Starting a blog may seem like an intimidating task for any aspiring writer who has no idea where to begin. There’s just so much to think about that it becomes too overwhelming to even take the first step. I know there’s so much content out there telling you the to do’s and whatnots. Hey, I was at that place myself.
While you can pursue blogging as a business or a full-time career, you can also blog for the love of sharing new things! Hey, we all want to get somewhere but starting out because you love to do it is also a key feature that will help you stay consistent in this venture. Here’s my guide to starting a blog for those who want to start!
Find Your Audience
Finding your Niche
Starting From Scratch
Come up with an awesome name
Blog Name Tips
Domain + Hosting
The Difference Between Domain & Hosting
Get Them For Free
Customizing Your Site
Branding + Themes
Design
Creating Content
Your Pages
SEO Basics
Content Schedule
Images & Graphics
Bonus Step!
FIND YOUR AUDIENCE
When starting a blog, the first question that comes to your mind is, What is going to be the topic of the blog? Here comes the term ‘niche’. A Blog Niche generally means a specific category or genre about which the blog is, say tech or gaming or fashion or maybe traveling.
If you love to travel, go for it. Food? Post those recipes or those recently discovered eats. There are so many things to write about. Information is endless. That’s why you have to discover your own niche. So what do you first need to do? Place yourself in a specific niche that will help you grow and build your influence from the ground up.
FINDING YOUR NICHE
The best way to filter that down is to choose the blog niche based on your passion, experience, and if you’re willing to talk about it consistently. The best blogs have a couple of key attributes that help them keep up with and keep on growing an unwavering audience. It’s all about quality content.
STARTING FROM SCRATCH
COME UP WITH AN AWESOME NAME
Now your blog name is something that will stick with you until you decide on something else but then it’s going to take time to establish that new name. No worries though and no pressure, just give yourself ample time to brainstorm the kind of name that would stick to your niche.
BLOG NAME TIPS:
- Make it Unique
- Make it memorable
- Match as much as possible
- Be sure it’s future-proof
- Check its availability
If you’re struggling to think up a blog name. Don’t be too hard on yourself, the perfect blog name will come to you in due time. But remember that a blog name is in itself – just a name. Your content is what matters and holding off everything for a blog name is one of the biggest reasons why people are unable to start in the first place. You are your brand.
domain + hosting
the difference between domain & hosting
Now you may have come across these terms interchangeably but technically they’re totally different you need both if you want a fully personalized blog. A domain is the website’s name and hosting is the service that allows the website to be accessed on the internet.
- DOMAIN. A domain on the other hand is the URL of your website. This is the address to your website. My domain is TheYang.One. To claim your personalized domain name, you’ll need to pay an annual fee.
- HOSTING. This is basically a service that you need to avail yourself together with your domain in order to reserve your spot on the internet — it’s a place that holds all your blog’s data, posts, photos, and more.
where to get them for free
- WordPress. If you want further information on how to set up a WordPress site. Check out my article here.
- Tumblr
- Blogger
- Weebly
- Wix
customizing your site
This is probably both the most exciting and overwhelming fun part. You definitely want your blog to reflect you and your niche. The free blogging platforms I mentioned above also have that feature but only to an extent. Otherwise, you can still tweak them around bit by bit.
Branding + Themes
While you can change your theme anytime and do a refresh. It’s less of a hassle in the early part unless you change your mind. Eventually, there will come a time when you want to tweak a little bit of this and that.
Now let’s talk about good branding. It’s a lot to cover so I will do my very best to summarize it in a nutshell:
- Branding is a collection of elements in your blog that reflects your message. It’s not just about the colors. It is everything that the reader sees on your site that reflects your own unique definition.
- Let your brand reflect how you describe yourself. Are you the tech whiz? The friendly tita fashionista? The introverted traveler? Show off your personality and set yourself apart from the rest.
- You can opt to do this later on but if you’re keen on doing this consistently then it’s time to create your own personal brand and stick to it all throughout. (Or until you’d like a refresh)
creating content
YOUR PAGES
With each post you make and improve, you can increase your visibility through search results; In time you will eventually establish your own credibility in the blogging realm. Staying consistent is always the key.
SEO BASICS
Search Engine Optimization is the most common way of utilizing specialized and on-page SEO methods to build your blog’s visibility in organic searches. While utilizing blog SEO, you have two essential objectives, one is to ensure search engines can find and comprehend your blogs with the goal that they can convey them to significant searchers, and the other is to ensure you’re composing important blog content that lines up with your crowd’s necessities and interests. Here are a couple of tried and tested tips you can do for your blog:
- Posting blogs on designated blog directories
- Addressing questions and commenting in major online forums
- Promotion on social media
- Utilizing plugins and website features to extend the blog’s scope, for example, those that give availability to social media, execute RSS feeds, or give in-depth analytics of the blog
CONTENT SCHEDULE
There are several ways to schedule content, depending on your needs and resources. Ultimately, the best way to schedule content will depend on your specific needs and the resources you have available. It’s important to find a method that works for you and to regularly review and adjust your scheduling as needed.
IMAGES & GRAPHICS
bonus step
make money from blogging!
Once your blog is ready, and your blog posts are ready, the next important task is to get them organized. Organizing your blog entries is principally about assisting your readers with finding the content which intrigues them by gathering related content together. These organization choices generally structure an essential piece of the navigation structure for your site – and ought to be pretty much as clear and succinct as could be expected.
So, what’s stopping you from starting your own blog, and getting new readers for your blog posts?
