It’s fun to blog. Of course, I would not have had a profession and a means of earning if there were no blogs in this world. The best part is that it is an easy and fully scalable business. That means with every blog post, you can work less and earn more from the blogging business.
Start a blog in five steps:
- Choose a blogging platform, domain name, and hosting option.
- Design your blog using a simple theme.
- Modify your blog to get the desired look.
- Select the best-required plugins for your blog.
- Write engaging content that adds value to readers.
How to Start a Blog or Website: Step-by-Step Instructions.
So you have no idea where to start, do you? Guess what, neither do we. When we started (Ideal Inspiration) a few years ago, we had no idea how to start a blog.
But the good news: is it’s easier than you think. We have learned a lot during our rise to 1 million readers. And now you can learn from our pain and suffering to bypass much of the tedium that goes into creating a successful blog. This is how we started our blog, step by step, and additional reasons and ideas:
1. Domain and Hosting: Hosting is the package from a hosting agency that keeps your blog accessible and available to internet users 24/7 a week: While the domain name is the unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address of your blog that gives you a universal identity over the web.
First of all, you need to visit Bluehost, choose a domain name, and register it. We didn’t even have to set up a WordPress page first, which is the platform we use, as Bluehost does all of that for us. Bluehost’s basic price is $2.95 a month, which works for 99% of people.
Next, we did a simple free WordPress install through Bluehost. When we had questions, we could chat with the “live chat” engineers at Bluehost for free. They pointed us in the right direction and made setup a breeze.
2. Theme: A good theme gives you the look and attraction you want for your blog, allowing you to design your blog exactly how you want it to look. If you’re not a programmer, then a theme makes design work a million times easier. Plus, once you buy a theme, which is cheap for the time it saves you, you own it for life.
A theme has two halves: the frame (the bones) and the Child Theme (the beauty):
Frame: There are several WordPress theme frameworks available in the market, but Genesis is hands down the best and most flexible option. Genesis is the first half of your topic. Many themes simply handle the aesthetics of your new blog, but Genesis provides a necessary foundation for your Child Theme. Simply go to StudioPress and purchase the Genesis Framework.
Children’s Theme: After you get your Genesis Framework, you’ll want to find the right Child Theme (which is just a silly way of saying “blog layout”). The Minimalists use the beautiful “tru” theme, which is available on BYLT, the Genesis Community Marketplace. Head over to BYLT, explore their collection of handpicked themes, and find the right design for you.
3. Modify your blog: Once we had our domain, hosting, WordPress, and theme, we spent a lot of time tweaking the theme to get the look and feel that we wanted (i.e. bring our vision to life). We then spent even more time playing with the theme discussing it and tweaking it some more.
We also set up a free Google Analytics account to track our stats. Google Analytics makes it easy to record our analytical data, and we still use them today.
4. Plugins: We use only a few plugins on our site. “Google Analytics for WordPress” and really simple Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter share button plugins (since humans are inherently wired to share value with others, it’s important to make your posts user-friendly).
They take just seconds (literally seconds, it’s just a click of a button) to install once your site is set up. And if you really want to play around with some cool plugins, check out WPBeginner’s for the best WordPress Plugins.
5. Write Compelling Content: You may have heard that content is king. This is true, and to be a good blogger you need to write effectively, and creatively and engage your audience. Figure out exactly what you want to blog about. If you are confused then ask yourself a question. Will I be able to write a minimum of 1,000 articles of 1,000 words each within a year on a given topic? If the answer is yes, then you know you have a topic for blogging.
Then come up with a solid content strategy to populate your blog. If you are a newbie: So, it will take you a while to get better at this one. But the good thing is that it is absolutely possible. As long as you understand, how to solve your audience’s problems and challenges: You have a successful blog in the making.
Lastly, through WordPress, we start writing and uploading the content for our pages: Info Page, Contact Page, Home Page, Books Page, Events Page, Archives Page, etc. Next, we design our logo using free images we find online and text from a regular word processing program.
Then we put an image of ourselves in the header (this is important because people identify with people, not logos). We finally started writing new blog posts and posting them regularly (at least once a week). And the rest is history.
Here are the 30 Things Every Blog Post Should have before hitting the Publish Button.
Some more key points to keep in mind while starting your own blog:
A good blog depends on your writing skills. A successful blog depends on how you promote it. Most of the time, they are not really connected, as I have often discovered.
Start with a good and attractive theme, something that you and your readers can identify with. Don’t make your posts too long, but they shouldn’t be too short either. I have found that anything between 1000 – 1200 words works in a better way. But it also depends on what kind of blog you are planning to create.
Design the blog in a way that is attractive but not too heavy. Photos work but check the count per blog. Unless you’re doing a travel/food/lifestyle blog, and they rely heavily on images.
Update regularly and follow a schedule. For example, your readers should know that your piece will be published every Friday. I suggest you start with a minimum of five posts. You may also like 12 Places you Should be Sharing Your Blog Content.
It’s a massive commitment because that’s when blog success comes into the picture.
You need to promote it through social networks. Also, use description and Meta tags, etc. So that when people search for a certain topic, your blog shows up on search pages.
I’m not a digital media expert, but I’ve written for digital media companies, and I’ve noticed that they rely heavily on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and current topics.
It may take some time, but if you stay committed, your blog will have a chance to do well.
To start a good blog, it is important to discover the following things correctly:
- The main niche you would blog about.
- Recognize who your target audience would be and what kind of content they really expect.
Once you are done with the above 2 steps, next comes the promotions. Promote your blog on your social networks individually. Take help from your friends, relatives, and others as well.
Read a bit about SEO and how it works before you start blogging. Understanding basic SEO terminology and how to use the basic tools (Web Search Console, Analytics, Keyword Planner, etc.) would go a long way in selecting the right content for your blog from the start.
A good and successful blog is one that users interact with and come back to again and again. Of course, along the way, looking forward to it: But most importantly, you run the blog with enthusiasm and passion. You may also check the 7 Things you must have to start a blog.
Learning to blog involves skills in multiple different areas…
Marketing: How will you see your blog? Writing is only half the battle. You need to create an online presence that will get your blog seen. Network, create an attractive brand, create social media accounts, learn SEO and much more will help you get your blog seen by Google and other Search Engines.
Hustle, don’t stop: Never give up. Many times you can get discouraged because the results are not coming. But that’s never a reason to quit. Here’s How to Write a Blog Post Quickly and Professionally.
There really is a lot to blogging, so take the time to do your research before posting. It will save you time in the long run.
If you need help getting started, we can always help! You just need to click the content button and we will try our best to help you start your blog as you desire.
A good and successful blog is one that can serve its visitors with useful and engaging content. You need to develop certain habits as a writer to achieve this.
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How to get Success in Blogging