Did you know blogging online began back in 1994? The first recognized blog was linkes.net. It was really a person’s personal notes on life. A very simple website was used. Since then millions of people have had blogs. Another hundred million+ people use social networking sites to blog like Twitter. Twitter is considered a micro-blogging that consists of short and frequent posts. However, you want to have great blog sites to get you started with blogging.
Learn how you can have a great blog site today.
Do You Want to Have a Fantastic Blog?
Guest blogging and sponsored posts have become increasingly popular in the past few years. Many bloggers find it difficult to compete with more content being published each day.
Today many blogging sites are multi-authored sites as one-author bloggers find it difficult to compete with more and more of them being published each day. Many bloggers participate in guest posting on other sites and sponsored posts to earn an income.
Of course, if you want to write quicker and better, you can use AI tools for that. By guest posting on other sites, you can make your blog more fantastic with the additional traffic and networking you gain from the guest posting.
Starting a New Blog
Starting a new site today offers you many choices. The best way to start is by having your own self-hosted site. Self-hosted means you own it. It’s your property. WordPress is the most popular site builder but today there are many more options for you.
Learn how you can start a new one with tips here today.
If you choose a free blog platform like Blogger, Tumblr, or wordpress.com you do NOT own the blog. It can come down or disappear at any time.
Plan ahead as start your new adventure in writing online.
- Do keyword research
- Research the competition
- Pick a theme that is relative to your niche
- Decide on a domain name
- Find a logo
- Choose your plugins wisely, you don’t want too many to slow down your new site
- Write at least 5 posts in advance, even more, if you can
- Set up a schedule that you can stick to
- Set up your gravatar so you can comment on others in your niche
Hosting Platform Today
Having a self-hosted site means you pay to have it hosted on the world wide web. Which hosting service you pick is a very important decision. When I first started I choose a reseller – not good. I could not get in touch with the person who lived on the west coast when problems arose. (And with blogging they will from time to time.)
As my blog readership grew I had to change my hosting for a bigger package. You have to be ready for that when you purchase your own blogging hosting package!
Domain Name For You
Another important decision in getting started to blog is the name you choose from your domain. You really need to do some research on this one. If the domain name was used before checking out its history.
Be sure when you register your name with GoDaddy, etc. that you do it for at least 2 years at a time as Google will like it better. If you renew your domain for just one year Google won’t take your website as seriously. You’d be known as a fly-by-night company.
Also, be sure to get alerts when it is time to renew your domain. I’ve found many of my customer’s websites down as they forget to renew their domain over the years.
Choosing Your Niche Topic For Your Writing
Today many experts believe you need to have a narrow niche. Blog websites that have broad topics are harder to generate traffic.
I learned this a few years back via Ryan Biddulph. He is the blogger that was a security guard in New Jersey who got downsized. He became flat broke. After being out of work for months he saw his girlfriend making money online.
He began the journey of his own writing and now travels the world as a blogger. I purchased one of his eBooks and realized that having a specific niche was one of the keys to a successful blog today.
Setting Your Great Blog
If you are not very techie online or with computers you may want some help with this one. There is a new great resource on how to set up a blog with step-by-step details by Neil Patel.
This is an easy-to-follow guide that I highly recommend you check out. I wish this informative resource post was around when I first started my first website.
Generating Traffic To Your Website
This may sound easier to you but in reality, it is not so easy. It takes time and patience. The biggest key to generating traffic to your new fantastic blog is to network with other bloggers. I cannot stress this one enough.
Increase your blog traffic as you keep blogging along.
You must reach out to other bloggers and share their posts too. One cannot survive blogging alone on the world wide web. Here is a great post on how to generate more social shares for your posts. This post truly shows us how we must collaborate with other writers and social influencers.
Guest blogging is a great way to generate new traffic to your own site. People who never knew you existed may find out from their other favorite blogs when you do a guest post on it. Guest blogging also helps build up your authority in your niche.
Continuing To Write On Your Great Blog
To continue to write you must love what you blog about. You have to be passionate about it or you will not write month after month, year after year. So many people do not continue to write after just 1 year. They quit. Learn some tips to come up with blog ideas in 30 minutes here.
New bloggers lose the desire to write or were not generating income. Do not write just for money. It will not work. You must love it. The money will then follow.
Blogging here even helped me write a tribute to my mom’s funeral. I never had done anything like that before. Therefore, I’m sure blogging gave me the courage to do it.
Refreshing An Older Platform
You may have been blogging for years now and want to refresh your own blog. Make sure that the platform is mobile-ready. People today are on mobile devices more than ever before, even in their own homes.
People are reading online on their phones or tablets. The desktop is no longer the number one method of being online today. Check out Google’s mobile-ready test here.
If your older site is not mobile-ready that is the first thing you need to update.
Refresh your posts and websites often.
Keep Your Site Simple
Many older sites have too busy sidebars and ads. Keep it simple. The simpler the site is the easier it is for readers to read your writing when they land there. I love seeing websites with white space to make for easier reading. Of course, having too many ads and pop-ups may turn your readers away fast.
You can also consider changing your theme. There are many new WordPress themes coming out daily. If you are unsure how to do that hire someone to do it for you.
If you are to transfer from something like Blogger to WordPress you may need help with that too. Don’t be afraid to try or ask for help to make your website the best.
If your website is too busy the readers will leave quickly. Check your bounce rate and make adjustments if your bounce rate is high. You can check that and many more things via your Google analytics and webmaster tools.
Both will give you insights into what parts of your articles and pages may need adjusting.
Finally, having great landing pages for visitors to land on to purchase your eBooks or other products or services is key to having a successful blog now.
Updating Is Not Always Easy
Some updates to a blog can be easy to do – like changing the website color or eliminating elements from the sidebar. Other updates like a new theme can be more complicated and you may need to hire someone. If you are blogging as a hobby have fun with it!
Don’t be afraid – just be sure who you hire really knows what they are doing. You don’t want to end up with many broken links and a negative SEO impact. When you outsource your difficult tasks you can then spend more time writing and networking.
Thus, that will help you to continue to write year after year. Blogging is hard work but if you love it you will enjoy it!
Your Turn On Starting A Great Blog
Have you started your first one yet? If you have been writing for some time have you refreshed your website or individual posts?
I’d love to know more in the comments below.
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