Blogging is a great opportunity to hone your writing skills, tell the world what you love, and become famous online. Bloggers inspire, entertain and educate readers – and the more popular a blog becomes, the more chances you have to make money from it. If you are thinking about becoming a blogger and how to create your blog, you have come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get started blogging, from choosing a platform, hosting and title, to posting and making a profit.
How to create a blog in 10 steps:
- Choose your blog platform
- Choose to host
- Decide on the topic
- Choose a name and register a domain
- Customize the look
- List topics to post
- Write your first post
- Create a publishing schedule
- Get busy promoting
- Make money blogging
1.Choose a platform for your blog.
Before becoming a blogger, you need to choose a convenient and functional platform for publishing posts. Blogger.com offers a large selection of free templates to suit bloggers with a wide variety of needs. You can customize every detail in an intuitive visual editor to give your blog a unique look. In addition, the platform has built-in functions that allow you to measure the effectiveness of your blog and monetize your content.
2.Choose a hosting
Like other types of sites, blogs need hosting. In simple words, hosting is a place on a server where all site data is stored so that users can access them at any time.
Some blog platforms do not provide hosting, so you must choose one yourself. Here are some popular options:
When choosing a hosting, be sure to pay attention to the following indicators:
Continuity. The availability of your site depends on the operation of the server. Make sure the hosting you choose is available at least 99.95% of the time.
Bandwidth. The amount of information that a site can display to users over some time. It depends on the size of the pages and the amount of traffic.
Support service. In case of problems with hosting, you should be able to get qualified assistance quickly. Ideally, the hosting support team should have a telephone line and online chat and respond promptly on social networks.
3.Decide on the topic.
Before you start blogging, you need to decide on the most important thing: the topic of future articles. You can write about anything. Runet has successful food blogs, travel blogs, blogs about fashion, history, sports and much more. For example, on the could retouch blog, we write about web design, marketing, business and mastering new professions. A blog post on How to Become a Blogger is also a blog post that helps us share useful information with you and tell you about what we can do. There is only one rule when choosing a blog topic: write about what you love. To make it easier for you, we have broken down the process of choosing a topic for your blog into three simple steps:
1. Narrow your interests
2. Define your target audience
3. Check if there is potential for earning
Narrow Your Interests
To keep your blog engaging and inspiring, you write regularly, choose a topic that you know and love. You will quickly get bored of releasing texts that are not close to you – even if their topics are popular and profitable.
If you are not sure what to write about – do not worry. Many go through it. Start with simple brainstorming: write down the 5-10 interests that come to mind first in your notebook. For instance:
- Travels
- Cooking
- Family
- Music
- Business
Now think about what you like about your chosen interests and add it to the list. New ideas might look like this:
- Road trips in Italy
- Slimming recipes
- Raising twins
- Indie rock
- Business ideas for beginners
It’s perfectly fine if, even after brainstorming, you have not decided on the topic. We will do this in the following paragraphs.
Define your target audience
The more popular the blog topic, the more people read it. More people means more traffic, which ultimately will help you monetize your blog and possibly even make it a serious source of income. So make sure to write about topics that are really in demand. To determine the popularity of a particular topic, use the free Google Trends service. It shows how many people have searched Google for information on a selected topic. Many queries mean that people are interested in what you are about to write about.
For example, at the time of this writing, the query “weight loss recipes” showed consistent popularity in Google Trends. This means that this topic can bring many readers to the blog. But the topic of “vegan recipes” shows a much less stable trend and is not very popular. This does not mean that it is bad – just a blog with vegan recipes will be interested in a limited number of readers, and it will be more difficult to promote it. However, you can cover this topic by adding Vegan Diet Recipes to the blog.
Check if there is potential for earning
Even if you decide to create a blog “for the soul,” do not exclude the possibility that it will start bringing in money one day. The most popular way to make money from blogging is through affiliate marketing. Here’s how it works:
1. Blogger enters into a contract with a company
2. After that, he publishes links to the company’s products in blog articles.
3. Blog readers follow links and shop
4. The blogger receives a percentage from each such purchase.
Articles like “How to Do Something” or “Best Picks …” work best with affiliate marketing. For example, “Best Kitchen Tools” or “How to Make Carrot Cake.” In both cases, you can add an affiliate link to your article for your favorite combine and electric mixer and get a commission every time a blog reader purchases that item.
We will tell you more about making money on a blog in paragraph 10.
4. Choose a name and register a domain.
The blog title can duplicate the name of the business or the name and surname of the blogger. Or you can come up with something memorable and original. When choosing a name, think about what name would suit your blog? Sweet and romantic, formal and serious, unusual and provocative? If you are facing a crisis of ideas, use a business name generator.
Once you’ve decided on the name of your blog, connect a domain and choose a domain name. The domain name is displayed in the browser’s search bar and usually completely or partially matches the name of the blog.
5. Customize the look
1. Choose a blog template
2. Decide which pages to add
3. Set up indexing in search engines
4. Create a logo for your blog
It’s time to decide on the look of the future blog. Here’s where to start:
Choose a blog template
If you don’t want to create a website from scratch, use one ready-made design template. There are a lot of free blog templates. Among them are a travel blog, a food blog, a photographer’s blog, and many others. You can customize any template manually in a visual editor: change the color palette, add or remove graphic elements, or choose a different font.
Choose a design that best matches the nature of your blog: classic, modern, quirky, or minimalist. Remember that certain colors evoke certain emotions in users; for example, blue is associated with trust and reliability, while yellow is associated with joy and energy.
Decide which pages to add
In addition to the articles themselves, many blogs include other elements: for example, a contact page, an “about” page, or an online store. Decide which of these pages will help make your blog even more successful.
- Contact page. Leave your email address so readers and potential business partners can contact you. In addition, you can place a feedback form on the page and communicate with visitors directly through the site.
- About me page. Telling about yourself and sharing the story of creating a blog will help you establish closer emotional contact with your readers.
- Internet shop. Sell branded merchandise or products of your production directly through the site.
Other good examples of blog pages include Guides and Checklists, Author’s Choice, and Feature Articles. Remember – you can always remove or add pages as your blog evolves. Some blogs publish articles directly on the home page, and some create a separate section for this. In any case, provide the site with easy navigation to easily find any page.
Set up indexing in search engines
Make sure the site is displayed on Google. This is very important – it means that the blog will appear in the results of relevant search queries and will begin to attract visitors to the site.
First, upload your Sitemap to Google Search Console. This will let Google know that your blog exists. After that, check if the blog is indexed: enter a Google query in the form site: name of your blog. Everything is in order if the site appears in the search results.
Tip: Google Search Console also provides important statistics such as visitors and clicks. You can use the blog performance analytics service to optimize your content and improve the user experience.
Create a logo for your blog
A logo adds personality to a blog and helps transform it into a recognizable brand. If you want to create a logo without the help of a designer, you can use any Logo Maker. Just answer a few questions, and the algorithm will automatically suggest logo options that are right for your blog. Choose the option that suits you and customize it to your liking: change colors, fonts and icons. Traditionally, logos are located in the upper left corner of the site and, when clicked, lead back to the main page.
6.Make a list of topics for publications
By the most conservative estimates, you will need to publish at least 6-7 articles per month to develop your blog. This means you have to have a wide arsenal of topics at the ready that you are going to write about. Think – what made you an expert in your field? What successes, defeats, discoveries and situations led to this? How can you put your experience into a story that will capture the imagination of your readers? What would you like to dwell on in more detail?
Another useful trick is to build on the audience. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the target audience of the blog?
- What are they interested in?
- Which difficulties and challenges do they face?
Alternatively, try clustering blog topics. With this strategy, you break general topics into sub-topics and subtopics into even more specific topics.
Internal links should link each cluster together. For example, you might link to other breakfast recipes like shakshuka, bagel, or pancakes in a mimosa recipe. This will help organize articles and make it easier for users to navigate and improve the indexing of your blog by search engines. Read more about the cluster strategy here
7. Write the first post.
1. List your keywords
2. Structure your article
3. Come up with a title
4. Write text
5. Insert images
6. Optimize your article for SEO
7. Edit and publish the article
You are now ready to publish your first article. Here’s how to do it:
Make a Keyword List
How are keywords and SEO in general related to article writing? Very simple. The more relevant keywords there are in an article, the more often they appear in search queries from Google, Yandex and other services. This means that more people will be able to see the article.
Before writing an article, analyze what keywords users will use to search for materials on this topic. For example, if you post a carrot cake recipe, your keyword list will likely look like this: Carrot cake.
Carrot cake recipe
Best carrot cake recipe
How to make carrot cake
For some topics, the keywords will be less obvious. To find them, use the free Google Keyword Planner and Answer The Public or paid programs like SEMrush or Ahrefs.
Now you need to do two things. First, you can organically scatter the found keywords throughout the text. Secondly, structure the material in the same way as it is done in articles from the top 10 Google searches. In our example, you will need to study all the articles displayed on the first page for the query “carrot cake.” For example, in all popular articles, you may notice that there are numbered lists at the beginning of the text – as is done in the text you are reading right now.
Articles with such listings are better indexed in search engines – and in case the article comes out on top of search results, your numbered list will appear right on the Google page. In addition, this format is convenient for the reader – the numbered list serves as a kind of table of contents for the article and clarifies what the text will be about.
Structure your article
The article’s structure or “fish” will help to decompose the future idea on the shelves and make it easier to write the text. Divide your content into parts using headings and subheadings. Under each heading, include a list of the main points of the paragraph. This is how it might look:
Article title
Introduction
- Vivid detail (joke, quote, or interesting fact)
- Description of the problem
- Proposed solution
- A summary of the article in one paragraph
Part 1
- Heading
- Introduction
- The main provisions of the paragraph
- Tips and guides for action
- Numbered lists (optional)
- Conclusion
Part 2
Part # 3, 4, 5, etc.
General conclusion
- Summarize the key points of the article
- Add a call to action.
Come up with a title.
Sometimes the title determines whether the reader will open the article – so it is important to develop a clear and intriguing title for the material. A good headline should:
- Be understandable
- Promise benefit
- Appeal to emotions
- Arouse interest
- Stand out from others
Write text
We’ve come to the most important part: creating content for the article. Each blogger writes in their unique style and uses different techniques to gain attention. Therefore, we will limit ourselves only to general advice:
- At the beginning of the article, grab the reader’s attention with a joke, quote, or fun fact. This will grab the visitor’s attention and encourage them to continue reading.
- Avoid “water” – long introductions, lengthy reflections and abstract life stories. Each proposal should fulfill a specific purpose: to explain, give advice, share experiences. Text overloaded with “water” is hard to read, and the visitor is likely to close the article in the middle simply.
- Choose a tone of communication and stick to it throughout the article. For example, puns and stories from life would be appropriate for an informal entertaining article, but they are unlikely to fit into a dry and informative science blog.
- It can take hours or even a couple of days to write a good article. Set aside enough time for yourself to write a really good copy.
Insert images
Photos, images, and screenshots in the article should be beautiful and functional. For example, illustrate the main idea or set the mood. If you don’t have your images, use free stock photos from Pexels or Unsplash.
Optimize your article for SEO
- Check your keywords. Use text search (CTRL + F) to make sure you have embedded all the keywords you need in your article. Remember that keyword copy should still look organic – no one wants to read an article that looks like a neural network wrote it.
- Add links to related content in your article. For example, in an article with a carrot cake recipe, you can add links to recipes for other desserts or dishes with carrots as the main ingredient. As we said in the previous paragraph, this will encourage readers to continue reading the blog, but it will also improve indexing in Google.
- Add call-to-action buttons. For example, Read More, Subscribe, or Buy. This will help direct the reader’s attention in the right direction: subscribe to a newsletter or purchase a product in an online store.
- Add alt text. Google doesn’t recognize images – that’s why bloggers often add short descriptions to photos to “explain” what is shown in the picture to the search engine. Ideally, the alt text should contain keywords and describe what is happening in the photo.
- Fill in the metadata. Metadata is information that appears on a sitemap in Google search results. Metadata consists of a meta title and a meta description.
The meta title is usually the same as the article’s title, but you can change it if you see fit. A meta description is a short text that serves as a kind of “announcement” of an article: for example, “I am telling you the recipe for the tastiest and easiest carrot cake.”
Edit and publish the article
Read the finished text a couple of times to rule out factual errors and typos. After that, fill in the metadata on your platform and click publish. Congratulations on your first article!
8. Create a publication schedule
Regular posting of content is the key to success for every blogger. Firstly, this way, you will quickly gather a loyal audience around your blog. Second, search engines trust blogs with regular posts and rank them higher in search results. To keep articles published frequently and on time, create a detailed publication schedule. Open Excel or Google Sheets, and create a spreadsheet with the following columns:
- Date of publication
- Article title
- Main keywords
- Publication status
- Comments.
We advise you to fill out the table at least a month in advance to plan the time for writing texts calmly.
You can also add deadlines for articles in Google Calendar, so you will receive an alert every time it is time to publish an article.
How often articles should be published
Before becoming a blogger, you need to decide how much time you are willing to spend writing texts. Remember the main rule – the more often you publish articles, the more traffic you attract to your blog. Some statistics:
- Companies that publish 11 or more posts per month notice a significant increase in traffic compared to companies that publish 2-5 texts per month.
- Companies that publish 11 or more posts per month generate twice as many leads as companies that publish 6-10 articles. This is especially important for bloggers who do affiliate marketing or have their online store.
The frequency of posting also depends on your goals. To increase brand visibility, 1-2 articles per week are enough. However, publishing 3-4 articles per week is a good solution if you want to increase your traffic.
At the same time, soberly assess the strength and time, and do not overload yourself with unrealizable deadlines. Start with a comfortable schedule that you can maintain over the long term. With the development of your blog, you can always come up with something else: hire an assistant or invite guest bloggers.
9. Get involved in promoting your blog.
1. Share articles on social networks
2. Create a newsletter
3. Become a Guest Blogger
4. Find existing communities of interest
5. Invest in paid advertising
6. Experiment with the content format
So you’ve figured out how to create your blog. We need to make sure that as many people as possible know about it. Here are some free and paid ways to do this:
Share articles on social networks
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are great resources for attracting new readers for free. Every time you post a new article, share it on your personal or business page.
Create a newsletter. A weekly newsletter with a selection of articles will encourage readers to return to the blog again and again. To build a subscriber base, add a subscription form to the navigation bar and footer of the site and the end of the articles themselves.
Become a guest blogger. Posting on other popular blogs will increase your credibility in the industry and attract new subscribers. Find existing communities of interest. Forums, Facebook groups and VK publics are home to hundreds of interest groups. Find those interested in your topic and leave a link to your blog in them.
Invest in paid advertising. You can set up social media ads to show your posts with article previews to more people. You can also promote your blog through search terms using Google Ads.
Experiment with the format of your content. Create a webinar, podcast or channel on Youtube or Telegram to publish content in new formats. Be sure to include a link to the site so that podcast listeners or Youtube channel visitors will eventually land on the main blog.
10. Make money blogging
1. Affiliate Marketing
2. Blog advertising
3. Paid subscription
4. Sponsored Content
5. Internet shop
At the beginning of this article, we already mentioned affiliate marketing to make money from blogging. Let’s talk about this and other methods in more detail.
- Affiliate Marketing. One of the most popular ways to make money is on a blog. Affiliate marketing earnings can reach hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on the number of subscribers.
- Blog advertising. Another popular option is to place banner ads on your blog and profit from every click. One of the best programs to do this is Google Adsense.
- Paid subscription. Many popular publications like the New York Times have long restricted access to their materials – now, they can only be read by subscription. With the development of your blog, you can do the same and make some of the articles available only to subscribers.
- Sponsored content. The higher your authority in the field, the more companies will cooperate with you. Work with companies you trust and write paid reviews on their products.
- Internet shop. One of the sources of income for popular bloggers is guides, ebooks, and checklists that you can sell directly through your blog. Make sure the information in the products is unique — readers don’t have to pay for what they can find on Google for free. Another idea for an online store is the sale of branded merchandise.
Useful links:
- Google Keyword Planner: Helpful Information For Keyword Research
- Google Analytics: Blog Performance Statistics
- Pexels: Free Blog Photos
- Google Search Console: Statistics on the number of visits and clicks.
- Glavred: Helps to clear the text of verbal garbage
- Asana: Task manager for managing the schedule of publications.
