Starting a blog is not a difficult task but if not done correctly, then it may result in the end of your blogging career. There are certain things which needs to be followed before starting a blog.
Following below tips will not only help in starting a new blog but also builds a powerful platform for your blogging career.
Niche/Subject
First step in starting a blog is to choose which subject or topic you like the most, it can be technology, medical, fashion or business. Make sure you have enough knowledge about chosen topic and try to gain detailed knowledge during your blogging career. Choosing a subject for your blog is the base of your blog, so you must decide wisely. Don’t go with the flow,follow your instinct and select any one topic based on your overall experience.
Domain Name
Selecting a domain name can be tedious task, since there are a lot of options available like which extension? or how many characters? keyword in domain or not? or exact match domain (EMD)?
- Make sure your domain name can be easily remembered and pronounced.
- Choose any top-level domain (.com, .net, .org, .info) first, and if desired name is not available then only go for Country code top-level domain (.in, .uk, .us).
- Choose unique and copyright free domain name.
- Select a concise domain. (less than 20 character)
- Avoid Exact Match Domain (EMD), but you can select a keyword rich domain name like technews for technology news blog.
Reliable Web Hosting
If you are serious about blogging then go for paid hosting like Hostgator, bluehost, Wpengine with custom domain. Try to avoid free blogging platform like WordPress.com, blogger, tumblr etc, they all have their own limitation. Paid hosting comes with extra features like free domain registration, free data backup, content delivery network etc just for few dollars a month.
Content Management System (CMS)
There are different types if CMS’s available, but choice depends on your knowledge. WordPress offers user-friendly and highly configurable cms, using which you can achieve what you have dreamed of achieving.
Theme or Framework
Its time to give your blog a professional look, select a premium theme or framework. Framework comes with a lot of extended features and functionality such as seo, child theme, easy to use and support. If you’re short on cash there are plenty of free themes out there but most of the time they are filled with harmful scripts which can lead to low seo and hacking of your blog.
- Choose a responsive theme.
- Select theme according to your niche or subject.
- Make sure your theme’s loading time is low.
- Configure theme options as per given in manual, if you don’t know anything about configuration ask expert and try to avoid messing with theme’s code.
- Install all essential plugin like jetpack, SEO plugin, Caching or CDN plugins, social sharing button, broken link checker etc.
Content
Now its time to fill your blog with valuable and quality content. Decide how much time per day you are going to spend on your blog and how often you will be publishing new content. Make a daily routine and share new ideas, don’t copy paste contents from other blogs. Keep optimal keyword ration in all your articles, give credits to other’s work and add enough images and videos on your articles. Be regular and keep posting quality contents, since “Content is King”.
Follow and Socialize
Add your blog to different social networks, keep sharing your blog post with your friends and other related bloggers, build audience and target a goal. Read other’s related blog, comment and share on social networks, this will increase your outreach.
Monetization
Now its time to take your blog to the next level by Monetizing your blog or Making money from your blog. Apply for services like Google Adsense, Chitika, Media.net etc, and make sure you follow all the rules before applying. Otherwise, disobeying of any rule can get your account disabled. There are a lot of options out there, select the one which pays higher.
Optimization
Search engine optimized blog ranks well in SERPs, so make sure you follow all webmaster guidelines and stay away from BlackHat methods. For Starter Download this Guide from Google -> Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.
Build Authority
Authority comes with a lot of hard work and time,so start building authority from day 1. Make sure you have email subscriber widget on your theme and avoid a lot of widgets and ads.
There are more than 200 metrics which Search Engine takes into account to rank a page in SERPs, so it’s not possible to work on all 200 ranking factors. All you can do is write valuable and quality content and follow certain webmaster guidelines. If you have any concern,feel free to express your views in comment section.
zooni says
17/09/2013 at 6:46 pmnice ideas n tips for beginnerss… wish i had access to this when i started off