How to Start a Gyaru/Jfashion Blog

So you want to start a jfashion blog? Yay! Blogging is great for writing down your thoughts and meeting new people. But, where to start? I faced the very same question when I first found out about blogging and now I’m passing on my knowledge to help you out a little. This article will cover the most frequently asked questions and take you through the blogging process as well as providing you a list of 30 things to blog about (yes, 30).

How to Start a Gyaru/Jfashion Blog

01. Picking Your Platform

The first and most important issue of all is choosing which platform is best for you! Here I shall cover the most popular ones: Tumblr, Blogger and WordPress.

Tumblr

Tumblr is great for just posting photos and “sharing” them because other people could reblog it onto their profiles, and is pretty much the easiest place to sign up for those starting out in blogging.

However, unless you have the right layout your post could disappear amongst the stuff you reblog. It would be harder for people to find your blog posts and so you’ll need to keep leaving links to your blog post on your front page. This can be a bit annoying for followers who prefer to just see your posts on the front page instead of having to scroll through your tags. An alternative method is to have a Tumblr purely for your blog posts.

It’s also harder to comment on Tumblr posts as Tumblr hasn’t yet enabled a proper comment section, but there are ways to install Disqus on it but it can be quite time-consuming.

Blogger

Blogger is better for writing posts, and the posts you write can be easily accessed. There is more freedom with the way you lay things out because it’ll only consist of the posts you write rather than them being hidden amongst reblogs. I’ve seen many blogs that look amazing in all kinds of layouts – you really do have a lot more freedom.

Blogger is also good for keeping in touch with other bloggers as there are comment sections for each post. You can use either the default comment system or install one of your own like Disqus.

Blogger isn’t the ideal platform if you prefer to just share your pictures, it’s more for people who actually want more of a focus on writing. There aren’t many creative layouts so you’ll probably have to code through trial & error to get the perfect look.

WordPress

WordPress pretty much follows the same functions as Blogger mentioned above but has more of a professional appearance. I’ve recently converted to WordPress after being on Blogger for 8 years and it was the best decision I ever made! It is a popular platform amongst bloggers because of how versatile it is and all of the plugins you can download, and is definitely the website for you if you’re hoping to do blogging as a career.

Now that we know about the three main platforms, we can move onto the next section.

02. Designing your Blog

Once you’ve picked your ideal platform you can decide what kind of appearance you want to have. My advice is to keep your layout and design simple because the main focus will be on your content, and a blog that’s hard to read isn’t a good blog.

There are plenty of free themes online (especially for Tumblr) so it’s all about playing around with them until you get the look you want. When you’ve settled into blogging then maybe think more seriously about your branding – this means on the overall appearance of your blog.

Although not my very first post, this is a key example of an introduction post

03. Writing Your First Post

You’ve got your blog and you’ve managed to make it look good but now you need something to post. An introduction is always a safe option; you can write about your interests, upload a selfie, do a little “about me”… This will then allow other people to figure out what kind of content they’ll see in future and if your blog will interest them.

04. Finding Your Niche

During the time of writing your introduction you can then think about why you’re blogging and what you want from it. Do you have lots of photos and experiences you want to share? Maybe you bought something recently that you really want to talk about. You can write about (almost) anything you want. It’s your blog after all!

Now I’ve always believed that you shouldn’t pigeonhole yourself into a niche because it often stunts creativity, but if you’ve got a niche that you absolutely love then that’s okay, too! My advice for finding a niche, however, is to write down all of your blog ideas and take a step back and take a look at your list. You’ll probably notice that there is a reoccurring theme among them, for example, if you want to write about all of the restaurants you went to lately then maybe you should head down the path of being a food blogger.

Once you’ve figured out your niche go ahead and do some research on bloggers that you get inspiration from that are within your niche and see what they post. That doesn’t mean to say “copy their ideas”, just observe. See how they come up with new ideas and how they format their blog posts. This is now a great time to start networking – look at other blogs through that blog, and “follow” them. The more blogs you read the more inspired you’ll be to write. You probably won’t get a lot of followers back but that’s okay, you’re only just starting out.

05. You’ve now started a blog, but the hardest part is keeping it

It’s not unusual to run out of ideas to post and to find the time to blog, so the best thing you can do is write a list of everything that you can think of and organise them. I find a blog post a week is plenty, however if you’ve got lots of ideas/time then definitely post more than once! Make sure that you post on the same days every time to give your readers (and yourself) some consistency. This makes it easier for you to get into a schedule and plan your next blog post.

I have this cute little diary from The Magic Notebook and I haven’t looked back – not only has it got adorable illustrations but provides enough room for me to make notes on what blog posts to do next. I also plan blog posts for the next month or two, and this organiser really helps me to be, well, organised.

06. Blog Post Ideas

Me and my friend, Bunny, have put together a list of blog post ideas in the form of a 30-day gyaru* theme so if you ever get stuck for ideas you could just refer to below. I’ve also written a post of 60 blog post ideas to get you started right here!

*If you’re into other fashions just replace “gyaru” with whatever said fashion you’re into.

Okay so I guess that’s it to get you started! I’m going to be honest and say that blogging consists of sheer determination and enthusiasm. It’ll be so worth it though – it’s so much fun and I am forever grateful to my younger self for having started this blog.

So, I’ll see you in the blogging world!

Love,
Lizzie xx