5 Investments Worth Making For Your Blog

Are you interested in starting a blog? Are you a current blogger looking to invest more money into your site? Either way, I think you’ll enjoy this post. Over the past nine years, I’ve found ways to be frugal with my site, but there are also things that I certainly spent money on to help my business succeed. In this post, I’ll share with you 5 investments worth making for you blog, as well as details on the products and services I use for Simply Nicole.

Domain | Approx $15 Yearly

Purchasing a domain should be the first investment you make when starting a blog. It helps ensure that no one else will steal your desired URL. Before I bought simply-nicole.com, I researched a bunch of domain providers. I found that GoDaddy offered the best prices on the market. (They aren’t paying me to say that. I legit love them). They have an easy to use platform that allows you to search for the domain name you want and see if it’s currently available. If it’s not available, GoDaddy offers you alternatives. You can purchase standard domains like .com and .net, and more specialized domains like .biz and .me. 

Hosting | Approx $35 Yearly

A blog host is important because it’s where your blog lives. WordPress offers free hosting, but there are many limitations. If you want maximum ability to design your site the way you want and make money from it, I highly suggest BlueHost*. I’ve been with BlueHost for a few years now and they have amazing customer service.

Let’s say for instance, I’m working on adding code to my site and I cause my entire blog to crash. I can call the BlueHost* help line! Their team of experts can look at my HTML and fix whatever broke. Yes, this has happened to me in the past. Yes, more times than I can count. That alone is worth the money I spend yearly on hosting.

Did you know: WordPress recommends BlueHost for its users. BlueHost has over 2 million websites on their platform! 

Premium Theme | $30-$50 

Making your blog pretty is one thing, but making it user friendly is so much more important. Even better, if you have both! My blog has been revamped more times than I can count, but my most recent switch involved purchasing a premium WordPress theme (Genesis) and a designed theme template. I use Amplify* from Restored 316 Designs*. 

As you’ll see when you visit the Amplify theme landing page, the design isn’t exactly what’s on Simply Nicole. I did a lot of coding myself to get it exactly the way I wanted it. I highly recommend this company, not only because their designs are stunning, but also because of their amazing customer service. I email them very frequently asking various HTML questions regarding my theme, and always get a quick and thorough response!  

Equipment | $400-$1500

One investment that I highly recommend getting sooner rather than later is great equipment. This might mean something completely different, depending on your niche. For me, the equipment I use most are my DSLR camera* and my MacBook Pro*. I’ll be honest. I didn’t have the best equipment when I first started blogging. I was using an old school desktop computer and a point and shoot camera (I’m talking like 5 megapixels!). They weren’t the best, but I made do with what I had. Since investing in new equipment, I’ve see a huge increase in the number of visitors to my site. It makes sense. When you produce better quality images and content, people are more likely to visit and return to your website. I’ve also seen a bump in my productivity. A faster computer helps get things done faster!  

Education | Varies

I never stop learning about blogging and digital media in general. There’s endless resources on the web, especially on Pinterest. Just search for “blogging tips” or “business tips” and you’ll find endless articles. For me, I love reading e-books and resources from other bloggers. My favorite is Building a Framework: Everything I Learned During My First Year of Blogging* by Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog. Abby was one of the first organizing/home decor bloggers I read. Her e-book, Building a Framework, provides great insight on how she monetizes her blog, ways to increase reader engagement, and much more. It’s great for both new and more experienced bloggers. 

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