So you want to be a Pet Blogger 'eh but not sure where to start?
Or maybe you already having your blogging platform and blog established but you're not sure how to "Network" with other Pet Bloggers and get your blog seen?
I'm here to tell you, after being a Pet Blogger myself for a few years, it's a tough world! But don't get discouraged!
Here's a few tips that I think you might find helpful.
How to Network with other Pet Bloggers
1. Get your blog listed in Pet Blog Directories. I highly suggestion DogTipper, BlogPaws, and Pet Blogs United. BlogPaws even has a Community Forum that you gain access to and meet some fellow Pet Bloggers.
2. Google or Bing for pet blogs (ie, if you're interest in cats, search it). You'll see a gazillion cat blogs pop up. Pop in and read them and my golly, COMMENT! Chances are if you leave a comment of substance, you may get a return visit to your blog.
3. It is imperative that you REPLY to those who Comment on your blog. Nothing will turn off a blogger more than someone who doesn't take the time to even acknowledge a comment. Phooey!
How to Gain Blog Traffic and Visibility
1. Start a Facebook Page, Connect it to your Blog, and Interact with your Fans.
2. Start a Blog Twitter Account, Share your blog posts, Follow and Interact with fellow Pet Blogging Tweeps.
3. Start a Google+ account. This is a great avenue to share your blog posts to as well as to Meet and Interact with fellow Pet Bloggers.
4. Start a Pinterest account and start Pinning some of your blog pictures as well as Networking with others.
5. Host a Giveaway on your blog. Mind you, not everyone has the money to buy a gift to giveaway but some pet companies may be willing to give you an item in return for a fair review. Giveaways will bring lots of traffic to your blog, then you just need to figure out how to keep them.
Blog Must Haves
1. Whatever you do, DO NOT, forget your Share Buttons! If you're using Blogger, Mayura has a few fabulous tutorials on his blog : Add Share Buttons for Your Blogger Posts with AddThis and if you're not a fan of AddThis, how about Add Share Buttons for Your Blogger Posts with ShareThis. If you're using WordPress, there are many plugins you can use.
2. When using Share Buttons on your blog, BE SURE to add your @TwitterName. This serves several purposes. It gives you the recognition you deserve for that blog post. It allows other Twitter users to Follow you and can help gain you more blog readers. THIS IS A MUST!
Share Only the Facts
1. Don't publish rumors or hearsay. Pet Bloggers will eat you alive if you start spreading falsities.
2. PICTURES! Pet Blogger LOVE pictures of pets!
Pet Bloggers are everywhere on the net and it, in my humble opinion, is very competitive. There are BIG bloggers with tons of posts and comments and then there are the little taters who don't get many comments. But don't give up!
There are plenty of blog posts out there are "How To's" out there on blog etiquette; what your blog should look like; etc. It's all a learning experience so if at first you don't succeed, keep on trying. Networking with others is a MUST! These are your readers, your friends, your advice givers, and your confidants.
I hope you find some of the above Pet Blogging tips useful. I'm by far NOT an expert but I have been there and I continue to plug right along!
About Guest Author
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Brenda Lee from Pibbles & Me is a snarky, sometimes hormonal pit bull mommy and veterans wife. She works full-time as an Administrative Assistant at the local landfill. When's she's not at work, she enjoys spending time rehabilitating her pit bull, Titan and having fun with the family.
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| Find Me: My Girly Parts | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | ||
Hi Bren, and welcome to Mayura's blog :)
What a lovely surprise to see you here, and that too wish the apt topic I would say :)
I think all those wanting to become pet bloggers need to read this and follow just as you mentioned. I'm glad you specified about adding the Twitter handle to their tweet button, which most bloggers forget doing. Oh yes....you should share only facts, more so because it's regarding pets and those who are pet owners, like me, would take your word for it and do as you say - so it's got to be the facts and nothing less. Ah...pictures, of course, and I know you love putting up Titan's pictures that add so much more value to the post.
Thanks for sharing this with us, and a great choice I must Mayura :)
Hi Brenda,
Very interesting information here and I'm sure pet blogger will love to embrace the tips you have shared here.
Personally, I love picture of those cute little ones :) Whenever I stop by a pet blog, usually I spend more time rather than just reading the recent post to find what kind of images been sharing there. They can make my day :)
Do they really publish rumors? Statistically, I've heard that bloggers can be trusted as they tend to publish accurate information.
AGAIN I have a question for you :D lol...
What is the best social platform for pet bloggers to engage, according to your experience? Mmm... Or it's centered around the blog?
Thank you so much for contributing to Mayura4Ever and it's always pleasure having you here with wonderful information Brenda :)
Cheers...
Mayura, thank you so much for having me on your blog again. I'm by far no expert in the field but I do have experience so thank you for allowing me to share it! ;)
Hi Harleena! I'm glad you like my tips! I've been a pet Blogger for 3 years now and, mind you I'm no expert, but there are some that do post myths as facts, especially when it comes to pit bulls. Some don't research and can be doing more harm than good. Share buttons are big! How can you get your info out of you don't have them configured correctly, right? I hope others will at least listen to what I have to say.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Harleena!
Hi Mayura and thank you again!
Do post myths or falsities but I dint think it's intentional, more that's what they "thought". That's why I have a disclaimer on my blog as well as state it in my Facebook page "We are not experts not have specialized training. We are merely sharing our experiences. " But there are some that do not research, especially with pit bulls, and can do more harm than good with posting false statements. I actually haven't seen many lately, its usual newbies.
Blogs are big socializing, however I get good interaction on my Facebook page, Twitter, and G+. There are also a couple of good pet communities, such as BlogPaws, that help connect pet lovers and bloggers as well.
Thanks again for having me Mayura!
Nice to see you here Bren and I have a friend building a pet site so I will pass this great info on to him. I love how you explain those ever important share buttons. So many blogs still do not have them set up right. Good to know about those directories too. Every niche has them and they still play a role for bloggers.
Hi Mayura, great choice today!
Hey girlfriend so good to see you here and Mayura, you could not have made a better choice for this is my favorite pet blogger!
I honestly didn't think there was much involved to putting a pet blog together. Your post made me see it's not just blogging about your pets but like any niche, there's got to be research and experience.
Not only do you give great advice for pet bloggers but any blogger can use this advice for their niche!
Way to go Bren! Have a great week Bren and Mayura!
Hi Lisa! The communities are a huge help if you have time to spend on them. I really don't so I rely on G+, Twitter, FB, Triberr, and now Tumblr to get my voice out. I'm no pro at this and still need work myself but I remember starting out in blogging, in the pet blogger world, and it was difficult for me to network and keep up. It still is matter of fact. But now, I do what I can. I'll never be an expert nor a HUGE dog blogger but the audience I do have, I greatly appreciate!
Hi Corina! I too though being a pet blogger would be much easier than say, blogging on My Girly Parts, but in the pet world, there are so many critics and "so called" experts that will be quick to shoot ya down or call you out on things, thus me stressing Post The Facts. :) Don't get me wrong though, there are tons of FABULOUS pet bloggers out there too who I proudly call friends and not just blog buddies. I try to help out other pet bloggers when I can and if I know how to help them. It's a great community with a few bad onions in it. :) Just need to be cautious.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing Corina! Hope you're babies are doing fab!
Now I get it dear. I can see how careful you are when it comes to this subject Brenda :) Why not, it's about a life too.
Hmm... I was wondering it a pet lover can do it only on social media without setting up a blog. I think it's about preference :)
Thanks for answering my questions there Brenda :) You know your stuff.
Cheers...
Hi Bren,
Actually, the thought hit me last December. The pleasure is all mine :) There's no second thought about that.
I admire your for putting 3 years of experience together to guide and help other pet bloggers who willing to grab more attention dear :)
Thanks again for contributing your knowledge and experience with everyone here :)
Cheers...
Oh absolutely! A blog is not necessary imo. You can spread word via other social media outlets and be successful as well.
I think you pretty much covered the main points. Joining Tribber pet communities may help as well. Also it would be helpful to join a pet forum or forum specific to your breed if it is available. A pet blogger could also swap their buttons with other pet bloggers or offer to do guest posts to get their name out there. And lastly...try to attend a pet blogger's conference which is still on my to do list! Just connect, connect, connect! :)
Good Lord! LOL SMH That's unfortunate. I am only a member of one Schnauzer forum. They seem to be pretty nice :)
Excellent ideas gf! When I first started, I joined many a pit bull forum and wow! I had to leave em. Couldn't deal with all the drama and stuff. They can slam ya hard. O.o
Yep! I don't scare easy but they sure scared me outta hanging out there :)
I used to have a blog for my dog - but have now merged it with another blog of mine, Bren. But our Pablo continues to have his own Facebook page. This is really useful information for anyone starting a pet blog!
Hi Corinne! Did you have much success with your dog blog? Would love to Like his facebook page, have the link? :) Glad you could find the tips useful. I hope others do as well. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Branda and Mayura,
I have to say that in the past I almost started a pet blog because I love animals and know a lot about cats, but at the time it was already a very busy niche. I bet there's a great bunch of them today as you're saying.
Thank you for the great tips you're giving to those who would start a pet blog :)
Hi Bren,
Great to see you here on Mayura's blog! I think the pet niche is a great one! Having a helpful one with facts and answers to problems would be awesome. I have 3 dogs and when an issue comes up I like to go to some pet blogs to find out what real people are saying.
Yes, you have to have all those share buttons in place of course. But I think the best thing of having a pet blog is the pictures. Who could resist a picture of a cuddly animal?
Pictures can invoke so many emotions and that is where you can get people to come on to your blog and follow it.
Fun post!
Donna
Hi Sylviane! You got that right, it's VERY busy and competitive imo amongst some. I am not out to be a big time dog blogger but I do want our voice heard. Pibbles & Me has a nice audience where I don't feel pressured to produce daily posts. I couldn't possibly do it. :)
I hope these tips will be a little helpful for someone who may be thinking about it or just started.
Thanks for taking the time to share with us!
Hi Donna! You nailed it gf! Pictures are HUGE on pet blogs. I recently contemplated just doing a photoblog but I failed miserably. I still like to ramble a lil and post pics but I've really been focusing on more pics than anything.
Glad to hear that you frequent some blogs in search of help. Lord knows there's a mess of those blogs out there, just be careful and research, research, research!
Thanks for stopping by Donna!
So nice to see you here, Bren! Excellent advice too, most of which I've been following, although my blog has more aspects to it than pet blogging alone. Networking is definitely the key and there as so many great Pet Blogger Hops out there. Great post!
Hi Debbie! Yes, networking is KEY of course. The blog hops do help a lot and I join them sometimes however, they always grow so big and can't possible get to all the links and feel bad. Pet blogging is a HUGE niche to get into. I often wonder if it's bigger than the technology niche? ;)
I know what you mean! Am always amazed how many people sign up. These hops are very time consuming, even though I never try to answer them all, so, I've cut back as well and only reply to the ones who are hosting and a few more. :-)
I'd add this: decide early on what your niche topic will be and if you're going to be a hobby blogger sharing your passion with your target audience or a professional blogger creating your brand's platform. The neat thing about blogging is that six months in, you can stay the course or change your mind and go off in a different direction. Either way, if you're open to the possibilities, blogging has the potential to profoundly change your life
More helpful tips for the non-pet blogger. That's for sharing that Kathy. Good to know!
Hi Bren
Nice to see you at Mayura's! I've see you about everywhere I've been today :-).
I don't have a dog, although my kids would love one. I think a goldfish may be more appropriate for us though as we live on the 3rd floor of an 18th century tenement building.
You've definitely given some great tips here, not only for pet bloggers. Most of the things you've mentioned also apply to blogging about any subject.
Thanks for sharing Bren.
haha Hi Tim! I'm hoping that's a good thing right? At least I'm out making my rounds. Thank goodness for my Samsung Note 2! Shew!
A goldfish counts! haha I can see how having an apartment might deter some dogs or cats or other animals for that. You don't have the conveniences of a fenced in yard or worrying about the dog barking and waking your neighbor, from inside your house that is. :)
Glad you liked the tips and found them helpful. Was more geared towards pets but being I blog both, it's hard for me to keep them separate sometimes!
Have a fab day Tim!
Hi Bren,
Good to see you over here at Mayura's place :)
That's a really good post that most bloggers starting out (and some that need to work on it) can make full use of. Not just for Pet blogging but for any niche blogging, just swap the words around on searches etc.
The tools and services you mention are all spot on and an absolute must for any blogger. We need to become more social and add the tools needed to our sites.
I still see so many bloggers missing the tools they need or some that still haven't added their ID's. Such a shame because you can see the low count so they must wonder why....
I hope people follow your advice Bren, spot on :)
Barry
Hi Barry and thank you for taking the time to comment!
I really wanted to gear it towards pet bloggers who want to network with other pet bloggers, however I struggled to keep it in that "niche". Although, after reading some of the comments here, it's good that it didn't come across strictly pet bloggers.
There are so many people that are missing out on what I call "simple networking" (ie., having your @YOURNAME on your Twitter share button). I think this is soooooo vital when sharing your posts. Get the recognition you deserve via the blog link in your twitter share AND gain a new twitter networking friend. :)
I hope those who've read this post and needed that lil extra bump, use these tools mentioned and if they don't know how to do it, simply ask. There are so many bloggers out there who are willing to help others out. We're all family ya know? ;)
Thanks again Barry!
Great to see you Bren here at Mayura's place.
I thought at one time going that direction Bren but I knew there was so much competition out there and how many things can you say about the breed that I have. Yep, Kayla is a Chihuahua but they aren't my favorite breed of course but I do love her to death.
No matter what your niche is Bren with any blog you would need the same tools and set up that all of us bloggers have in order to get our content out there for all to see. I was told to create those accounts and get everything set up and start connecting with people. That's really the key ya know!
Great share here and hope everyone else still considering moving into this area will do so. I do love my pet.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne and thanks for stopping by!
You got that right Adrienne, it is very competitive however once I stopped trying to compete, I got more traffic. Go figure :/
You're right, we all need basically the same networking tools, its just how we use them to their fullest potential. I know I don't use mine fully but I simply don't have the time nor energy to do it. If I'm not in bed by 9 pm and asleep by 10 pm, I'm grumpy when 4 am creeps around. :)
We can't do it all but we can only do our best, right? I hope this post does help out those who may need a lil boost.
Thanks again girly!
Hi Brenda
Very nice roundup, that is suitable for all of our blogs, not just pets.
In fact, you could probably put a picture of a pup on any site, and get a smile or two!
Thanks for sharing.
Jon Barry
Hi Jon! Oh how true that is about a pup, a kitty, or even some birds or fish. People just love some pics!
Thank you for stopping by!
Excellent tips Bren :) I STILL gotta add my @twitterhandle! Just been too busy lately I guess... but I did think about it earlier! When I first started my blog, I didn't really think twice about how competitive the niche was going to be - but you're right - it definitely is. Since I could sit around and talk about so many different animals and my experiences as a vet tech pretty much all day, there was no question that pets was the right topic for me to blog about!
Hi Ann and thank you! Yes, you do need to add it. Let me know if ya need help :) I think you're experience helps you greatly plus it must be a relief to have the knowledge of being a vet tech versus having non-knowledge, just experience like some bloggers like me. I'm so afraid of posting up something it a controversy starting! You know how some of those bloggers are. :) Is a HUGE niche but one I'm glad to be part of. But I think I prefer being small taters and not having all the pressure to try and be big like some of the others. Shew!
Thanks for sharing Ann! :)
I too hate talking about controversial subjects sometimes... well most of the time... although I once read somewhere they can be a great way to draw traffic to your blog.
Well hello Brenda, great tips and these most certainly apply to whatever topic we choose to write about.
I certainly love the last section on checking your facts, if you can keep your head whilst all around you are losing theirs then quite quickly you will become the voice of reason.
All too often when a big story is trending it becomes too easy to just go with the flow rather than keep your head and publish the facts as given to you from a primary source.
Hi Igor and thank you so much for taking time to share with us!
I'm glad you like that. I stumble upon so many sites that are stating falsities and people just taking their word for it. I not only see it on pet blogs, but on tech blogs as well. There was one in particular that was sharing wordpress plugins and talking how great this one security plugin was. I had to call them out, in a nice way, and let them know to NOT promote that plugin as it had not been updated in almost 2 years! EEK! So knowing your facts, and good ones at this, is a must imo.
I absolutely agree with your last comment. I've caught myself too and then had to put myself in "check" and get back to the facts.
Thanks again for sharing Igor!
I think first you need to know why you want to start a blog and how serious you want to be. Are you out for just some fun or do you "want to make it big"? Once you know that, then what is the purpose of your blog? It can and most likely will change over time but you have to have a focus that becomes "your blog". Don't blog like others, be yourself and blog about what you have to say and in the style you want to write in. Be yourself and people will come. Make sure and get on all the social media sites as well and try to use the same name/title everywhere so you are easy to find on any media. Those would be my basic tips.
Hi Emma and thank you for these tips! All so very true! When I first started, I did want to be one of those "big bloggers" but then a year later, I decided that wasn't what I wanted, I just wanted to have fun and tell our story. Being yourself is also a major plus. Have you stumbled upon those who you can tell are just being "fake" or "posers". Egads! bleh Major turnoff!
Thanks so much for sharing with us Emma! These tips will surely help others!
Great thoughts Bren! We have to be intentional about growing our fan base, that goes for any type of blog we have. Using social media is a powerful tool in doing that. Great post!
Hi Dan and thank you for stopping by!
I absolutely agree! A blog without any social media/networking connections is setup to fail imo. You need to network and interact with others not only on your blog, but other fabulous places like Twitter, G+, and Facebook.
TGIF!
Glad to read your post:)
Have a great weekend!
Hi Mayura and Bren,
Nice to meet you Bren here on Mayura's blog.
You provided great tips for pet bloggers here and from this post I learned that it is a huge niche and one has to have passion and experience to run a pet blog. I also agree with Donna, pictures will work wonders in a pet blog.
Thanks Bren for sharing your experience here for all of us to learn from and thanks Mayura for a great choice of a guest blogger.
Be Blessed,
Neamat
Hi Neamat and thank you! I know there are tons of other tips out there but I wanted to touch on what I thought was the basics. By using lots of pics on my blog, I think it gets a lot of interaction plus gives my readers a first hand "eye-view" perspective of what I'm telling them. Sometimes words just can't tell the story. ;)
Thanks again for stopping by and sharing!
Mayura and Brenda, you got me here. I love pets and everything connected with animals. I am sure I am not alone. Pets have strong memes. Pets blogging is a great field to grow and make connections. In my opinion, having a good story behind a picture or video is the best. Old truth is that great stories sell great. Love the post. :)
Hi Margarita!
Pet blogging is huge! I sometimes wonder if its bigger than the techy type blogs. :) Networking with other pet bloggers is a lot of fun. You can learn so much, see all kinds of adorable furbabies, and meet some awesome people. Pictures sell fore sure!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us Margarita!