Blogging, most of you are familiar with this term now. Some people take it as a hobby, some people take it as a side hustle even as a full-time career.
In today’s era where content is everything, there is a huge value in blogging.
You may be a blogger who solves problems or share valuable tips and ideas with others or a business website owner. In both cases, blogging is a must needed to increase your website’s visibility and brand authority.
Most importantly, before you even begin to create, make sure you:
- have time to dedicate to blogging (create posts, find images, publish, share, comment).
- don’t think it’s a fast way to make a buck because you’ll be sadly disappointed.
Here are the top five tips:
1. Why/What
Knowing why you want to blog and what you want to blog about is a great start. Write it down on paper.
- why you want to blog – documenting a journey, keeping an online journal, networking with others, making friends, eventually monetize
- what you want to blog about – make sure this is a topic you are passionate about and have a lot of factual information about
When I started over one year ago, I noticed that there are many good blogs on digital marketing. I am not degrading them, but sometimes I feel that still there is no easy-to-understand blog for beginners. Then I thought about a blog from which beginners can get all the basic needs even nontechnical business owners can learn something valuable from my blog. Then I started this blog.
My “niche” was “SEO Self Help- DO your own SEO”. Know Your Niche First!
2. Name
Again, write it down on paper. This is important for future steps in the creation of your blog.
What do you want to call your blog?
- keep it as short as possible
- make it unique
Have several names in mind (written down) because this will help you when you create your Domain.
When I was thinking to start a blog about “do your own SEO”. Then I pick the domain name SEOJOURNAL.COM.AU.
3. Domain
Your domain is an essential part of your blog. This is a custom “URL” that you purchase and register to you. It is a huge part of your branding as well, although not everyone will agree with me.
- keep it short and sweet
- try to get *.com
There are many places you can purchase your domains. I recommend NameCheap.com or GoDaddy for domains only.
There are many extensions that you can purchase today, however, the most widely known and used are:
- *.com
- *.net
- *.org
Maybe if your first choice of *.com name isn’t available, you can change it up a bit.
Like my domain, I had to go for the .net extension because seoselfhelp.com was already taken.
4. Platform
Here is a biggy. This is where most bloggers will stress WordPress.org, which is hosted by Web Solutions Companies such as GreenGeeks and SiteGround.
However, there are a few other platforms that are popular and maybe a good start for someone who doesn’t have money to pay for hosting.
- Blogger.com is very user-friendly with very few limitations
- WordPress.com is user-friendly with some restrictions with tutorials
Whichever you choose, is fine with me. You can always move your site to a different platform in the future if you wanted to. My first blog was on Blogger.com. Then I moved it to WordPress.com and eventually to self-hosted WordPress.org with Godaddy. Today, I have one self-hosted with Digital Ocean.
5. Help from a Fellow Blogger
I like to use this as the last of my Quick 5. I’m sure if you’ve read other articles on How to Create a Blog, you will see varying tips and strategies.
Before you begin blogging, I would start looking around at what other bloggers are doing. Also, this can help you to start networking with others in your “Niche”. You may find veteran bloggers that are eager to help you, for free, like me.
Veteran bloggers sometimes forget how they started out. This is why I recommend shopping around before you put your trust in anyone. I assist bloggers with their web designs. I also create their visions. However, I like to help walk them through what I am doing so they can manage their blogs on their own.
If you’re going to put trust into someone, make sure that they talk in a language you can understand, layman’s terms, not veteran blogger lingo. Otherwise, I fear you will get lost.
Also, be sure to talk out your full plan with your blogging buddy. He/She may advise you on areas where you should compromise or assist in other areas.
This is one thing that I wish I had when I started. However, I learned the hard way and stumbled along. Get a Blogging Buddy!
In Closing
Creating a blog can be scary. I won’t lie to you. It takes a lot of time, energy, sometimes money, and a backbone.
So, if you’re thinking you might want to start a blog, reach out to me. Let’s discuss your ideas and put them into motion. Blogging can be fun, therapeutic, a friendship/community builder, and a source of income (long-term speaking).
