Do you love reading blogs? Would you like to be a blogger yourself? You can make that happen. Even though blogging needs some little bit of skills, the good news is that it is nothing too difficult.
You don’t have to be an expert to start blogging. Take for example someone that wants to write about meal plans and other dieting meals. The readers of that cooking blog wouldn’t want to read some complex stuff from a food scientist. Instead, they want to read something from someone passionate about cooking (some enjoyable stuff).
So, blogging is all about enjoying what you do and writing it to your target readers. If you are ready to start blogging, here is a guide to help you start your blog business for free.
Getting Started: Decide Your Topic
Even before anything else, the first thing you will need to do is decide the topic that you want to write about. Whether you want to write about traveling, fitness and health, cooking, personal blog, or anything else, ensure that it is something that you enjoy.
Too many people go for the ‘popular topics,’ which is not the right way to go about it. Instead, you should choose a topic that you love and one that you will enjoy writing about. If you go for one that is trending, you might end up copying from other blogs because you will run out of ideas.
But when you choose what you love and enjoy, ideas will flow naturally, and your blog will be unique enough. A unique blog can win you more readers.
- Choose Blog Name/Domain
After you have decided the topic that pleases you most and you are sure you won’t lose interest on the way, you will now need to choose the name of your blog. When choosing the name, assume that you are picking a name for your business. It must be catchy and also descriptive enough. As soon as the reader sees the name of your blog or domain name, they should be able to know what the blog is about.
Plus, some specific words must appear in your domain name. For instance, if you will be giving your readers some recipes, you must include the word ‘recipe’ in the domain name to make it easy for your future readers.
Yes, it might be challenging to find a good blog name, but you can always follow the right steps to help you pick the perfect blog name that would attract more traffic.
- Find a Hosting Provider
The next thing to do is to put your blog online. This can only happen when you host it. Here, you will need to find the right provider for hosting your blog. A good host should offer you the chance of making your blog friendly and easily accessible to your readers.
It means that you should be extra careful when choosing a hosting provider for your blog. There are many things to look for in a hosting service, but some of them include the speed, security, features, support, as well as the track record.
Always ensure that you do a background check for the hosting company that you are about to pick. You must only go for one that is reliable, reputable, and affordable enough.
After you pick the hosting company, you will want to go for the right blogging platform. This is also called a Content Management System (CMS). A good Content Management System should be easy to use; it should allow you to upload videos and images, organize your content, as well as have easy control of the whole blog. For instance, WordPress is the best CMS for a blog because it was specifically designed for blogs.
- Make it Appealing
When you have the domain name, and you have hosted your blog, the next thing you will need to do is to customize it. The appearance of your blog will determine if it will appeal to the readers or not.
The customization of your blog is all about finding the right theme and template. If you find the right theme, you will have an easier task of designing your blog. Luckily, most of the CMS will come with themes to easily get started with it. This way, you can decide the color blend that you want for your blog and what suits it best.
For food-related blogs, the theme must be bright enough. Colors like yellow, orange, or red must dominate in the food-related blog because they are linked to the appetite senses in the body.
Make sure the blog looks appealing enough and that the theme matches the niche.
- Start writing and publish
Equipped with the right blog name and theme, you can now start writing and publish your content to the world. If you are a beginner, you will always find some guidance to help you get on with it accordingly. You can test the blog with a trial post to see how it appears on the other side. Never post stuff to your blog if you don’t know how they look on the reader’s viewpoint. Above all, ensure that you write in the language that they will understand. Don’t be too delicate with your phrases if the readers understand plain English.
The Simplest Approach: Website Builders
If you are not much into the design and development of the blog, you can opt for the easiest approach, which is a website builder. A website builder does everything for you, and all you have to do is just type the content for publishing. The website builder software does the design and template part. Don’t forget that you’ll still need to pick the domain name on your own.
There are some top website builders that can help you get started with your blog, which can then make it profitable enough. Don’t forget that not every website builder will offer top-quality services. For that, look out for the features of the builder, how easy it is to use, the cost, and customer support. Always be sure to use the right website builder for your blog.