Before I created londonsnewgirl, I actually blogged over on misszarabelle.com and whilst I’ve left the site up as it really is like a diary and I truly loved what I was writing, I feel like I’ve taken londonsnewgirl in a completely different direction and I am going about it a totally different way.
WordPress VS Blogger
The age old blogger debate! When creating londonsnewgirl I wanted to try a different platform as I had found a lot of issues with my previous blog which was hosted on blogger. I chose WordPress and I really do feel like I made the right decision.
Despite having invested in a blogger theme, I found it a lot more work to add widgets and edit the layout. WordPress had so many beautiful free themes that were relatively easy to customise and I haven’t found any need to spend extra money to find a theme as the current theme reflects my blog and what I want it to portray.
I also love that WordPress uses blocks to form their posts, making it so much easier to edit and add photos to posts. It is also so easy to edit the ALT text of images and add meta descriptions which is especially helpful for WordPress beginners like myself.
Pressure
Blogging is definitely my hobby. Whilst it would be the dream career for some, I love the office environment and feeling part of a team. However, I would love to use my blogging skills in my career and can definitely see it playing a significant role in my future. Therefore you could say that there is a certain sense of pressure, however nothing like the pressure I was putting on myself beforehand! I would spend hours a day looking at google analytics, when in all honesty, not all that much was changing. I was definitely never obsessed with the numbers because it wasn’t about that for me, but I would spend hours trying to promote my blog and would not get much in return. This time I’m focusing more on creating the content and generating the right kind of engagement with it. I want my blog to be a guide and a place of inspiration for others, therefore I’d much rather read five comments that were relevant to the post than ten that simply said “Great post!” I’m putting much less pressure on myself this time and I think it’s already visible in my views and interactions on social media – in a positive way! I am engaging more with people who are enjoying my content rather than people who simply want a returned comment.
Brand Image
I have also tried to focus on creating a unified brand for londonsnewgirl, across both social media and the content I am producing. Whilst I was essentially the brand for my previous blog, I have so many interests that it ended up sprawling quite a few topics. However as this blog is focused on my move to London and how I am navigating the city as a graduate, I have tried to narrow my content to career and London based topics. My recent posts have included how I’m finding the London job hunt, how I am curating my work wardrobe and what I learned at university. By focusing on these topics I am finding it much easier to plan posts and I am writing much less spur of the moment chatter. I want londonsnewgirl to be a guide for any other gal or guy who is taking the plunge and move to the city. Once I become more settled I want to discuss the London rental market, as well as my favourite places for brunch and post-work cocktails. (A girl can dream… Reality is looking more like the sweaty central line ride home before I collapse in an exhausted heap…)
Photography
Or well, lack of it. Photography is not my strong suit, I don’t have a fancy canon camera and I don’t have portrait mode on my iPhone. For me, blogging isn’t about the photography, it’s about the words and the experience of reading the content. Pictures are definitely important, they provide an image that can be associated with the content and this is infinitely easier to share on social media as they are more inviting and eye catching. However this time, I’m wanting to put out high quality content, including photography, so I have decided to work with stock photos. Some of you may be gasping in horror, but I recently ran a poll on my twitter to see what you all thought of stock photos and 88% of you said you weren’t fussed/wouldn’t even notice. For some, this might be the biggest blogging sin ever, but please forgive me. I’d rather put all my energy into creating better quality content and sharing high quality images no matter who took them. I am also really enjoying creating Pinterest graphics for my post, so that my content can be easily shared on Pinterest, something which I never bothered with before as I didn’t think it would drive much traffic. However as I want londonsnewgirl to be more of a reference point and guide, it’s important to me that I make my posts and content as easy to refer back to as possible and Pinterest definitely helps me do that.

I also graduated this year, in June. I’ll be looking foward to more of your blog content…and good luck in your endeavours.
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Thank you so much Marion! Good luck to you – it’s pretty scary but we got this!! x
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Good luck with the job search! xx
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Thank you! x
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I love WordPress although I’m still using the classic editor – I can’t get along with Gutenberg! Glad you’re happier with this blog – creating a brand image is so important and can help massively with so much! x
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Thank you so much for reading Jenny! x
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I’m completely with you when it comes to pictures. I use stock pics sometimes too – I do have my own images too for travel posts when I can but I am soooo not the flatlay type of blogger – I just can never make it look right! Good luck with your job hunt ♥ x
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Me neither Ellie!! I tried so hard with my previous blog and it just didn’t help at all, I think it made my posts so much worse having blurry and unbalanced photos! I do my own ones for travel or food related posts but flatlays are not for me! Thank you so much!! xx
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It can add such an unnecessary stress! We all gotta do what is right for us and not compare ourselves to others ♥ x
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I’ve been wondering whether to take the jump from Blogger to WordPress as maybe a new change of scenery so to speak will help me get back into blogging! But I love how you have focused on what you really want to do instead of trying to be like others essentially? And that’s what makes bloggers do well I feel x
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I think choosing a different platform really helped me stay motivated initially as I had so much to learn about WordPress! xx
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I find wordpress quite easy to use as a new blogger. I’n still learning about SEO and my photography ain’t the best but I enjoy it all the same. Thanks for sharing x
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As long as you enjoy it is the most important thing! Glad you’re enjoying blogging! x
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Nice post. Just do your thing and everything will be fine. But also consider what your readers want. After all, the blog’s for both of ya 🙂
P.S. I’d love to visit London as I’ve only seen it in my dreams.
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Thanks Jeff! Hope you get to visit London soon, it’s amazing (although I’m biased!)
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I love WordPress but I’m still on classic editor. It’s great that you’ve found a way to put less pressure on yourself and are making it work for your life. Keeping things on brand is always a good move too! Taking photos is always my least favourite part so I can totally relate x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
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I love this! My blog has been the same, just in different iterations, over the years. I’m still on Blogger, and I’d love to switch over to WordPress, but I’d have to spend money to get what I really want (I’d have to pay to have my domain name transferred over there! I thought that was weird!). But I love how learned from your last blog and had a plan for this one. And stock photos aren’t the devil! I’m not a good photographer, so I think most people would rather look at pretty stock photos than my awful ones. It just makes for a way better blogging experience 😉
Great post and I can’t wait to see more from your blog!
Emily | https://www.thatweirdgirllife.com
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You’re blog is so pretty!
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Ahhhh your*😂
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Thank you!
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