Tips on starting a blog for begginers

Tips for Beginning Bloggers

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure.

Starting your first blog can be an overwhelming experience. You feel like you’re being pulled in every direction to get every little thing done the right way because you want your blog to be successful. In this post I’ll share some tips for bloggers just starting out. This can even be for bloggers who feel like they’ve hit a wall and need some direction to get that extra oomph for their blog.



Be Passionate About Your Blog’s Topic


Find a blog topic you are passionate about. If you pick a topic that you have no interest in your content will suffer, and so will your readers.

Readers are not going to be interested in reading some dull blog post that was just written to stuff as many keywords as possible on a webpage.


How to Choose a Blogging Niche

Don’t Use a Free Platform


While it might be tempting to set everything up for your blog for free, there is a cost to that. Using a free platform places many limitations on what you can do with your blog.

For example, if you went with the free WordPress.com route instead of setting up your own WordPress blog on a paid for hosting platform you can’t use any plugins.

You will also find as you try to monitize your blog, some affiliate programs and ad platforms are going to have restrictions when trying to use them from a free platform

Why Should You Choose WordPress?

Always Keep a Notebook on You


When you are just starting your blog you are going to be flooded with ideas.


Keeping a notebook or journal on you at all times will help you organize these thoughts so you can act on them later. Trying to keep these on an app on your phone can get messy or lost.

If you have a tangible object in your hand helps you go back and act upon the thoughts you wrote down.

If you put these thoughts in your phone you might not look back at them as they aren’t on your screen the minute you look at your phone. Also you might be tempted to leave out details when trying to quickly type in your thoughts on your phone. I know I have a tendency to shorthand everything to the max when using my phone and a lot of details that could be important get left out.



Be Yourself


Write like you talk. Don’t be dry or stiff in your writing. No one wants to read a boring and dull blog.

You are trying to keep readers. So unless your site is a cure for sleepless nights keep your readers interested in what they are reading.


Have Goals for Your Blog and Brand


To have a successful blog it’s important that you have goals. You need to have both long term and short term goals, and make sure your goals are realistic and achievable.

Having a goal of making a million by the end of year one is probably not realistic. Sure someone might have done this, but when you break down the numbers the chance is pretty slim.

Instead set smaller goals to reach a larger goal. For instance by the end of month one you want to have made a $1 profit and have at least 10 subscribers. That sounds much more realistic than 1 million by day 365 doesn’t it?



Build a Following on Social Media


Work on your social media. It’s advertising that you only have to pay your time for.

Always use more than one social media platform. Relying on just one could make your social media presence go poof in one day if the platform you were using shut down.

Don’t use shortcuts for social media. Buying followers and likes is not going to turn into readers coming to your blog. If you like watching numbers go up go play a video game, you’ll waste less money and probably stimulate your brain a bit more.

How to Get Started With Pinterest for Blog Traffic

Start Building Your Email List at the Start


Email lists are important, almost blog lifeline important. All bloggers should be building an email list from the day the blog is started.

Social media platforms come and go just like fashion styles. Google changes its algorithm time to time. Even if you mastered their last one you might be chasing your tail then next day when they decide they didn’t like what they were doing before.

You can’t rely on outside sources to always bring you traffic. You have to put in some work yourself to make sure you can reach those who are interested in what you have to offer.


Be a part of the Blogging Community


Visit, read, and comment on other blogs. This can help build a reputation with other bloggers in your niche. It can also provide links back to your own blog.


Be Consistent with Your Content


Pumping out content for your blog regularly for a few months and disappearing for 10 months is not going to be good for your blog.

Readers and potential customers need you to be consistent to be able to trust you and what you are selling.

Set a schedule for yourself. If you want to put out a post only a few times a month that’s OK. Just make sure you do it, and you do it where your readers know that your content is going to be out say on every other Monday.


What to do When You Can’t Think of a Blog Post Idea

Have a Plan


The worst thing you can do when trying to make a successful blog is have “Ohhhh shiny” syndrome.

You need a plan.

What is it you want to accomplish? What are smaller and larger goals? Use these goals to create a roadmap for yourself to get your blog to where you want it to be.


Stop Stressing About Post Length


Did I just go there? Yeah I did.

Now I’m not saying SEO isn’t important when it comes to your blog.

I’m saying stop stressing about it. Sure keywords are important, making sure the Google bot can determine what your blog posts are actually about and trying to get a decent ranking that isn’t back on page 500 is a good thing.

BUT *gets on blog soapbox*

Trying to make a post that only takes 500 to 800 words to get the point across and dragging that out into a 3000 wall of babbling because current SEO guru says that’s what’s needed to make Google like you is insane.

*Breath*

Do you really think readers are going to come back when they zoned out by paragraph 3 of your post? I know I don’t.


When I want answers I usually go to the blog that I read about that topic and see if they have the answer. Google search results have become insane. Sometimes you’ll get answers other times you get rambling because that person just wanted to please Google and didn’t think about having readers that actually wanted to return to the site.


Pin it for Later:

  • Be Passionate About Your Blog’s Topic
  • Don’t Use a Free Platform
  • Always Keep a Notebook on You
  • Be Yourself
  • Have Goals for Your Blog and Brand
  • Build a Following on Social Media
  • Start Building Your Email List at the Start
  • Be a Part of the Blogging Community
  • Be Consistent with Your Content
  • Have a Plan
  • Stop Stressing About Post Length

You May Also Enjoy:

Get Your Blog Started – Step By Step Guide
Mistakes New Bloggers Make
Best Affiliate Programs for New Bloggers



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