You know you want to put your personal stamp on the Internet, but you’re not sure how to accomplish it. By becoming a blogger, you carve out a piece of the digital pie and adorn it with the type of content you like to create.
Everyone’s journey to blogging differs in many respects, but the following road map will start you on your path.
Choose a Niche
Several popular blogs cover a wide range of content, from sports to politics, but most beginning bloggers succeed more quickly with a niche. Select a topic for your blog that ignites your passion so you’ll never lack motivation to keep it running.
Your niche might relate to your profession, your hobbies, or a cause you find particularly worthy. Narrow niches draw small but avid audiences, but make sure your topic offers sufficient breadth to fuel years of blog posts.
Sign Up for a Blog
If you’ve never blogged before, consider signing up for BlogPress as your blog host. All you have to do is choose a blog address (the name of your blog) and a domain name if you want one. BlogPress handles all the heavy lifting behind the scenes so you can focus on creating content.
Your blog’s name should reflect the type of content you wish to post. You might use your own name or create a crafty and creative title that suggests your niche.
Brainstorm Post Topics
Brainstorm post ideas in a notebook or a word processing software program. Don’t censure yourself at this stage – write down every idea that comes to mind. Later, you’ll eliminate the ideas that don’t resonate with your authorial voice.
Generate at least 70-100 blog post titles. Afterward, decide how often you’ll post to your blog. Some bloggers add new content every day (or even multiple times per day), while others blog only a couple times a week. Frequency matters less than consistency. Create a schedule and stick to it.
Create an Editorial Calendar
This sounds complicated and time-consuming, but it’s not. Newspapers, magazines, and other publication create editorial calendars to plan exactly what they will publish in each edition. A blog’s editorial calendar consists of dates and post names.
Based on the titles you brainstormed, decide when each will post to your blog. If you want to post once per week, for example, your first month of blogging requires four or five posts, depending on the date you publish.
Write Your Posts
Take time to craft interesting, entertaining, or informative blog posts. Some bloggers write and post in the same day, while others create posts several days in advance. Your schedule should reflect your personal tastes and preferences.
Include images, videos, and other graphic elements to your blog posts whenever possible. According to HubSpot, 40 percent of consumers respond more favorably to visual content than text-only articles.
Maintain Your Blog
Your traffic, links, and other metrics will increase as long as you continue to post to your blog. In addition to publishing articles and other content, interact with your visitors as frequently as possible.
Respond to comments, post updates to social media, and create content that answers questions or provides some form of value to readers.
Monetize Your Blog
If you want to generate revenue from your blog, develop a monetization plan. You might use display ads, affiliate advertising, or sponsored posts to bring in money from your efforts.
Becoming a blogger does not require a degree from MIT or any other specialized skills. For the easiest and least stressful method for starting a blog, sign up for a risk-free trial at BlogPress.
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How to Become a Blogger was first posted on July 24, 2015 at 7:00 am.