Looking Back At Blogging: 2017

Back in July, I wrote a post about my blogging journey so far. Now we are approaching the end of the year, I thought I would write up another one to some up not only my blogging journey from August to now, but also the whole year in general. It has been really fun getting back into blogging, and maintaining it on a regular basis. I have seen my blog post stats increase by so much in comparison to when I first started and I have connected with more bloggers (and some also through work).

The main things I talked about in the last post were my visual content, keeping track of my stats, getting my posts out there and what I want for the future so I thought I would update these.

My Visual Content
Not much has changed in this area, I still like to take blog photos on my marble tile with a magazine, candle and often one of my Birchboxes tray inserts or the box itself. I am still wanting to get a white floorboard backgroud - I found one from Capture By Lucy which I might treat myself too. She also has a wide variety of beautiful coloured backgrounds in her shop so I would recommend checking out her shop.

One thing I want to get next year is a tripod which I think will help me a lot when trying to take photographs when I have a lot of products in the shot, but to also include more fashion content as it should hopefully be easier to shoot.

Recently I have had a lot of compliments on my flatlays which has been a massive boost to my confidence in blog photography but has also pushed me to continue to create them.

Keeping Track Of My Stats
I am still using my Excel document to track my stats. It has been a bit up-and-down over a few months but I think that is mainly because there was a period of time when my blogs were not getting re-tweeted as much.

I do think I will continue to have this into the new year as it is a handy thing to have and it's all my stats in one place.

I also think I might start tracking my social media stats as well and see if that can make a difference into the future success of my blog.

Getting My Posts Out There
This is also just the same as last time, I am still using the app Buffer to schedule 5 blog post tweets for each day but I now also use it to help me remember to post on Instagram. This is especially useful as I recently changed what time I publish my posts.

I still use the same RT Twitter Accounts and link my new posts on the UK Bloggers and FBL: Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Bloggers.

It has been exciting to see my content get out there, I have had posts and Instagrams shared by Nutri Bullet and Birchbox so I am glad to see that putting more effort into my blogging can make a difference.

What I Want For The Future 
My future goals are still the same as last time. I have still not purchased a domain name yet so that is definitely something I want to do in the next year. Having a proper domain name will hopefully mean my social media tweets will not be as long (although the 280 character limit helps) and also I could put myself forward for blogger opportunities.

Final Thoughts
I am so glad that I got back into blogging and putting more effort into it as I have noticed such a difference in my stats, the appeal and my content in comparison to when I started my blog. I really hope that this will continue throughout the next year.

I want to thank everyone who has ever read my posts, liked the photos on Instagram, given me advice and I really hope you will stay with me into 2018.

Here's to a new blogging year!

Ellyn xx

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