To start a successful blog you need to plan ahead, work hard, and have a plan of action. Below is a step by step guide that you can use to start your own blog and without a doubt, start it on the right track.
1. Choose Your Niche
The first thing when starting a blog is to select a topic you are interested in and people read. Your topic should be one that you are familiar with and do not mind talking about because blogging is a long-term activity. Some of the most demanded topics are related to the human body and mind, finance and investments, tourism, clothing and accessories, gadgets, and cuisine. However, when it comes to niche, one means a broad category; it should be rather more precise. For instance, instead of the general title of 'Travel', opt for 'Affordable travel advice for the single traveler.
2. Select a Blogging Platform
After this, you should decide on a domain on which you are going to host your blog based on your niche. WordPress. ` org is by far the most popular one because of stability, the availability of a wide variety of plugins, and a great community. There's Wix, Squarespace, Blogger and essentially more others, yet with WordPress you can have as much control as you can imagine and it is way more flexible if you want to grow your blog to becoming a business.
3. Select your Domain Name and Hosting
The blog name or the blog address is often referred to as the URL which is your blog's unique address or home on the web such as www. yourblogname. com. It should be unique that it can easily stick in one's mind, easy to pronounce, and its name should in some way relate to your specialty. After you have decided on the domain name you will require a hosting service through which your blogs files will be stored and your blog accessible on the web. Some of the widely used web hosts are Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator. Some of the hosting companies even provide the option of domain registration along with the hosting services that make the process quite easy.
4. Design Your Blog
Choose your blog's design since this initial impression does matter when you are starting to blog. Select a theme that is neat and presentable for your blog and should reflect your line of specialty. In case you are in WordPress, then there is a rich mix of themes that one can apply, with most of them being free, and others being fairly expensive. Make sure that the blog is mobile friendly because majority if internet usage is on mobile devices. It is the best if the website remains as simple and uncluttered as possible so the visitors will not get lost in a maze trying to locate the information that they need.
5. Create High-Quality Content
It is in content that you stand and this is the main basis of your blog. Proper content will draw the readers and encourage them to get back for more with appealing and informative content. Your posts should have some sort of utilitarian purpose to your audience where you are either informing or entertaining or solving a specific issue or pain point. Incorporate new information to your blog often and ensure that the information you are putting out is credible and properly written. Levi use the mixture of the various blog types such as, how to, list, opinion, and product review to make the blog versatile.
6. Optimize for SEO
SEO is the backbone for acquiring organic traffic to your blog as compared to PPC. SEO piece is a strategy of improving your content and website architecture so that it can rank higher in the search engine results. This includes policy compliance, proper use of the keywords in the title, meta description, proper use of image tags and the site speed. It is good to make the necessary adjustments of SEO friendly to your web page, especially for WordPress users; you can use Yoast SEO. Moreover, build the good quality backlinks for creating guest posts in other blogs and doing works with the other related influencers.
7. Promote Your Blog
Blog writing is one of the aspects of blogging and the second part is chiefly concerned with publicity and marketing to get the targeted traffic. You should also social share your content on the various platforms of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest among others. You need to find and actively participate in online communities and forums with your areas of specialization so that you can provide helpful information while directing the visitors to your blog. One should incorporate email marketing to develop a list of people who are willing to be updated on its content. It is recommended to share periodic newsletters with the readers as a way to continuously update them on the content and post some that are only accessible to them.
8. Monetize Your Blog
It is only when the blog has started gaining traffic, then one can now look for ways to possibly earn from the blog. There are several ways to make money from a blog:The following below are some of the ways that one can make income from the blog:
1. Affiliate Marketing: Selling of products and services on your blog, if the buyer uses your link to purchase a product, you'll earn a percentage from the sale.
2. Display Ads: Ad networks such as Google AdSense can be used on your blog in a bid to place ads and get compensated depending on the number of times the ads are viewed or clicked.
3. Sponsored Posts: Advertisers can hire services from you to develop content that market their products or services for hire.
4. Sell Products or Services: Selling your own products which could comprise of e-books, online courses or even offer your services based on your area of specialization like consultancy services or even coaching services.
9. Engage with Your Audience
It is therefore important to note that creating a good blog is more than just getting a readership but creating an interaction with the readership. Engage your audience and respond to comments on posts, answer questions, and listen to your audience. Employ your social media followers to engage with them, and seek to know what they want you to develop into content for them. Establishing the community of your blog help you to build loyal audience who would be willing to help the growth of your blog.
10. Analyze and Improve
Finally, schedule the evaluation of the progress of your blog, to determine the positive and negative aspects. You should use applications such as Google analytics to monitor traffic, analyze your audience and even know your most consumed content. When using your blog, ensure that you note the bounce rate, the time that visitors spend on a single page, and the conversion rate. With these facts, endeavor to refine the content, design and promotional aspects of your site to fit the audience's requirements more effectively.
It is therefore important to note that in order to start the right blog, it takes time, lots of hardships and most importantly, determination. With the right selection of the niche, creating relevant and excellent content, aiming for SEO, and interacting with the audience, one can create a blog with readers and profits. Bear in mind that having a great blog does not happen in a day, but with struggle, your blog will eventually be a great addition to your resume.
