Many people do not blog just because they consider it a complex business that requires a lot of time and money. In fact, everything is not so scary. If you want, anyone can run a blog, for this you just need access to the Internet and any device that allows you to send messages. Even the lack of a computer is not an obstacle now - in some cases a regular smartphone is enough.
If you want to join the huge global community of bloggers, do not be shy, anyone can blog. Where to start - a simple algorithm will tell you, literally from the first thoughts and awareness of desire to the end.
What is a blog and why do you need it?
For the average Internet user, there are no significant differences between the site and the blog. By and large, these types of Internet resources differ only in a structure that is not obvious at first glance. However, the blog is easier for the average user, it is somewhat reminiscent of a notebook for notes - a convenient form of a diary. It is the diaries that make up the vast majority of web blogs. The owner writes everything that comes to mind there, shares music, pictures, his own opinion on any occasion, and this is also a blog. Where to start creating a web diary for a beginner? It is enough to choose any free blog platform, register and start publishing, look for friends, create your own social circle.
It’s a little more difficult to create a so-called standalone blog located on a separate paid hosting with a second-level domain. Moreover, your resource does not depend on the official policy of the blog platform, which gives a certain degree of freedom. How to start a blog from scratch if you want to become the owner of a fairly popular project that benefits people? Here is a step-by-step guide that answers all questions.
Decide on a goal and make a plan
Why do you need a blog? This question is rarely asked by novice bloggers, so failure is possible. In general, there are only three reasons: an interest diary, a resource dedicated to a hobby or profession, a commercial resource that brings profit to the owner. In most cases, combining all three goals is quite difficult, it is simply impractical. A personal diary is very simple, but a commercial blog should be built on the principles that contribute to success.
How to start a blog to make money on advertising or selling some of your services or products? Make a plan and stick to it, it will help to gradually carry out all the necessary actions.
An example of a simple plan:
- decide on the topic;
- make up the semantic core;
- prepare a starter pack of content;
- provide design;
- put together a blog and start its work;
- continue to support the resource with regular publications.
Theme of your blog
For a profitable commercial blog, it’s best to choose a narrow topic. This allows you to concentrate on the search queries for which visitors find your resource. Of course, you can write about anything, without limiting yourself to one topic, but then the blog will look like a fair where products, furniture, shoes and pets are sold at the same time. This is not as bad as it seems, it just takes a lot of effort to organize the information, in addition, a huge range of topics makes blogging difficult. Where to start if you have decided on a topic?
For example, you love travel and decided to devote this to your online resource. The theme of travel is extensive enough not to get bored, and allows you to combine stories about countries and cities, tips for tourists, features of buying tickets and booking rooms in hotels around the world.
How and where to create a blog?
If you decide not to worry about buying a domain and hosting, there are many possibilities to create a blog without the slightest investment. This has its advantages: if at some point you don’t make money, you don’t run the risk of suddenly seeing a “disconnected for non-payment” resource. On the other hand, you depend on the owners of the resource, which provides its space for creating blogs for everyone, you can suddenly find ads that are not profitable for you, or one day it’s far from perfect to find out that the service is closed. Thinking about how to start your blog and where to post it, you can not pay too much attention to the passionate supporters of offline blogs or any specific platform. Everywhere has its advantages and disadvantages.
The most popular free blogging platforms are Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal. They are fundamentally different from each other. If LiveJournal is more suitable for keeping a personal diary, then Blogger is perfect for anything. WordPress is considered a universal resource to create a blog. Where to begin? You can try all three platforms to make a choice. If you ever decide to go offline, then Wordpress will be an excellent training base.
Why do you need regular publication?
If your blog contains only a few publications, it is likely that they will quickly lose relevance. As an example, news resources are best suited - it is news that is becoming obsolete at a record speed. How to start a blog to keep readers interested? People want to see something new, get fresh impressions. If a visitor is interested in a topic, he will be glad to see that something new, interesting and useful is constantly being published on the selected resource.
However, the muse is sometimes moody, and if you create the content yourself, it is better to take care of a certain stock of publications in case of departure, illness, or simply a protracted lack of inspiration. A very useful feature is scheduled posting, when you post an article or other materials, marking with a date of publication some distant date. It will become available to readers strictly at the day and time you set, this creates the illusion that you are in place and do not let visitors get bored. You want to create a blog. How to start publishing information and what frequency to choose? Depends on the topic, not every topic involves a flurry of daily updates. Stock up on materials for a while ahead, this will help to establish regularity.
Where to get pictures?
Many bloggers, without hesitation, take any pictures they like from the Internet. However, images can be protected by copyright, in addition, numerous repetitions create a slightly spoiled situation for search engines. It’s not enough to figure out how to start writing a blog, it’s advisable to deal with sources and other types of content. Ideally, if you yourself create images or video materials, but you can buy them from photographers or take them for free at photobanks, where permission is given for free and free publication of images on certain conditions.
Where do readers come from?
There are several ways to attract readers to your blog. You can advertise the resource on other sites and blogs, place an ad in such well-known systems as Google or Yandex. For personal diaries, subscribing to other blogs of similar content works well - usually the owners add each other to each other, forming a certain community, but this system does not work with commercial blogs. This is where competition laws come into force.
If you have left behind creating a blog, how to start attracting visitors? In search of information, Internet users usually ask relevant search engines, Google or Yandex. The options that are dropped are scanned for the right information. It is this behavioral factor that relies on specialists who optimize a blog or website for better traffic to search engines.
Search Engines and the Semantic Core
Many beginners are interested in how to start blogging and where to get visitors. It is better to rely on search engines in this matter, and for this you need to take action before you prepare the content. What is the semantic core that optimizers talk about so much? If you do not delve into special terms, this is the semantic content of the resource. For example, you are going to devote your blog to beauty and cosmetics. The core of the semantic core will be the main areas of cosmetology skin care, makeup, certain types of makeup and methods of care. Already on this skeleton narrower topics are being strung together, novelties of the beauty industry, special articles and master classes.
If you have already created a blog, where to start the battle for visitors from search engines? If you remember, you have repeatedly found the information you need by asking the appropriate question on Google or Yandex. Be sure not only you do this. Search engines collect and systematize user searches, based on this you can make a list of key phrases that interest visitors, and demand creates supply.
What do bloggers make?
A successful blog with a steady stream of readers can make money on advertising. At the same time, advertising can be either direct or through special systems. The largest search engines offer their own products - Google Adsense and Yandex.Direct. Using simple scripts, you can place contextual advertising on your blogs and earn revenue from clicks and impressions.
When newbies wonder how to start writing a blog, they rarely realize their true purpose. Therefore, attempts to monetize a blog can be a failure - from the very beginning it was necessary to take a course precisely on the most effective commercial preparation. However, it is never too late to make appropriate amendments, the main thing is not to be afraid to move forward!