Having a blog is something that has become widespread in recent time. In years past, lack of relevant information, as well as the high cost of starting and maintaining a blog were things that prevented potential bloggers from taking action.
Today, the reverse is the case: There’re tons and tons of information online, and with the advancement in technology, maintaining a blog has become relatively cheap. The potential blogger therefore has limited hurdles.
One of such perhaps is the question of how to begin, hence the following seven tips.
1. Are you prepared?
Being prepared for blogging is one of the most important steps in the process. The preparation involved is more informational and psychological, than physical.
There are a number of things the newbie blogger must be aware of before starting of. Here are a couple:
– Blogging is a long haul
To end up becoming a successful blogger, you must understand that blogging is not something you’ll get involved in just for a season. No way! When you start a blog, you are in it almost forever.
– Blogging takes time and dedication
Apart from realizing that you’re in it indefinitely, you must also be ready to sacrifice other activities if indeed you wish to become an accomplished blogger.
Without knowing and embracing this reality about blogging, most potential bloggers are on a sure path to quitting.
2. Selecting a niche
A niche is the ‘issue’ (or thing) which a blog is built around. It’s the area of concentration and discussion of your blog posts or content. Your niche could be just anything, broad or narrow: sports, health, basketball, fitness, dogs, food, babies, . . . Just anything!
Every blog is dedicated to a specific niche. Your niche will usually determine who visits your blog. It will normally be people who are interested in that niche. Your niche is therefore quite important to decide on as it will ultimately make or break your blog.
Because you can not determine beforehand what the response to any specific niche will be, it is advisable to choose a niche, not from the perspective of potential visitors, but rather from your side of the spectrum:
choose a niche you’re very interested in or passionate about.
In that way, you will have the necessary determination to continue with it indefinitely.
3. What’s your domain?
In simple terms, your domain is the name by which your blog or website can be identified. It may be a single word or a group of words, an abbreviation, or some sort of nomenclature, etc.
Domains contain no spaces, and usually reflect the main activity or niche of a blog or website. For example, the domain ‘primesportingoutfit’ tells you that the blog or website with that domain is about sporting outfit – probably selling them. It is therefore something you would want to take care in finding.
Adding a top-level domain (.com for example) to your domain gives you a domain name, which you must register (i.e. purchase – if it’s not yet taken) to use for your blog or website. For example, primesportingoutfit.com, which could be the domain name of the domain used as example above.
Your domain name is a part of blog or website’s URL (Uniform Ressouce Locator), its unique address on the internet. Each blog or website has a specific address or URL at which it is located. In order for visitors to get to your blog, they must ‘go to’ or be ‘led or taken to’ that specific address. For example, https://www.primesportingoutfit.com.
4. Getting hosted
Web hosting is a service that allows you to post your blog or website onto the Internet. A web hosting service provider provides relevant technology that hosts your blog and enables it to be viewed around the world.
The issue of web hosting was a major hurdle for many in the past. Bloggers / website owners had to spend so much to get it done. And because a new blog doesn’t start paying its owner immediately, potential bloggers used to give up their desire of blogging.
Things have changed over the years. Though there still exists companies just for the purpose of hosting, there are others which host your blog or website as part of their membership. This ‘arrangement’ makes it much easier to maintain a blog in today’s world.
5. Choosing a blogging platform
There are a number of them, and each one has its specialty. Prominent on the list of blogging platform is WordPress, which continues to dominate online blogging space due to its constant evolution to satisfy contemporary demands. With a domain name and a hosting service, WordPress allows its users to create and publish web pages, while housing their content.
As a WordPress user, it is also easy to modify the appearance and functionality of your blog using its theme and plugin features, respectively.
6. Finding a theme
A theme is a ‘design package’ for your blog. It is a set of functionalities which determine the unique appearance of your blog. Themes control how a wide range of things look and feel on your blog.
When using a blogging platform such as WordPress, you can install a theme of your choice to change the look and functionality of your blog without interfering with the core code or site content. WordPress users can also switch from one theme to another whenever they so desire.
An important point to consider when searching for the ideal theme for your blog is to select one that is responsive. It is also better to select a parent theme instead of a child theme. There are thousands of themes available. A shortcut in finding the appropriate theme for your blog would be to consult the list of popular (or highly rated) ones than trying to review every one of them – which would be impossible.
Whatever method you use to come up with a theme for your blog, make sure you preview your ultimate choice to ensure that it aligns well with your personal preferences (color, font, etc).
7. Take Action!
“A fishing club is only is fishing club if they engage in fishing.” Likewise, you only become a blogger if you start to create content. All the other tips would be of no importance if this final one is ignored.
As I mentioned earlier, technology today has made blogging a much easier reality than it was before. The above-listed tips that are technology related can be now be applied differently – as part of a membership that includes blog / website creation, hosting, and every other thing that goes along.
CLICK HERE to Start a Blog for FREE!
And with that, you must get working! Start creating and publishing niche-related content to your blog. As you do (an additional tip, perhaps), make sure to include relevant pictures in your content. As humans, we are visual creatures. Visitors to your blog would find it more interesting with relevant pictures inserted.
Conclusion
With the current state of our world, more and more people are turning to blogging as a hobby or a source of income, or both. That is mainly because technological advancement has eliminated previously-encountered obstacles.
To engage in blogging, it is important to acquaint yourself with useful tips that would allow you to set out on the right footing.
And as you do, most important would be to begin creating and publishing content. That is what actually makes you a blogger.
And also remember: a blog is REGULARLY UPDATED. So you will want to keep it updated with new content. In the absence of that, your blog is an archive – and not a bog.