When I tell you that I've been crying over the smallest things when it comes to my blog, I ain't lying 😠Especially domain authority - MOZ you have been very mean to me over the past few months but I forgive you as I've been working super hard to make my blog stand out even more (which has helped me improve said DA). One of the main things I've been doing over the past few weeks is updating my digital branding, starting off with the ads that I place on my website and the way I structure my paragraphs.
Some of you may already be aware that I have recently opened my very own Etsy shop during lockdown in 2020. I have created all of the brandings myself with my partner creating the logo for Luna Lava using Gimp 2.0 (I believe that he has the paid version of this software). Although I was very new to creating graphics for a brand, I feel like I have learned a lot of new ways to drive more traffic to my shop and blog since experimenting with all types of software during the past year.
Utilise free editing programs
My most used online software for creating most of my graphics, including YouTube thumbnails, Instagram posts & banners, is Canva. Canva is definitely one of the best programs I have ever used and I feel like I won't go back to anything else now. You can create pretty much anything for free, but the premium version of the site/app is also really good (I've tried the 30-day trial and loved it, but have gone back to the free version for the time being). Once you become familiar with how to use this, you'll be making so much more visually pleasing content! There are thousands, if not millions, of free templates to choose from if you're finding it hard to create something specific. Some of my blogger friends have utilised Canva so much that they offer a lot of different guides created on Canva for free or for a small fee - this is a great way to make some money if you're wanting to monetise your work.
Schedule your posts ahead of time
One of my favourite websites to use recently is Hootsuite as I've been able to schedule when to re-share some old content, as well as scheduling new posts on Instagram and other social media accounts. This has drastically helped with my blog's traffic as I have gone from around 6000-7000 views per month to 17000 so far in April and the month isn't over yet! For the past few years, I was using the free version of Hootsuite, but I recently decided to try the premium trial which lasts for 60 days, to see how much it's actually going to help me. One thing I've noticed is that I have to be consistent with re-sharing and posting regular content, otherwise, it's not worth it as the premium membership is very pricey so I would recommend getting it if you're serious about your blog and make enough money to cover the monthly/yearly cost of the subscription.
Try something new and unique to your brand
If you are after a specific font that you'd like to use for your branding and don't want to use any of the generic ones then you should look into getting a personalised font, this way your digital graphics will be 100% unique to your brand. You can actually get fonts for free online that will be tailored to suit your own branding. I've had a look through so many of these fonts and downloaded a few to use for my own re-branding project for my blog and Etsy shop. I can't wait to share my creations with you - let me know if you download any of these fonts for your own use!
An example of a header I've created using the Mocha Frappuccino font (free) from FontBundles:
As you can see from the picture above, I have played around a little bit with a new font that I've downloaded and added a butterfly and flower to the image on Canva. This was super easy to create (once I learned how to download the font onto my MacBook - all downloads come with instructions), that I've actually also downloaded the font onto my phone to use on the go!
Another one of my favourite free editing software is PhotoScape X which I have actually used since I was in primary school! It's very simple to use and you can do a lot with it - I've used this to create my current blog graphics and some of my YouTube thumbnails when I first started my channel. I find this program great for creating collages as it doesn't leave a watermark on the finished image, so it's great for creating wishlist posts like this one.
I hope that you found this post helpful! Please don't hesitate to ask for help on how to use these programs in the comment section down below 😊
Have you considered updating your digital branding? What software do you use to create your content?
*This post is sponsored and contains affiliate links.
Lots of love,
Maya xo
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