How to begin blogging in six steps (Platforms, SEO, and other) |
Ready to learn how to create with a blog? This article is designed for you. From Hosting to SEO, you must follow these six steps to get your blog online and operating.
The fact is that blogging ought to be a part of your overall marketing plan. It's an effective method to attract new customers and share your expertise to the world.
Yet every time you set your laptop down to get started on your path towards becoming a blogger of the highest quality, you find yourself filled with questions.
What is the best platform to use?
What is the cost?
What should I write about?
How can I convince people to read my posts?
What the heck what exactly is SEO?
This is enough to make your head turn. We've have put together this step-by-step tutorial for starting a blog.
Starting a successful blog is difficult However, the results for your business and your customers are worth the effort. And with the right analysis and the proper tools on your side, you can create a blog that both readers and you enjoy.
Let's start at the beginning: What should you blog about?
One of the best methods of monetizing your blog is by selling digital products. Get started selling your products for no cost with today!
Step 1: Choose the topic for your blog
One of the greatest aspects of blogging is the ability to create a blog on pretty much any topic in the world.
The majority of people enjoyblogs. Seventy-seven percent of web users visit blogs and Internet users across the U.S. spend 3X more time with blogs than they do on emails. So if you're a fan of a topic it's likely that there's an readership that feels the same way and wants to read about the subject.
Here are some instances of blog sites that are successful, as well as their respective niches:
Web developer Daniel Bogan's blog, Uses This , is dedicated to interviewing creators and designers of different kinds on the tools and methods they employ to create.
On her blog, Kaleigh Moore shares her expert insights as a freelance journalist on behalf of eCommerce & SaaS companies.
Scientist and neuroscientist Stefanie Faye Frank uses her blog to "translate complex concepts in science into a language that is used in everyday life".
One thing all of the above blogs have the same thing? Specificity.
Instead of focusing on general freelancing, Kaleigh talks about writing on her own subject. Instead of providing travel advice for groups of any size, Queenie focuses on advice for solo travelers like herself.
To find your own specific market, try using the Passion/Profit Matrix.
Passion: Are you excited to work on this? If you don't like working on something, its profit potential doesn't matter as you're much more likely to leave before you get there.
Possibilities for Profit:Do people already spend money to solve this problem? It is also possible to imagine "profit" in this context as an interest 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 is in the upper-right quadrant: The nexus of enthusiasm and potential for profit.
When you have found that sweet spot, content marketing consultant Ryan Robinson recommends you ask yourself the following questions to verify your concept:
Are you interested enough about this blog niche? Don't pick a topic that you aren't sure about because it seems lucrative.
Does there exist a market in this niche? In other words Are there any goods or services targeted at the same 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 be around for years in the future? It isn't easy to make a popular blog, so choose a topic that will keep you writing for a long time rather than a passing fad.
After you've decided what you want your blog to be, you'll need to determine which location you'll use to host it.
Step 2: Pick a blogging platform
From Tumblr and Blogger to Medium and Wix, there are countless blogging platforms on the market.
With around 70 million blog posts posted through the platform each month, WordPress is by far the most popular choice. more than 28 million websites make use of WordPress as opposed to 4 million of Squarespace's users. Squarespace.
But, Squarespace can be more user-friendly for beginners, especially those who don't have programming experience.
Here's how the two platforms stack up when it comes to features, customization as well as cost.
(A quick reminder (A quick note: The prices listed throughout this post are correct at the time of writing.)
Squarespace
For first-time website builders, Squarespace is an easy-to-use platform that does not require any programming expertise. Its drag-and-drop interface has a much gentler learning curve than WordPress.
The straightforward block interface comes at the cost of customization and flexibility. Squarespace provides fewer styles as well as plugins and themes that WordPress as well as doesn't provide nearly as much dedicated blogging functionality.
In general, Squarespace is a website builder that includes the basics of blogging, but is not more than a platform built for bloggers.
How much does Squarespace cost?
Apart from a 14-day free trial, Squarespace offers four different pricing plans . Pricing ranges from $23 to $65 per month, paid monthly and $16-$49 per month paid annually.
These plans come with unlimited storage space and a no-cost domain name for the initial year. Unless you require an e-commerce feature The lower two levels should work just fine for managing your blog.
WordPress
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) created specifically for bloggers. That means it comes with pre-built templates and tools to support blogging. These include:
Post scheduling
Editing
Comments from the Managing Committee
Multi-author advantage and multi-lingual settings
Technical SEO
WordPress also has a large collection of free and paid WordPress plugins specifically for bloggers, as well as thousands of free WordPress themes specifically designed for blogs.
What's the exception?
In terms of creating an individual blog and website, WordPress has a steeper process of learning than Squarespace, making it harder to get the hang of beginners. There's no drag-and-drop interface, and you'll require some basic HTML knowledge to fully personalize your WordPress website.
Don't let that scare you away, though. The process of setting up a simple WordPress blog does not require any hacker tech skills. In fact, because WordPress is so popular, there are tons of resources for free to help you learn the ropes.
What is the cost of WordPress cost?
WordPress is free in and of itself, but you still need to pay for website hosting, custom web address, themes and plugins.
According to blogging specialist Ryan Robinson , the cost to launch an WordPress website ranges from $100 between $200 and $140. But, the recurring expenses with WordPress are likely to be less than using Squarespace.
Squarespace and. WordPress: Which should you use?
This is a full analysis of the major differences between the two platforms:
Although the process of learning for WordPress is more difficult, the possibilities for customizing your blog are practically limitless. Squarespace is a site builder; WordPress is an CMS originally developed by bloggers.
With all of the above with this in mind, WordPress is the better option for bloggers as well as bloggers who want to build as well as grow and ultimately monetize their blogs.
Let's now discuss how you can start your blog with WordPress.
Step 3: Setup your blog
In order to get your WordPress blog up and running There are two requirements:
Domain names
A Web Hosting Plan
Your domain name is where your website and blog live. If your website is your home on the internet, your domain name is your online address.
Make your new domain name your blog's title when it's in use. Do not create confusion for your customers by choosing an unrelated URL.
But what do you do if there's no web site orblog domain name?
Consider business-minded coach Becky Mollenkamp as an example. Becky's blog and her digital offerings concentrate on sharing her own knowledge with other people to help her clients succeed.
Becky has become her brand, so it is logical for her to utilize beckymollenkamp.com as a business and domain name.
If you're still stuck, consider using a domain name generator, such as Nameboy, Lean Domain Search or Nameboy . Enter keywords and the name generators provide you with a selection of names for domains.
When you have found the ideal name, you need to make it available to a hosting provider.
We suggest Bluehost . One of the most renowned web hosting companies worldwide, Bluehost offers free domain registration for the first year with every hosting plan. Their most basic plan starts at $2.95/month.
If you're looking to invest some more money, Bluehost also offers managed hosting accounts for WordPress sites.
The managed hosting plans begin with $19.95/mo.
A good alternative in place of Bluehost, Siteground hosts more than 2,000,000 domains and is known as having the most efficient customer support in the industry. Beginning at $4.99/mo, Siteground is slightly more expensive than Bluehost's basic plans. However, if you feel like you may require technical support often, Siteground might be the best choice for you.
When you've picked a hosting provider, start your blog on WordPress. This means setting up WordPress on your blog, choosing and setting up plugins, as well as finding and installing the ideal theme.
If you think hiring a WordPress developer is beyond your means I would recommend these thorough instructions from WPBeginner , the largest Free WordPress tool:
It is a must-have WordPress plugins
What is the definition of a WordPress plugin?
How to install an WordPress theme
Remember the fact that your WordPress blog doesn't have to have the fanciest premium themes or the shiniest plugins in order to make excellent blog content. The only thing you need is that it works before you begin writing and publishing your posts.
Step 4: Start writing
Open an entirely new document, begin writing off the surface of your mind, and hope for the most successful.
A few people do really work best that approach.
It's not me. individuals. If you aren't either Let me introduce my blog BFF: outlining.
It saves time, keeps you organised, and can help you arrange your content so that it makes the most sense for your reader. You can jot your outline down by hand, or use Google Docs, Dropbox Paper or Microsoft Word.
Here's how the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) suggests writers structure their outlines:
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 sub-sections.
Tag:Add headings and subheadings to your blog post.
The team responsible for content employs this template for defining each section of our blog post:
[Header title]
Main Point:
Stats:
Case Study:
Examples:
After you've created your outline, you're now ready to write -- even though you might not feel ready.
Just start writing.
Be careful not to force yourself into finding exactly the right words or eliminate typos in all circumstances. You can always go back and edit your writing later. Most important is to keep writing. Before you know it, you'll have a piece that's ready to be edited into a beautiful blog article.
This isn't to say that writing isn't the most efficient method, but.
Blog posts typically take nearly four hours to write.
Amanda Nielsen of New Breed Marketing explained to Databox , "You can get tons of SEO benefit by transcribing videos. If you're able to do so make a transcript written and a blog post to help promote the video."
Don't have time to transcribe your own video? Try an on-demand service like REV or an automated transcription software such as Sonix .
When you've written your blog article -whether you wrote it starting from scratch or using a template- it's time to edit.
Coming back to your writing after a bit or time off helps to keep your mind fresh, and it's more likely that you'll spot small mistakes.
You can also use a tool like Grammarly however, it must never replace an actual human editor -- even if you're self-editing.
Grammarly detects grammar and spelling errors, offers synonyms to commonly used words and offers a wealth of helpful tips for free.
Grammarly's AI occasionally misses mistakes (or finds errors where there's none) So, make sure that you read your documents thoroughly. Or, better yet, ask someone else to read it for you.
Now, it's time to launch your very first blog post and plan out a schedule to follow for the remainder.
Creating a publishing schedule helps you hold yourself accountable. I don't know how many times I've tried to create a blog for my personal use and written one article, and never returned to publish a second.
The good news is that you don't need create new blog posts each the day (or even weekly) for a successful blog. In the case of blog content, it's about the quality of your content over the quantity. More in-depth, longer and well-researched posts perform better.
HubSpot states that the optimal length for blog posts to rank for SEO is between 2100 to 2,400 words. A study conducted by Orbit Media found that the majority of bloggers who publish 3000-word or more articles have "strong outcomes".
As Jay Baer of Convince and Convert explained to Orbit Media , "Blogging was once an online newspaper with a lot of articles, published frequently. It's now an online magazine, with some longer articles published less often."
Step 5: Optimize to increase search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization can mean the difference between a good blog that has only a handful of viewers and an outstanding blog that draws in hundreds of hundreds of thousands.
Content that is optimized will show up better in search results for pertinent terms and keywords. The more optimized your content, the more easy it is for new people to discover it on the search engine.
In addition, considering that the organic search engine accounts for the majority of all online traffic and 53% of all traffic to websites, getting the first place on the page of results matters. The first five results of every Google search represent 67.6 percent of all clicks .
Plus, SEO can play a major role in how successful your blog grows. Bloggers who have a salary of more than $50,000 per year have a tendency to rate organic and unpaid Google traffic as the most important way to market their website.
SEO is also less expensive than traditional advertisements -- and also more efficient. A Databox study found that 70% of marketers say that SEO is better than pay-per-click advertisements for driving sales. It's the reason the reason over 64 percent of marketers spend time on SEO.
It's a good thing the fact that launching a blog now can help you stay ahead of being ahead of the SEO game. Web sites with blogs are able to have an 434percent higher probability to perform well on the search engine result page (SERP).
And even better news is that you run a WordPress blog, the Yoast SEO plug-in can help you improve your content right from your WordPress site editor.
Here's how it is done:
Input the keywords or phrases you would like your blog post to rank for.
Yoast checks your text and informs you if you're using keywords in the right way and at the appropriate places, such as headers.
Yoast can also let you look at how your blog post might look in the Google search results page.
At the front-end, Yoast generates and applies schema.org structures and organized data that "helps [search engines] figure out what every part of your site means, who it belongs to and the way it connects".
It is also possible to employ keywords research tools, such as Ahrefs' word generator to find out what type of content your audience wants. You can also find out how difficult it is for websites to rank for a certain keyword and how often keywords are searched for in a month.
This will help you find the perfect search term .
What exactly does this SEO look as in real-time?
If I'm a parent with lots of responsibilities who's struggling to maintain the budget of my family, I might Google a phrase similar to "budgeting for busy moms".
The snippet of text that is featured for the query "budgeting for busy moms" shows this article of Simplified motherhood. It's a blog designed to help busy mothers keep their lives organized.
When you optimize your blog with a keyword search that you can increase the chances of being in the top spot or two results. The people you want to attract are more likely to find the content you post, go to your website, and when they are confident in your knowledge, buy your digital products.
For more SEO strategies and tips look at these websites:
In the end, SEO is a must-have for bloggers. However, it's not the only method to increase your readership.
Step 6: Grow your audience
It's a two-way road The first step is to start a blog. It can help you grow your audience, and marketing to your readers will help grow your blog. Blogs that have a presence produce around 67 percent more leads over those who don't.
Here are three of our top ways to get new email subscribers as well as blog readers.
1. Send emails using opt-in forms.
A trainer and developer, Reuven Lerner makes use of his blog to expand his list of email subscribers by adding an opt-in page on his site.
Use a strong call-to-action (CTA). Give people a specific motive to sign up to your list of email subscribers -for example "Teach me more Python!" from Reuven's example.
Set expectations. Tell subscribers what information you'll send them and when they'll get updates from you.
One of the most effective method to turn blog users into customers is by offering an item of value as a reward for email address.
2. Incentivize subscribers with lead magnets
They give you their email addresses, and you give them important content. This is a win-win for everyone.
Lead magnets show potential customers how they should feel confident in your brand. Lead magnets that are effective include useful, relevant content specifically targeted at your audience and their pain points.
To create a content upgrade:
Identify the content of your website that draws maximum traffic.
Include the content on the page that is relevant.
Turn more readers into subscribers.
If you're looking for a location for your digital downloads -- whether they're digital products available for sale, or even free lead magnets, take an look at . You can try it without cost today.
Forms for opt-ins and lead magnets can be great methods to convert readers of your blog into customers. Beyond sharing blog's posts on social media What are the best ways to get those blog readers in the first place? The third and final point has you covered.
3. Guest posts on different blogs
Guest posts are a fantastic opportunity to get your message out to a larger audience, especially when you post on a more popular blog.
Here are some of the most important benefits from the guest blog :
Increase backlinks.
Enhance the authority of your domain (a index of search engine rankings).
Drive traffic to your own website.
Enhance your brand's visibility.
It's likely the reason 60% of bloggers compose anywhere from one to five guest posts per month.
Before you are able to write a guest post You must present it to the world. Before you are able to present it to the world, you must to locate blogs within your niche that accept guest post submissions.
Here are some sites to get you started:
A list of more than 200 sites and blog which are accepting guest posts
The list includes 150+ websites to host write on.
Many well-established websites that allow guest posts usually have writing and pitching guidelines to be followed, like those at Practical Wanderlust's site. .
When your pitch is approved, you write your post, and the blog publishes your guest post. Then you can share the link with your social media fans as well as your email list, to give the article more visibility and refer traffic.
When you have a larger audience, you can monetize your blog. Learn more about monetization to start turning a profit:
The time is now to blog'
It's not always easy. If you're willing to put in the work and use the right instruments and sources, blogging can enable you to connect with new customers, share your expertise, and boost your bottom line.
In case you're wondering, here's the steps for starting your blog:
Select a subject and a niche for your blog. Discover something both of you and your followers are both passionate about.
Pick a blogging platform. Squarespace and WordPress are among the best two choices, but when it comes to customization and blogging features, WordPress is a clear winner.
Set up your blog. Pick and register a domain name and purchase a hosting plan.
Start writing your first post. Utilize an outline to begin, and make a calendar of your publishing to keep you accountable.
Optimize your blog for search. SEO is the primary way successful blogs get traffic and assists the targeted audience to find the blog and its content.
Increase your readership by utilizing leads magnets, opt-in forms as well as guest blog posts. Once you build up your subscriber base and list of email addresses, you can monetize your blog.
With this fresh blogging knowledge, you're well on your way to becoming an effective blogger. Get out and write.