Blogging is more affordable than ever. There are a lot of resources available online. However, you are likely to feel lost when taking the first steps. In this article I will help you with the most important aspects that you are going to face.
Find your motivation and you will find the time. The rest is technical and you can learn it if you really decide to do it.
CONTENT INDEX
Reasons to start your blog
Before you start your blog you should answer these 3 questions:
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- Why I want to write
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- Who I want to write to
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- What I want to write about
Why to write
The first thing is to ask yourself why you write the blog. It is understood that you want to share your ideas and knowledge with others but it is good to specify a little more. A blog can reinforce your professional reputation. reputación profesional.
You will surely meet someone who you follow on social networks that will be a reference in their thing for many without it means that they are better than another in their work.
A similar case would be if you have a business and want to sell more. Although the theme has a commercial background, if you really do tell interesting things, you will get visits on your page and therefore you are increasing the number of potential customers. And it’s something that the public accepts naturally. If you show that you know what you do, they’re more likely to buy from you than from someone else.
A third reason may be the need to share your ideas and get feedback from people with similar concerns. Undoubtedly that the format of blog works very well in this sense for the interactivity it allows.
Who to write to
Secondly, you should consider who you are addressing. If you are a personal trainer, it is important that you know whether you want to connect with the younger or more mature audience, male or female, urban or rural.. etc. This will allow you to choose better the topics and tone in the writing catch their attention and this same invite them to continue reading.
What to write about
Last you must choose the theme of which you are going to write. It can be a concrete and professional topic like cardiology or an entertainment topic like cinema or crafts. The important thing is that you have knowledge and want to share it. Also, even if you are an expert, you should be aware of the current situation on the subject and give your opinion on the latest topics being discussed at that time. This will allow you to attract more people who are looking for information about it.
What to write about
Certainly, we each have a style of writing. It’s not just about our ability to write content, but the tone and vocabulary we use when writing. Likewise, you don’t need to be Vargas Llosa to start creating texts.
As long as we take care of the writing and avoid any type of spelling or grammar mistakes, we should not be afraid and it is best to start as soon as possible. The good thing about not using pencil and paper is that we can then retouch the text as much as we want.
However, whether you have a writing ability or not, you can always learn or improve this skill by taking a course in copywriting or creative writing. In any case, since it is not about you being given the Planet Award for your blog, its job is to find a style in which you are comfortable and that allows you to connect with the audience to which you are addressed.
Your blog's identity
If you have already been solving the previous points, you have a very important decision. You must define the image that you want to convey to your readers
The name
The first thing to decide is how you want them to know your blog. In principle, having a strong personal component, it is usual to match your first and last name. But you may not like how it sounds or that there is already someone with the same name with whom you do not want to be confused.
In that case the first option is to change your name by a pseudonym or make a play on your name and other add-ons. An example of this that I tell you could be "James Digital" or "The notebook of Nerea".
Por último puedes optar por un título más relacionado con la temática y sin incluir tu nombre para nada. Algo así como «Notas sobre Poesía» o «Taller de Filósofos».
The logo
Whether it’s your name or not, the logo is the foundation of your digital identity. A good logo should be clear, elegant and meaningful. It must also meet a number of technical criteria which allow for good reproduction on screen and in printed matter.
My advice is that you go to a professional designer to make your logo and if you can not afford it better leave the title in the text format that WordPress provides you or use any good AI before inserting a low quality doodle that offers a poor impression of your blog.
The domain name
Once you have the name and logo you have to choose the domain that corresponds then associate it with your blog and you can promote that address to get the visits and comments that give life to your website.
As for the domain type, you have two basic options. The first is to choose a territorial domain like . es for Spain or .co.ukfor United Kingdom. That makes sense if your audience is restricted to a country or you see it as free and don’t like the other options.
The second is to opt for a generic domain such as . com, . net and newer ones like . top or . pro. All are valid and the important thing is that they are free, not too expensive and if possible meaningful. In this sense many new endings have come out that can help you define your identity. For example, you can use . art if you are an artist or . fashion if you are going to talk about fashion.
Where to start blogging for free
If there is a platform that is associated with blog more than any other today it is certainly WordPress. It was one of the first worldwide and has been growing exponentially so that almost one in three websites is made with this software.
The easiest and most cost-free way is to open a free account at WordPress.com. With that you can start writing your blog just by filling in some basic data for your account. Best of all, it avoids having to do any kind of installation. Everything is done via web.
They offer you a petersblog.wordpress.com address and you can customize it with a series of free templates and plugins to give it your distinctive touch. You have a space of 3 gigas but you have to allow a series of ads from WordPress itself appear on your pages.
It is certainly a suitable formula for the more novice or those with unambitious goals. If you want to make more profit from your blog I recommend that you continue reading.
Where to write a more professional blog
You may be short of the previous free plan if you really want to convey a professional image and get some profitability from it. One of the essential factors for this is that you have your own domain.
For only 4€/month you get with the personal plan:
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- 6 Gigabytes of space to publish
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- ads removal
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- Free one year domain
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- online technical support
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- Possibility of receiving recurring payments.
With the included domain you can have an address of type petersblog.com. It is certainly a better option for more serious projects and with thoughts of obtaining some profitability in the medium term.
Publish your blog in your hosting
As you probably know, WordPress is not just an online platform. It is also a software that can be installed on web servers individually in each hosting. If you are familiar with these terms, you may be able to use WordPress as a solution to have a website ready to write your blog.
Today, almost all web hosting providers offer WordPress as a simple installation option from their own control panel. That is, in very few clicks you will have WordPress installed and ready to start writing.
But then, the question is what advantages does it have?
Benefits of publishing it in your own hosting
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- When you install WordPress on your hosting you have all the software capabilities at your service. You have the possibility to install any theme or plugin, both free and paid, to enhance any aspect you want.
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- You can have backups to restore in case of disaster.
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- If you choose well, it will be cheaper than paying for one of the advanced plans on WordPress.com
Downsides of publishing it in your own hosting
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- It is certainly an option that requires more knowledge so it can be a little frustrating for those who have a basic level of digital technology.
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- It will take you more time to keep your site up-to-date and secure. You should spend time or pay someone to keep your WordPress installation up-to-date and secure.
Chosing hosting for your WP blog
If you have already decided on this option then you will have to choose a reliable provider that gives you effective solutions, helps you with good technical support and, if possible, does not charge you a lot.
Certainly if you search the Internet you will find hundreds of companies advertising these services and some articles from other blogs that compare the most popular hosting services.
Personally, having been in the web development industry for 20 years, I can recommend a couple of options based on my direct experience with hosting providers. Of all the ones I’ve tried, which are not few, you’d recommend one of these two.
SiteGround. They have grown a lot in recent years and have a very optimized service for professional and business oriented WordPress sites. They have a good online service that saves you from having to call on 99% of the time. Used and recommended by web design professionals such as Arturo García and online marketing professionals such as Joan Boluda.
Professional Hosting. They have been in the market for many years and while not as focused on WordPress, they do have more diverse and affordable solutions for those who are starting out. Another noteworthy aspect is the close technical service they have. If it’s your first blog may be the most interesting option.
The best WP theme for your blog
Once you have installed WordPress on your hosting you will have to make a first decision regarding the appearance of your site: choose the best template, also known as theme or theme.
WordPress comes with a theme installed by default and in principle is perfectly valid to publish your blog.
This is definitely a subject you can get dizzy about if you start researching on your own by searching on Google.
Now that WordPress is not only for blogs but for almost any type of website and there are several thousand templates available it’s difficult to decide which one suits you.
As we are talking about writing a blog, the ideal is that the theme or template chosen be light and easy to use. You should not be carried away by very spectacular appearances and full of features that you will not use later.
As with hosting, I can make recommendations based on my professional experience. To make it easier for you, I’ve narrowed down the selection of best templates to three options.
GENERATE PRESS
It is the theme that I use for this blog and the one that I have most implemented for customers in recent years. Generate Press is a lightweight template, which favors positioning, easy to handle and with some interesting customization possibilities. It integrates very well with visual editors and has a free version and a premium one with a pretty tight price.
EXTRA
Extra is a theme from Elegant Themes and allows for some extraordinary design options. Use the famous visual editor Divi and that allows you to customize your blog using very intuitive tools with which you will see the result in real time. It is a paid theme but includes the above-mentioned editor and other additional themes of the brand. Recommended for those looking for a careful and distinctive design.
METRO PRO
Developed by Studio Press, Metro Pro is a theme that works with the Genesis framework, known for its SEO optimization thanks to a good load speed. It also has a visual structure very suitable for current blogs. Recommended if you want to prioritize the web positioning of your site.
What else after publishing your blog
Let’s say you’ve already written a few articles and published them correctly, either on your domain or under WordPress.com. Now you’ll be interested in advertising it, right? why write if no one reads you?
In this sense I recommend two basic lines of action.
Take care of your blog's SEO
Your blog’s SEO or web ranking will be the one that generates traffic from Google when people search for topics related to what you write. But of course, I don’t think you’re the only person in the world writing about it so you’ll be competing with a lot of others.
If you do not know the subject certainly will not be an expert but it is advisable to have some basic notions that then can expand over time. If you have WordPress on your own hosting the best option is to install the plugin Yoast SEO and learn how to configure the essentials. For this there are many people who explain it quite well.
Promote your blog on social media
A simple option that you have at your fingertips is to spread the articles you publish on the main social networks. I would focus on the following.
Facebook is the most established social network and remains an interesting way to reach a wider audience. His thing is that from your personal profile you create a page with the identity of your blog. There you can post links to your articles and reach many people who are looking for the topic.
X, formerly known as Twitter, is a widely used tool from the world of journalism and politics. It can also be very useful to give publicity to your articles. Choose and take care of your profile to arrive with a good image. Publishes with some regularity and with the intention of promoting debate.
Instagram is the social network that has been most popular in recent years. There are many young people and they have a very visual language. Ideal if your content is related to something aesthetic, casual and if you want to reach a younger audience.
Linkedin is the most professional social network. It may be the most suitable site to spread your articles if you have a profile with many contacts. It is a platform that also promotes debate so share with your network the content you write and ask them for their opinion.
Conclusions
As you can see, the task of writing a blog has many aspects to take care if you want to achieve a minimum of success. You basically have to attend three areas:
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- The contents. Without a doubt, the most important thing. When you add value to the content of your articles, your chances of success are multiplied by a little that takes care of the other two aspects.
- The contents. Without a doubt, the most important thing. When you add value to the content of your articles, your chances of success are multiplied by a little that takes care of the other two aspects.
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- Technology. Do not forget that your content is on a computer connected to the Internet, known as a web server, and in addition to good content, the user expects to be able to access your blog with comfort and speed. That’s why it is important to choose the platform and its maintenance when publishing a blog.
- Technology. Do not forget that your content is on a computer connected to the Internet, known as a web server, and in addition to good content, the user expects to be able to access your blog with comfort and speed. That’s why it is important to choose the platform and its maintenance when publishing a blog.
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- Advertising. While it is true that good content published on technically optimized platforms can in itself attract traffic to your website, You can not miss the opportunity to spread your content through social networks and even consider an ad campaign if there is a possibility of making it profitable.
