Are you thinking about starting a blog? If so, then you need to learn the right way to do it and then over time, it can be a great way to earn passive income and help build the life you desire.
Here are seven simple steps to take to start your blog:
Step One: Pick Your Niche
The first step is to pick your niche or theme that will set the tone for most (not necessarily all) of the posts on that blog. Your blog can focus on a special interest of yours (politics, religion, health care, science, engineering, cooking etc.) It’s important for you to pick something that you’re passionate about as narrowing it down makes writing content and promoting your blog much easier.
There are a few things to consider when choosing your niche:
* Is there a demand for information on this topic?
* Are there already many blogs in this niche? If so, can you offer a unique perspective?
* Can you see yourself writing about this topic for the long term?
Step Two: Set Up Your Blog
There are various ways to get your blog set up, and each method has its own advantages. If you’d like to test out the process, you can start with a free blog such as blogger or Weebly etc. and then after you have a better idea of what you want to do, set up a more permanent one using your own domain name. The most popular option is to use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Blogger. These platforms make it easy to create and manage your blog without any technical knowledge. However, if you’re not sure which platform to use, WordPress is a good option as it powers over 30% of all websites on the internet.
Once you’ve chosen your platform, it’s time to pick a domain name and hosting company. Your domain name is simply your blog’s address on the internet (e.g., www.yourblog.com). And your hosting company is where your website’s files are stored.
There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing your domain name:
* Make it easy to spell and remember
* Keep it short
* Avoid using hyphens or numbers
* Choose a .com extension if possible
As for hosting, there are several companies to choose from. For example, Bluehost offers affordable hosting plans and a free domain name when you sign up. Plus, they make it very easy to set up your WordPress blog with just a few clicks.
Step Three: Choose Your Host WordPress Theme
Now that you have WordPress installed, it’s time to choose a theme. A theme is the design of your website and controls how your content is displayed. There are free and premium WordPress themes.
Hundreds of free themes are available from the WordPress.org repository, while premium themes must be purchased from a third-party seller. I’ve only used free themes up to this point but premium themes offer more features and customization options.
Step Four: Write Great Content
Now it’s time for the fun part: writing your blog posts. When writing your content, keep the following in mind:
* Write for your audience first and foremost – What information do they need? How can you help them?
* Keep your articles well-organized and easy to read – By using short paragraphs, headings, and bullet points.
* Use images, videos, and infographics – This will break up your text and make your articles more visually appealing.
Step Five: Monetize
Once traffic is coming in steadily to your blog, it’s time to start making money.
There are various ways to do this:
* Sell products or services: If you have something to sell, you can promote them on your blog. You can also earn via affiliate marketing,in which you get paid when readers purchase something through an affiliate link that you put within a blog post. Another way to earn money is by advertising for other businesses or selling products or services that are in line with your topic.
* Use display advertising: You can also make money by displaying ads on your website. Google AdSense is the primary and most popular option, but other companies offer display advertising too.
* Sell sponsored content: If you have a large following, you can also monetize your content by selling sponsored articles. A sponsored article is a blog article written by a company or brand to market its goods or services. However, it’s best to only promote products or companies you can personally vouch for because you want your followers to trust you.
Step Six: Grow Your Email List
Growing your email list is one of the most effective ways to monetize your blog. You can build your list by offering something of value in exchange for an email address. As you share helpful content, you can also start selling products or services to your subscribers. This way you’ll sell to people who are already interested in your topic and what you have to offer.
Step Seven: Keep Track of Your Progress
The final step in starting a blog is to keep track of your progress. This means setting up Google Analytics on your website so you can track your traffic and see where your visitors are coming from. To be successful, monitor your income and expenses so you can see how much money is coming in (and where that money is coming from). This will help you make decisions about what content to create and what products or services to promote.
Again, blogs can be a very profitable tool if used correctly. Profiting from blogs is just a matter of grabbing the attention of an audience by creating quality content – content that your audience will love. And don’t forget to enjoy the process.
If you’re interested in starting a blog and earning money from it, take a look at this course on Really Simple Authority Blogging by Connie Ragen Green. You’ll receive immediate access to all the modules. Take a look at it here: Authority Blogging
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Lorene –
I think was a very clear, well written blog post.
Thanks, Rick. I appreciate you taking the time to read and leave a comment.