Congratulations! You’ve finally decided to start a blog. You’ve been meditating on this decision for weeks – maybe even months – and you’re finally ready to take the plunge. Starting a blog is a gratifying experience, but it’s not without challenges. In this post, we’ll explain all you need to know to do to start your blogging career so that you can hit the ground running.
Find out if starting a blog is for you and how it can change your future by following the proper steps.
Did you know there are more than 600 million blogs on the internet? Considering there are around 1.7 billion websites, that’s a high percentage. Every day, individuals, organizations, and businesses leverage blogging to elevate their products and services.
From the quiet individual living in Northern Maine and writing a blog about snow to the soft sands of California, where significant companies share insight into their methods, blogging is a reliable way of interacting with your audience.
The good news is that this market isn’t oversaturated. There are always new niches and content angles to take to engage an audience. The average beginner blogger earns between $250-$2,000 per month, with the more experienced ones earning $15,000 or more. The potential value of your blog will have to do with the richness of content you deliver, the consistency of posting, and your commitment to persevere.
Should You Actually Start a Blog?
Beginners learning to start blogging often feel they have to be expert writers straight from the latest journalistic interns, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Readers seek out blogs to get insight into specific topics from those with experience in that niche. It doesn’t matter if you write about owning a 1980s video arcade or giving tips and tricks for the best makeup. You have a skill that you can offer.
No one is looking for the end-all-all expert. They are looking for your unique perspective so they can learn or benefit from your writing. Someone looking to recreate baking a chocolate chip cookie isn’t going to go with the fanciest recipe. They will go with what tastes best and is easiest to make. That means your recipe from great-grandma delivered in an easy-to-understand format with a touch of personality will do better than those from Betty Crocker.
All you need to be a blogger is a passion for a subject that empowers you to stay consistent with your audience.
Why Start Blogging?
There are many reasons for starting a blog, but a few of the more common are:
- A Chance to Share: With nothing more than words on a screen, you can share your personal story and how it relates to your topic. This is an excellent opportunity to talk about the unique things you have noticed and not feel alone in your hobbies or interests.
- Monetize Blog: A decent blog with a consistent schedule can earn a full-time income. This means you can maintain your empire without having to report to a boss, all while sitting in front of your computer in your PJs from home. You only have to answer your readers, which is easy with consistency.
- Personal Recognition: Plenty of bloggers started with a simple single page and a one-post-per-week schedule. Many have moved on to lucrative careers, book deals, social media influencing, sponsorship deals, and more. Even a part-time blogger can gather a strong following of people who are interested in their content.
- Community Building: Blogging is a give and take. Your audience reads your content, giving you a platform to connect with the world. Sure, there may be the occasional troll out there, but the vast majority of people who want to make an effort to follow and interact with you will be good-natured human beings looking to share information. Everyone needs a tribe of their own.
How to Start a Blog
We’ve gone through the reasons to start a blog and the benefits it can offer to those who commit to providing solid content regularly. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty and explain the steps to starting a blog.
We will be as detailed as we can, but keep in mind there is a lot of trial and error any blogger will go through as they learn. So be easy on yourself. This is a fun and exciting process where it is perfectly okay to make mistakes.
1 – Find Your Blog Niche & Name
We combined these two into the first step because they often inspire the other. A great name could lead you towards a more focused path, like a solid niche will inform your blog name.
A niche refers to a specific topic area. You don’t want to be too general. Disney is a great example. There are hundreds of Disney-related blogs, but the ones that do the best have an angle like how to tour the parks, dining, character visits, vacation planning, or even where to find the best bathrooms. The point is to get specific with your target niche.
- Pick a topic you like. Ask yourself if this is a topic you’ll still be passionate about after you’ve written another 50 posts in a year or so.
- Make sure there is interest. If you write a blog because it makes you feel good, go for it! If you are hoping to monetize the blog, you need to ensure an audience. You may want to use Google Trends and search for your niche idea. You’ll see pretty quickly if an audience is willing to learn more.
Never forget that your blog could be a personal one and may be informative.
As for the name, you want to choose one related to your niche idea. A Disney blog should include the brand name, parks, mouse, Florida, or others. Your goal is to attract visitors with a name that gives them a quick insight into your offer.
Again, if you’re writing a personal blog, this could be your actual name as the title.
2 – Finding a Blog Platform
You will need both a blog host and blogging software. Don’t get scared, you do not need to be a computer tech with a team of creatives behind you to get this started. You can usually find the software you need to run your blog and a place to host your blog using the same company.
Personally, we prefer using Bluehost or A2 Hosting as our blogging platform, they both provide excellent pricing models and all the support you need to get started.
Look around online for deals, and you’ll end up paying as little as $3-$10/month for the hosting space, WordPress platform, and usually a free domain that they will register on your behalf. Bluehost and A2 Hosting also provide security settings that improve your site rank on popular search engines like Google.
Steps for starting a Bluehost blog:
- Sign up for the service
- Select a domain name
- Purchase your hosting plan with WordPress
- Install WordPress (Bluehost will do this)
- Choose a theme & Customize
- Add features with plugins
- Create and Publish Posts
Interserver.net is known for its reliable service and affordable prices. It is a web hosting company that offers many web hosting services, including shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers. The company provides 24/7 customer support and a 100% uptime guarantee. In addition, Interserver.net provides a 30-day money-back guarantee for all its web hosting plans.
Bluehost is a subsidiary of Endurance International Group. It is a web hosting company headquartered in Utah and offers various web hosting services, including shared hosting, virtual private servers, and dedicated servers. It also provides domain name registration and email hosting.
JustHost is known for its excellent customer service and money-back guarantee. It is a web hosting company that offers various web hosting services to its customers. Just Host provides Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, and Managed WordPress Hosting. Just Host also offers a free domain name with each hosting web account.
Sucuri Host is a hosting web service that offers a variety of features to its users. One of the most popular features is the ability to host multiple websites. This allows users to have various presence on the web, which can be helpful for businesses or individual users with numerous online projects. Sucuri Host also offers a variety of tools to help users manage their web presence. These tools include email, webmail, and file manager. In addition, Sucuri Host offers a variety of security features to help protect user data. These features include SSL encryption, password protection, and two-factor authentication. As a result, Sucuri Host is a popular choice for those who want a reliable and secure web hosting service.
WordPress It is the most popular platform for creating a website or blog. You can sign up to write a blog for free through their service, but they will run their own ads on your website or blog, and you’ll get none of the profits. The best way is to use Blue Host or A2 Hosting, which uses WordPress, where you have complete control over the monetization features.
You can find templates that are essentially plugins and play and offer automatic installation of the most popular blogging software: WordPress.
3 – Choosing Your Domain Name
The domain name is your online address for your blog. Think about all the websites you love to visit. Do you memorize their domains? Do those domain names relate to their industries? When you are selecting your domain name, you need to keep it:
- Short and catchy so people will remember it and make it easy to pronounce
- You can also use your personal name if it is available
Always try to get a “.com” domain or at least a “.net” or. “blog.” These are what will rank the best. Bluehost has a decent domain search tool located here that will tell you if the name you are thinking of is available.
If you have the funds, try to keep your domain name private during registration. You don’t want everyone in the world to know your contact information.
Try to avoid purchasing a premium domain name unless you absolutely must. There may be a history associated with that domain in conflict with your niche.
4 – Customize Your Blog Look
For this stage, you will log into your newly installed WordPress blog and create a remarkable visual space for your readers. You need to make sure it is:
- Mobile-ready, viewable on a smartphone
- Easy to navigate
- Clearly outlines the who and whys of your interests
Once you have logged in, go to your WordPress dashboard, and check out different themes under “Appearance” tab on the left side of the screen. Here, you can search for free templates that fit your blog and niche’s look, feel, and purpose.
We always suggest starting with one of the pre-installed yearly themes called “Twenty Sixteen” or the like. Reason is, you can get a feel for how your blog works, and when you install a unique theme, the information transfers cleanly.
If you feel completely lost on how to mess with the ins and outs of your WordPress theme or installation, consider hiring a freelancer to go over the details and do the work for you. Fiverr is a great place to find qualified web design and blogging startup experts.
5 – Writing Your First Post
Take a deep breath; this is the fun part. The easiest way to write a blog post is to simply start. I know that sounds strange, but allow yourself the freedom to put any thoughts onto the screen, and you’ll quickly find a flow.
You can also outsource the writing to a Fiverr expert who can write the article for you based on a subject or title, and then you can later personalize it to your own taste. There is no shame in getting help, especially for people that have a busy lifestyle and still want to start a blog as a side hustle.
The basic outline of a blog post is as follows:
- The headline to grab the attention of readers
- Sub-Headline to explain what you’re writing about
- The introduction paragraph or two about what you’ll cover
- Header + Body Text of 2-3 ideas
- Conclusion in a short paragraph that often includes a CTA or call to action like subscribing or buying something
To make a blog post in WordPress, go to the left side panel on your screen and click on Posts. There will most likely be one called “Hello World!” that you are welcome to delete. You can then click on Add New and get writing.
For right now, stick to the title and content of your post. We’ll talk about images, videos, and other content in a bit.
We suggest using two free tools if you need help with topic ideas. The first is answerthepublic.com. Here you can enter your niche topic and search for common questions people ask. This way, you can craft your blog post as if you are answering their question.
The second is Pinterest. This is actually a social media website where thousands of ideas can be found by signing up for a free account and searching for your topic. Almost all of the individual “Pins” you get back will give you a good place to start.
If you want help with your writing skills, we suggest Hemmingway and Grammarly. These are both editors that can improve your natural writing ability by cleaning up the text of spelling errors and grammar issues and making suggestions to put your writing into an active voice that readers will appreciate.
Shoot for 800-1,200 words for each post. Search engines like a lot of content to explore and register.
6 – SEO Optimization
This is the hardest part and often where people stop writing a new blog. Our best advice is don’t overthink this step. It is really easy. SEO means search engine optimization. It is placing keywords into your content so that search engines recognize what you are writing about and then rank you higher for those searches related to your content.
For example, if you write a Disney blog but do not include keywords about the parks, movies, or some other aspect, no one will ever be able to find it. There are three things you will need to do for your new blog to get it optimized.
- Sign up for Google Webmaster(this is free) and “Add Property” to your search console.
- Sign up for a free Bing Webmaster account and add your blog.
- Optimize your posts.
This last step is the hard one. You need to add specific keywords related to your topic and niche in the different places of your blog post. First, do the research through the free Google Keyword Planner or the subscription-based Ahref tool. In both cases, you’re looking for high searches for keywords with low to medium competition between 1,000 – 100,000 searches a month.
If that step seems overwhelming, don’t forget about Fiverr. They have plenty of professional experts willing to help you with SEO optimization and finding keywords.
Once you have 1-2 main keywords and 2-3 relative keywords, begin peppering them into your blog post. Place your primary keywords:
- In the post title
- In the first 200 words of your content
- 7-10 times naturally throughout the content article
- In the last paragraph
Your relative keywords only need to be used once or twice in the entire article. Don’t stuff too much into a small space. Use natural-sounding language whenever starting a blog to get a better result.
Finally, install the Yoast SEO plugin and follow the suggested steps to optimize your post. This is a learning process and a free tool that will help get your rank higher.
7 – Promote Your Post
Promoting your blog post only takes publishing it in certain areas. We try to stick to 1-3 platforms per blog, as trying to keep up with more than that can be overwhelming. Consistency is way more important than the breadth of exposure. A solid base of 1-5K readers dedicated to following your work will do more than 500K, barely paying attention.
The best places to promote your posts will be:
- Medium
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Podcasts
- Email Lists
Always have an email list sign-up feature on your blog. This will be the best way to engage with your readers. We highly recommend using MailChimp as your free resource. They have a beginner-level account that is easy to set up and free to use. Don’t forget about the pros at Fiverr that can help set this up for you and manage your promotion schedule.
8 – Monetize Your Blog
It is a good idea to start the monetization process of your blog from the beginning. You never know when you will start to build traction. It could take a few months or days, and you want to get that momentum going as soon as possible. Here are other ways to make money blogging.
Advertising Space
This is the most common and easiest method of monetizing your blog. You cab sign up with Google Adsense and place different-sized ad spaces into your blog. You can download a free plugin through WordPress or put it in manually yourself. As always, you can also employ a Fiverr expert to help get ads put into your site for a low price. The more people that visit your site and click on these ads, the more you earn.
Affiliate Products
Running affiliate ads is almost the same as Google Adsense. The vast majority of products in the world have some affiliate program. Go to the products you like the most relevant to your audience, niche, or topic, and you’re bound to find an affiliate system. When you sign up, they will give you a unique link to plug into your posts and website through text and images. When visitors click on those links, you get a percentage of the sale they make. The most straightforward system to start using is Amazon Affiliate.
Sell Your Own Products/Services
If your blog is associated with a service like copywriting, marketing, or some other digital enterprise, you can market that service through your blog to drum up more business. You can also integrate print-on-demand products or Etsy stores. The easiest way is to have digital products that can be sold through your website. If you’re looking for a decent plugin integration for WordPress, we suggest WooCommerce.
The goal is to offer engaging content that attracts customers and then encourages them to click on whatever sign-up, ad, or product you are offering. Of course, there are other ways to monetize your site, but these are the most common and excellent places to start.
9 – Visual Media
Your readers want attractive and visually appealing photos and video content. The more they feel immersed in your content, the more they will subscribe to your new posts and share your information across their own social media channels. The best friend to writing a blog is having UGC (user-generated content). These are the reviews and social shares of your readers. They will propel you higher in search engines.
The general rule of thumb is 1 photo for every 150-200 words of content. Don’t be overwhelmed. You can find free photos at places like Pexels and learn how to edit and manipulate them with text using the free tool Canva. Both of these platforms give you access to relevant imagery that you can insert into your content.
These are excellent resources for posting to social media. You’re going to want an image associated with your post that will resonate with your readers. Use this opportunity as a way to test what does and doesn’t work by trying out different photos on different platforms.
The same is true for video media. Pixels has plenty of stock videos for you to test out and strategically placed throughout your blog.
10 – Have Fun!
This may seem campy, but how you feel about the topic you are blogging about comes through in the content. You want to target a market of people that actively engage with your blog and want more. That means you need to deliver on entertaining and educating them with each post. This doesn’t mean you have to be a scientist giving a lecture but add some facts and have some fun.
Let your personality flow into your writing and the images you select. You’re creating a digital home for readers to enjoy. Make it inviting, and let your passion speak for itself.
Conclusion
We hope this guide has given you an excellent foundation to start building your blogging career. Don’t worry about the details as of yet. Just get a platform and start writing. Stick to 2-3 social media platforms that you know you’ll post regularly for marketing, and try to post at least 1/week, preferably more. As you go, you’ll pick up on the nuance of building an audience and getting the word out about your new blog.
The real trick to the blogging kingdom is engaging content your audience wants regularly. Be consistent with writing a blog, have fun, and explore this world with an open mind to learning; you will go far!
