Blogging is becoming a trend now a days. No matter for what ever reason you are blogging or want to start a new Blog, but every one around have a blog. Someone is on BlogSpot, some one is using WordPress.com or self hosted blog, many are also using tumblr to create a blog, but by the end, everyone have their online presence via Blog. If you are still wondering, how you can start a new blog for yourself, this guide is a great way to start.
Read.what is blogging all about
There are many reasons you can start a blog, you can talk about how you
are feeling today, you can share your thoughts, you can write about
something you like, you can start a new blog to promote your business or
none the less, you can create a blog just to make money from it.
In this article, I will be guiding you about few things, which you need to start a new blog and I will also link to best of resources from ShoutMeLoud and other websites on web, to make most out of your first blog. The road to your Blogging success is going to be long, but if you can do it right, you might be making handsome $5000-$10000/month like Harsh makes from ShoutMeLoud.
So, Lets cover up the requirements you will need to start a blog on WordPress or BlogSpot platform.
How to to start a New Blog
There are many skills which a successful blogger should have, and if you are running a blog or creating one for yourself, you are one step ahead from normal crowd and you can add Blogger as your designation.
But, I’m sure you don’t want to be found and lost blogger, so it’s
better you should have certain skills like Writing, Analytics, reading
and many more.The most important of it is, writing. Yes, I know you can write amazing and unique technical articles, but can people really connect to your writing? Is it easy to understand? You can always enhance your writing skills by practice and by learning from others writing on the web. You just need to have an attitude to learn new things and I’m sure you have it and that’s why you are here.
Bogging platform;
Anyone can get a free blog on BlogSpot.com and start with Blogging and this is best platform to start when you are a complete newbie. But, if you are thinking of long-term, get yourself a self-hosted WordPress blog. Basically, WordPress is a software platform, which you will install on your Hosting account and on your domain.If you really wish to avoid necessary Blog investment and want to start with 0$, Blogspot should be your choice of platform. But, if you wish to start a new blog with the goal of making side income, you should get a self hosted blog. You can refer to ShoutMeLoud extensive WordPress guide to get started, where you can learn about everything you need to get started with your own WordPress blog and domain.
Though, if you are complete newbie, I recommend you to get a BlogSpot blog, and below is a nice guide on creating your first blog on Blogspot platform.
In short, it should be your decision which platform you wish to
use, but if you look at all popular blogs including the one you reading
right now, most of them are using WordPress and that’s what you should
use. My suggestion would be, get a hitch of Blogging on Free BlogSpot
blog, and after a week or two-week time, you can start a new blog on WordPress platform with more professional approach.
Niche
Niche in layman term means the topic. Most of people make mistake by mixing various topic on a Blog. It’s good for personal blog, where you can talk about anything you like, but if your goal is anything else apart from creating Personal blog, My recommendation would be stick to a niche. For example, if you like to write about Politics, write only about Politics. If you like to write about colleges and universities, stick to education niche only. If you have an interest in photography, start a photo blog. If you are good with video editing, don’t hesitate to start a video blog.Yes I know you have made up your mind. But selecting a precise and appropriate niche is the foremost thing to do. Don’t run behind the common niche. Find a niche that you are best at. I would suggest always a newbie blogger to start a new blog of their interest and work hard on it. As the definition of the work according to me says: “Something done without personal interest”. So start a new blog in field where you have strong interest. It might be related to your hobbies. There are tonnes of niche you can select.The reason I strongly recommend newbies to start a new blog related to their interest is because even if you don’t make money for some months, you will never think of quitting blogging.
Now the tough question is how you can define and find a topic that interest you and below posts are the answer to your question.
Web Hosting &domain
Now, we have a topic in mind and we need a domain and Hosting to get started. Now, if you are starting with BlogSpot, you don’t need a Hosting account and your goal is to get a custom domain. By default, you get a domain name like yourname.blogspot.com but with a mere expense of $2-$10, you can get a branded domain name like yourname.com. If you are not sure, why you need a domain name, following two articles will point you into right direction.Choose a catchy and attractive domain name relevant to your blog niche. Make your domain name speak everything. It should represent your brand and the type of blog you own. Don’t make your domain name irrelevant and don’t make it sound too funky (actually newbies do it!). Select an appropriate, attractive and relevant domain name.
Though, selecting a domain name is not easy but hey, I’m here to help you and we have already created an easy to follow guide for you. Here are articles, which will help you to get a select a domain name and will give you more insight about domain names.
So, by now you have decided upon your Blogging platform, your niche and with above guide you also decided upon a domain name. Now, if you are listening to my suggestion and getting yourself a WordPress blog, it’s time to get a hosting. We need hosting to Host our files. Web-hosting plays an important role. There are plenty of hosting service provider but not all stand up to the expectation. A good web-hosting means- a good support and a good up-time.
Going for a free hosting and regretting can be heart breaking, especially during the starting phase of your blogging life. Don’t annoy your visitor with slow page load and down time. They might not visit you ever again. I would suggest you to buy a shared hosting initially. Once your blog starts to get heavy traffic, shift it to dedicated hosting.
Conclusion- First rule of any business is to invest if you really want to make something from it. So invest on good web-hosting service to start a new blog. We have some useful guide and resources for Web hosting and below are few articles, which will point you into right direction.
Learn SEO
If you are just getting started with a new blog, you may or may not have heard of SEO. SEO stands for Search engine optimization and basically it’s a set of rules and guidelines which we follow to make our blog more search engine friend. How do you find something on Web? You use Google search or Bing Search? That’s where SEO come into the picture.Learning SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has always been the most difficult job for all the bloggers. Though, believe it or not, it’s quite easy and you don’t need to be an SEO expert or dedicate day and night to learn SEO. You can easily spend 1-2 hours a day for initial few days to learn the basics and as you will blog, you will learn other aspect of Blogging.
Again, as I mentioned, I’m here to make your life easier and I’m creating a list of resource below, which will help you to understand SEO in simple word. There are many things in SEO, but you can start with basics and here at ShoutMeLoud, we are here to help with everything:
- Importance of Keyword research
- How to perform a Keyword research
- How to submit Website to Google
- How to Submit Website to Bing
- How to improve Page rank
- SEOMoz Ebook
Google’s SEO Starter Guide
Selecting a good design
So far, if you have followed everything you are ready to start your new blog. Now, there are things which you need to do to make your blog appealing and attractive. After all blog is not a book and it’s actually judge by its cover first and later with content. So, you can easily create an everlasting impression of your blog with a great design.“First impression is the last impression”, that’s the mantra we follow for a blog. A good-looking and fast loading blog has always attracted back its audience. This helps you to get a good bounce rate. There are many Premium theme clubs are available which will let you buy attractive design for a nominal price or if you looking for a cheap solution, you can always get a free theme from WordPress theme repo. Or simply search in Google with your Blog Platform + Free Theme + Year (Ex. WordPress free theme 2012) and you will find many resources to get a free and nice looking theme for your blog. Here are few resources, which will again help you get started with your WordPress Blog design.
Writing ur frist blog post;
Now, you are all geared up with a WordPress blog or free BlogSpot blog for yourself. Next and most important thing is writing your first article. You can always start with something you know and in your style, but there are many things which you should know or take care when writing an article. I have mentioned many resources below, which will help you to get started and learn the pro techniques of writing.- How to write article for your readers
- Tips to improve your Writing skills
- Lacking confidence in writing articles? here is how you can over come
- How to proof-read an article
- The Art of Pillar Articles
- How to write articles for search engine traffic
Driving traffic to ur blog;
So, you have got everything covered and you your first blog post is live. Now, the major problem is driving traffic. If you have read about SEO, it won’t be an issue. You should start with Getting your site indexed in 24 hours.Now, there are many techniques which you can use to get traffic to your newly created blog. Here are just three resources, which you need to get started.
- How to promote your blog.
- Blog commenting guide for newbie
- How to craft Guest Blogging plan for immense traffic and exposure
- Traffic generation tips for smart Bloggers
Getting social;
Once you have established your blog. Socialize yourself. Let the Blogosphere know your presence. Bookmark the articles you write. Submit it to famous bookmarking websites like StumbleUpon and Reddit. Pin images of your post at Pinterest. Make most out of Twitter and Facebook. Remember this is inorganic traffic but they are regular and they are your strong audience. Read: Benefits of social media marketing for Blogging.You just need to get started and no need to stress, as again I’m here to guide you with best resources to start a new Blog. To get social with your blog, you need a Facebook page, Google page and official Blog twitter account. Here are two resources, which will help you to get started here.
- How to create Facebook FanPage for your Blog
- How to Create Google plus page for your Blog
- How to form a community out of your blog
What Else you need to reach next level of Blogging:
Now, you need to swear that you will not make these common newbie blogging mistakes and you will be serious about your Blog. Now, it’s time to start making money from your blog and there are many ways by which you can make money from your blog. The best way is to start using Google Adsense. Our complete Adsense guide, is the resource which you need to get started with it.If you are looking to make more, you can use many other techniques like Affiliate marketing, CPM ad network and many more. Here are few more blogs, which will help you to dive into the world of Blogging:
Prepare a mind map of all the above points and you can have a good head start. At blogging world we always wish that there were someone who can guide us right from the scratched when we start a new blog. While that may not be possible but there are plenty of resources available. Join the group and forums related to blogging and put up your doubts, there are thousands of people out there to help you out. Welcome to Blogging!
I tried to cover as much as I could for a newbie to get started, but if you still have a question in your mind before starting your new blog on WordPress or BlogSpot, feel free to give us a shout via comment. Don’t forget to share this post on Facebook and bookmark it for future reference.
This is a guest post by Kunal from TechHogger. If you would like to write for ShoutMeLoud, check our guest posting guidelines.
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