Are you thinking about starting a blog? Perhaps you run an e-store and would like a complementary blog to give consumers more information about your products or services. Or maybe you’re looking for a platform to share your experiences with the world?
Whichever the case, blogging allows you to connect with new people and break into new markets. It can also help merchants and service providers generate more traffic and convert more leads for increased revenue and profitability.
Starting out as a new blogger can be somewhat overwhelming. Novice bloggers have to invest time and resources in guides and reading to learn how to get started. Let’s explore ten tips to get up to speed with starting a blog and creating great content.
1. Define your niche
Begin by defining your goals. Specifically, ask yourself why you want to blog and who you are trying to reach. Find your unique voice and perform a quick market research to determine what topics to cover. Your blog should focus on answering a niche topic to help you attract more loyal readers. Plus, by focusing on one area, you will become a trusted expert within your field.
2. Choose the perfect blog name
Your blog name choice can make or break your blogging “career.” The best blog names/titles resonate with your audience’s needs without sounding too aggressive. Above all, the name/title must be easy to memorize.
3. Select the best blogging platform
There are many various platforms to choose from, including WP.org, Squarespace, and Shopify (if you’re going to include an e-commerce component). Most new bloggers prefer content-management system (CMS) platforms as you don’t need to code. Just remember that WordPress has two versions, i.e., WordPress.com and WordPress.org. It helps to know the difference: although beginners tend to prefer WP.com because it is easier to use for the novice, it comes with restrictions. We recommend WP.org because of that. You can hire a website developer (such as UmeWorks) to do that for you, or many shared hosting plans come with the option to have WP.org installed for you. Which leads us to the next point.
4. Find a great host too
You’ll need a web host in addition to a blogging platform – and you must find a good one. Generally, you want to consider speed, security, and flexibility when choosing a host. Some come with great tools that makes creating and maintaining your site more efficient. Of course, price is another critical consideration. WordPress.org recommends web hosts Siteground, Dreamhost, and Bluehost.
5. You need a content calendar
A good content strategy is an essential foundation that will help ensure all your efforts translate into tangible results. Content calendars and scheduling tools can help you stay more organized, so you don’t forget to create or publish content on time. Buffer has several content calendars and schedulers to consider. Too much for you? You can also use an Excel spreadsheet.
The most important part? USE IT: review schedule regularly to be sure you’re on track and blogging consistently.
6. Leverage keyword research tools
Although blogging is now more about quality, keywords remain essential to long-term success. Use of the appropriate keywords in your blog titles, subheadings, on-page content and metadescriptions can boost your rankings on the major search engines.
Conduct keyword research to identify your audience’s pain points plus optimize your content to fit those needs. Make the most of a range of paid and free tools available that you can use to find and analyze both short-tail and long-tail keywords, such as Google Keyword Planner, KWFinder, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, and SEMrush. Remember to use the keywords as naturally as possible and avoid the temptation of keyword stuffing.
7. Create engaging content
Engaging content is concise, error-free, and to the point. Additionally, write short sentences and paragraphs, and incorporate lists for improved readability. Above all, don’t forget visuals. Images and videos vastly improve content engagement.
8. Consider content editing tools
Writing content is fun, especially when you love your niche. However, editing is rarely as much fun. You may need a little help to catch all the missing punctuation and grammatical errors. That’s where content editing tools, such as Grammarly, Evernote, and the Onelook Reverse Dictionary, come in handy.
9. Learn to promote your blog/posts
You can only go so far without a proper blog promotion strategy. So, you need a promotion plan. Some of the best blog promotion platforms new bloggers can consider are your website, video blogs, search engines, social media networks, industry forums, and the comment sections of other blogs. Sharing your link is more than enough in most cases.
10. Consider guest blogging
Finally, new bloggers can get a lot more traffic and leads by signing up for guest blogging services (better known as guest posting). Guest posts give you valuable visibility on popular websites, and critical backlinks to boost your bottom line as well as enhance your SEO performance.
Ready to Begin
Unfortunately, every passing second is a wasted opportunity in online marketing. So, get started now!
