Have you always wanted your own blog, but haven’t known how to get started? Well, I’ve got some awesome news for you – it’s not that hard to set up a blog, although it will take consistency, motivation, and dedication, just like any endeavor. Are you up for it? If so, let’s get started learning how to create a new blog in 5 simple steps.
Table of Contents
1. Build A Website On WordPress
The first exciting step of creating a blog is building a website, which will be your very own slice of real estate on the internet. This will be the hub of your business. WordPress is my site-builder of choice. There are so many advantages of using WordPress, including an impressive and extensive library of free themes and plugins. A theme is the skin on which your site is built, and plugins are handy little tools that enable you to make additional customizations and to further optimize your site.
The WordPress dashboard is fairly intuitive, especially once you get the hang of it. It’s pretty exciting when you start building out your site, and seeing it come to life right before your eyes. Designing a website will definitely unleash your creativity, and you might just find it addictive. Before you start creating your site though, you’ll need to choose a niche and a domain name.
A niche is the particular audience that you’ll be marketing to. Interested in dogs? Then build a website dedicated to that niche. Do you love fitness? Consider creating a site around exercise. Aim for a niche that isn’t too broad though. Narrow it down as much as you can. For instance, a niche dedicated to small dog breeds, or better yet one particular breed, is a great example of narrowing down your niche.
A domain name is the URL that will direct people to your site. For example: learnfitnesshacks.com, fortheloveofdogs.com, or ilovebulldogs.com are all examples of potential domain names. Click here and here to play around with different domain names.
Click the links below to learn more:
[Read More: How To Find A Domain Name The EASY Way]
[Read More: How To Pick A Profitable Niche For Your Business]
2. How To Create A New Blog
Blogging, which is essentially writing content, is one of the best ways to direct people to your website. Since customers are foundational for your business to flourish and thrive, getting people to land on your site is your ultimate goal. A steady stream of website visitors is vitally important if you want to build a successful business.
Let’s talk more about the specifics of blogging? Well, a blog is an online journal of sorts in which you provide informative content to the particular audience you’re marketing to. Your blog is the location on your website that houses your content. That’s why building a website is the initial first step in creating a blog.
For example, let’s say you have a website dedicated to gardening. You’ll want to write content related to that niche. I would suggest writing a 1,000-word article at least once a week. This will convey to Google that you are serious about growing your blog and your customer-base. If you blog consistently, over time your articles will begin to rank higher and higher in the search engines, making your content increasingly easier for those in your niche to find.
You blog posts will provide the platform in which you’ll engage and interact with your audience. The more content you produce, the more interaction you’ll receive in the form of feedback and comments. This is a critical step in the relationship-building process. Content is a great way to start building trust and familiarity with your target market, and is an extremely effective marketing strategy when it comes to eventually making money from your site.
3. Start Creating Content
Now that you have both your website and blog set up, your main goal is to keep writing and interacting with your audience. This will send the message to your followers that you are invested in your business and those who use your services. You’re essentially providing quality content free of charge in return for loyal readership. This will pay dividends in the future in the form of sales, although it’s going to take some time for your site to build authority.
This is why creating consistent content is key. The number one fear most bloggers have is that their particular writing style is sub par. I get it, but just remember that writing, like anything else, is a skill that can be developed and refined. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. And remember, you are not writing research papers, blogging is more of an informal, conversational-type of writing. It is meant to inform and instruct, which is what people are looking for when they type in their search queries on Google.
So jump in head first and just start writing. Add some visually interesting pictures and videos (think YouTube) to your posts. I promise your followers will come to love your unique style and method of writing. One of the best parts of blogging is how much you’ll learn personally, not only in terms of what you’re writing about, but in honing your content-creation skills.
4. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a non-negotiable step that you’ll need to implement for all your blog content. Why? Because it greatly enhances the likelihood that your posts will get found in the search engines.
The easier it is for people to find your articles, the more traffic your website will receive. More traffic equates to more conversions, more sales, and more revenue for you – so it’s definitely worth getting good at SEO.
For instance, keyword research is one aspect of SEO that you’ll want to pay close attention to. Every single post you write will need to be optimized for one targeted keyword that is competitive, but not too competitive. This is where a great keyword research tool comes in. There are free tools online that you can use, including Keywords Everywhere, and Neil Patel’s Uber Suggest.
Adding external and internal links to your posts is another aspect of SEO, as is including videos and images in your content. All images you embed will need to have an alt tag, which is a description of the image. This is a key component of SEO, but also a necessary courtesy for those that are visually impaired. You’ll also need to optimize your articles by including meta titles and meta descriptions. Free plugins, like Yoast or All-in-One SEO, will walk you through the process of how to do this.
5. Leverage Social Media
Now that you’ve built your site, and have started populating your blog with weekly content that is optimized with amazing keywords, the next step is to leverage the power of social media. Get all the major social networks working on your behalf, including Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Down the road, you may want to consider creating your own YouTube channel. YouTube is a massive search engine with millions of monthly viewers from people all over the globe. One simple strategy that I use to repurpose my blog posts is to turn them into videos. You can get a YouTube channel set up in one afternoon, and start recording videos using just your smartphone and a condenser microphone.
The goal is to position your content in front of thousands of viewers every time you write a new article. And why not, social media is essentially free advertising, along with free exposure for your business. And it’s definitely one of the best ways to build your brand. So don’t ever underestimate the importance of writing articles for your blog. This will drive traffic to your site, as will taking advantage of social media.
Get Started Today Building Your Online Business
Need help implementing these 5 steps? Here’s where it gets good. I learned my internet marketing skills by following and implementing the training offered at Wealthy Affiliate. You can join online for free, and learn the skills you’ll need to build a website on WordPress, create valuable content your audience will love, optimize your articles for SEO, and learn strategies for marketing your business on social media.
You’ll also learn the art of affiliate marketing so you can monetize your blog. Wealthy Affiliate’s certification course breaks down each of these concepts into easy-to-implement steps. You’ll also love the interactive community within the platform where you can ask other marketers questions and get them answered quickly.
The importance of community can’t be underestimated when you’re in the beginning stages of building your business. Bounce your ideas and concerns off other members that are also building internet businesses, while learning from their experience and expertise. Wealthy Affiliate offers top-notch technical and website support, as well, which is invaluable.
Create A Starter Account For Absolutely Free
There’s no risk involved to create a Starter account at Wealthy Affiliate. You won’t even have to hand over your credit card. Level one of the online certification course is completely free, which includes 10 comprehensive lessons. You’ll also be able to create two websites hosted on WA’s state-of-the-art hosting service.
A Premium membership gives you the ability to create 50 hosted websites, and complete access to all 50 lessons of the online entrepreneur certification program, and all 70 lessons of the affiliate bootcamp training. Read my review or click the banner below to learn more. You’ll also have access to Jaaxy, WA’s online keyword research tool. Click this link to access one of the video courses so you can get a feel for what the training is like.
Key Points
These 5 steps are a great start to getting your blog up and running. Have a blast building your very own website, and filling your blog with engaging and unique content, all while implementing SEO and social media strategies. Learning how to market your business will give it that extra push to make sure it’s a raving success.
Are you a new blogger? What are you doing to promote your business? Let me know in the comments:)