Last updated on November 2nd, 2022 at 01:00 pm
How do you start a fashion blog in Kenya? That is the question that people often ask themselves when they want to get into blogging.
It’s not always easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard either!
In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about starting a fashion blog and how to make your new blog successful!
What do you need to start a fashion blog in Kenya?
There are three things you need to start a fashion blog in Kenya using WordPress.org:
- Domain name – This will be your website’s address and what users will type in the browser to visit your blog (Example, leadsluxe.com).
- Web hosting – This will be your blog’s home and where you will store all your website files.
- Your undivided attention for 30 mins
Don’t worry, we will look into each of these in detail below.
Step One – Research
Before starting a fashion blog in Kenya, you should do some research.
What is your goal?
Who are your target audience members and how large of an audience can you expect to reach with this blog?
You need to know what kind of posts will appeal to that audience!
Once you have the answers to these questions, it is time for step two.
Step Two – Choosing A Fashion Blog Name and hosting
The name of your new fashion blog may seem like a small detail now but it can make or break its success later on down the road.
To figure out what kind of title would work best for you, think about who they are targeting as their ideal customer base.
Use the following tips to pick the best fashion blog name :
- Are you targeting men, women, or both?
- Do your audience members like humorous posts or more serious commentary?
- What type of products will they be promoting and wearing on their new fashion blog?
- Will it appeal to a certain age group (teenagers, young adults, middle-aged)?
Be sure that your title reflects who you are trying to target.
Once you have some good ideas for names in mind go ahead and search them up on google!
See which ones come up first when searching “best [name]” This way people can find your new fashion blog online easily!
Make sure that it is not already taken by checking out what other blogs with similar titles exist.
If the name is already being used for a personal blog or another fashion site you may want to change it.
Once you have name ideas, go ahead and get hosting.
I recommend you check out Truehost Kenya. They offer the best services at an affordable price.
How to set up your fashion website in Kenya
Now, I will show you how to register a domain and buy hosting on Truehost Kenya.
1. Go to Truehost.co.ke
Head over to Truehost Kenya to get started with your fashion blog in Kenya
2. Click on Domains
Click on Domains to register a domain in Kenya and get hosting.
3. Click on Domain Search
4. Search your preferred domain name
Inside the box shown above, type the website name you’d wish to call your fashion blog in Kenya.
For example;
If I was to start a fashion blog in Kenya, I’d call the website FashionStar.co.ke.
5. Click on Search
Click to see whether the domain is available.
If it is, you will get a message that your domain is available. And if not, you will get a message that the website name is already taken, as such, you should look for another name.
If your preferred name is available, go ahead and add it to the cart.
6. Click on Checkout
Then click checkout.
And if you’d wish to add hosting (from as low as KES 199 per month), see the next step.
7. Click on No Hosting! Click to Add
This will take you to a page where you can browse web hosting packages in Kenya.
Go through each looking at their prices and features.
8. Click on Order Now
When you find a package that you want, click on ORDER NOW to proceed with starting your fashion blog in Kenya.
9. Click on Use
10. Click on Continue
11. Addons
You can add some extra addons here such as DNS management, email forwarding, and ID protection.
12. Click on Continue
13. Your cart
14. Click on Checkout Now
15. Create an account
You will need to create an account before you proceed.
After that, you can pay for the order and that is how to start a fashion blog in Kenya.
Once your payment is received, you will receive details through email, so be sure to use a valid email address when creating an account.
Step Three – Designing Your Fashion Blog
After you have chosen your great new fashion blog name, it’s time to think about design!
Maintaining a quality aesthetic is crucial in order to keep readers interested and coming back.
There are plenty of free themes available online that can do everything from maintaining an organized layout with easy access menus to creating multiple pages for different sections on your new fashion blog in Kenya.
You should also make sure that there isn’t anything too distracting like flashy advertisements obstructing the page when someone first visits which will take away their attention and focus from content and what you’re trying to convey (this includes pop-ups and banners).
Once you have the domain and a hosting account, you can easily install wordpress in Kenya.
Follow these steps;
1. Go to cPanel Login
Go to your cPanel account.
2. Type “wordpress”
Once logged in, search for WordPress.
3. Click on WordPress Manager by Softaculous
4. Click on install_button
6. Click on Quick Install Software Setup
Choose Domain
In Directory (should empty, so delete the WP)
Choose the version you want to install (Please select the version to install). Pick the latest version of WordPress.
7. Click on Site Settings
Here is where you can set;
- Site Name Site
- Description
- Enable Multisite (WPMU)
- Disable WordPress Cron
8. Click on Admin Account
Here, you can;
- Set Admin Username
- Admin Password
- Admin Email
9. Click on Choose Language
Leave it in ENGLISH.
Do not touch anything else.
Scroll down and click on Install.
Wait for the installation process to complete and then proceed to log in to your wordpress dashboard.
Now, you are almost done with starting a fashion blog in Kenya.
You just need to install a wordpress theme and plugins in Kenya.
Follow these steps;
How to install a wordpress theme in Kenya
Log in to your wordpress website using the credentials you created above.
1. Go to Dashboard ‹ My Blog — WordPress
2. Click on Appearance
3. Click on Add New
4. Type “fashion”
5. Sort through the available wordpress themes
6. Click on any theme that you want
7. Click on Install
And then finish by activating it. From here, you can customize it however you want.
How to download and install wp plugins in Kenya
Now that you have added a theme, let us add some necessary plugins.
In fact, here is a list of plugins you should install to your fashion blog in Kenya;
- Yoast SEO for SEO
- MonsterInsigts for analytics dashboard
- Optimole for Image optimization
- Contact 7 for creating contact forms.
To add a new plugin to your new fashion blog in Kenya, follow these steps;
1. Go to Dashboard ‹ My Blog — WordPress
2. Click on Plugins 5
3. Click on Add New
4. Type “contact 7”
Search for any plugin you’d wish to install
5. Click on Install Now
Step Four – Content
The most important part of any blog is its content, but this holds especially true in fashion blogging in Kenya.
You will need high-quality images that show off your outfit or clothing items while giving some insight into what makes them special and unique (and where they can be purchased).
If the item isn’t available anymore try mentioning why it was popular at the time or refer back to an old trend that has come back around again recently.
Also, make sure to add some personality to your posts!
Tell a story or share something that will make people feel like they know you.
This is where things get fun for fashion bloggers in Kenya because there are no rules when it comes to who can talk about what and how, just tell the truth about what has happened in your life since you started blogging in Kenya
Step Five – Monetizing Your Fashion Blog in Kenya
One of the most important steps to take with any blog/website is monetization.
You need to find out if this particular site makes sense for making money at all before spending too much time on it (as well as whether it would be worth investing money).
If so, look into Google Adsense programs because AdSense pays based on traffic earned by your site!
More on this in a bit.
Step Six – Keep Going
The hardest part of blogging in Kenya is staying motivated and keeping up with what needs to be done.
It takes a lot of hard work as well as the ability to detach yourself from your blog when you need to because it can become addictive really fast if you let it.
Whether it is every day or once every week, make sure that you are posting on schedule; this will keep people coming back for more content until they know exactly when new posts go live and hopefully subscribe so they don’t miss anything important (and get paid based on referrals).
Finally, you need to promote your new fashion blog in Kenya.
Proven ways to promote a fashion blog
Have a logo
Have a good cover photo with your logo on it. If you are able, make sure to get professional pictures taken for this blog post.
Know your audience
Know who your target audience is and what type of posts they like the most.
Try different types of posts (ex: outfit of the day) until you find one that works best!
Network
Interact with other people in the fashion blogging community by commenting on their blogs or sharing their content on yours!
This will help build up relationships within the group which can lead to collaborations down the road.
Make friends outside of blogging too if possible (they don’t have to be bloggers).
These friendships may come in handy when looking for a job after finishing school.
Make it easy for people to reach out
Add a “contact us” section to your blog where you can be reached. This way, people who are interested in working with you or interviewing may have an easier time reaching out!
Try new things
A fashion blogger in Kenya should always try new things and not just post the same type of content over and over again.
If there is something specific that they enjoy posting about more than others, they should still try to mix it up with other types of posts!
SEO
SEO is a way to improve your blog posts so that they rank higher in Google and other search engines.
There are several ways to go about this such as using the correct title tags, writing good content, avoiding spammy links, and more!
Social Media
Bloggers should do their best to interact with people on social media sites like Instagram or Facebook if possible.
Sharing others’ images will help you gain new followers while putting your own out there for everyone else too!
Paid Advertising
If you have money to spend (or want some extra cash) paid advertising would be a great thing to try!
You can use it on Instagram ads or Facebook ads depending on where you think the majority of your target audience spends most of their time.
Collaborations with brands
Bloggers can make a lot of money from collaborations!
Brands will pay you to post sponsored content on your blog as well as give out free products in return for an honest review which is great since most people won’t take the time to do that without being paid anyways.
Build relationships within your community
If someone offers to collaborate with you, always consider saying yes if it seems like a good fit, and don’t forget about them after they send over their product either!
The more friends you have, the better chances are that there may be another opportunity down the road so try not to burn any bridges 🙂
Guestpost
Promote yourself by submitting guest articles for other blogs in the industry or writing sponsored posts about products that will get people excited about what you’re doing
Finally, keep in mind that blogging takes time. It is not something you can do for a few hours every day and expect the blog post views to skyrocket overnight.
Be patient, work hard & stay consistent!
Proven ways to make money with a fashion blog in Kenya
a). Google AdSense
Since fashion is something that most people are very passionate about, they will be more than happy to click on ads if it means getting closer to buying the items you’re talking about.
b). Sponsored posts
This type of post can help give your blog an extra push in terms of traffic and branding with companies willing to pay for them since they’ll only want their products featured by a popular blogger or influencer.
c). Affiliate marketing
This is another great way to make money blogging since you’ll be promoting products and companies who are willing to give a percentage of sales in exchange for the traffic they get from your blog.
d). Paid reviews
This can work well if you have a very specific type of audience that’s looking for a certain product, which makes it easier for them to find what will benefit their needs best.
This system works better with smaller brands instead of bigger ones just because they’re more likely going to want direct opinions on whether or not people would recommend their products rather than positive promotion without any criticism.
e). Brand collaborations
The dream of every fashion blogger in Kenya is to get a collaboration with one or more brands they always talk about, but this can be harder than it seems since companies have lots of other people requesting the same things.
But if you’re able to land an exclusive deal where you promote them exclusively for a set period of time without any competitors being featured at the same time, then your blog will get all kinds of exposure from that partnership alone.
f). Sponsored travel
Many bloggers are starting to seek out these types of opportunities in order to expand their horizons and visit places while also promoting ones who would like some extra coverage during that trip.
Of course, this works best when traveling internationally rather than domestically because there’s going to be much less competition for each brand.
g). Sponsored outfit posts
This is a great way to showcase your fashion sense while also getting paid for it, making you feel even better about your blog.
Many companies will be willing to pay bloggers if they’re able to get an exclusive deal where their clothes are the only ones being worn in that post and therefore you’ll have more exposure overall from that partnership alone.
h). Paid email courses
These can work well especially since many people who find blogs via google may want some extra guidance when it comes to figuring out exactly what style works best with their bodies or how they should dress based on other factors such as age or profession.
This helps make them feel like there’s someone online giving them advice directly rather than just showing off different
i). Ad space
Paid ad space for brands in your blog posts.
If you emulate the style of a magazine, with photos and descriptions about multiple items at once, then companies will want to reach out to be featured on it.
