How to Create a Fashion Blog

Interested in starting your own fashion blog? Good news: fashion blogs are a thriving form, and this is a fine time to start. This guide is a step-by-step explanation of how to properly create a fabulously trendy niche blog — and it starts with the unfashionable truth that the technology is the easy part.

First, you need a strong desire and an even stronger work ethic. Blogging about fashion is challenging work — much more than being creative and style-savvy. You must be diligent and consistent: one fantastic article does not build a following; successful bloggers write well-thought-out articles again and again. The fashion blog niche is hugely crowded and highly saturated, and that will not change soon — but most of those blogs are, frankly, not so good. Talent plus work ethic can blow them away. The proof of what good looks like is in the Fashion Blogs Directory in the resources above — the place to read fashion blogs before writing one — and in Apparel Search's own fashion blog.

Step by Step: Starting a Fashion Blog

1. Select a domain name. You need a catchy website address if you want a jump start on recognition. You can survive a mediocre name, but the better the name, the better your chances. Many of the best domains are taken — with creativity you will still find something clever.

2. Select a hosting company. The domain name is only the address; the blog still needs somewhere to live, and a hosting plan is the key. If the blog may eventually become a business, get your own domain name and web host rather than a free service: free sounds great at the beginning, but you may not keep full control and flexibility as you grow, and building your brand inside another company's name works against you. Make sure you own your domain and are not tied down to the host.

3. Select a blogging platform. You could build your own system, but unless you are a highly savvy technical expert, use an existing program. Two long-standing favorites are WordPress and Blogger, and WordPress is the recommendation for a primary blog. (Community blog features exist elsewhere, but your primary blog should live on your own domain.)

4. Start posting. Create excellent content and post it — then do the same tomorrow, the next day, and the day after. Continue writing consistently until you succeed.

5. Network and promote. A domain, hosting, a platform and excellent content still leave the hardest step: people must read your articles. Be active on Facebook and wherever fashion readers gather, and promote every post.

Follow those steps and success is possible — not guaranteed. You are competing against a great many other resources. But bloggers do become extremely successful at this, and the ones who do worked hard and kept moving in the right direction.

How to Make Your Blog Better Than the Rest

Put your face on the blog. Market the blog and yourself: as the author, you are a huge part of it. Develop yourself as an authority on fashion, and put your story into your posts — why you write, and why people should listen to you.

Differentiate your brand. Your blog name is your brand, and you are your brand — not just a logo, but everything you do and touch in relation to the blog. Make sure the logo, name, page design and style connect and work together to make the blog different.

Take some risks. If you dislike a brand or designer the rest of the world adores, say so — honestly, and in your own voice. Talk about things that matter to you; do not simply regurgitate what others have already stated. And one platform warning from experience: do not start your clothing blog on a service like Tumblr as your primary home. Own your name and host it on your own server if possible; it pays off in the long run. Good imagery matters too — fashion is visual, which is why blogs illustrate posts with finds like the Prada shoe and Frye boot photos in the Photos section below.

Finding Content: Create It

Do not look for good content — create it. Think of problems, then work toward solutions; a question your readers actually have is a post waiting to be written. Round out your preparation with the craft pages around this one: who the fashion bloggers are, the fashion blogs section itself, fashion SEO so search engines find your writing, and the style blogs distinction (in the resources above) if your blog will range beyond clothing. Then start — consistently.

Photos