How to create and launch a Blog? Step-by-step guide (2024)

Learning how to create and launch a blog is not difficult.

Staying engaged is difficult. Committing to blogging is the first step to making money as a blogger. In recent years, with the rise of Inbound Marketing strategies , Companies Have Quadrupled Their Content Efforts through a Blog. 

Before tackling each step of creating a successful blog, if you already have a topic in mind, Register A Domain Name .

Any online website needs a domain name (toto.com) and a Web Host who will simply host the website. 

The goal of this step-by-step guide is to inform you and inspire you to take action to start a blog today.

Action is the key to achieving your goals.

Ideas are good; acting on ideas is even better.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

1. Select a topic for your blog 

Choosing a blog topic is the hardest part of learning to be a blogger. Ask yourself a question at this point.

Why do you want to start a blog?

Once you have identified your goal, you need to ask yourself a second question.

Can you write coherently on this specific topic?

Consistency is how blogs make money .

Here are four of the most popular blogging topics.

Popular blog topics

The topic of your blog should be based on the interests you actually have based on your expertise. For example :

• Thought leadership, e.g. lifestyle blogs
• Hobby, for example food blogs , craft blogs , video game blogs , sports blog or music blog
• Life events, for example blogs for moms.
• Culture like poetry blogs
• Personal topics, e.g. travel blogs
• Other topics such as beauty blogs , review blogs or fashion blogs
• Hot topics like political blogs

You don’t need to commit to the first four I listed above. You just need a general topic.

I recommend choosing a topic that is broad enough in scope to make money blogging .

To find out if your topic has enough reach for you to make money, I recommend using SEMrush.

Enter your topic in the search bar to generate the estimated monthly search volume for your topic/ niche .

Don’t think of monthly search volume as numbers. Think of the reported numbers as people actively searching for what you offer.

The greater the search volume, the higher the profit potential, but also the stronger the competition.

If you still can’t decide which topic to focus on, try the following:

How to find a blog topic?

1. Keep a journal to categorize recurring topics.
2. Ask a friend for help.

It’s more than likely that your loved ones or the people whose opinions matter most to you can help you formulate a blog topic.

How much money can I make blogging?

Making money blogging is highly dependent on a number of variables.

The 3 factors for making money blogging

1. The number of users you send to your site.
2. Price of the product/service you offer.
3. Percentage of users who convert into customers, aka your conversion rate (CVR).

For example, 1,000 users come to your site with an average conversion rate of 2%. 20 users (1,000 x 2%) purchase your product/service. Now let’s say the price of your product/service is $40.

In this scenario, you would have generated $800 in revenue. 20 converted users x $40 (product price) = $800.

Conversion rates vary depending on your industry, price point, and seasonality.

The industry benchmark is, on average, 2%. To increase your conversion rate, read my guide on how to write a blog post that converts.

How much money does it take to start a blog?

You will need web hosting to start blogging .

Hosting like Bluehost allows you to offer quality hosting for less than €8 per month. 

I’m sure you’ve heard about all the blogs that make good money, that’s why you’re here to learn how to start a blog.

However, for your blog to make money, it will take time to increase your site traffic. This is why producing quality content is key.

According to Hubspot ‘s global study , on average 1-2 hours are spent writing a 500-word blog post .

Do not be discouraged by the information presented in the table. If the barrier were lower, blogging wouldn’t be as profitable as it is. Now let’s move on to the second step.

2. Choose a blogging platform

Don’t get overwhelmed by all the options for starting a blog. All blogging platforms have strengths and weaknesses.

I highly recommend using WordPress or Zyro as your blogging platform. This guide will focus on creating a blog on WordPress.

If you want to start a blog on another platform, read my step-by-step guide on creating a Wix website . You can easily create a blog on a Wix site in 10 minutes or less .

Why is WordPress the most popular option for blogging?

WordPress is the best choice for blogging because of the scalability and flexibility it offers. Consider the following facts about WordPress.

1. It’s free.
2. WYSIWYG editor (what you see is what you get)
3. Self-hosted and hosted options
4. A vast inventory of plugins

What are the best blogging platforms to use?

There are many blogging platforms , but by far the industry standard is WordPress.

WordPress blogs represent 96% of the blogosphere , which is considerable. The numbers can’t be wrong. WordPress dominates thanks to the wide variety of plugins offered.

What is a WordPress plugin?

A WordPress plugin is third-party software from the WordPress community that can be installed on your blog.

Plugins extend the functionality of your site without requiring technical coding skills.

Let’s talk about accommodation. Hosting is necessary for any website/blog, but there are two options for hosting a WordPress blog. Self-accommodation and hosting.

What is the difference between a self-hosted site and a hosted site?

The differentiating factor is where the blog is hosted. The hosting option is usually free on most blogging platforms. There are downsides to choosing the hosting option.

When you use a hosted option, files are stored and hosted on the platform’s servers.

On the other hand, the self-hosting option is hosted on the server you choose from a web hosting provider .

This means you can choose a faster server, which will help your site perform better.

WordPress.org vs. wordpress.com, I’m sure you’re wondering why the same company has two different domain name extensions (.org vs .com). wordpress.org is self-hosted, while wordpress.com is hosted.

How to start a blog on WordPress.org (self-hosted option)

The self-hosting option (the most popular option) gives you the ability to own your domain name.

You will therefore not have the limitations that you will encounter with the free option of wordpress.com (hosted option). The vast majority of successful blogs are self-hosted .

How to Create a Blog on WordPress.com (Hosted Option)

When you’re just starting out in the world of blogging, the hosted option is the most appealing because it’s technically free.

However, the technicality mentioned is due to the restrictions which are applied when the free service is total.

WordPress.com Restrictions for Free Accounts

If you want to start a blog for free, WordPress.com will place ads on your site to earn money for your free account.

You will have no control over these advertisements . WordPress.com also does not provide you with a custom domain name for the free option.

For example, your domain will look like this: yoursite. wordpress.com . Likewise, you also have the option to create a blog for free with Wix.com.

3. Decide which web hosting provider to use

As noted, I have a partnership with Bluehost .

While many other hosting providers have interesting unique features, Bluehost offers the best options for beginners by providing the following:

1. Affordable price model
2. Exceptional customer support
3. One-click WordPress installation
4. Money Back Guarantee
5. Reliability 

After clicking ” Get Started” , you should be presented with four pricing options.

The cheapest option is ideal for getting started. Bluehost offers reliable expansion options as you grow.

When your site starts to gather more traffic, you will need to consider higher tiers.

Here’s a breakdown of traffic levels that differentiates pricing based on growth.

• Basic Plan – Low Traffic Level 5k or less in page views per month
• Plus Plan – Average traffic level 25k and more in page views per month
• Choice Plus – High traffic level 50k and more in page views per month

4. Choose a domain name

If you take your time purchasing a domain name, someone can and will register it, so don’t wait.

If you can’t find a domain name, Bluehost will give you the option to choose a domain later, but it is strongly recommended that you choose a domain as soon as possible.

Your domain name is essential to establishing your brand. Branding sets you apart from the crowd.

Have you ever done a Google search? Which link did you click on?

More than likely it’s a brand you know or one you don’t, right? Having a good domain name can help you with SEO (search engine optimization).

If you’re not familiar with SEO, I’ll talk about it briefly later in the guide. Additionally, I have written a guide on what SEO is and how it works that you should read once your site is live.

How does having a good domain contribute to SEO?

How to choose a good domain name

1. Easy to spell
2. Short or long.
3. Catchy and easy to remember.
4. Communicate your brand voice
5. Use hyphens, not underscores.
6. Choose a .com address
7. If a .com is not available, choose .net or .co.

You will begin the process of creating a blog by creating an account with Bluehost. Bluehost will ask you for the following information, described below.

After completing the registration process, it’s time to perform the critical part of installing WordPress.

Setting up WordPress with Bluehost is a snap with the one-click install feature.

Installing WordPress

Once your domain name and web hosting are set up at this point, you will see many icons in your Cpanel (control panel). All you have to do is click on the “ Install WordPress ” icon.

By clicking on the icon, you will create a blog on WordPress on Bluehost .

Next, let’s move on to the most time-consuming step of launching your blog, selecting a design, better known as choosing a theme.

5. Choose a theme for your blog

What are WordPress themes?

Themes are the aesthetic of your site. That’s what people see from a design perspective. Before choosing a WordPress theme based on aesthetics, make sure to check the following boxes.

How to choose a WordPress theme

1. Search engine friendly
2. Fast loading
3. Responsive design
4. High Ratings and Reviews
5. Easily customizable

I can’t tell you enough how many new bloggers don’t check the boxes listed above .

What usually happens is that the potential blogger decides to give up because they made a decision based on aesthetics rather than function.

The best advice I can give you is not to spend a lot of time looking for themes.

The Most Important Thing Is To Keep In Mind The Functional Design Elements Of The Theme You Choose. The Main Thing Is To Start Creating Blog Content As Soon As Possible To Convert Site Traffic And Make Money.

Bluehost offers theme options, but I suggest differentiating your blog with a theme that isn’t provided to the masses upon signup.

If you want unique, functional themes that are carefully verified by professional theme developers, I recommend the following third-party vendor themes.

Recommended WordPress Themes

• StudioPress (I use the authority pro theme)
• Elegant Themes (page builder included)
• ThemeIsle (Quality free and paid themes)

How to install a WordPress theme

At this point, you should have WordPress installed, and you have chosen a theme that you want to install. Hopefully, you’ve chosen a theme from the ones I recommend to save you time, money and headaches.

Once you have chosen to purchase your theme, you will download your WordPress theme from a zip file.

What is a Zip file?

A computer file containing one or more files compressed for storage or transmission, often with the .ZIP extension.

Steps for installing a WordPress theme

1. Type in (yoursite.com/admin)
2. Log in to the WordPress backend
3. Click “ Appearance ,” then select “Themes
4. Select the “ Download ” option.
5. Find the zip file you downloaded
6. Download the theme from your zip file
7. Tap “ Activate .”

Congratulations ! You have now uploaded your beautiful, fully functional blog design.

At this point, you’ve created your blog, but making money from blogging will take more action.

The following steps detail how to create interest in your blog.

6. Write Great Blog Content

Without a shadow of a doubt, this part is the most important once you’re up and running with WordPress. Launching a successful blog starts with a proactive approach to frequent content creation.

Writing Intent-Based Content

To be successful as a blogger, you need to understand that people visit your site with a specific intent.

For example, your goal/intention for being here right now is to learn how to start a blog to make money .

You typed in a search term that ultimately led you to this guide, and it wasn’t by mistake. 

It was expected ; I focused on specific keywords to cover in this guide by performing keyword analysis.

Keyword research is what gets results for making money blogging.

Keyword analysis

I highly recommend using SEMrush to perform keyword analysis. Here is an example of what the tool will show you.

Keyword analysis is essential, but the vast majority of blogs exclude the use of the AIDA model in unison with keyword research .

You also can’t scale a blog without a little help writing your content. I recommend hiring a freelance writer to help you create content at scale.

Sensitization

Your audience enters search terms into Google to find answers. The hope is that they see you first, but how?

To find the top content your users are typing, ask Google to help you.

Type in a specific keyword that relates to your blog’s niche, then scroll to the bottom of the results and note related search terms.

The goal here is to write content that your target audience is looking for. You need to position your content to be discovered.

I wouldn’t assert anything that I don’t actively practice myself.

If you type the query “ How to start a blog ” into Google, I got a general guideline for inserting specific keywords in this guide.

I also quantified the search volume for these particular keywords using SEMrush.

Interest

To get an idea of ​​what people are interested in related to your niche, I recommend using the Keyword Gap Analysis tool. Enter multiple competitor URLs to find intersecting points of interest.

Once you’ve identified these cross-interests, create content to rank for keywords your competitors aren’t currently targeting. 

If you want to tap into the minds of your audience, SEMrush is a must-have tool for increasing traffic to your blog.

Another great tool to use to help you understand the interest of your site visitors is a tool called respond to audience.

Answer the Public – This free tool presents you with a list of relevant topics you can write about by simply entering a term.

I recommend using topics that include the target keywords identified from SEMrush and related search results from Google.

Desire

Focus your attention on specific search terms that you know your audience needs.

The Key To Making Money Blogging Is Understanding How To Differentiate A Want From A Need.

Think about it. How many articles do you passively read per day? The articles you passively read are desires.

You want to be entertained, and you want to learn. Not true ? Now think about the needs.

If you need something, more than likely you will take action and not passively read about it. You have a specific goal in mind.

Action

To focus on action, you need to be selective in the keywords you target. Not all keywords are equal. 

What do I mean by keywords not being equal? Think again about the intention behind an entered search term.

Here’s a secret that most startups know but most bloggers don’t. There are three main search queries based on intent.

The 3 Types of Intent-Based Search Queries

1. Intent of the informative keyword
2. Commercial intent of keywords
3. Transactional keyword intent.

What is informative intent?

Informational queries are primarily focused on making informed decisions. For example, look at the following query.

• The best [insert product/service] for…

Does your content meet specific user intent to guide them toward an action?

What is commercial intent?

If your users are informed, it is more than likely that they will begin to enter this phase. Do the queries below sound familiar? Perhaps you entered similar queries into a search engine before making a purchase.

• Comments on [insert product/service].
• Compare [insert product/service].

People Enter Commercial Keywords To Make A Purchasing Decision After Gathering Some Initial Information During The Awareness Phase.

What is transactional intent?

Transactional keywords are queries that aim to make a purchase. Do any of the following sound familiar?

• [insert product/service] near me
• [product/service] cheap

A great way to identify the desire that can lead to action is to listen to your audience.

How to listen to your audience

A great tool to use to listen to your audience is the Thrive Themes quiz builder plugin .

This plugin is excellent for providing interactive quizzes that help you understand your audience.

You can create a quiz using an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface.

I also recommend using Quora.com to help you listen to your audience to understand some pain points.

Understand the pain points and write content that addresses them.

What is parasitic SEO?

Parasitic SEO, as the name suggests, is host-based. The host is the higher authority website.

A link is placed on the host, which allows traffic to be strategically channeled from one website to another. The link placed on the host feeds off their influence and authority to gain popularity.

Don’t be a spammer, provide value, and don’t use every article as a way to send traffic to your site. Offer value, don’t become a spammer .

If you don’t deploy the AIDA model ( Copywriting Method ) and align intent-based keywords with keyword search volume, you don’t have an effective content plan to drive users to buy.

Many bloggers charge high fees to teach you the information I shared openly, but I gave you this information for free because I sincerely want to see you succeed 🙂 .

I have personally deployed this tactic for startups and established companies currently valuing millions and even billions of dollars.

Let’s take a step back. To start a blog to make money, you must first sell a specific service or product to direct traffic to .

Check out this list of ways to make money with a blog that I created, if you don’t already have something in mind.

4 ways to make money with a blog

If you want to start making money from a blog immediately, you should consider the following options.

1. Advice
2. Sell ​​products (E-commerce)
3. Affiliate programs
4. Online course

Advice

To make money blogging, you first need to have a skill, whatever it may be.

Consulting to earn immediate income from your blog is a very viable option when you are a new blogger.

The good thing is that you don’t need a lot of traffic to get a customer. But of course, the more traffic you have, the more customers you can receive. Additionally, offering freelancing is also a great option.

Create an e-commerce store

Selling products is a great way to generate money from your blog. If you are interested in starting an e-commerce business.

You can easily connect a WordPress blog to the Shopify platform . The best thing about blogging is that it is one of the best ways to develop an e-commerce business.

Now is the perfect time to start selling products online.

Since we are in a global pandemic due to the Covid-19 outbreak, look at the growth of the e-commerce industry.

As you can see from the chart, the impact of coronavirus on businesses is leading to substantial growth in e-commerce.

If you want to go this route, literally there has never been a better time than now to start an ecommerce store.

Online course

If you have a specific skill, you can teach others at a profit. You can build an audience on your blog to sell your courses directly.

If you choose to go this route, I recommend using thinkific.com.

Thinkific is one of the best online course platforms you can use.

Affiliate Marketing

What is an affiliate program?

Affiliate programs allow this site and millions of other websites to earn money without ads disrupting the site experience.

The key to earning affiliate commissions is to consistently generate new content and provide high value.

By generating content consistently, you can insert affiliate links in your articles for different affiliate programs.

By offering value, you will ensure that your site is visited regularly. Affiliate marketing is the best option for just-started websites and established blogs.

The importance of media

Keep in mind that when creating content, adding images is vital. When focusing on content writing, try to insert images that convey your message to your readers.

Studies Show That Blog Posts Containing Images Are Viewed 94% More Than Those Without Them.

Use Canva.com to create images. It is simple to use and has many pre-made templates handpicked by world-class designers. I use this platform on this blog.

When adding media to your blog, don’t forget about videos. Videos play a crucial role in unwritten communication, which I advocate using in your blog posts.

“The Average Conversion Rate For Websites Using Video Is 4.8%, Compared To 2.9% For Those That Don’t.”

Now that I’ve covered the fundamental elements of a content strategy at a high level, it’s time to tackle on-site SEO.

SEO may seem technically difficult, but I assure you it is not.

If you want to learn more about SEO, I recommend reading my guide on what SEO is and how it works .

7. Implementation of SEO (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) can be difficult to grasp for those new to the world of blogging. I briefly touched on SEO in this guide.

I also covered keyword research, which is part of the SEO process. SEO is a broad subject, but it is mainly made up of three pillars.

1. On-Page SEO

The practice of optimizing elements of a website (as opposed to links on external signals, collectively referred to as “Off Page SEO”) to improve search engine rankings and visibility.

2. Technical SEO

The process of optimizing so that search engines can crawl and index your site/blog.

Technical SEO helps search engines crawl, access and interpret specific information.

What is indexing?

Indexing is the addition of your website to the SERPS (search engine result pages).

Search engine crawlers crawl your site looking for relevant queries that match what a user entered as a query to populate the indexed pages.

What is a Crawl?

A crawl consists of programming robots/spiders to interpret content based on specific keywords that Internet users type into search engines.

3. Off-Page SEO

The practice of positioning the links in your posts/articles to be mentioned on external websites, better known as link building.

To build links, you need to contact site owners to get your link placed on relevant external sites.

A common problem when finding backlinks is finding an email address, tools like Hunter.io will greatly help you find website manager contacts.

Think of link building like a popularity contest. When larger sites link to your site, you receive more traffic. The more traffic you receive, the more your ranking in Google increases.

Once you receive a higher rank in search results, this gives you more credibility of what is known as DA (Domain Authority). Once you are credible, this increases your CTR (click-through rate) in search results.

A simple concept, right? This process gave birth to a multi-billion dollar company that we all know as Google.

Google Search Statistics

5.6 billion Google searches are performed every day . If you thought that was impressive, let’s break it down by second. 63,000,000 Google searches are performed per second

And this is just an estimate at best, as fluctuations occur during the holiday season and current events.

I showed you these statistics to give you words of encouragement. There are literally billions of people looking for what you want to give them .

Google Trends for SEO

Want to see keyword fluctuations from month to month or over a year or more? Check Google Trends . This is a useful tool to help you plan content around trending topics for SEO .

Setting up an SEO plugin

Now that you know the main elements of SEO, you need to focus on implementing on-site SEO.

Although you may grimace and say to yourself, I’m not an SEO expert. No problem, with the all in one SEO pack plugin , you can run SEO optimizations for your site with ease.

How to install the SEO pack on a WordPress site

1. Log in to your WordPress administration area.
2. Navigate to the plugins section and click “ Add New ”.
3. Enter “ all in One SEO pack ” in the search bar.
4. Click “ Install Now ” and select “ Activate” .

Congratulations ! You have installed the all-in-one SEO pack on your WordPress blog.

Here are some more important aspects when setting up your site for SEO.

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a tool that allows you to submit your site to Google’s search results index. Search console also allows you to see which keywords are leading users to your site.

It helps you analyze clicks and your site’s ranking position. You will need to copy and paste a code onto your website to use it.

What is an XML sitemap?

An Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a virtual roadmap in the form of a file used to list all the URLs on a website. Sitemaps identify information from search engines and help crawl your site efficiently for easier indexing.

Using the All-in-One SEO Pack , you can easily create a sitemap in just a few clicks.

Tip #4: To View The XML Sitemap Of Any Site, Type The Following In Your Browser 

Sitename.Com/Sitemap.Xml

What is a permalink?

The term “Permalink” means a permanent link, which means that the link structure you have established will remain unchanged. Permanent links are designed to be easy to read by Internet users and web crawlers.

Here Is A Basic Example Of A Permalink: Http://Nomdusiteweb.Com/Blog/Titre-De-Larticle

Permalinks are essential for guiding readers to the exact article they wanted to see. You can think of it as a virtual bookmark. This is an extension of your domain name in the specific articles you publish.

Follow the instructions below to implement the recommended permalink structure, considered SEO best practice.

1. Click “ Settings ” in WordPress and select “ Permanent Links .”
2. Select the “ Post name ” structure.
3. Save your settings

Well done ! You’ve come this far. Now is the time to understand who is visiting your website.

8. Install Google Analytics

Now is the time to add some power to your site. What is this power I’m talking about? The power of knowledge, my friends 🙂 Analytics gives you insight into what’s happening on your site. Without access to analytics, you wouldn’t know what’s going on.

Do you want to know if more women than men visit your site? Or even know where your audience is geographically located. These are questions that analysis can help you answer.

Here’s an example of what Google Analytics looks like once installed.

By using analytics, you can better tailor your marketing efforts to those who buy, not those who you think are buying from you .

If you want to benefit from this insight, all you need to do is install a plugin that will do the work for you.

I Recommend Using 

Monster Insights , As It Is The Market Leader In Quick Google Analytics Installation For WordPress Sites. 

You Don’t Need To Be A Data Scientist.

Implementing Google Analytics

If you use WordPress:

1. Navigate to “ Plugins ” and click “ Add New ”. Search for “ Monster analytics ”.
2. Click “ install ” once you find the plugin.
3. Click “ Activate ”.
4. “ Sign in with your Google account .”
5. Accept Google Analytics permissions.
6. Complete the authentication.

If you don’t use WordPress:

Add the script provided by Google Analytics when creating your account in the <head> tag of your site. 

Now you will be aware of the visitors to your site. Congratulations !

9. Promote your content on the web

Once you have analytics tools installed, you will be well equipped to understand which acquisition channels you need to focus on.

When the data starts to accumulate, I recommend regularly looking at the referrals tab in GA to see what’s driving traffic and expand on those sites and topics.

Here are some traffic channels that can increase traffic to your blog and which you will need to expand into.

Marketing Channels to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

1. Posting on social media
2. Registering your business on directories
3. Email marketing for your audience
4. Guest blog posts on authoritative sites
5. Establish a budget for online ads

Social networks

Social media is an extension of your site to external web platforms where you can share trending news known as news feeds.

This is essentially the new age version of word of mouth marketing.

The power comes from users sharing posts to encourage users to click through to your site.

Business directories

Directory listings can help you leverage high-traffic platforms to send traffic to your site, which is great.

Consider sites like Yelp.com. This is a perfect example of a business listing.

Several business lists exist. You just have to find them.

Email Marketing

Opt-in marketing, better known as email marketing, is great for returning users who have already visited your site.

Email marketing can also encourage these same users to advocate for your site so new users see your articles.

If You Are Looking For The Right Tool For Your Marketing Strategy, You Can Check Out This Article: 

The Best Email Marketing Tools And Software

Guest blog posts

Guest blog posts are a great opportunity to place your expertise on high-traffic websites to send users to your website.

It’s a great way to build authority in your niche, meet other bloggers, get exposure on various forums related to your niche, and build backlinks .

This is an activity that includes sending cold emails and building relationships.

First of all, don’t think about the benefits you will get from backlinks .

You must provide value to others.

This is worth repeating:

In the world of Internet marketing, you need to provide value when you write guest blog posts.

Online ads

Running ads is obvious, but remember that your traffic depends on your budget.

It is strongly recommended to have an already profitable business model before investing heavily in paid ads. Additionally, not all online advertisements are the same.

The best strategy for promoting your new blog is to do whatever is necessary to build links to your blog. 

Links are like the currency of the Internet. 

The more you have, the more seriously Google will take you and rank a new blog post quickly after it is published.

Here are the main strategies for promoting your blog:

Link building

Although posting invites is one strategy for getting links to your blog, there are many others. 

First of all, the best form of link building is to passively get links without any involvement or awareness. 

Sounds like a dream, right?

People naturally link to the best content they can find.

So how do you make sure your blog posts are linkable?

When you start a blog, your content should be unique and quality. This is the sine qua non condition for entering the game. 

To take it to the next level, add visual elements to your blog posts. This could include infographics, videos, case studies, statistics, and other unique content that doesn’t exist anywhere else. 

Here are other link building strategies to try after starting a blog:

• Broken Link Building : Use a tool like Ahrefs to find blogs in your niche with broken external links. Send them an email to let them know their link is broken and your resource is a better option. This strategy is great because you help the blog fix its 404 error and (hopefully) get a link at the same time.
• Link scraping : Enter your blog URL into the Ahrefs Content Explorer tool to find instances where your brand is mentioned but not linked to. You can then contact the author of the article, thank them for the mention and ask them to add the link. 
• Link Partnerships : Build relationships with other bloggers in your niche to get links in their guest posts and vice versa.
• Competitor Research : Check websites that link to your competitors to find new sites to contact. 

If you’re interested in other next-level ideas, check out my new guide on building backlinks .

Search engines and blogs

You can have the best blog in the world, if you don’t have any visitors it doesn’t really matter, does it?

So how do you attract people to your blog? The answer is very simple: thanks to blog SEO.

Search engine listings are the primary method that readers and potential subscribers discover new blogs.

If they can’t find you or, even worse, if you don’t rank well in search results, they won’t know you exist!

When creating a blog, keep in mind that content that readers will enjoy is great, but you also need to make sure your blog can be found in search engines.

Ranking in search engines is something that vaguely resembles the Holy Grail for new bloggers.

Although it takes time and patience, it is possible to achieve good rankings even if your site is brand new, so don’t give up hope just yet!

The secret to ranking well isn’t really a “secret.” This is simply to make sure that Google knows exactly what each page of your blog is about.

For example, instead of simply saying “This article is about this” or “This article is about that,” use language that reflects what future readers might type into Google when searching for information on the topic your article covers. article.

Consider this a good way to make sure Google knows what your page is about – then you’ll start showing up naturally in relevant search results.

SEO Title Tags

This is what appears in search engine results and attracts people to click on your blog.

It can be the same, different, or similar to the title of your articles, but most importantly, it should make sense when people search for specific words.

Additionally, search engines will truncate the title tag to around 160 characters. So you need to take this into account when thinking about your SEO title.

Don’t forget to include the main keyword(s) you’re targeting in your title.

Meta description

Meta descriptions are another on-page SEO factor to consider. These are basically the words that appear under your blog post in Google.

They appear alongside your page, giving you complete control over what Google thinks your post is about.

Use them to give readers a good idea of ​​what they can expect from your blog.

Sitemaps

This helps search engines direct bots to your blog and also lets them know about all the pages you have.

You should submit a sitemap through Google Search Console, as this helps index new content added to your blog as quickly as possible.

Pay close attention to categories and subcategories when creating your directory structure, as they will appear in the sitemap.

It is very important to give search engines as much information as possible about your blog.

Widgets

Having a good blog for SEO purposes sometimes means displaying information in a widget as well as in your article.

This means that including things like RSS feeds, author information, and related posts to your blog posts will help search engines direct relevant readers to your site.

Widgets are also very useful for subtitles, as they give you additional functionality for your blog.

On-page SEO

You need to format your blog posts correctly in order to rank well in search engines. 

To do this, you need to make sure your target keywords are in the URL, the H1 (title), the first H2 in question form, and throughout the content.

You can use tools like Jasper and SurferSEO to optimize your blog posts for SEO.

Types of Online Ads

• PPC (Pay Per Click)
• Display Network Ads (Banner Ads)
• Sponsored Ads (Pay Per Post)
• Social Media Ads

You will need to decide which is the best option for your blog. A golden rule is to pay attention to your ROAS and ROI.

What is ROAS?

Return on ad spend (ROAS) measures the gross revenue generated for every dollar spent on ad campaigns. ROAS helps identify which methods are working and, more importantly, what you can do to improve your advertising campaigns.

What is the difference between ROI and ROAS?

ROAS evaluates the effectiveness of advertisements in relation to ROI which estimates the profitability of advertisements.

How do you calculate return on investment?

Return on investment is calculated by dividing the profit by the initial cost of the investment multiplied by 100.

Here is the calculation of the return on investment represented in the form of a formula.

How do you calculate ROAS?

ROAS is calculated by dividing ad revenue by the initial ad cost, multiplied by 100.

10. Create retention by providing value to readers

Providing value is the secret to starting a blog that makes money. What does your audience want before they start offering services?

Listen first and foremost, and stay connected with your audience. Seth Godin talks at length about delivering value. Seth mentions the following quote in his book Tribes.

If you listen and serve your audience accordingly, they will come back to you. Also, they will talk about you.

How to retain Internet users on your blog

1. Write first and foremost for the reader
2. Have a clear message and value proposition
3. Set up an email incentive to stay in touch
4. Leveraging Social Proof

FAQ – How to start a blog

How to create a blog for free and make money?

You can create a blog for free on wix.com , Tumblr and blogger. Please remember that you will be subject to certain restrictions when using a free service.

How much can I expect to earn from starting a blog?

The amount you can potentially earn depends heavily on the following four main factors.

• How many times per day, per week, per month do you post messages?
• Are you active in promoting your articles?
• What monetization methods do you use in your articles?
• Is your conversion rate good, bad, average or high?

What should I do if a domain name I want is taken?

If the domain you want to have is registered, here’s what you can do:

• Try another variation of the domain name you want to purchase.
• Consider using another domain extension if .com is not available.
• Buy a premium domain that is up for auction.

Here are some domain name auctions where you can find some domains.

• godaddy.com
• Sedo.com
• Registercompass.com

Why do most blogs fail?

The truth is that most bloggers who start just to make money fail. For what ? For the following reasons you should avoid.

1. Low activity on your blog (write at least one article every 2 weeks)
2. Low content quality
3. Over-optimization, for example too many ads.
4. Lack of empathy with your audience (put yourself in their shoes)
5. Little to no engagement with your core audience (Reply to comments)
6. No interesting facts or statistics are provided (shareability is key).
7. The topic of your blog is not broad enough to monetize.
8. SEO is never really discussed
9. Analysis data is not used
10. Creating low-quality backlinks
11. Retention is not integrated into the content (email lists)

What is a blog?

A blog is a regularly updated website, maintained by an individual or group, consisting primarily of text written in an informal, conversational style

If statistics are to be believed, in the United States alone, 42.23% of people aged 18 to 49 read blogs .

You can find a blog on any topic you want. For bloggers, it’s a great way to increase their followers, meet new people, and make money online .

Why start a blog?

There are so many reasons to start a blog. 

One of the most important reasons is to influence and inspire readers online. If you have extensive knowledge in your field of work and have good writing skills, you can really help others. Properly monetizing your blog can provide you with a decent passive income.

Blogging can provide you with the ideal platform to:

• Develop yourself personally
• Improve your writing
• Establish new connections and network in your field
• Share your knowledge with your audience
• Earn lots of money

How much does it cost to start a blog?

When you create a blog, you have the option of using a free or paid blogging platform. Both have their pros and cons.

If you’re a newbie and want to try your hand at blogging without paying up front, WordPress.com and Blogger are great free platforms that allow you to do so. However, a free tool always comes with restrictions. For example, you won’t have access to better themes, restrictions on ads, etc.

On the other hand, if you are a seasoned activist or a beginner confident enough in blogging, you can opt for paid platforms.

Website building tools like Squarespace and Wix offer excellent paid plans that allow you to customize your site the way you want, without restrictions. Additionally, these platforms allow you to optimize your site for search engines, add advanced features like an online store, drag and drop editors, etc.

Here are some of the essential expenses:

• New domain name: It can cost you around $10 per year.
• Hosting: Shared hosting typically costs between $3 and $10 per month. Then there are more advanced options like VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, etc.
• Optional expenses include a premium WordPress theme (costing between $30 and $60), marketing tools, any additional SEO plugins needed as well as those intended for other purposes, and more.

Final calculations:

• If you consider blogging a hobby, it should be free.
• If you’re not very serious and don’t mind the minimal features, it will cost you around $50-60 per year.

If you plan to take up blogging full-time and invest in additional features to scale your blog, the cost can exceed $400 per year.

How do I attract readers to my blog?

To attract readers to your blog, you need to provide them with value.

Here are some steps that will help you achieve this:

• Mastering SEO – this aspect cannot be underestimated.
• Create catchy headlines – your headline is the first thing people read. Help them understand the benefits by listing them. The ideal clickable title is: Odd number + superlative + target keyword + year
• Publish blog posts regularly because your readers will take you more seriously.
• Use call-to-action (CTA) buttons and opt-in forms to encourage your readers to take action.
• Offer incentives to current readers, like product discounts and inside information.
• Share your articles on social media

Implementing all the steps mentioned above can help you get some initial traction for your blog.

5.How to create a successful blog?

There are over 600 million blogs in the United States alone. But 95% of them are unsuccessful. There are many factors that separate successful bloggers from unsuccessful ones. 

Some of the essential factors for starting and running a blog successfully are:

• Understand market viability and audience revenue potential
• Know digital marketing – you need to be proficient in SEO, keyword research, affiliate marketing, email marketing strategies, etc.
• Be good at self-promotion
• Offer value-based content
• Deliver content consistently
• Create a schedule and stick to it
• Proactively engage subscribers and resolve their issues.

Are bloggers paid?

Yes it is. Bloggers can be paid exceptionally well. Others don’t earn anything from their blog.

In summary, bloggers are mainly paid through:

• Advertisements
• Affiliate Marketing
• Online course
• Sponsored Posts
• To sell products
• Advice

However, if your blog posts don’t offer much value, it’s difficult to create an income.

How are bloggers paid?

Bloggers may be compensated through advertisements, affiliate commissions, course or e-commerce sales, and more.

The most common metric for affiliate marketing compensation is EPC (earnings per click). 

Another metric is CPM (cost per 1000 impressions). For every 1,000 clicks on the ad, you receive a fixed amount.

Apart from this, you can also sell products based on your expertise. For example, if you run a travel blog , you can sell brochures about the best tourist destinations, earn money through travel affiliate programs .

If you run a food blog, you can sell e-recipes of your best dishes.

Offer something that is loved by a segment of your audience and offer paid subscriptions to enlist them. The amount can be as low as $5 per month per person. But if you can create value to attract large volumes, you can start earning a decent income.

Can you create a blog for free?

Starting a blog doesn’t have to be expensive. You can do this with minimal investment and sometimes even for free.

When you start a blog, you need to decide whether you want to host it yourself or use a fully hosted platform. Typically, using a fully hosted platform comes with a low monthly fee. But it is easy to get a free platform. Most beginners opt for free, self-hosted platforms, such as WordPress.com and Blogger.

Here is a list of some of the best blogging platforms (paid or not).

If you are serious about blogging, I recommend going with a paid option. 

If you use a free platform, you will have to comply with the platform’s restrictions and you will rarely be able to blog and make money. With almost unlimited earning potential, you should pay to host your blog.

How to start a food blog?

Foods and recipes are some of the things people search for the most.

Since everything is easily available these days, food connoisseurs are willing to try and experiment with different cuisines and flavors.

Now is the time to launch your food blog . 

Here are some steps to achieve this:

• Choose your web hosting company.
• Choose a perfect name for your blog, relevant to your niche.
• Choose the ideal theme for your food blog. The right theme can attract viewers instantly and help you increase your subscriber count.
• Do a keyword search and choose a food subniche.
• Start publishing your recipes and learn how to write them in an SEO-friendly way.
• Get backlinks and guest posts from other food blogs.
• To ensure the longevity of your blog, you can also find ways to monetize it. Third-party advertising, affiliate marketing, and selling exclusive recipes are all ways to do this.

How to start a travel blog?

Travel is a passion for most people, it is on this theme that many digital nomads launch .

If you are too, you can start your journey as a travel blogger and earn money from your blog recommendations.

There are many travel affiliate programs that pay when you recommend anything like hotels, Airbnbs, travel gear, travel insurance, etc.

Here’s how to get started with a travel blog now:

• The first step is to determine your blog’s sub-niche. There are many options including solo travel, luxury travel, budget travel, family travel, etc.
• The second step is to choose a name that will have immediate success with your target audience.
• Configure web hosting.
• Get the perfect theme for your travel blog.
• Do a keyword search and choose a travel sub-niche.
• Publish travel articles based on your expertise and format them for SEO.
• Get backlinks and guest posts from other travel blogs.

How to start a fashion blog?

If you are interested in the latest styles, starting a fashion blog and tapping into that interest is a great idea. 

However, this is a saturated space, which is why you need to put extra effort into starting and growing your fashion blog.

Here’s how you can start your fashion blog:

• Think about what type of fashion you want to talk about in your blog. Fashion can be a very broad term, so selecting a style or niche is essential. For example, do you want to write about high fashion or street fashion? Vintage or gothic?
• Find the perfect domain name that will immediately hit the mark with the public (don’t opt ​​for a free domain name containing other brands).
• Choose your hosting provider.
• Choose the theme that best suits your style and the fashion you want to talk about.
• Create content consistently. Never miss blogging.
• Promote it heavily, especially on social media platforms like Instagram.
• Since it’s fashion, you want to give it as much exposure as possible. Monetize it through social media, podcasts, and ads. You need all the attention you can get.

How to start a beauty blog?

If you are passionate about beauty products and the latest trends, starting a beauty blog could be for you. This type of blog is ideally associated with a YouTube channel and an Instagram account.

Here’s how you can start a beauty blog:

• Think about what you want to talk about in your beauty blog. Oily skin or dry skin? Light or dark complexion? The list is endless, and it’s up to you to decide your area of ​​interest.
• Choose the name of your blog. When it comes to beauty, a catchy and memorable name can attract the right audience.
• Again, choose a hosting plan and install a beauty blog theme.
• Do keyword research on the “how to” keywords that people are searching for.
• Plan your posts and make sure to integrate YouTube tutorials into your posts.
• Advertise on social media and in email newsletters.
• You can also provide video tutorials and share beauty tips to increase your subscriber base.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is the easiest way to create web pages and makes up over 30% of the Internet.

A WordPress site helps you create, publish and share web pages. It is also one of the most user-friendly platforms for hosting blogs. And you only have to pay for the domain name and hosting.

It is a feature-rich CMS (content management system) that allows bloggers to create, edit and publish content. It features a dashboard where you can edit posts, media, pages, comments, plugins, themes, users, website settings, etc.

14. Should I use WordPress.com or WordPress.org?

WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two very different platforms.

• WordPress.com offers an end-to-end solution for creating a simple, free website. You need to register, and you are ready to create your website.
• WordPress.org is an open-source website platform that can only be operated through a paid hosting account.

Here are some key differences between the two platforms to help you make a more informed decision:

1. Cost

• WordPress.org: It is completely free to test but for the site to be visible and published, you must purchase hosting and a domain name.
• WordPress.com: You can create a free blog with a WordPress name. To have a custom domain name, you will have to pay at least $4 per month.

2. Setting up

• WordPress.org: Creating a blog or website on WordPress.org requires a certain level of technical expertise, including purchasing hosting and a domain name, followed by integrating them with website.
• WordPress.com: WordPress.com guides the user through a step-by-step process to make installation hassle-free.

3. Themes

• WordPress.org: It offers excellent customization options with over 7,500 free themes. Users can also choose thousands of premium themes.
• WordPress.com: It comes with limited customization options. Free and Personal plans offer over 150 themes, and other premium plans offer over 200 paid themes.

4. Plugins

• WordPress.org: You have access to over 50,000 plugins as well as thousands of other third-party plugins.
• WordPress.com: It allows the installation of plugins only in business or ecommerce plans. These plans cost $25 and $45 per month and offer over 50,000 plugins.

Now it’s up to you to decide which platform best suits your needs.

15. How often should I backup my blog?

Backups should be done automatically using plugins available for most blogging platforms.

Whether it’s your first year or your fifth, regularly backing up your blog should be a priority to ensure that if disaster strikes, you can get back up and continue as if nothing had happened.

16. Can I sell Amazon products on my blog?

Yes, you can do it. In fact, there is a plugin available on Amazon specifically designed to allow people to do this.

The key when it comes to selling products is to make sure they are relevant and useful to your current readership.

17. Can I put Google Adsense on my blog?

Yes, although there are strict rules on what Google does and does not accept in its Adsense program.

Google Adsense is one of the many but most popular advertising networks .

To avoid any difficulties when running these types of ads on your blog, you need to make sure that you comply with Google’s terms and conditions.