How to start a blog in 6 steps (Platforms, SEO, and many more) |
Are you ready to know how to start with a blog? This guide will help those of you. From hosting to SEO, follow these six steps to get your blog online and operating.
You know that blogging should make up a portion of your marketing strategy. It's a tried-and-true way to attract new customers and also share your experience with the world.
However, every time you set your laptop down to begin your journey towards becoming a blogger of the highest quality and you are overwhelmed with questions.
What platform should I use?
What is the cost?
What should I write about?
How can I convince people to take the time to read my blog posts?
What exactly is SEO?
It's enough to make head turn. We've have put together this step-by-step tutorial to starting your own blog.
Beginning a blog with success is hard work However, the results for your business and your customers are worth the effort. If you do the research and tools on your side, you'll be able to create a blog that both you and your audience will love.
Let's begin at the beginning How do you decide what to blog about?
One of the best methods of monetizing your blog is by selling digital products. Start selling for free now!
Step 1: Choose the blog's topic.
One of the greatest benefits of blogging is the fact that you are able to start a blog about almost any subject in the world.
The majority of people loveblogs. 77% of Internet users visit blogs and Internet users across the U.S. spend three times more time with blogs than on email. If you're passionate about a subject, chances are there's an readership that is the same and is eager to learn about the subject.
Here are some instances of blog sites that are successful, and the niches they serve:
Daniel Bogan's blog, a web developer's, Uses This , is dedicated to interviewing creators of every kind about the equipment and tools they use to create.
On her blog, Kaleigh Moore offers her insights as a freelance writer on behalf of eCommerce & SaaS companies.
Scientist and neuroscientist Stefanie Faye Frank makes use of her blog to "translate complicated scientific ideas into everyday language".
One thing all of the above blogs have one thing in common? Specificity.
Instead of blogging about freelance writing in general, Kaleigh talks about writing on her own subject. Rather than including travel tips for parties of all sizes, Queenie focuses on advice on solo travel for those who are like her.
To find your own specific market, try using the Passion/Profit Matrix.
passion: What are your feelings about getting to work on this? If you aren't happy being a part of something, its profits aren't important since you're likely to give up before reaching the goal.
Profit potential:Do people already spend on this issue? It is also possible to think of "profit" here as curiosity or search traffic. Are people currently researching this topic?
( Download your own copy of the matrix for Passion/Profit .)
The ideal product concept -or niche you can use for your blog -- falls within the upper left quadrant, which is the intersection of great passion and high potential profit.
When you have found that perfect area, content marketing consultant Ryan Robinson recommends asking these questions to validate your idea:
Are you interested enough about this blog niche? Do not pick a subject you feel lukewarm about just because it's a profitable.
Does there exist a market to this blog specific to this niche? Also Are there any goods or services targeted at this audience? If you're looking to make money blogging, you need an audience that is willing to pay.
Do you think this particular niche will continue to be popular for years in the future? It takes time to build a blog that is popular So, pick a topic that you will be writing about for a long time instead of a seasonal fad.
Once you choose the topic your blog will be about, it's time to decide which location you'll use to host it.
Step 2: Pick a blogging platform
From Tumblr and Blogger from Tumblr and Blogger to Medium and Wix There are many blogging platforms out there.
With more than 70 million articles posted each month on the platform, WordPress is by far the most well-known alternative. More than 28 million sites utilize WordPress in comparison to 4 million users on Squarespace.
However, Squarespace can be more user-friendly for beginners, especially if you don't have any coding experience.
Here's how the two platforms stack up when it is about features, personalization as well as cost.
(A quick note (A quick note: The prices listed throughout this article are accurate as of the date of the writing.)
Squarespace
For first-time website builders, Squarespace is an easy-to-use platform that does not require any programming expertise. The drag-and-drop interface is more lenient training curve as compared to WordPress.
However, that straightforward block interface does come at the price of customization and flexibility. Squarespace offers fewer designs as well as plugins and themes as WordPress and doesn't offer nearly the same blogging features.
In general, Squarespace is a website builder, which includes simple blogging tools, rather than being a platform designed for bloggers.
How much does Squarespace cost?
Along with the 14-day trial for free, Squarespace offers four different pricing plans . Pricing ranges from $23 up to $65 per month, paid monthly and $16-$49 monthly, annually.
They come with unlimited storage and a free domain for the first year, and unless you require e-commerce capabilities the two lower tiers will be sufficient to run your blog.
WordPress
WordPress is an online content management system (CMS) built for bloggers. That means it comes with built-in templates and tools for blogging. These include:
Post scheduling
Editing
Management comments
Multi-author benefit and multi-lingual settings
Technical SEO
WordPress also has a large selection of both free and paid WordPress plugins specifically for bloggers along with thousands of free WordPress themes specifically designed for blogs.
Then, what's the condition?
When it comes to building an individual blog and website, WordPress has a steeper education curve than Squarespace and makes it difficult to get the hang of for new bloggers. There's no drag-and-drop interface, and you'll need a basic HTML skills to completely modify your WordPress website.
Don't let that scare you off, however. Setting up a basic WordPress blog doesn't require hacker-level technical expertise, and since WordPress is so widely used it is a wealth of free resources out there to teach you the basics of.
How much will WordPress cost?
WordPress itself is free, but you still require a fee for hosting, custom domain name, themes and plugins.
According to blogger specialist Ryan Robinson , the cost to launch the creation of a WordPress website runs between $150 to $200. However, your recurring costs when using WordPress is likely to be lower than those with Squarespace.
Squarespace vs. WordPress: Which should you use?
This is a comprehensive analysis of the most significant differences between the two platforms:
Although the process of learning for WordPress is steeper The possibilities of personalizing your blog are infinite. Squarespace is a website builder. WordPress is a CMS initially designed specifically for bloggers.
All of this keeping in mind the above, WordPress is the better blog hosting choice for creators and bloggers seeking to develop as well as grow and ultimately increase the amount of money they can earn from their blogs.
The next step is to look at how to set up your blog on WordPress.
Step 3: Setup your blog.
In order to get your WordPress blog running, you need two things:
Domain names
Web hosting plans
Your domain name is where your website and blog live. If your blog is your online home the domain name you choose is the address you use online.
Choose your new domain's name as your blog's title If it's accessible. Avoid creating confusion to your clients using a non-related URL.
But what do you do if there's no blog orblog domain name?
Take business mindset coach Becky Mollenkamp , for example. Becky's blog and her digital offerings focus on sharing her personal experience with others in order to assist them succeed.
Becky is her name and brand. Therefore, it's logical to use beckymollenkamp.com for her business as well as domain name.
If you're stuck with a domain name, you might want to consider a name generator, such as Nameboy, Lean Domain Search or Nameboy . You enter keywords, and then the generators will come up with a selection of names for domains.
When you have found the perfect name then you must sign it up with a hosting service.
We highly recommend Bluehost . One of the most renowned web hosting companies around the globe, Bluehost offers free domain registration for the first year on every hosting plan. Bluehost's most basic plans start at $2.95/month.
If you're looking to invest a bit more, Bluehost also offers managed hosting accounts for WordPress websites.
These managed hosting plans start at $19.95/mo.
A good alternative in place of Bluehost, Siteground hosts more than 2,000,000 domains, and is renowned for having some of the best customer service that you can find. From $4.99/mo, Siteground is slightly more expensive than Bluehost's basic plans. But if are concerned that you will have to call tech support on a regular basis, they may be the right choice.
Once you've chosen a hosting provider, create your blog using WordPress. This involves installing WordPress on your site as well as deciding on and installing plugins, as well as finding the right theme and installing it.
If the cost of hiring a developer seems beyond your means I suggest these comprehensive tutorials by WPBeginner , the largest WordPress resource for free. WordPress resource:
It is a must-have WordPress plugins
What exactly is an WordPress plugin?
How do I set up the HTML0 theme on a WordPress theme
Keep in mind the fact that your WordPress blog does not have to have the fanciest premium themes, or even the most expensive plugins to produce amazing blog posts. All it needs is to function before you begin writing and publishing your posts.
Step 4: Start writing
You could open up an entirely new document, begin creating a list of ideas off the top of your head, and then hope for the best.
A few people do really work best that method.
It's not me. individuals. If you're not, let me introduce you to my blogger BFF, outlining.
Outlining saves you time, allows you to stay organised, and can help you arrange your content in a way that makes sense for your reader. It is possible to write your outline on paper and then use Google Docs, Dropbox Paper and Microsoft Word.
Here's the way that the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) recommends writers write their outline:
Think about it:List all the ideas that you'd like to put in your article.
Organise:Group related ideas together in sections.
Order:Arrange your ideas into sections.
Label:Add headings and subheadings in your article.
The team responsible for content utilizes this template to define every section of our blog articles:
[Header title]
Principal Theme:
Stats:
Case Study:
Examples:
Once you create your outline, you're ready to begin writing, even if you may not be ready.
Write down your thoughts and start now.
Be careful not to force yourself into finding exact words or avoid typos absolutely. You can always go back to edit and improve your writing in the future. The most important thing is to keep writing. Sooner or later you'll be writing a post that's ready for editing to create a stunning blog article.
It's not that writing is the speediest method, but.
The average blog post takes nearly 4 hours to complete.
Amanda Nielsen of New Breed Marketing explained to Databox , "You can gain a lot of SEO benefits when you transcribing your videos. If you've got the bandwidth make a transcript written as well as a blog for the purpose of promoting the video."
Are you too busy to translate the videos you make? Try an on-demand service like REV or an automatic transcription software such as Sonix .
After you write your blog post (whether from scratch or repurposed -then it's time to revise.
Resuming your writing after a bit of time away helps refresh your perspective, so you're more likely to catch tiny mistakes.
It's also possible to use a tool such as Grammarly , but it should never fully replace a human editor, even if you're self-editing.
Grammarly helps you identify spelling and grammar errors, suggests synonyms for common terms, and gives a lot of useful tips to help you learn for free.
Grammarly's AI often misses mistakes (or finds errors where they aren't) So, make sure that you read your documents in depth. Better yet, ask someone else to read it on your behalf.
You're now ready to launch your very first blog post -- and plan out a schedule for the remaining.
The creation of a schedule for publishing helps in keeping you accountable. It's hard to count how many times I've attempted to start a personal blog, written one post, but never published the next.
There's a good thing that you don't need to post new blog articles every day (or even every week) for a successful blog. If it's about blogging content, it's all about the quality of your content over the quantity. More in-depth, longer and well-researched blog posts do better.
HubSpot states that the best length of a blog post for SEO is between 2,100 to 2,400 words. An investigation by Orbit Media found that the majority of bloggers who publish 3000-word or more articles have "strong performance".
As Jay Baer of Convince and Convert explained to Orbit Media , "Blogging used to be a type of online newspaper with a lot of articles, published frequently. It's now an online magazine: a few longer pieces published less frequently."
Step 5: Optimize for search (SEO)
Search engine optimization could be the difference between a good blog that has only a handful of visitors and a great blog bringing in visitors by many thousands.
Optimized content shows up higher in search results for appropriate terms and keywords. If you can improve the quality of your content, the more easy it is for new people to discover it on searches.
And given that Google's organic search accounts to five-thirds of the internet traffic so grabbing one of the highest positions on the page of results matters. The top five results on the Google search are responsible for 67.6 percent of the clicks .
Additionally, SEO can play a big role in how profitable your blog is. Bloggers who make more than $50,000 a year consider organic, unpaid Google traffic as the most important way to market their blogs.
SEO is also less expensive than traditional advertisements -- and also more efficient. An Databox study found that a majority of marketers say they believe that SEO is better than pay-per-click ads in generating sales. This is the reason over 64% of marketers are actively investing time into SEO.
The best part is that starting a blog already can help you stay ahead of your competitors in the SEO game. Blogs on websites are able to have a 434percent higher probability of performing well in the search results webpage (SERP).
Even better news: If you have an WordPress blog and you are using the Yoast SEO plugin, Yoast SEO plug-in assists you in optimizing your content right from your WordPress website editor.
Here's how it is done:
You enter the phrase or keyword you would like your blog post to rank for.
Yoast analyzes your text and informs you if you're using the keyword enough and where it belongs for example, headers.
Yoast allows you to look at how your blog post might look in a Google search results page.
On the side, Yoast generates and applies schema.org structures as well as structured data that "helps search engines discover what each element of your site is about, who it belongs to and what the connections between everything".
Additionally, you can employ the tools for keyword research, such as Ahrefs' keyword generator to find out what sort of content your reader wants. You can also find out the difficulty of getting websites to rank with a specific keyword, plus how many times a keyword is searched in a month.
This will help you find your ideal key word .
What exactly does the search engine optimization appear as in real-time?
If I'm a parent with lots of responsibilities trying to manage the budget of my family, I may search for a term such as "budgeting for busy moms".
The highlighted snippet from the query "budgeting for busy moms" is the article from Simplified motherhood. It's a blog that helps busy moms keep their lives organized.
If your blog is optimized with a keyword search that you can increase the likelihood of appearing on the first page or two of search results. Your target audience is more likely to find the content you post, go to your blog, and, when they are confident in your knowledge, buy your digital products.
For additional SEO tips and techniques Check out these sources:
Overall, SEO is a must-have for bloggers. However, it's not the only way to grow your audience.
Step 6: Grow your audience
Blogging is a two-way street The first step is to start a blog. It could help you expand your reach, and advertising to your followers can help you expand your blog. Blogs that have a presence generate about 67% more leads as compared to those that do not have one.
Three of our top strategies for bringing in new blog and email readers.
1. Send emails using opt-in form
Trainer and developer Reuven Lerner uses his blog to expand his email list by including an opt-in form on his blog.
Create a compelling call-to action (CTA). Give people a specific motive to sign up to your mailing listsuch as "Teach me more Python!" from Reuven's illustration.
Set expectations. Tell subscribers what information they'll receive as well as how often they'll be contacted by you.
One of the most effective method to turn blog users into customers is by offering an item of value to exchange their contact info.
2. Encourage subscribers to take advantage of lead magnets
If they give you their email addresses, and you give them important material. It's a win-win situation.
Lead magnets let potential customers know the reasons why they can trust them. Lead magnets that are effective include practical, useful information specifically targeted at your customers and the issues they face.
To create a content upgrade:
Identify the content on your site that brings maximum traffic.
Add that content to the relevant page.
Turn more readers into subscribers.
If you need a place to host your digital downloads -- regardless of whether they're digital items to sell or lead magnets -- you should take the time to look into . Try it out without cost now.
Opt-in forms and lead magnets are great ways to turn blog readers into subscribers. But beyond sharing your blog posts on social media How do you gain these blog followers in the first place? Our final and third tip will help you get there.
3. Guest post on different blogs
Guest posts are a fantastic way to reach a broader market, particularly if you're posting on a well popular blog.
Here are the top advantages from guest blogging :
Increase backlinks.
Enhance Domain Authority (a rank score for search engines).
Get people to visit your site.
Increase the visibility of your brand.
This is probably the reason 60 percent of bloggers write anything from one to five guest blog posts every month.
Before you write a guest post it is necessary to pitch it. In order to present it to the world, you must to locate blogs within the area you are interested in that will accept guest posts.
Here are some websites to help you get started:
The list includes 200+ web sites and blogs which are accepting guest posts
The list includes 150+ websites to host blog on.
Many well-established websites that allow guest post submissions usually provide pitching and writing guidelines for you to follow, such as these from Practical Wanderlust's website. .
Once your pitch is accepted You write the post, and the blog publishes your guest post. You can then post the link on your followers on social media and email list to give your post more exposure as well as referral traffic.
Once you grow your audience and you have a larger audience, you are able to monetize your blog. Check out these resources on monetization to start turning a profit:
The time is now to blog'
Starting a blog isn't always simple. If you're willing to put in effort and utilize the appropriate tools and resources, blogging could help you reach new people, share your expertise, and increase your profit.
In case you're wondering, here's the steps to start your blog:
Choose a topic and niche to your blog. Discover something both of you and your followers are passionate about.
Pick a blogging platform. Squarespace and WordPress are two of the best options, and for blog features and customization, WordPress is a clear winner.
Set up your blog. Choose and register the domain name, and then buy a hosting plan.
Start writing your first post. Utilize an outline for inspiration, then develop a publication calendar for yourself to be accountable.
Optimize your blog for search. SEO is the primary way that blogs with a high traffic rate succeed and lets the ideal audience locate the blog and its content.
Grow your audience with leads magnets, opt-in forms, and guest posts. Once you build up your subscriber base and list of email addresses You can make money from your blog.
Now that you have all this blogging knowledge You're on the path to becoming a successful blogger. Now get out there and write.