One year ago today I started this blog, and what a year it has been! I have learned so much about the blogging world that I had no clue about when I was first starting off. Throughout the year I have met, and talked to many other people that show interest in starting a blog but have no idea how to, so I figured, as a “blogiversary” gift from me to you, I would write you a detailed guide on how to start a successful blog from the beginning (and not make the same mistakes I did along the way!)
Step 1: Pick a niche- This is what you will be writing the bulk of your posts about. Its important to brainstorm what you are really passionate about. For instance, my blog is mostly about family (parenting and marriage). I do have a few DIY project ideas and recipes here and there but they are again, focused on stuff that we did as a family or will eat for a family dinner for example. If you want to be a sports blogger, or a travel writer, but then all of a sudden start posting about fashion you will most likely lose a bulk of your audience. They were attracted to your site for a specific reason, and if you start writing about completely irrelevant content, they will likely lose interest very quickly.Writing about topics that are truly something you are invested in, love, enjoy, and feel are truly important, are the topics that need to be your main focus. Sponsored posts (these are posts that you get paid to write) are okay to do on your blog, because lets be honest these posts are important to bloggers because this is how we make money, but its important to be super selective on which ones you choose to do. Readers want genuine, raw content. Only write sponsored posts that you can give a very honest review on. Don’t ever lose sight of that.
Step 2: Do you want to monetize your blog- Decide right from the get go if you ever plan to make money off of your blog. I’ll be honest, this is one area I really messed up on when starting my blog and it really set me back. When I first started my blog I never anticipated making money off of it. I just wanted to write, and hoped to help and inspire a few moms along the way. So I started my blog on wordpress.com. This is a free blogging platform (basically a free website that hosts your blog). I thought it was great because they had a lot of really nice features, and it was free! So I immediately signed up not doing nearly enough research. What I did not know was that you cannot advertise at all on this type of site (meaning placing ads on your site, to make money off of ad company’s such as Google Adsense). You also really are not supposed to write product reviews or sponsored posts using wordpress.com as a host. Basically if you want to monetize your blog, you cannot do so using wordpress.com. Now, if you don’t want to make money off of your blog, wordpress.com is truly a great site, although, customization is limited. If you want to monetize your blog see step 3.
Step 3: Choose a blogging platform and host- After a few months of using wordpress.com I was approved and asked to do some advertising on my blog. This is when I found out that I could not do so on wordpress.com and had to make a switch. Truthfully, this was a HUGE growing pain for me, because I had to switch everything from wordpress.com to a self hosted site. I switched to wordpress.org as my blogging platform, and used Bluehost.com as my host. Bluehost.com has a version of wordpress.org that you can use through them, so it’s the best of both worlds. Also with a self hosted site, is that you can add any plugins that you want (think of plugins as Apps on your phone, but for websites). These are very user friendly and I highly recommend starting with Bluehost.com from the beginning if you are even slightly considering making money off of your blog. Not only can you monazite your blog with this option, you can also add any plugins that you want which really allows you to customize your site. Also if you need someone to walk you through this process, they have great customer service. Sign up today by clicking below!
Step 4: Register your domain: This is where you are basically going to pick the name of your website/blog. You want your domain (www.yourblogname.com) to preferably end with .com, so you need to make sure it is available before naming your blog. Again, another mistake I made as a rookie blogger was I picked Mommy Talk as my blog name, but never checked to see if that domain was available first, and long and behold it was not. So at first I added 73 at the end (so it was www.mommytalk73.com) and no one could seem to remember the 73 at the end… SO… Another big change (and growing pain) for me. When I switched to a self hosted site, I also re-branded my site. I did the research first this time and found the name I wanted for my site was indeed available and so I was able to switch to www.mommysfrontporchview.com. I saved a lot of money using Name Cheap to register my domain name. I HIGHLY recommend using it as well. Here’s my referral link to sign up your domain today: Name Cheap Referral link
Step 5: Write consistently: This is deciding how many times a week you are going to write and then sticking to that. I personally don’t have the time to write daily like some bloggers. I just simply don’t have enough time in the day to do that, so I try to always post 2 times a week. And after a year of blogging my readers now know to expect 2 posts a week, which keeps them engaged. This coming year I am planning on becoming even more consistent and my hope is to post on the same days each week, because I often struggle sticking to the same two days. Scheduling posts ahead of time is a HUGE help here.
*Bonus tips* Use clean, crisp photos that are easy on your eye. The picture you include in each post is often times the deciding factor if someone is going to take the time to read your post or not. It is also the first thing that people on Pinterest and Instagram see when promoting your post.. so make it a good one! (A little tip- It is proven that if you use a vertical picture, it highly more likely to be pinned on Pinterest). It is also crucial to remember that you want to use your OWN photos. Using photos off of Google or other peoples sites could end up in a law suit (I have read about many bloggers who have made this mistake, and the results are not pretty! Don’t be one of them!) If you really need a picture that you cant take yourself, look for free stock photos that have been approved to use by the owner.
I hope these 5 steps help you feel more prepared in starting your blog than I was when I started mine! Now go write! Blog your little heart out! You are about to start an adventure that has the potential to change your whole life, and that my friend is pretty amazing!
It’s really hard to believe you’ve only been blogging for a year! Congratulations on your success. Monetizing was not an issue for me until this year. I have been blogging for almost six years on wordpress.com. I know that I need to switch and it terrifies me.
Haha thank you Leslie! I am JUST starting to monetize my blog. I still have a ways to go and a ton to learn! But just trying to plug along each day! 🙂
Had no idea about any of this. I have a great full time job and don’t really need to worry about monetizing my blog… right now. But knowing that I CAN’T from WordPress is kinda scary. Who knows where I might want to take the blog in the future?? Now I have some thinking to do…
Hi Lynn!! Welcome back! So glad you found the new site!! I am also glad this site gave you some good insight on expanding your blog if need be in the future! Let me know if you have any questions! I can help!
Hi, I’m new to this blogging thing, I also liked to monetize as I am really admiring all those articles I read but I signed up at wordpress and I also don’t know how to start one. . . thank youuuu!