Empowered Woman | Entrepreneurs

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Whether it’s for business or personal purposes, starting a blog is always a good idea! You will share knowledge, experience, and tips with your target audience.

Blogging may seem challenging when you think about it, but the concept is straightforward. You can even choose a free template and start a site without investment. Still, the blog will require some work if you want to make it popular. After all, it’s all about attracting more readers and creating a base of returning visitors.

If you prepare yourself well, you can start a blog in the most foolproof way possible.

1. Choose your preferred blog platform

The blog platform is very important because it add-up to the name of your blog and can help you in giving a better impression. Blogger, Blogspot, WordPress, etc. are renowned platforms, which can help you to start writing your blog by giving tutorials and manuals on how to use them.

WordPress is the largest blog platform with a super easy set-up and is free to use, tons of free themes and layouts which will help you in experiencing different interfaces and templates, there is a massive support forum in case you get stuck or you have no idea how to resolve the problem, people or users can interact with you easily. These are the qualities that make WordPress different from any other platform and thus, a huge amount of people use it.

2. Self-hosting or a free alternative

This is the biggest decision that you have to make before you go any further because you need to decide whether to pay for your blog or grab a free one.

Don’t think about the temporary or present, think about the future and decide because if you start earning revenue out of this then you have to buy the domain later. For a short span of time, you may go with the website hosting sites that will help you in creating a blog but they also have some disadvantages like, firstly, you won’t be able to get your own domain name, secondly, there might be some restriction on the uploading limit and speed limit.

The content part should be concise and restricted, thirdly, you actually don’t own your blog. You are learning with them. The platform can anytime stop the services and make you unknown.

3. Choose A Unique Name For Your Blog

Let’s clarify something right from the start: it’s the content that matters; not the blog’s name.

However, you still need a name for your blog. It has to be unique, and it should convey the site’s purpose. This name is going to become a brand, so don’t take it lightly. 

• Choose terms that your target audience recognizes
• Make sure the name is easy to spell, even for non-native English speakers
• Make it catchy and easy to remember
• The blog’s name has to be unique!
• Buy a .com domain for the site

4. Make A Content Plan

Amazing content is the foundation of this project. You should answer a few important questions:

• How frequently will you share posts on your blog? Most bloggers stick to weekly shares, but you may need to post at least two articles at the beginning. More activity will help you attract more visitors.
• What type of content will you publish? You don’t have to stick to a single type; you can combine long-form posts, video posts, infographics, how-to articles, short guides, and personal reflections.
• What topics will you cover? Create a detailed plan, so you won’t run out of ideas when a post is scheduled to be published. 

Stick to the plan as diligently as possible! The process of blogging is founded on creativity, but it needs some structure if you want your site to become successful.

5. Marketing your blog

Writing a blog and then having no one read it is soul-crushing. I don’t want that to happen to you! The checklist covers setting up social media accounts, a newsletter, and optimizing for search engines!

21. Create a Google Search Console account
22. Add meta descriptions
23. Apply for Pinterest rich pins
24. Submit a sitemap
25. Create an email list
26. Set up social media accounts

6. Start Building an Email List Right Away

Over 70% of people abandoning your website never return. You need a way to keep in touch with them. This is why you need to start building an email list.

Now you may think, why not just build a following on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more?

While you should absolutely work on building a following on social media, you do not own these platforms. They can limit your reach to your own followers and can even block your account at any time.

On the other hand, email is still the most effective online marketing tool. You own your email list, and you can reach your audience without any limitations.

7. Pay Attention to Image Copyrights and Licenses

Often beginners just copy and paste images from the internet. This adds liability as your site grows. Don’t just use images from Google because you might have to pay thousands later in image copyright infringement fees. The copyright owner can also report the page displaying their work and ask Google to remove it from search results.

Luckily, there are online tools like Canva which enable you to create professional images to use on your blog. Canva is super easy to use and there is a ton of templates that you can use for your blog.

8. About Page and Start Here Pages Are Very Important

You need a place to share your story as well as give new users a place to start. This is why you need to add an about page to your blog. It allows your users to learn more about you, and your story, and build a personal connection with your brand.

You should also add a Start Here page to walk your new users through your most important content. This walking tour helps you quickly get new subscribers for your blog and establish your brand as an authority.

9. Don’t Obsess Over Perfection

When writing a blog, I recommend not obsessing over perfection. It’s completely ok to make mistakes as long as you fix them.

Some folks might get upset over grammar or spelling mistakes, but you can fix them and move on. Remember, it’s human to make mistakes.

You can use tools like Grammarly to help catch some errors.

My advice for new bloggers is just to write and develop your own voice/style. Often blogs with more personalized writing do better than those that are written like research papers.

Conclusion

And that’s it! There is always room for improvement, whether you are a beginner or you have been blogging for years. Think like a reader that what you would like to read if you are a reader and writer that only because every writer is a reader but every reader is not a writer and you get that chance to make a change so use it wisely.

If you need help with launching your blog or you feel overwhelm with what to do when it comes to blogging, I recommend you to check out these two blogging resources that might help you launching a successful blog in 2022 and make a full-time income from what you love.