Behind a Blog

I’ve said it before, but starting a blog is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s a project that doesn’t have an end, something to do when I “don’t have anything to do”, a creative outlet, and one of the coolest connection-builders ever.

Moral of the story? If you want to have fun, be creative, and make friends, start a blog. 

If you want to have fun, be creative, and make friends, start a blog. #bgbcommunity #fitfluential Share on X

Kidding. Sort of.

All joking aside, though, maintaining a blog can be a lot of work. People ask me what goes into my blog a lot – and I don’t really know where to start. So, I thought I would compile a list of my must-haves for keeping this little space up and running. Fortunately, there are some really cool tools to help streamline the process and make life easier and even more fun. What are they? Glad you asked!

Please note this post contains some affiliate links, marked with *. If you decide to purchase anything using these links, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for your support. You’re the best!

Blog Basics

WordPress

I’ve always run My Uncommon Everyday on wordpress.org. It’s different than wordpress.com and gives you more flexibility. I had two different, short-lived blogs under .com, but I never felt like I could make them look the way I wanted, got annoyed at the fact that I didn’t love them, and just didn’t use them. When I started this blog, I wanted it to be “for real”, so I went for .org. It’s more involved, but much more customizable, and I think it’s really rewarding.

Bluehost*

If you use wordpress.com, you don’t need a host – WordPress does that for you. With wordpress.org, you have to find your own host (and pay for it). I chose Bluehost after hearing lots of good things about them throughout the blog world. I haven’t had any major issues, but my site does occasionally go down. They’re generally quick to get everything in order again, though!

StudioPress

I bought the Genesis Framework and my theme, Brunch Pro, from here. StudioPress has a lot of different themes that operate using the Genesis Framework. If none of that makes sense, I like the way StudioPress explains the hierarchy of the framework and theme:

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StudioPress provides awesome downloads on customization that have really helped non-techie me try to figure out how to change the appearance of my site (even if those changes occur pretty slowly).

Genesis Framework

I moved to the Genesis Framework in March when I changed the look of my blog. There are a lot of clean, pretty themes that run on the Genesis Framework, and I love it.

Brunch Pro

This is one of a few themes I was considering when I made the switch to Genesis in March, and I love it. I’m still learning, but it’s very customizable, and I’ve had a lot of fun figuring it out. The first day was pretty overwhelming, since all I had ever done was click a preset WordPress theme and change a color or two, but I’m really happy with it!

Google Analytics

I’m going to start off by saying that I probably don’t use Google Analytics enough, but that it’s very useful. You put a tracking code in your blog, and from there you have access to all sorts of information! You can track what posts (and types of posts) do best, which helps you know how to plan future content. You can see growth and approximately what triggers it. If you’re applying for any sort of blogging networks or ad/product campaigns, the numbers Google Analytics catches are what you’re going to be reporting. I’m a numbers geek, and Google Analytics has a lot of really cool numbers-geek functionality. 🙂

Blog Photography & Graphics

Fuji XT-10

This thing also happened in March. I had been toying with the idea of getting a fancy camera for a while. My mom is a talented photographer, and she gave up her DSLR for the Fuji XT-1. I played with it some over winter break and loved it. And then I bought the XT-10 over spring break. I almost got the XT-1 (they’re very similar, but the XT-10 is newer), because it felt better in my hands than the XT-10, but then one of the guys at the camera store handed me a grip for the XT-10 that made it all better.

Guys, I love this camera. Photography is so key for bloggers, and it’s one of those things that I’m always working on improving. Having a camera you love makes it so more fun. I can’t recommend it enough.

iPhone

If I’m hanging out in my kitchen and want to shoot a recipe, I’m going for the real camera. However, when I’m not in the kitchen or specifically shooting food, there’s a little more wiggle room. There are times when you want to carry a real camera around. And there are times you don’t. The iPhone camera isn’t bad, and it’s a more than workable on-the-go option. I use it plenty.

Enlight

I know everyone loves, loves, loves VSCO Cam. But I don’t. It doesn’t feel intuitive, and I don’t like the filters it comes with, and I don’t want to have to buy different packages to experiment. I’ve tried a lot of camera and photo-editing apps. Enlight is probably the third or fourth app I tried, and I do love it. I got it during a period of time when it was spotlighted on iTunes and magically free, but I just learned it’s actually not free. So, yes, it costs $4. But it’s easy to use and has tons of features and you don’t pay for extra filters or editing options.

PicMonkey

You can add fun text to pictures and make photo collages and graphics here, as well as do some small photo editing. I feel super comfortable with PicMonkey, though it’s admittedly a little more limited than other options, like Canva.

Canva

Canva scared me at first, honestly. (Please note that this is true of most blogging tools I’m not familiar with. They always seem big and scary.) I didn’t know how to use it, and it wasn’t quite as intuitive to me as PicMonkey. But I kept hearing people gush about it, and one day I sat down for a couple hours and got familiar with it. It’s really not that hard; I was just overreacting. You can make graphics appropriately sized for all sorts of social media platforms using templates, or just create something all your own. It’s fun!

Blog Scheduling & Planning

CoSchedule*

What doesn’t CoSchedule do? It’s a gorgeous content calendar, so you can plan out what your day, week, month, etc. look like and it allows you to schedule shares across your social media platforms way into the future at the time you publish a blog post. It also has a cool headline analyzer that helps you craft interesting, clickable post titles. You can use CoSchedule right in WordPress (that’s usually what I do) or on the website*. It’s an awesome way to visualize what your blog and blog social media will look like in the future and fill in gaps. Oh, and you can color code things and collaborate using CoSchedule, which is a dream for an organization nerd like me.

HootSuite

You know how it looks like some people are on Twitter all day long, sharing all sorts of links and content? Maybe they are. Some people get paid for that. But HootSuite is for you if you don’t have time for that. You can schedule out all sorts of social sharing way ahead of time, so your social media is active… even when you’re not. I use it to schedule my own content, to an extent, but I mostly use CoSchedule for that. HootSuite is a great way to spread out sharing others’ content, though. I do a lot of my blog reading in spurts, but HootSuite means that I don’t have (as many) spurts of social activity.

Tailwind

This is like… HootSuite for Pinterest. You can also create tribes of friends and fellow bloggers on Tailwind so that you share your tribemates’ content and they share yours. 

Erin Condren Life Planner*

I write everything down. I have a huge list of potential recipe ideas, serious ideas, things to do for my blog when I’m “bored”, and more written down here. It also helps just to look ahead and figure out what I want to write about over a given month.

Blog Networks

Bloggers Gonna Blog

I can’t say enough good things about this group. I joined in December and felt instant connection with all these other people who obsess about getting the perfect shot, developing and naming recipes, and balancing social media and blogging and also having a life off the internet. They just get it. The Facebook group is full of knowledge, experience, success, talent, and support. Georgie and Christina really created something special.

If you want to check out what other bloggers use, this post by Brie is another great roundup. I first “met” her through Bloggers Gonna Blog. She runs and eats delicious food and just graduated from Michigan State!

Fitfluential

I’m pretty new to Fitfluential, but I’m so glad to be part of the community. It, too, has a few very supportive Facebook groups, as well as a lot of influencer opportunities and ongoing campaigns that you can apply for.

The InfluenceHER Collective

This is the first blogging network I joined, and it’s a fun one. At the time, it was mostly focused on college women, but it’s starting to shift more toward the whole Millennial age group. There are regional meet-up, as well as a very active Facebook group. I’ve found that a lot of the bloggers in the group are a bit more in the fashion niche than I am, but I love interacting with that different content!

Blog Social Media

Facebook

I share my posts through my blog’s Facebook page and with the networks I’m part of. I also interact with other bloggers within these groups and their blog’s pages outside of the groups. Facebook algorithms can be a little bit tricky and it can be hard to get your content seen organically, but I find it really valuable because Facebook is such a good way to connect with others.

Twitter

I do a lot of sharing and some quick chatting through Twitter, but I feel like there isn’t enough time in the world to keep up with everything because Twitter moves fast. I derive traffic from Twitter shares, and I love sharing others’ content this way.

Instagram

Instagram makes me happy. I love looking at other people’s pretty pictures, commenting back and forth, and sharing my own pictures. I’ll be the first to admit that Instagram is the perfect way to get caught in the comparison trap, but if you let it be inspiring instead of frustrating, it’s great. It feels as natural to talk to brands as other bloggers on Instagram, and I think that’s pretty cool.

Pinterest

Tailwind helps me with Pinterest a lot, because you could also be on Pinterest all day. I pin all sorts of recipes, workouts, blogging inspiration, and interesting articles. But honestly, mostly recipes. Because who doesn’t love gorgeous pictures of delicious food?

Snapchat

My friends have been telling me to get a Snapchat since high school and I’ve always said no. And then bloggers started using it as “behind the scenes” looks at their lives. I thought that was pretty cool. Honestly, I’m still totally fine with mostly texting my friends. I don’t feel like I have a million funny faces to share with my witty thoughts. However, if I can take a shot of food without styling it perfectly (that’s what Instagram is for) or share my dog with the world, I’ll totally do it. That’s what Snapchat is. After resisting for so long, I totally didn’t expect to love it. But I do.

Bloglovin’ & Feedly

Follow all your favorite blogs in one place! Make life easier on yourself!

Blog Courses & Resources

Food Entrepreneur Course*

At the risk of sounding crazy, I’m going to go ahead and say that I’m obsessed with this course. Nicole did the best job rounding up all sorts of inspiring food and health bloggers and business owners and getting them to share their stories and “secrets”. Except… there are no secrets here, because these are just crazy-talented, motivated, passionate ladies who work hard for their success. The original course lasted a week, and I made new blogging friends that I met up with at the end of that week. Like I’ve said, blogging connections are real and awesome.

So what comes with the course? You get access to a supportive Facebook group, 20 downloadable video and audio files covering everything from social media to Google Analytics to blogging relationships to legal stuff, and PDF worksheets to help you focus your learning. And you get to keep all of it!

Who do you get to hear from?

• Maddy from Love Grown Foods
• Lee & Davida from Fit Foodie Finds & The Healthy Maven
• Jessica from How Sweet Eats
• Lindsay from Cotter Crunch
• And so many more!

If you couldn’t already tell, it’s GREAT. And I know it’s last minute, but if you sign up before July 22nd with the code SUMMER, you get $15 off. If you have a blog or business or want to start one, or even if you just really like learning from enthusiastic people who are doing cool things, you should sign up.

Influence with Instagram

Rachel, Georgie, and Christina are Instagram experts. All three have beautiful feeds and fun captions that show their individual personalities. In this course, they share their knowledge in bite-sized pieces and make the huge platform that is Instagram seem approachable. This course changed the way I use hashtags, the way I engage with my followers, and the way I plan my Instagram posts. Because, yeah, you should plan that stuff. The course is closed until the fall, but sign up to learn when it opens!

KatyWidrick.com

Katy is amazing. She has a huge library of blogging resources, and she does blog consults through her company, MakeMediaOver. I talked to her a lot in March when I was changing my blog’s appearance, and she couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. She will do a certain amount of customization on your blog if that’s what you want, but she also truly wants you to be able to work on your blog without her help. I was amazed that I was able to do so much on my own, honestly. She’s a great teacher and resource. If you do use her services, you get access to her client Facebook group, where you can ask all sorts of questions and learn from other bloggers.

Anytime I have serious blogging questions, I check out Katy’s site first. She’s also the reason I use Tailwind and Coschedule!

Also, she’s a Google Analytics and SEO expert. She has a great video that’s part of the Food Entrepreneur Summit*!

What's in a blogger's toolkit? Find out here! #fitfluential #bgbcommunity Share on X

Wrap it up

Whoa. That was over 2000 words on the technical behind-the-scenes of my blog. I hope I didn’t overwhelm you – blogging is fun, and it’s as much work as you make it. If you have a blog (or want to start one!), I hope you find something useful here. And if you don’t, thanks for listening to my rambles as usual. You’re great.

Your turn:

Would you be interested in some different sorts of behind-the-scenes (thought processes, photo shoots, recipe testing)?

What’s your favorite social media platform?

If you’re a blogger, what tools could you not live without?

AND I’d like to add that it’s my mom’s birthday and so happy birthday to the best mom and friend a girl could ask for.