Are you one of those trying to start a blog but are not aware of how to get started?
If yes, you are not alone.
According to “emarketers,” 60% of marketers create at least one piece of content per day.
So that’s shows there is a lot of competition out there for content marketing. That’s why we need to be more careful, and our content should be unique to get to the top.
Many new bloggers have to face the issue of starting a blog from scratch.
In this blog, I will guide you on how you can start your own blog, the issues you can face, and how to solve them.
What does think a blog is?
In simple words, a blog is content mostly in written form.
It can be in many forms:
- Sports blogs
- Food blogs
- Health Blogs
- Technology Blogs
- Marketing Blogs
These are some examples of blog niches that you can use to start a blog.
Before you even start doing research, some popular niches are still not much worked on but demand.
People often make the mistake to quickly start a blog on those niches already in a huge quantity out there and face problems afterwards.
Research is an important aspect that is a must to gain more traffic towards your brand.
Reasons why you must start a blog?
- Improves your brand identity
- Better for search appearance
- Improves customer’s perception of your brand
- Can collect data
- Engages your audience continuously.
- Doubles your website traffic
Importance of Blogging: –
“49% of marketers report that organic search has the best ROI of any marketing channel-Search Engine Journal.”
I don’t think any of us now don’t know the value of content marketing for businesses.
I will put it this way, whenever someone wants to know about a brand, they search for it google through google reviews or other reviews sites. If it’s a product or a service industry, they will try to read the content to know more about that brand.
If you only have basic content such as description on-site, you won’t be able to rank on the top as there are plenty of businesses having a lot of optimized content on their sites.
If you are thinking of leaving blogging or content marketing aside, that is the biggest mistake a business can make in 2020.
Another thing that you must know about content marketing is it proves the worth of a brand. Just take an example of this blog whenever of “Content Marketing Institute” if they are writing content, a person reading that blog will think of them as a credible brand.
That is why brands need to hire more and more content writers to be more prominent in their industry.
Things you need to know before you start: –
- Research your Blog Topic/Niche
- Find a domain name
- Hosting service
- Consistency
- Apply for AdSense
- A beautiful design
Let’s give you a step by step guidance on how you can set up your blog: –
Step 1-Researching your niche: –
The first and most important part of starting your blog and start earning is to find out what you want to focus on?
Focus is most important when starting as a new blog site.
As I previously added, some of the niches you can focus on, go through them if you want to start a blog.
Secondly, start improving your research ability, as it is the most valuable asset in any business. Whenever you want to start any business, your research should be good; otherwise, you may face a huge loss.
Research ideas: –
- Create polls on Social Media Channels (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
- Ask questions on Instagram stories.
- Ask questions on LinkedIn Stories.
- Ask questions on the Twitter fleet.
- You can also create a survey and share it on social media or email it to your list.
So, go through them and try to start on a topic that not many people have written on.
Step 2-Find a domain name: –
This most important part!
People think you can start a blog by choosing any available domain name. This is one of the biggest mistakes bloggers make.
Are you aware of SEO!
Yes, you are, I know, but if you do, why do you think most of us avoid optimizing our domain when we choose a domain name.
SEO starts even before you buy a domain name. When you choose your product’s name or your brand name tries to determine whether the domain of that brand name is available or not; it is trying to find out if it’s common.
These are some questions you will have to find the answers to kick start your blog’s SEO(Search Engine Optimization).
Now that you are clear of the importance of the domain name.
Let’s begin!
Below are some important domain extensions that you can use to improve your search rankings-Go daddy.
- .com
- .net
- .org
- .co
- .us
You may be thinking that what about other available domain extensions?
They may be cheap and easily available, but cheap is not always good. These cheap domain extensions can ruin your brand image and SEO.
If you are totally new to this field and don’t know what domains are and word, a blog by “MOZ” is a good way to learn.
We have gone through researching our niche and looking for a good domain extension. Now, and you need to find the best hosting service for your blog site.
Step 3: Hosting service
There are many hosting service providers out there, but you cannot choose all of them?
We all ask this question when we research hosting service providers on the internet that which of these platforms is best for SEO purposes.
Below are some hosting providers that may use to kick start your blog:
Some free blogging platforms:
After choosing anyone, one of the links your domain name to this hosting service and gets started.
I’m using WordPress, along with most of the bloggers. So, I’m going to give you a head up on how you can set up a blog on WordPress.
You can also buy WordPress hosting at Blue Host. Blue host is a cheaper platform and will suit bloggers that can’t spend too much on hosting.
Now that you have chosen a domain name and extension, you need to link your DNS Server to WordPress hosting service.
Why is WordPress best to start with?
Because in WordPress, you can install free themes, no need to become a designer search for free blog themes, install them, and you are good to start writing blogs.
Another important reason why bloggers choose WordPress is plugins. The plugins that are installed on WordPress are mostly available for free.
This allows bloggers to optimize their site for google and get to the top of Google search engine.
Step 4: Consistency
This is what we mostly forget as bloggers.
Google knows! When you are posting, if you post 1 blog post a week and then forget to post next week, then wrote 2 blog posts next time; this is not consistent.
Whatever schedule suits you, write regularly so that Google knows that you are continuously engaging with your audience.
Step 5: Apply for AdSense
Finally, we are there!
If you want to start earning from your blog, no need to worry, you can!
We are all aware of the Google AdSense platform.
If you are not Google, AdSense is a platform by Google to share profits. Advertisers who are paying Google to place ads on Google platforms are placed on blogs like these.
Just in case you don’t know how to set up Google ads, go through this process to kick start your Google ads.
The first step to start your earning through AdSense is to sign up.
After your signup using your Gmail account, you will be asked to add your website.
Then AdSense will provide you with a code that you will add to your WordPress site.
The best way to go by this is to install a plugin called Site Kit.
This plugin will install Google AdSense as well as for analytics and speed check.
Now click confirm on AdSense, and then they will review your site. It may take up to 2 weeks to review your full website.
Things to Keep in mind before applying for AdSense: –
- If you have a new domain, wait for at least 6 months before applying (Especially if you are from developing countries).
- Your blog must have a contact page, an about page, and a privacy policy page.
- Must add cookie’s consent to your website.
- Also, don’t forget to add a consent tick box on your contact forms, your comments boxes, or wherever you are getting their information.
Conclusion: –
If you are one of the bloggers who have the talent/skill to write but don’t know how to start earning from them, this a blog for you.
Most importantly, people who have their business established but don’t have a digital presence do not wait for something to force them to change.
Now is the time to start working on your content strategies. Because creating your brand’s content marketing plan is one of the most needed right now.
Most of the big brands, such as Forbes. Hub spot has its content marketing team to create the best of the best content for their business. That’s what’s keeping them up there; why is that we still think that old marketing methodologies are enough.
Lastly, if you have started or are planning to start, try to improve your research skills. People often think of just adding any keyword on google, and the first page they see is what research is.
That’s where we are wrong, as we all know how important keyword research is because Google is all about adding the right keyword.
Adding the right keyword can provide accurate data that you want to search for on the internet.
After you have become good at research, no one can stop your blog get the right amount of traffic because the blog you will write will have accurate data and research that no one can ignore.
If you are still confused or want to know more about the content marketing process or set up Google AdSense, do comment below, we will try to answer every question.