Whether you want to write about your daily life, the news, or a topic that is interesting to you, starting a blog can be a fun and rewarding hobby. For many people, a blog can become more than a hobby and can provide a source of income. Although blogging isn’t very complicated, starting one can seem daunting unless you break it down into easy steps.
Research Niches
Learning how to choose a blog niche is the most important step you will take in starting a blog. No one wants to read a blog about anything and everything that crosses your mind. The only time you shouldn’t worry about a niche is if you are writing your blog for your own private enjoyment or to keep family and friends updated on your life.
For anyone who wants to write a blog as a potential income source, to create a following, and increase exposure on a particular topic, you will need to establish your niche.
Find Your Website and Domain Name
Next, you will need to find a company to host your website and choose a domain name. Finding a company to host your website can be hard because there are so many to choose from. Start by making a list of what you want to get from the company and then read reviews to select one that works for you.
You will also need to choose a domain name. When doing this, try to find a name that is unique but tells something about your blog. You don’t want a name that requires an added letter or symbol, because that will be hard for people to remember. Make sure your name isn’t too precise in case you want to expand your niche later.
Choose a Theme
You also need to choose a theme. Unless you are an excellent coder or know how to use HTML, pick a ready-to-go theme that will be easy to use and customize. There are both paid and free options available, and the most important thing will be to choose a simple look that says something about you and your niche, or that is easily modified for any topic. Don’t go overboard with graphics, widgets, and other cluttering items because you want to have a lot of white space and margin in your blog. If you don’t know what you want your website to look like, scour the internet and look at other blogs and sites for inspiration.
Set up Your Site
Take a few hours or days to get everything set up. Arrange pages, headers and footers, and photos in an attractive and easy-to-use way. Make sure you have a menu where all your pages can be accessed and adjust your site to work for both mobile and computer access.
Make a Blog Strategy
Before you start writing, you need to have a strategy. This is your road map for where you want to go and how to get there. Because you will plan your posts ahead of time, you will always have a list of things to write about when you sit down to start writing. You will also have a network of related topics that you have discussed in detail and from different angles, creating a more useful and filled-out website for your readers. By the time you are done with your post strategy, you should have an idea of where you want to be in 6 months and a specific list of 15-30 posts that you want to write in the first month.
Write Posts
Finally, it’s time to start writing! Now that you have a website ready for your content and a list of content you need, you can start writing. Use your strategy to guide you in writing posts, and as you finish each one you can upload it to your site. Make sure that you add links where they make sense, both to external authoritative sites and internally to create a network of linked posts on your site.
When you are writing your posts, you need to keep some things in mind. First, while you don’t have to be an excellent writer you should understand basic grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. You should know how to communicate your ideas in a clear way without being confusing. And you need to learn about “blog format”, the specific style of writing that most internet articles are formatted in.
- 800-1500 words
- Organized by subheadings
- Short paragraphs with a lot of white space
- Use of bullet points and charts as needed
- Opening and closing paragraphs
Link Your Social Accounts
Don’t forget to link your social accounts to your blog, if that is how you plan to share your posts. You can link your existing accounts, or you can create pages specifically for your blog. Either way, take a day or two to get everything linked up and automated so your posts will share across your accounts as soon as you upload them.
Evaluate Your Progress
Take time every week or so to read through your analytics and evaluate your readership. It may take a long time for your website to start getting views, and that’s okay. Just keep writing and posting and let time work for you. Steady progress, a rapidly increasing number of posts, and the network of links you are creating will all help make your blog successful. Don’t give up!
Monetize
After you start to get some readers and you have a lot of posts up, you will want to start monetizing your blog. This means finding ad companies to place ads on your site, searching for companies that will sponsor posts, and finding affiliate opportunities. Eventually, you will want to consider creating products to sell such as ebooks or courses, and sponsoring posts on other sites to drive traffic.
Keep Growing
Finally, you need to keep growing. Keep writing those posts, finding ways to monetize, and growing your presence. You may eventually spend more time working on analytics and sponsorships than you do writing posts! Before you get to that point, you will go through many periods of doubt and discouragement. Don’t give up.