There are so many great fashion blogs out there…
So many talented, hard working and stylish fashion bloggers spending their evenings and weekends shooting, writing and posting.
Over 2 billion blog posts are being published each year worldwide. That’s 5,760,000 blog posts published per day, and 4,000 blog posts published each minute.
Growth Badger / Internet Live Stats
And the vast majority of them aren’t making enough money to quit their day job and go full time.
Some of them aren’t making any money at all.
This post is for them. It breaks my heart to see people putting in so much effort and not gaining any traction (or gaining it too slowly).
I worked on my blog, The Modest Man, for over three years part time. I’d write, edit photos, do research and take phone calls during my lunch break while working in digital marketing for a big company.
When the blog was finally making enough money to let me focus on it full time, my life changed for the better, and for good.
See Also: How to Start a Fashion Blog (and Make Money)
If I’d known what I know now, I could have done it in half the time.
Here are the biggest mistakes I see fashion bloggers making right now.
#1: Bad Titles
If you only take one thing away from this article, it should be this:
You need to write better titles.
Titles should be descriptive, intriguing and optimized for search engines.
I see too many fashion blog posts that have short, witty titles. These puns may be clever, but they’re not going to get you paid.
For example, let’s say you’re writing about how to wear light blue jeans.
You might be tempted to use a title like:
Monday Blues
This is a bad idea. This title almost guarantees that your post will get zero organic traffic.
On the other hand, if you use a title like:
5 Ways to Wear Light Jeans for Women
This has potential. This is something people are searching for. This will attract new readers, rather than only serving your existing audience.
If you’re not writing about something that has potential search volume, it’s probably not a great topic to spend time on.
#2: No On-Page SEO
The title of your post is one of the most important parts of on-page SEO, but it’s just one of many elements you can control in order to get more love from Google.
These include things like:
- Image alt text
- Meta description
- Internal links
- Permalink (URL)
It’s all very easy stuff, even for non-technical people.
If you have no idea where to start, here’s my on-page SEO checklist. Use it every time you publish!
#3: Not Enough Original Imagery
Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, and no one likes a wall of text.
If your reader sees a screen full of text and only 1-2 images, they might not commit to reading your blog post.
A good rule of thumb is not avoid full screens without any images (i.e., no walls of text).
Use 4-5 images from a recent shoot, or pull from the archives to find example of whatever topic you’re writing on.
You can also use Canva to make simple graphics to illustrate your points.
#4: No Video
Speaking of short attention spans, many people simply aren’t reading anymore. They want information delivered in video format.
Plus, having a video in your blog post increases time on page, a crucial metric that Google uses to determine the quality of your website.
I’m not saying you need to make your own videos (although, you should eventually do this!). But if you can find a relevant YouTube video to embed in your blog post, make sure to do that.
#5: Bad Formatting
Images and videos help to break up long walls of text, but they wont’ be enough to create a scannable, easy to digest article.
You need to pay attention to how the text and media is formatted on the page.
Use short paragraphs, no more than 3-4 lines. Use block quotes to emphasize specific points and create visual interest.
Use bullet points and numbered lists wherever it makes sense.
Try to look at the page you’re creating and publishing like a magazine spread. Look at it with fresh eyes.
Would you want to spend time on the page? Is it easy to scan? If not, add a bit more formatting.
#6: No Headings
Speaking of formatting, heading help to break up longer articles into smaller sections.
They make your content scannable and easy to digest. They also help Google figure out the structure of your article.
You don’t have to go crazy with headings. If you have an 800 word blog post, for example, you might include 2-3 H2 headings.
#7: No Internal Links
Links are the most important aspect of SEO. It’s not easy getting another website to link to you, but it’s very easy to create internal links.
Whenever you publish a new blog post, you need to make sure that it contains 2-3 links to other posts or pages on your site.
Furthermore, you need to create a few links to the new post. Otherwise, it’ll be an “orphan page” that doesn’t have any links pointing to it – a bad sign in almighty Google’s eyes.
So if you write a new post about jeans, go find 2-3 older posts about jeans, and create links from the older posts to the new one.
#8: No Collaboration
Too many influencers and fashion bloggers see this industry as a zero sum game.
They see other bloggers as the competition.
If he’s working with that brand, I won’t be able to.
She doesn’t need to know how much traffic I get.
I’d never tell anyone how much money I’m making from my blog.
I don’t want to link to someone else’s site; I want to keep readers on my site.
This type of thinking is flawed. The truth is, our audiences are dying for more great content, and they want to follow more than one blog.
The best thing I ever did is reach out to other bloggers in my niche (men’s fashion) and start a relationship with them.
Eventually, once I got to know them, I asked if I could write a guest article for their site.
When they gave me the green light, I wrote the best possible article I could – so good that I wanted to keep it for my own site.
These articles not only got me highly valuable backlinks (crucial for SEO), but they brought in qualified referral traffic for years.
More importantly, I’ve made some very close friends by actively collaborating with other bloggers and by helping my “competitors” whenever possible.
I link to other men’s fashion blogs all the time, asking nothing in return. I let people guest post on my site regularly, as long as they’re committed to high quality content like I am.
So don’t be afraid of competition. Reach out to other bloggers who you admire (preferably people who are a little further along with their business), and make some new friends.
After you’ve known each other for a while, don’t be afraid to ask for a favor!
The good news…
If any of these eight mistakes resonated with you, that’s great news! It means there’s an opportunity to improve and to start growing your audience and your business.
Building a profitable blog that allows you to quit your job and work on your own terms takes a while, but it’s extremely rewarding.
So keep it up, and feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below.