Happy Tuesday Friends!
So, today I am diving into my blogging series for you all. Earlier this month I did a full post All About Blogging and answered some of your most asked questions about blogging in general. So many of you loved this post and since I get asked about the steps to take to become a blogger so often, I have decided to break it up into a series for you all. It is a lot of information, and this way you can take the steps yourself in little chunks so as not to get overwhelmed!
OK. Let’s get real for a second…
I myself have read SO MANY ‘How to Start A Blog‘ posts before, and, yes, I fully plan on giving you the steps to actually getting a blog up and live on the internet, BUT every post I have read always seemed to have one very important piece of information missing…. How to actually have a blog that people read! SO, I am also going to share with you all the exact steps you need to take to actually get a blog rolling. By that I mean how to actually get it live and in front of an audience, being read, gaining consistent readers, and getting attention on the internet. And I am sharing this in the form of a checklist you can follow every time you post!
This is exactly what I did to start my blog. At the end you will find the exact checklist I use every time I publish a new blog post, no secrets here!
STEP ONE: Choose what you want to blog about
When you want to start a blog you need to figure out what niche you want to be a part of, and what the focus of your blog will be about. I highly recommend you choose something that you are already passionate about. Do you love all thing beauty? Start a beauty blog! Are you the fashionista of the family? Start a fashion blog! Are you a stay-at-home-mom looking to share your tips and tricks on mom life? Start a mom blog! …Whatever it may be, decide on your topic and stick to it!
It is important to note you do not have to choose ONE topic. Although it is best to have one topic that is the star of the show, you can be free to blog about as many things as you want, just make sure you are passionate about it! My blog started out as a personal style blog and that is still my main focus, but as my life has changed it quickly evolved into a mom blog as well, and now I am sharing blogging tips because that is what my audience asks for! Don’t be afraid to evolve over time!
STEP TWO: Pick a URL
What do you want to name your blog? Some people find this to be the hardest part of the whole starting-a-blog process, but my advice is not to think too hard on it. Go with your gut and choose something that you can forever identify with.
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Lydialouise.com is the name I chose because it is my name! I will be honest here and share that I have started many a blog in the past and had tons of names from Lulubouge to HappyHealthyConfident, but once I decided to be serious about blogging I knew I wanted something simple and clean. My name!
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Some people like to choose a name that lines up with the things they love or a fun catch phrase like a couple of my favorites thebluehydrangeas or pardonmuah. Others go with a fun name for themselves or the type of blog they have like aroundtownbabe or thestyledpress. But whatever you choose just go with your gut, love it, and don’t take too much time second guessing yourself on it. I promise the first one you like will be the winner, it is the content that matters most!
Purchase your personal URL so you have an official web domain. I recommend getting a URL that ends in .com for ease of use in the future. Those searching for you will find you faster since most people assume .com’s as the norm. I used Godaddy to purchase my URL and you can do so as well by clicking here!
Pro Tip: Make sure the name you choose for your blog is also available on all social account platforms so you can maintain consistency!
STEP 3: Choose your platform
Many bloggers, in the beginning, do not know that they can self host their blog site and have much more freedom and ability to grow. Because I married a computer nerd (love you hunny!), I was taught that self hosting is much better for many reasons…
- 100% complete ownership! This means you have total control over your website – um yes please!
- Unlimited customization and access to plugins. Although I do not recommend using a ton of plugins, having the ability to pick and choose what and how you want your blog to look is so important. A big plus if you know code!
- You have the freedom to use your own domain that you so carefully just chose and purchased and it ends with .com and not .blogger or .wordpress.com …etc
- Freedom to monetize (make money) any way you please and the ability to create a subscription list via email sign up!
There are many self hosting sites out there on the big wide web, but I personally chose Bluehost and love it! You can get started with them HERE!
Once you are all set up with your self hosting platform you can install wordpress (highly recommend wordpress.ORG vs. WordPress.com) which is where you will write your blog posts from. Take a look at wordpress HERE and get familiar with how to use it. Do not be frustrated if it is challenging at first! It is for everyone in the beginning, and with time you will get the hang of it. You can learn everything you need to know HERE!
STEP 4: Choose a Theme
Choosing a theme can be a lot of fun. A theme is the design and overall look of your blog. It is the colors, the text, and any graphics that you may choose. The theme is what people will see when they type your URL into their web browser. This is often a favorite part for many beginner bloggers because it starts to all look real!
WordPress offers FREE themes for you to use and many of them will work just fine in the beginning. I, however, truly wanted a particular look to my blog so I decided to purchase my own theme. You can buy your own theme from hundreds of places all over the internet just make sure it is compatible with wordpress. There is a wide price range for themes and many of them come with easy installation instructions and different customizations.
My Theme was purchased via Pigdig and I have the one called Venture. You can also find beautiful these on Etsy!
Step 5: Set up your E-Mail list and opt-in
It is very important to have a subscription list right away! Having a place where all emails are stored makes it super easy to send out blog post announcement, product launches, updates etc… to all your readers at once. The best way to gain new subscribers is to have an opt-in option on your blog itself so that when new readers come to your page they have a way to give you their email for future updates.
You can use an email list builder and create an opt-in for your website very easily with Mailchimp! This is what I use and I love it! Mailchimp has instructions on how to set up your opt-in option on your blog site that is very easy to follow, and then you can set up blog post announcements to go out automatically when you post them to your blog! Easy peasy!
Pro Tip: DO NOT be discouraged if your email list starts out very small! I only had 20 subscribers for the whole first year of my blogging career and most of those were 3 of my own email addresses and of my many family members! Teehee! *Add a link to a subscribe page on your social platforms that drive added traffic directly to your site daily. This will help you gain new readers faster!*
STEP 6: Create your about page
The next step is to create an about page. This is where readers will learn about who you are, why you started this bog, and what they can expect to find on your blog. This is also a great place to share your other social accounts, add policies and quick links, and a subscribe button which I have done in the form of drop downs under my about page on my blog menu.
I have also added a little information about how I can be reached for collaborations or to be asked questions. You can take a look at my about page here for guidance.
STEP 7: Draft several blog posts
Finally it is time to start writing your first blog posts! I recommend sitting down with pen and paper and writing out a blogging schedule for yourself. How many blog posts do you want to publish a week? Staying consistent is very important to make sure you pick a schedule you can stick with. It is good to post more then once a week so a typical posting schedule could look like Monday/Wednesday/Friday. I post on Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday since that seems to be the days when I get the most blog views.
I like to plan out my blog posts at least one month in advance. So for example I will lay out a calendar and take a look at the month coming up. What do I want to feature this month? What season are we in? Are there any holidays or important events coming up? I will then fill in my blog post topics on each day I want to post and plan to stick to the schedule.
For example: next month is February and that means Valentine’s Day is coming. So I know I want to do a post that features Valentine’s Day gift ideas, a Valentine’s Day date night outfit suggestion, and possibly a post on how to have a Valentine Date Night at home.
Once you have a plan for your posting schedule and some blog post ideas lined up, go ahead and start writing! I suggest that you have 5-10 blog posts drafted before you ever publish your first one. This way you are fully prepared to stick to your posting schedule and can be consistent right away which will help you gain traction and get traffic right away from day one. VERY IMPORTANT for growth!
STEP 8: Publish your first post
OK. Last but not least it is time to publish your first blog post. Many newbie bloggers drop the ball here and simply hit publish, dust off their hands and walk away from the computer to go get themselves a much needed treat in celebration. This is the worst thing you can do! After everything you have done to get to this point and all the hard work you have put into your blog up to here, do not drop and walk on your first blog post! …or any for that matter!
It is so common for new bloggers to get frustrated that no one is reading their blog and can quickly think that maybe their content just stinks. This is not true! What you have to say matters and there are thousands of people out there who want to read what your dishing. Writing a great blog post is wonderful, but getting it in front of readers eyes is a bit of work in the beginning and it is up to you to get the word out there about what you have to share with the world. The internet is very saturated with bloggers these days, and you have to work in order to stand out.
There are many steps to take before, and after you write a blog post so that it is seen and you start to get the traffic that is so desired. Every blogger has their own methods and some of those methods work and some of them don’t. Either way, taking some steps to follow SEO, check for errors, research keywords, and promote each and every blog you post WILL make a difference! Below you can find my blogging checklist. This is what works for me and I swear by it!
SO there you have it! This is the first of a series of blog posts I will be doing on starting a blog including How To Make Money Blogging, Using Pinterest To Grow Your Traffic, How to Grow Your Social Following, and more! I really hope you all enjoyed this and found it very informative. I truly hope that this helps you in your journey to starting your own blog, and please reach out with any questions you may have! Also if you start a blog after following these steps, I would love to see it! Feel free to share a link to your new site below!