Blogging is more important than ever right now. Google loves fresh, original content. With every new post, Google will come back and visit your site, which improves your overall ranking. Your online tribe loves connecting with you and what you have to share. Your tribe gets to know, like, and trust you through your blog. In addition, every post gives you an excuse to email your list and post on all the major social media sites, which drives more and new traffic back to your site. So why not start a blog?
Ready to launch your blog? Here are 5 easy steps to start a blog:
Step 1: Determine your desired reader.
Spend 10-15 minutes describing the type of person you want to read your blog. For some of you this will include very specific things like demographics (age, gender, location), but for others it will be less specific. Remember, your blog has a purpose and isn't just for your random thoughts. You have to have a theme so that your readers know why they should come back and check on your latest articles. Your blog should be able to help your ideal client or customer so they can see that you know your stuff!
Step 2: Identify another successful blog in your niche.
IMPORTANT: This step is not to copy, but just to get ideas. You want your website to be unique and later on, you might not want to follow any blogs in your niche to avoid any jealousy or copying. But, in the beginning it's important to just get your ideas flowing and notice what you like and don't like about other people's sites and what is missing that you can provide better.Ask yourself the following questions:-What topics are they covering?
-What are they ignoring?
-What topics are generating the most engagement in the comments? What questions are the readers asking?
-What do you think of their design?
-What have they done well or poorly with their design?
-What options do they have for readers to subscribe?
Step 3: Come up with at least 5-10 categories your new blog will cover.
When you start a blog, your goal is never to run out of post ideas. You do not want to be strapped for time and writing something last minute. You want quality instead and your readers will want consistency. This list you will continually add to and then when you sit down ready to write something you won't be starting from scratch. It's always easier to write when you have an outline ready to go. We recommend batching your time together and writing multiple posts at the same time. For instance, maybe spend 1 hour every Saturday coming up with ideas for the next month on your blog. Then, the following day, start writing as many articles you can in a 2 hour time spot. You may be surprised at how many articles you can get scheduled ahead of time just by devoting focus time to one activity and not getting distracted.
Step 4: Take 5 Categories and Post Ideas and think of 5 other posts for each category.
When you come up with a great idea, don't stop there. How can you make a series or a month's worth of posts on the same topic. For instance, could you explore the opposite view or answer a question about the idea? Maybe you could take a news article about the idea and write what you think about it. Could you give step-by-step instructions about the idea.For example, if an idea I had was about how to start a blog, other ideas I could also write about are step-by-step instructions, how to use a blog to start a business, how to pre-schedule your when you are really busy and how to blog when you have a full-time job. See how one idea gave me so much more to work with! See how one idea can make so many more little blog posts. Your goal is to plan out the entire month of blog posts before the month starts. It's also really fun to do a series. For example, a 30-Day Networking Challenge. The process outlined in this post is what I try to do on at least a monthly basis. I set aside time at the start of each month to brainstorm as many possible topics as possible.
Step 5: Find a Web Host and Install WordPress
When you start a blog, there are sites that you can blog on like blogger.com and WordPress.com. By all means, start there (that's how CCG started!) but if you are planning to launch and grow your business, we highly recommend having your own domain and hosting. It may be a little more expensive to get started but it is worth it in the end to have amore professional site and own it yourself.
So find a webhost, we recommend Bluehost.com, and then download and install WordPress yourself. Bluehost has plenty of tutorials to show you how to do this and it should take no longer than 10 minutes! (We will be writing a future post all about this so stay tuned!)
Share your new blog in the comments below!
About the Author
Anna is the founder of Classy Career Girl, named by Forbes as one of the top 35 most influential career sites of 2014. She helps millions of women design and launch their dream careers, businesses and lives through her website, online courses and social media channels.
