The importance of blogs to online businesses can never be overemphasized neither can the fact that good effort needs to be put in for better results. The effort you put into creating your blog does not have to take a truckload from you before it comes out effective. What simple steps do you need to take to create a successful blog? We will find a detailed answer to this in the course of this article.
Starting a blog 101
Before we embark on our blog set-up journey, some ground knowledge would be great. So, what is a blog? Simply put, a site that bases majorly upon written content/articles is a blog. Now, back to setting up a blog of your own. You can do this in 6 simple steps, namely;
1. Get yourself a blog name that works
2. Get web hosting for your prospective blog
3. Install any blogging software and a theme to go
4. Customize & Optimize
5. Brainstorm captivating topics
6. Create and upload your first content
1. Get your blog a name that works
In almost all cases, one is required to have a name before creating or setting anything up. Therefore, before you delve into any technical aspect of creating your blog, get yourself a name. Not just any name would suffice, you need a catchy yet descriptive name. The importance of a great blog name is not to be overlooked. If you do not come up with a proper blog name, you might end up with something too verbose and easily forgettable or, you may find it lacking in actually describing your brand.
2. Get web hosting for your prospective blog
Now you have got a name and are probably full of ideas for your blog, quite exciting, isn’t it? Now the first “technical” step to getting your blog on track is web hosting. Web hosting can be likened to a house so let us say web hosting is a house but for your blog. Now, the same way every house has an address, your blog needs a domain name. Here, you need the services of a web hosting company. For example, you could turn to Bluehost. The best part about working with Bluehost on this is that you get both the web hosting service and the domain name for your blog post.
3. Install any blogging software and a theme to go
Without blogging software, starting a blog is next to impossible. When choosing a blogging software, you should settle for one that is not so expensive but is user-friendly, and highly efficient. In this case, one such software is WordPress. If you use other blogging software in comparison to WordPress, you would find that the latter is a better and more cost-friendly option.
After installing WordPress, which does not take much time, you have to install a WordPress design/theme to go with it. WordPress has thousands of themes available so, making a choice can be difficult. However, in choosing a theme, you should find one which fits your blog name, your brand, and whatever experience you want individuals who visit your blog to have.
Well, as not everyone is tech-savvy, going through the process of building a blog from scratch may not be your thing. Also, building with the right fundamentals can influence the success and growth of your blog. Then you might opt to consult with the right professionals to help get you started. We can help you do so in no time.
4. Customize & Optimize
This step is necessary, so it must not be left out. Your blog, when finished, would be one out of billions of others out there, so what makes yours different? To make your blog stand out, you need to customize it. WordPress can help in this aspect. By clicking “customize” on your current theme, and then “site identity” you are on your way to a personalized blog page. Now optimizing posts on your blog is necessary. You can achieve this by incorporating the “Yoast” SEO plugin into WordPress.
5. Brainstorm captivating topics
Thinking of topics for a blog post can sometimes be exciting and other times, well somewhat stressful. However, you should keep in mind that the main goal of your blog post is to reach a target audience. Therefore, when brainstorming blog topic ideas, they should center around the interests of the audience you plan to reach. You can specifically find what most people find interesting in your niche and exploit that.
6. Create and upload your first content
To create posts on WordPress, first, click on “Posts” and then “add new”. With Gutenberg blocks on WordPress, you can add quotes and media, among several features, to posts on your blog. After including a topic of choice, WordPress automatically created a Permalink from the keywords in your selected title. Now, you can go ahead to write your first blog post to your heart’s content and then upload your post. But before doing this, you might want to see a peek at what the post would look like when you upload it. You can do this by clicking the button “preview” on that page. You should incorporate visuals in your blog as they seem to reach the audience better.
Wrapping Up
In this article, we have come to see that starting a blog is no arduous task. For something of such great benefit, the process of setting it up is worth the time. Before you release your first blog for your target audience to see, try enhancing its readability and clarity, and ensure you do not give your audience a hard time reading it. While serving as a platform to put your brand out there, your newly set up blog can also fetch you some money. Making money at your leisure while doing something you enjoy, how much better can it get?
