Jolly good bloggers
This Friday sees the return of the annual National UK Blog Awards – a chance to showcase and celebrate some of the top blogging talent from the UK.
Blogging began in the early 2000s, but in the last five years it’s really exploded. As the media becomes much more open and digital, it seems everyone with an opinion has created themselves an online platform to act as their soapbox.
Businesses, too, are taking to the blogisphere to boost their SEO credentials, and create helpful and informative content to push via their brand social media channels.
We’re gutted that we can’t make it to the UK Blog Awards this Friday – the standard of nominee is incredibly high, and they all deserve recognition for their hard work, dedication, and creativity. To celebrate the awards, we’ve decided to create our own alternative shortlist.
Here are five bloggers that weren’t nominated for the UK Blog Awards, but we think they deserve a jolly good mention anyway. And to all those that were nominated, the best of luck to you!
Category: Parenting
Luminous nominee: Honest Mum
Vicki, AKA Honest Mum, started blogging in 2010 while on maternity leave. After experiencing a difficult pregnancy and traumatic birth, Vicki wanted to create an outlet to help herself, and others who might be going through a similar situation, come to terms with being a mum.
Vicki writes candidly about motherhood, including the bits that are often sugar-coated or overlooked. She also shares healthy recipes for hungry families, product reviews, and opinion pieces aiming to empower other women. She also run profiles on other ‘wonderful women’ who have been successful in their own way.
Our favourite post: How to stop worrying about what others think of you.
Category: Business
Luminous nominee: The Marketing Blog
Founded by entrepreneur, Will Corry, The Marketing Blog provides “informed no-holds-barred commentary on the state of advertising and media.”
The blog pulls together all the vital news that those working in marketing and advertising need to know: who’s hired who, who’s fired who, who’s running what campaign and how much it cost. The site also publishes opinion pieces, and informative how-to guides on topics such as social media metrics, PR, and video marketing, as well as hosting a jobs board dedicated to opportunities in marketing and advertising.
Our favourite post: Five of the best April Fool’s day campaigns.
Category: Lifestyle
Luminous nominee: Healthista
Healthista prides itself on its reputation as “your healthy best friend”. The site is dedicated to real-life health advice, written by a team of ‘normal’, healthy bloggers and journalists.
Unlike your usual women’s lifestyle site, followers are not bombarded with pictures of women in bikinis. Instead, Healthista focuses on all aspects of health, including mental health and happiness, as well as looking at current health trends, and whether they’re worth it. The advice is non-judgemental, and looks to promote health as part of a ‘bigger picture’, rather than just focussing on weight and body size.
Our favourite post: How Harry Potter helped me overcome dyslexia.
Category: Vlogger
Luminous nominee: Physics Girl
In a world over-run with young, female vloggers using their YouTube channels to show off their latest Primark ‘hauls’, or endorsing beauty products for a hefty fee, Physics Girl is refreshingly different.
Dianna Cowern, creator of ‘Physics Girl’, is a physics graduate from MIT and Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Along with writer, Sophia Chen, the pair create bitesize YouTube videos to explain physics principles to “every atom and eve”.
As the name suggests, the Science Girl team are also keen to attract more women into STEM subjects. That doesn’t mean the science is ‘fluffy’, or watered-down, though. Using simple props and some really cool animation, the Science Girl videos tackle subjects like lasers, perpetual motion, black holes, Pi, and relativity.
Our favourite post: How to make a cloud in your mouth.
Category: Personal finance
Luminous nominee: Mrs Bargain Hunter
Everybody wants to save money where they can, but most money saving blogs are full of tips that verge on the ridiculous. Who really has time for extreme couponing, or reusing teabags?!
Mrs Bargain Hunter is different. As well as providing readers with details of current offers and bargains, Mrs Bargain Hunter also writes in-depth pieces about how to live more cheaply, without getting silly-obsessed with frugality. We really like her down-to-earth writing style, and her short, easy to read posts.
Our favourite post: Make money from your home by letting people work there.
Happy reading
We can’t wait to hear which bloggers pick up awards at the UK Blog Awards on Friday night. Until then, we’ll be rooting for all of you! Good luck!
Are you going to the UK Blog Awards? Who do you think should win? Let us know in the comments, or on Twitter.
