5 Things Every Craft Blog Needs to Thrive

Learn about the 5 things every craft blog needs to thrive.

So you’ve decided to start a blog to talk about your art, craft, handmade business… things you love to make. You know you need to write regularly (all the great blogger pros have drilled that into your head) but what about the actual design, feel and other stuff? If you want people to interact with your content in a natural way, then you need to make your blog look, feel and function that way. These craft blog tips will ensure your blog has everything it needs to thrive, besides the great content you’re already writing.

COLOR!
One of the most important things people miss when they develop a craft blog is a well-selected color palette. The best way to do this is to create a mood board. Usually this consists of font styles, elements, 4-6 colors, button types, and some background ideas. If you struggle with making your own or just don’t feel confident to do it yourself, give a shout out to a pro for some help.

This beginner’s guide to visual branding from Megan Auman can help you start thinking about developing the visual aesthetic of your brand:

PHOTOS
Photos are a must on a craft blog but it goes even further than that. It’s necessary to have quality photos that showcase your product in a way that allows your craft be the star rather than something in the background. To do this, use appropriate backgrounds, don’t crowd the picture with props that don’t fit, have good lighting and most importantly, make sure you can clearly tell what it is you are taking a picture of.

Candice Stringham’s Craft Photography Fundamentals class can help you take better photos using just your iPhone and she covers the basics of DSLR photography.

RESOURCE PAGE
Traffic is a great thing but once you have it, sometimes it is hard to know what to do with it. One way to keep traffic on your site longer is to create a “start here” page or a “resource” page that gives your readers multiple jumping places. Basically when they get to this page, they have a variety of things they can do:
Visit your top posts.
Check out your top trending tutorials
Visit your project Gallery
Shop your Shop
….and so on.

PLAYFULNESS
If there is anything you take away from today’s article, I want you to remember that play is one of the cornerstones to creativity and being a maker. It’s also what makes a great craft blog; therefore, when you are writing, posting photos of your recent work, featuring another artist, or simply publishing something to your resource page, you should ask yourself, “Is this fun for me? Was creating this ______ enjoyable? Did I have a good time interviewing this person or making this thing?”

If you aren’t having fun with what you are doing it’s going to show up in your writing, follow this craft blog tip and do things that are fun for you.

TUTORIALS
Tutorials happen to be one of the best parts of craft blogs because they are HUGE traffic generators. Not only can they drive traffic when they are first published, but they have the potential to send traffic your way for months and even years to come. If you want to keep people coming back again and again, you’ll want to keep your tutorials organized.

Now there are a variety of ways to do it and there are tons of resources out there with ideas on how to design a page, post or side bar. Whatever you decide to do,make sure it clearly points to your reader where they need to go to get what they are looking for.

If you still have questions about how you can make your craft blog more compelling, be sure to check out the complete collection of marketing classes in the CreativeLive catalog and check the on-air page to find an educational class now!

Martiel Beatty FOLLOW >

Martiel started Artcademy in 2013 to give students an outlet to pursue their passions while also having a life. It has been important to her that every person who comes to the Artcademy community feel honored, welcomed, loved and challenged.