More than 75 percent of internet users read blog posts. It’s how people get their news, keep up with topics they’re interested in, get entertained, and many other reasons.
If you haven’t set up a blog yet, you might think you missed your opportunity. It’s never too late to get started though.
Let’s look at how you can get your blog up and running in this Blogging 101 guide.
What Are You Going to Blog About?
The first thing you need to consider is what you’re going to blog about. Do you want to write about a particular topic? Or have a personal blog where you can write about anything that strikes your fancy?
There’s no right or wrong answer to this question but it’s something you need to think about before you get started. If you choose a fairly narrow topic, you need to be sure you can come up with enough useful information to share.
You also need to think about whether you want to write about this for years to come. Will the topic seem as interesting after living and breathing it for the next 5 years?
Choose Your Blog Platform
Once you have a plan in mind, the next step is to decide what blogging platform you want to use. There are several popular ones that all work well, including:
- WordPress
- Squarespace
- Wix.com
WordPress is the most popular blog system. It powers nearly 35% of all websites on the internet, many that aren’t technically even blogs.
Try the different platforms out and see which one clicks for you. They each have their pros and cons but they’re all powerful and easy to use. A lot of the choice comes down to your personal preference.
Set Up Your Website
Once you’ve settled on your blog platform, you need to get your website set up. You’ve got a couple of options here. You can either host your blog on another website, like WordPress.com, or you can register your own domain.
The best option is to register a domain and set up your website on your own hosting account. This gives you more control over the site which will be important if your blog becomes popular and starts getting a lot of traffic.
Start Creating Content
The next step after your blog is up and running is to start creating content. Start writing about the topic of your site or whatever you feel like saying if it’s a more general-purpose blog.
Content isn’t only the written word either. Images, audio, and video are all potential forms of content you can add to your blog.
In fact, studies show that blog posts with images every 75-100 words get shared twice as often on social media.
You don’t need a fancy camera to add images to your blog. If you have a recent iPhone, the camera is more than good enough. Just snap some pictures, use AirDrop to transfer them to your computer, and upload them to your blog.
You can visit site to learn more about how AirDrop works.
Track Your Blog’s Analytics
Once your blog is live and you start adding content to it, you’ll gradually start getting visitors. You can speed up this process by sharing your content on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks.
Add a link to your blog in the signature of your email and drop links anywhere else that people might be interested in what you have to say.
Once those visitors start coming, make sure you’re tracking your blog’s stats with a tool like Google Analytics. It will help you see what pages are the most popular, where your visitors are finding your site, and which pages people tend to click away from.
You can use this information to improve your existing content as well as take it into consideration when creating more. The longer people stay on your blog and the more posts they read per visit, the better.
Build an Email List
An email list is one of the most powerful tools you have when you have a blog. When you have a list, you can send them links to your new posts to drive traffic quickly. You can also ask them for input about what they would like to hear more (or less) about.
With an email list of your own, you don’t have to rely on Google, Facebook, or any other company to generate traffic. You can simply send an email to your list and watch the visitor count tick up.
Of course, you can also send promotions to your email list which brings us to the next step.
Monetize Your Site
Most people who launch a blog do so with the idea of generating some income from it.
Maybe even replacing their day job eventually.
There are lots of ways you can monetize your blog, including:
- Advertising
- Google Adsense
- Affiliate programs
- Selling your own products
- Sponsored posts
You can use more than one monetization method as well. Which option is best depends on how much control you want to have over the ads or placements on your site as well as what you write about on your blog. Some advertisers don’t fit well in certain markets
Monetization shouldn’t be your first priority though. Wait until your blog is getting a reasonable amount of traffic and you’ve created an audience that’s interested in what you have to say.
Once you have a solid foundation, it will be easier to find partners that are willing to pay you for access to your audience.
Blogging 101 Complete – Now Rinse and Repeat
The Blogging 101 process isn’t that complicated. There are a few technical hurdles that you might need some help with but you don’t need a degree in computer science to use modern blogging systems.
It comes down to putting in the effort and having patience while you build an audience. If you put in the time now, in a few years you could find yourself writing full-time on your blog while sitting on a sun-drenched tropical beach halfway around the world.
Was this post useful? Be sure to check out the rest of our site for more helpful information about starting your own blog.
