Starting a blog can be a daunting experience. Especially if you've never owned a website before. However, having a blog is simpler than you think. Even if you've never set up a website before, you can have a fully functional blog in a few hours.
In this article, we'll show you how to find a blog niche, choose the right blog platform, name your blog, choose a hosting provider, create your site, publish your first post, and more.
- What is a Blog?
- Why Should You Have a Blog?
- How to Set Up a Blog in 10 Steps
- Step 1: Choose Your Niche
- Step 1: Research Your Field
- Step 1: Name Your Blog
- Step 1: Create your content calendar
- Step 5: Choose your blog platform
- Step 6: Buy web hosting
- Step 1: Create your new blog
- Build Your Blog with a Website Builder
- Creating a Blog with WordPress
- Step 8: Start writing!
- Step: Publish your first post
- How to Publish a Post with WordPress?
- Step 10: Promote your blog
What is a Blog?
A blog is a website that focuses primarily on written content . Each of these written contents are known as blog posts. You can prepare and publish blog posts on basically any topic imaginable, from personal blogs to business blogs and travel blogs. Blogs differ from other websites because they consist primarily of blog articles.
Many successful online businesses have been built on the back of quality blockchains. Blogs have the advantage of allowing you to build a targeted readership to which you can then sell products, services or training. You should remember that you always have the potential to turn a blog into an online brand with the right web hosting package and content .
Why Should You Have a Blog?
There are many reasons to have a blog. You may be looking to generate traffic for your existing site, share your perspective with the world, brand yourself as an expert, or gain enough followers to monetize your blog through ads or affiliate links.
You don't need to have top-level writing skills to have a successful blog. In fact, the simpler and more conversational you write, the better. People don't turn to blocks to read textbook-like prose or great literary writing. Instead, they want realistic practical information based on real-life experience.
If writing isn't right for you right now, you might consider trying some tools to help you write like a pro or finding a writing course or coach to help you improve your skills. Writing is a learnable skill, and you will inevitably get better with more practice.
The main prerequisite you should consider starting a blog is a mix of knowledge to be shared and curiosity to learn more as you go. Ultimately, it's most important to know what all your blog posts will be about and make sure you have something valuable to say.
How to Set Up a Blog in 10 Steps
Starting a block is relatively easy. You can create your new blog by mastering these ten steps.
- Choose your niche
- Research your field
- Give your blog a name
- Create an editorial calendar
- Choose your blog platform
- Buy web hosting
- Create your new blog
- start typing
- Publish your first post
- Promote your blog
Step 1: Choose Your Niche
Before you start naming your blog and creating your site, you have to decide what you will actually write about.
A blog niche is more than just a topic or market segment. How you approach this topic depends on your unique background and the audience you're speaking to. Your niche will give your blog a focal point, guide your site's design, and illuminate the unique experience you give your visitors.
If you're going to create a blog that will help promote your business, your blog niche needs to be directly tied to the product you sell. It doesn't make sense for a pet store to blog about football.
If you want to create a personal brand, consider both what you are interested in and what your goals are. Do you want your blog to help you find a job or clients? If so, be sure to cover topics that are relevant to the types of jobs and people you want to work for and what you hope to be hired for.
If you want to start a blog to share your thoughts on a topic you're passionate about, then you don't have to think strategically (unless your end goal is to make money from it). But still think about it to determine the main types of topics you want to cover and the point of view you want to represent. Having a blog about food won't attract as many followers as finding a more specific perspective, like how to make allergy-friendly foods that kids will eat. There is a specific audience out there looking for this content, and they are more likely to find you than a much larger audience of people who eat.
Step 2: Research Your Field
Even if you're an expert in your chosen niche, that doesn't mean you know what makes a successful blog in your niche. Take some time at this stage to find out what blocks already exist in your niche and what the most successful ones are currently doing.
Start looking at the topics you aim to cover on your blog to see what comes up. Pay special attention to blocks containing articles for more than one related topic. Spend some time on each of these sites and pay attention to:
- The main topic areas they cover (often you'll see them listed as categories in the blog's menu, footer, or on the side)
- How long blog posts tend to be
- Do the titles follow any common structure?
- How the blog posts themselves are structured (how many sections the blog posts have, how often they use bullet points and numbered lists, etc.)
- Other types of media they tend to include (videos, images, infographics)
- Most popular blog posts (some blogs highlight these in a sidebar, sometimes you can tell by the number of comments)
When checking out your competitors, see if there are any gaps in what they offer. Can you provide something that none of these other blocks do? But also, as you consider how to differentiate yourself, remember that what they are doing is working. Look for trends in the post types, headlines, and types of content that audiences (and search engines) like most.
Step 3: Name Your Blog
Your blog's name should come from your topic. Ideally, you should choose something descriptive and catchy so your readers will immediately understand what your blog is about. However, you may have difficulty with this since you need to choose a name that is not already taken.
Take some time to write down keywords related to your niche and any random words that come to your mind. For example, a travel blog does not need to have the word “travel” in its domain. You can use related words like journey, wanderlust, exploration, tour, flying, and more.
For consistency, it is advantageous for your blog name and domain name to be the same. This helps your site stay responsive and makes it easier for people who like what they read to remember and find you. This means that you should choose a domain name that matches your blog's premise from the very beginning.
Once you have some ideas, start using a domain search tool to research what's actually available . The search tool will show you if your chosen domain name is available and if not, give you some relevant suggestions that are available. This will show you the various domain extensions you can purchase. The most common domain extension. com, but successful blogs have been created using various extensions such as .net and .com.
Once you find a domain name that is available and has the extension you want, register it immediately. You don't want someone else to pick it up while it's still in the planning stages.
Step 4: Create your content calendar
Now that you have a general idea of what your blog will cover, it's time to customize it. Preparing your blog will be much easier if you create an editorial calendar in advance. Knowing what to write about will give you momentum so you'll be ahead from the get-go.
Start by deciding on a few main topics to write about. When you start blogging, you probably won't know or write everything. Focus on the most important topics in your niche—those you actually have knowledge of or are interested in learning about.
For example, if you're starting a lifestyle blog, your main topics might be travel, fashion, and party planning. Or if you're starting a fishing-related blog, your main topics might be deep sea fishing, bay fishing, and gear reviews.
Now that you know your main blog topics, you can create a content calendar.
A content calendar (sometimes called an editorial calendar) is a publishing schedule. You can use it to track work, due dates, content types, distribution channel, and publication dates. Ultimately, an editorial calendar is a planning tool that helps you publish content on a regular schedule and take into account events and seasons on time as you plan.
How to create a content calendar?
Follow these four steps to create your blog content calendar.
List your main topics and start “brainstorming” articles for each topic.
Creating some basic posts on ever-popular topics will be enough when you're just starting out. A blog focused on vegetarian cooking may want to include posts about reasons to eat more vegetarian food and some staples you should keep in your kitchen. These will help you establish your point of view and show that you know what you're talking about before getting into more specific topics. But at this point, the more ideas the better.
Don't stop at the basics, keep writing blog article ideas until they're done. Write down as much as you have before you run out, and then brainstorm by reading what you've written.
Make a list of all the holidays and celebrations associated with your blog.
For example: if you're creating an e-commerce blog, you should probably make sure your blog addresses Black Friday and other major shopping holidays.
Search magazine editorial calendars for inspiration.
Your niche research has probably given you some ideas about other blogs for inspiration, but also consider browsing media websites and magazines. Go to websites related to similar topics that will be on your blog and find their annual editorial calendars. This is usually located under the About or Ad section .
Create a schedule of your chosen topics in a calendar.
Choose a format that suits you here. This could be a spreadsheet, digital calendar, or a paper calendar. Creating a schedule ahead of time will help you stick to blogging because you'll always know what you'll be writing about and will have set deadlines you need to stick to.
Keep your editorial calendar somewhere you can easily refer to it. Maybe you could even add a section where you can jot down ideas for new blog posts when creative inspiration strikes. No matter what format you use, your editorial calendar will help you stay organized so you can stay on schedule and create blog articles on time.
Step 5: Choose your blog platform
Luckily, you don't need to know how to code to start a blog. There are several software options to choose from that allow you to design your blog and publish posts without having to learn a programming language.
By far the most popular choice for blockchains is WordPress . WordPress is a content management system that allows you to create your blog and manage your content. WordPress is popular because:
- It is free and open source
- It is relatively easy to use
- You can find many themes to choose from, making it easy to create your website
- There are tons of plugins that extend the functionality of WordPress
- You can find lots of resources to help you learn how to use WordPress and get the most out of it.
Getting your design right with WordPress and learning how to work with different themes and plugins requires some work. However, it's designed specifically for blogging, so once you've got your main blog design in place, it's pretty easy to add and edit new posts moving forward.
Step 6: Buy web hosting
If you want your blog to be live on the internet, you'll need a solid web host behind you. When you purchase a hosting plan, you rent server space that will give you a place to store your site's files. Without a hosting company, you'll have a domain name without a website.
When creating your first blog, you have a few different hosting options to explore. The two types that make the most sense for blogs are: shared hosting and WordPress hosting.
Hosting types:
Shared hosting allows you to keep your hosting costs low while providing the server resources necessary to grow your site. If your site continues to scale, you may need to upgrade hosting in time, but a shared hosting account will give you a solid foundation to work from.
WordPress Hosting is, as it sounds, a hosting plan that specializes in websites built on WordPress. This means you'll never have to worry about compatibility issues, your web host will usually take care of keeping things updated for you, you can expect fast speeds, and you'll have security features that work well with WordPress.
Shared hosting is a cheaper option , so if your main priority is saving money or you're building your website with a website builder rather than WordPress, this makes the most sense. And for most personal and small business websites, shared hosting will provide everything you need. But if you're using WordPress to build your website and are willing to spend a little more, WordPress hosting can mean a little more speed, security, and ease of use.
Step 7: Create your new blog
With your domain and hosting account setup, it's time to actually create your site. Creating a blog is similar to creating any other type of website, but you need to make sure that the platform you choose has blogging functionality.
Creating a Blog with WordPress
The first step to setting up your blog on WordPress is to install WordPress with your web hosting account. If you have chosen a Birhost web hosting plan, this step can be completed in one click.
You will then be able to create your website inside WordPress. The easiest way to create a good-looking website within WordPress is to find a theme with a design you like. Designers make lots of great-looking WordPress themes, so take some time to find the one you like. If you're not sure where to start, you can check out a list of some of the most popular WordPress themes for blogging .
Once you've chosen a theme you like, activate it by logging into your WordPress account, going to Appearance>Themes , then clicking 'Add New'. Search for the name of your chosen theme, then click Activate and Customize.
Your theme will form the basis of how your site looks and functions. It will provide most of the basic design of your website, so once you've made it look the way you want it, you can focus solely on the content. To further customize your site, you can look at Appearance>Customize . This will give you many different options to choose from to organize your site.
Build Your Blog with a Website Builder
If you've decided to use a website builder, the details of creating your blog will depend on the website builder you choose. In most cases, the process begins by either choosing a template (similar to a theme in WordPress) that forms the basis of your website's design, or by providing some basic information about the website you've created and the website you've created with the website builder.
For detailed information on how to create your blog on the website builder of your choice, check out the resources provided by the company.
Step 8: Start writing!
Before you can actually start promoting your blog, you need to have some content (even if it's small at first). A blog with just one article doesn't give people much of an idea of what to expect or why they'll return. If you have a lot of interesting posts already published on your site, visitors are more likely to read, like your articles, and decide to come back later for more.
Go back to your editorial calendar and start with the first few planned posts.
A great blog article should have:
- A catchy article title
- Images that explain or add to the topic
- Useful information
Generally, you should structure this information in a format that is easy to read; This means breaking the topic down into headings and subheadings and adding lists and bullet points where it makes sense. Where relevant, you should include links to further helpful information.
Also, for any blog that has a clear goal, such as helping promote a business or gaining enough followers to make money, it's best to think about what action you want visitors to take and add a call to action (CTA). Some CTA examples you might consider are signing up for your email list, setting up a call, or checking out a product.
Make sure to always proofread your blog posts before publishing. Spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense can turn readers away from your blog.
Step 9: Publish your first post
Writing articles is the hardest part, publishing them is quite easy!
How to Publish a Post with WordPress?
Within WordPress, select Posts > Add New from the left menu.
This will open the post editor screen where you can enter your title, post content, and any media you want to add. After you place the content, there are a few more steps you need to take before hitting the “Publish” button:
- Add relevant tags to your post and select relevant categories for it
- Choose your featured image
- Add a meta description, which is a brief description of your post that is intended to appear in search engines (and ideally helps persuade people to click). Note: It's probably best to add an SEO (search engine optimization) plugin to WordPress to make this part easier .
- Click the Preview button in the upper-right corner of the screen to see how your post will appear when published. Take a moment to make sure everything looks right.
Once you are happy with your blog post, click 'Publish' and your post will now be live.
Step 10: Promote your blog
If you plan to treat your blog as a personal diary and don't care about others reading it, you can skip this step. But if you really care about your words reaching people, you can't just hit "Publish" and hope for the best. You should work to make your blog site easy to find on the internet.
There is no one right way to promote your blog. There are a few tactics to consider for this:
- SEO – SEO is about doing what you can to make your website appear higher in search engines for relevant terms. With the right SEO strategies, you can increase your visibility and attract traffic.
- Social media – Promoting your posts on social media is a good way to get in front of people who are interested in following you. For an additional boost, consider paid promotion on social media.
- Email marketing – Encourage visitors who like your posts to sign up for your email list and have each new post you publish sent directly to their inbox.
- Guest posts – Reach new audiences by submitting guest post ideas to relevant websites. If you impress your audience, some of them may follow you to your blog and become regular readers.
- PPC advertising – Appearing in search engines is one of the best ways to be found (hence SEO is so valuable), but it's really hard for new blogs to get organic results. If you invest in PPC advertising, you can benefit from search engine visibility much faster. For businesses that have the budget to spend on the blog, this is a smart way to get exposure to new readers in your early days.
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