So you want to start your own blog? Now is the best time to create your own place on the internet. Blogs have been used for the past twenty years as a way to share your ideas, build an audience, and even earn an income. With some bloggers making over a million dollars a year, it’s no wonder this is becoming such a popular side-hustle or full-time gig.
If you’re planning to start your own blog, for example a Food blog or some other niche you’ll need to do some preparation. Choosing a food blog names would be the first step. While it might seem as simple as just slapping together a page on a free platform and clicking publish, there’s a lot you need to know, from branding to content creation. In this guide, we’ll go through the basic checklist for beginners starting their own blog.
1. Self-Hosted Website
First thing’s first: you need a self-hosted website. Why self-hosted? A self-hosted website is one that you own. You own both the domain name and hosting, and that means you’re fully in control. When you host a website on a third-party platform, you’re not in the driver’s seat.
You can’t control your content, who has access to it, or how you interact with search engines. Ultimately, it’s too limiting. The good news is you can start a blog for just a few dollars a month. There’s no excuse not to make this small investment.
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2. Quality Design
Next, you need a design to make your new self-hosted website shine. There are a number of free templates available, especially if you choose to use a popular Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress. From there, make sure your template or custom design has been fully customized.
Give some thought to the basics of branding. Here are some questions to guide your search:
- Colors – The foundation of any brand should be your colors. Consider the psychology behind your color picks. How do you want your users to feel? For instance, red is shown to make users excited, black is associated with luxury, etc.
- Logo – You’ll also need a logo for your blog. If you’re working with a limited budget, you can just start with your blog name as a logo and grow as you develop.
- Fonts – Similar to colors, your font choices will help define your brand. However, make sure all of your font choices are easy to read on all devices.
- Visuals – Finally, what visuals will you include within your design to make it more engaging to your audience?
3. Content Strategy
Now that you have the first must-haves out of the way, it’s time to create quality content. A blog without content isn’t a blog at all. Who is your audience? Who is it you’re trying to talk to? Remember, if you’re talking to everyone, nobody will hear you. You need to be specific with your audience if you want to be successful.
Today, the best kind of content is long-form content. That means your posts need to be at least 600+ words and offer real value to the users. A lot of new bloggers treat their websites like an online journal. This won’t get you taken seriously, and it’s hard for users to really engage with your content in this way. Focus on content your audience is searching for already.
4. Social Media
How will you bring users to your blog? You’ll soon learn you can’t just click publish and expect people to pop up from nowhere. You need to promote your blog, and an inexpensive, effective way to do just that is through social media.
While posting your blog posts and other content on social media is great, don’t underestimate the power of video. A startling 85% of online users in the U.S. watch video content already, so you want your blog to be included in this percentage.
If you’re not a skilled video editor, don’t worry. You can use a tool like Movavi to do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to editing. Movavi Video Editor Plus is a great tool for beginners and bloggers of all levels. With easy-to-use intro makers and simple design elements, you can have your first video published in seconds.
Better yet, there are even blogger effects designed for content creators like beauty bloggers, travel bloggers, and so on. Your first video editor shouldn’t be expensive, so this is the perfect choice. Soon, you’ll have endless content to promote on social media and your own blog.
5. Stay Consistent
Last but not least, you need to stay consistent. Very few bloggers were a major success overnight. It takes time to make an impact, so don’t be afraid to give it your all. Set major goals for yourself as well as smaller goals. See how far you’ve come.
Blogging is an art form that often seems easy from the outside. Once you’re doing it yourself, you realize just how many hats you need to wear to be successful. As soon as you start building your audience, you’ll realize it was all worth it.
Get Started Today
It’s never been a better time to start your own blog. Whether you have experience working online or this is your first undertaking, there’s no reason not to get started. As far as investments go, blogging is an affordable undertaking with a huge potential for payoff.
It’s time to start your own blog and see how far you’ll go. Just keep this checklist in mind to make sure you’ve got everything covered from start to finish.
