A few years ago I didn’t know anything about blogging. Even my thought was that only rich people do blogging. But one day I read about something. When I was reading the last paragraph, suddenly I felt, “Yes starting a blog is awesome and I can do it”. After that day I explored many things and learn a lot.
In my opinion, starting a blog is a very good option. It has so much flexibility. You can do it part-time or full-time. In this field, you can learn and earn a lot. Most importantly, continuous learning and improvement are very important in this field.
But I want to clarify that starting a blog may be easy but the journey of it may not be quite easy. In this field, you may need a lot of patience and dedication to taste success. And most important take the right decisions and right actions.
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Reason to Start a Blog
First of all, you should know and be clear about why you want to start it. Do you want to earn handsome money or do you want to share your ideas and knowledge with the world?
If you want to earn money then be prepared for the future. Because maybe you don’t earn any money for a few months. Earning money from blogging may take some time. So, don’t quit your current career till the time you do not start earning good money from blogging.
How to Start a Blog?
There are many platforms where you can start a blog. Even there are some platforms where you can start blogging for free also. In this article, I am considering WordPress.org. It is an open-source CMS and you can start a self-hosted blog. Here are the important steps to begin.
1- Selection of a Niche
Finalize a topic on which you want to write a blog. Before you start, you must know the Blogging niche. Who will be your audience? what will be your content? You should pick a topic which you like the most. Because if you like the topic then you can express your thought well and write good posts.
2- Select a Blogging Platform
After finalizing your niche, decide which platform you want to use for your blog. There are WordPress, Blogger, and other platforms available for blogging. If you are looking at blogging as a long terms career then you should choose a self-hosted platform like – WordPress. I am also using WordPress as my blogging platform. However, it is my personal opinion. You can explore and use other options also.
3- Domain Name
Now you need to purchase a domain name. It is a very important part. This is the name by which the world will know your blog. You can purchase your domain separately and with your hosting service also. Some hosting service providers may offer you a free domain for the first year. Keep the domain name simple and easy to read. So, that people can read and remember it easily. It should be easy to pronounce also.
4- Selection of Hosting
For blogging, you need hosting. You can say, you need a server, where your data and contents will be stored. In the beaning, you can buy shared hosting. You can have Hoestinger, Bluehost, or any other web hosting service as per your choice. Before you purchase a hosting service, you should check its reviews, features, benefits, security, performance, etc.
5- Setup WordPress
After buying your hosting plan, install WordPress, and do registration. Be careful and put the correct details while registering your details on WordPress. Generate your user Id and Password. After that, you can log in and view your portal.
6- Add a WordPress Theme
Now you add a WordPress theme. There are many free and paid themes available. In the beginning phase, you can start with a free theme. Later, you can buy a paid theme. I am using a Newspaper theme (Premium Theme) for one of my sites. You should use a good theme. So that you can design your site very well. If the design is good then your visitor will like it.
7- Create Important Pages
If you have a blog or website, then you must have some important pages. You should create the following pages: About Us, Contact Page, Privacy Policy, Terms, and Conditions, etc
8- Add Important Plugins
Install and activate some important WordPress plugins. There are many plugins are available in the WordPress directory. You should download an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math and some other basic plugins. Download and activate cache and security plugins.
9- Write Your First Post
After all the above steps, now start writing your first post. First, click on the post and then click on add new. Give your best to write your post.
Add some images and or infographics to make your post beautiful and more relevant. Keep in mind that someone will read it. You are not the only person who is going to read your post. It should your best one.
10- Optimization
After writing the post, you should optimize it. Proofread it and remove errors if there are any mistakes. Check all the parameters of your SEO plugins and make sure that your content is optimized very well.
11- Share Your Post and Drive Traffic
After writing and optimizing the content, it must reach the readers. Promote your blog and share your content on social media, share it with your friends and family. Let’s world know. Submit it on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Write posts on a regular basis and drive traffic. Do off-page SEO and create some good quality Backlinks.
12- Monetization
After a few months, you can start monetizing it. However, it may take time. You should have good enough content. You can earn money through advertisements and affiliate programs. Here are the following ways to monetize your blog: Google Adsense, Media.net, Affiliate marketing, etc. You can also write and sell your own E-Books to earn money. You can create some online courses also.
Conclusions
Whenever you start it, do it with full passion and interest. For success, learning, and improvement are very important. The digital marketing field is very dynamic and you have to be updated on the environment. Writing quality content should be your primary objective. From time to time, you should get some feedback from your audience. So, that you can improve accordingly.
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