Getting Started
Before you start blogging make sure that you know exactly why you want to start a blog. Once you know the reason it will become much easier to identify your goals and objectives.
Why are you starting a blog:
- Just for fun?
- To support other people?
- To promote an established business and add content to the website?
- To share your expertise on a specific subject?
- To start work in your home business?
- To extra money online?
Write a brief “Why” statement for your blog. Writing a “Why” statement will help you decide the main purpose and help you make better choices for your blog in the future.
Choose the Perfect Blogging Platform
To be successful from the outset, you need to choose the perfect blogging platform. Many bloggers are inclined to use free blogging platforms such as Blogger.com or WordPress.com to save money.
But we’re not recommending the use of free blogging platforms. If you use a free blogging platform, you do not have total control of your blog, your customization capabilities are limited, and you can’t make money from your blog.
Look at some other blogs for design inspiration
If you are unsure what your brand is or what your blog might look like, take a look at several other blogs for inspiration.
Reviewing other popular blogs will tell you which designs look best and give you many ideas on what you should feature on your blog.
Write down the colors you want, the templates that look best, the pages you need, and any other features you like. This will make it much easier to settle on a WordPress theme for your blog.
Add content to the sidebar
After creating all the pages you want on your website, remember to add content in the sidebar.
You can add sidebar widgets with WordPress to show stuff such as your most popular posts, most recent posts, an email signup box, blog posts, and more.
Focus on building a fantastic call-to-action
Having great content alone is not enough. You have to make sure that it converts and that begins with a strong call to action. Many bloggers fail right from the onset because they forget about their call to action.
Creating great content alone is not enough. You need to tell your readers what you want them to do. Be clear and specific.
Here are some ideas to get started:
- Sign up today
- Subscribe now
- Get started for free
- Learn more
- Book a demo
Wrap up your blog post with a call-to-action and you will quickly see your numbers growing. Go a step further and add a lead magnet to build your subscriber list in no time.
Make your posts easy to read
Most people are too busy to read your entire blog post, especially if it is super long. They just want to get the facts. So, make it easy for them.
As the famous copywriter Bond Halbert put it, “Good writing creates effortless reading.”
Here are some tips.
- It is best to use short paragraphs. Bond calls this “eye relief.” Larger pieces of text are daunting to readers, but short paragraphs are welcoming to them. Tools like Hemingway are starting to make this simpler.
- Break down long sentences. People usually read in the voice of their minds. It’s difficult to follow long sentences as such. Break these phrases by finding instances where you used “and,” “because,” and “that.”
- Add multimedia. Images, videos, GIFs, etc., can help illustrate the points better without adding more phrases.
- Please use formatting. Bold, italics, lists, and quotes break up copy pieces and give special attention to specific points.
- Read your copy out loud. This helps to distinguish areas where the content does not flow properly or is repetitive.
Planning your content
Now that you’ve created your blog and it looks amazing, it’s time to start developing content.
Take a look at these tips before you start writing.
Give your knowledge away
Add images to your blog post
Adding images makes your blog posts more alluring to readers. Content with images gets more views and shares and can even increase your conversions by more than 300 percent.
Adding images to your posts is also easy. There are several sites like Unsplash and Pixabay where you can get royalty-free images.
Final Thoughts
Blogging is hard work, but it’s worth every minute. Always make sure that you are providing quality content to your readers. And don’t forget to post regularly, promote your blog posts, network, and so on.
The best part is, you’re not alone. Build a community. Partner with others. Guest post.
Finally, incorporate the blogging tips we’ve shared. Create specific goals for your blog, know why you are writing, and the rest will follow. Have fun!
