and sometimes I miss a letter or jumble the word altogether. Thanks for all of the wonderful information!
Agreed! That happens to me all the time too. Great tip!
This is helping. Thanks.
Thank you for good information!
Thanks, I am a newbie trying to get started. This is very informative. I learned a lot
Great advice! I’ve been making jewelry for 20+ years, but I’m new to to trying to sell my crafts on line at Etsy. Learning how to blog has been quite a challenge to me. I really liked this article.
Thanks so great to hear! Share your blog link, we’d love to check it out!
hi, this is very useful..thanks^^
No problem! Thanks for reading!
Awesome blog. You gave me some great ideas to maintain mine.
Glad to hear it!
The comment made by Cindy is so RIGHT ! Having a crafting blog is great, but the last thing I want to hear is about the blogger’s “CHILDREN” !! To be sure,we ARE all proud of our children, but it gets old when a blog that’s supposed to be a crafter’s blog has numerous stories or photos about the blogger’s family. IF you have a crafter’s blog and want to comment on your family create another blog for your family. I have unsubscribed to some AWESOME CRAFTERS who are constantly commenting on their family. This might sound harsh, but you need to think about WHY you are doing a blog !
yep… ive unsubscribed too. It’s TMI to know who did what where… I want to know about the project, not who it is for and why. It does sound harsh but it’s how my brain works.
When I grow up I want to be just like you. Thank you so much for all of this great information. I will follow through on what I have learned from you today. And remember. “Keep Living the Crafting Life!
I’ve been going back and forth with the idea of starting a blog and these tips are very useful. Thank you for taking the time to share them.
Hope you’re finding useful information!
I would love to be a professional crafter, so I mostly dream and read about it. This is my very FIRST comment on a blog! No lie! I recently started thinking about starting an etsy store and a blog….thanks for the tips!
Glad we could help with ideas!
So glad I stumbled upon your blog. Your advise has inspired me to start my own blog. Thanks!
what blogging software were you talking about. im a bit confused when trying to create a blog
Thank you for your abundant information. I want to use much — if not all– of your advice. Keep offering tips for craft blogs.
Thank you for your abundant information. I want to use much — if not all– of your advice. Keep offering tips for craft blogs.
Very informative post-thanks for sharing.
This is a topic which is near to my heart.
.. Many thanks! Exactly where are your contact details though?
This was an awesome article. I am just starting out and this is a great way to start. Thanks!
This is so great! I’d be following all your tips..which reminds me of commenting on other craft blogs after joining some link parties tonight. This helps a lot especially for new craft bloggers like me. Thanks for this!
These are very helpful tips for a new blogger liek me. I will try to apply them on my blog.
so informative.. love it.. need to start doing the steps right away.. thanks a lot 😀
Thanks for the tips:)
Thank you for sharing this very useful information. I’m new to blogging and don’t quite know how to get started. Crafting is my hobby.. I am doing a couple projects for my niece who is having a baby, but I would like to build my very own blog and website and create an income from crafting, which is something I absolutely enjoy. It soothes and relaxes my spirit and gives me a sense of personal achievement. Thank you so much for the tips God Bless! 😉
Donna
Hello! First, I love the font you have on this form! I’m such a font geek!
Thank you for sharing all the information! I have a question: do you recommend
Specifying somewhere on my blog the days I will be posting a new entry?
I’ve been posting regularly twice a week: Fridays and Mondays
Evenings… Should I add this to my header? Please let me know
Your thoughts! I appreciate your expertise 🙂
Thank you.
Ursula
Thank you! My blog is pretty new and was looking for some tips. Very helpful. And I agree with the music one. Drives me nuts.
This was so helpful…I have been looking for tips like these. I just started blogging and am trying really hard to get a handle on it. thanks!
No matter if some one searches for his required thing, so
he/she desires to be available that in detail, therefore that thing is maintained over here.
Hey there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking
back frequently!
Great advice for me starting my new craft blog. Thanks so much!
im a newbie and i really liked this article… 🙂 thnx
These are such helpful tips! Thank you for the thoughtful, easy to follow guide. I’m using as many of these tips as I can!
Doing a craft website is work, work, work. It is labor intensive because each tutorial has to be documented and photographed along the way. I try to come up with original ideas which is even more difficult. Sometimes it can be discouraging.
I believe to be successful you need to work hard and be persistent and patient.
Tutorials take time. I am hoping that if I keep plugging along that someday this will all be worthwhile!
It is difficult to be original when there are so many ideas out there.
I agree with giving credit where credit is due. If I want to use an idea that is not mine I always try to ask permission.
Thank you for the sound advice. I like your article because it gives clear information, sometimes finding good advice on blogging can be confusing say the least.
I love tutorials as well and will put more on my blog, also linking with other blogs is something new to me still. So much to learn!
Great tips and very useful information to a new blogger like me. thanks for sharing.
This is really helpful, thank you so much for the hints and tips! I shall be putting the ones I am not doing into practice 🙂
Thank you for the timely tips. I’ve been revamping my website this month, adding bits of this and that. As I’m doing a year-long Crochet for a Cause series, this list helps bring a bit more of the crafty side into my cottage in cyberspace. And I especially appreciate Tip #2 about not over committing. Thanks!
Thank you for very useful info
Great advice! I particularly like the idea of doing posts over the weekend and being able to schedule their publishing date. It was one of my main concerns!
Very informative, looking at starting my own blog, you helped a lot, thank you
wonderful article. great tips! thanks for sharing.
Great tips! Another way to getting exposure is to writing blogs for other websites (guest blogging).
These are great tips especially for beginners like me. Thank you very much!
I am a new craft blogger and i create my own crafts for kids. This post has lot of information to know about craft blogging and get successful. Thank you for the great information.
Do you still think it is relevant to start a craft blog today when there is so much social media esp facebook, instagram and twitter. Should one focus on these instead?
I like how your bold sentiment travels through that sweet design!
thanks
I am new to social media for business and have only had a blog for a few weeks now, this was very informative and useful. Thanx
So glad you found it helpful, Angela. Good luck with your blog!
These are great, helpful tips for me as I start my craft blog! So glad I came across your page!
Happy you found it useful, Melissa! Have a lovely day 🙂
Finally! someone has answered my question about sharing craft pinterest pins with others. As long as I credit them, I can post and discuss the craft. Thank you for this information!
Great info! Thank you.
Thank you for so much useful information. I am just getting started in trying to sell my handmade crafts. I am sure I will be visiting this page many times a day.