When you hear others bragging about the easy income they have created for themselves through blogging, your minds wheels get to turning and you think “What exactly is a Blog and how do I make one?”
What is a Blog?
Originally called Weblogs or web logs, Blogs are simply online publications controlled by a single person or team of writers [also known as bloggers] who frequently update it with relevant content pertaining to certain Niches [topics of interests]; such as food, traveling, sports, or fashion and beauty. Initially known as Web Logs—someone cool eventually came around and shortened it to Blog!
Blogs emerged in the late 1990’s; however no one picked up on its marketing potential until the internet became a social craze in Mid-2000. By this time, those pre-existing blogs became a hit and were the most highly ranking among popular search engines such as Bing & Google.
Why Start a Blog?
Most blogs serve as service portals or informational guides to promote a brands expertise and/or raise brand awareness. Other blogs, for example, lifestyle blogs look more deeply into the actual events and happenstances of the bloggers life and how certain instances within it have altered it; lifestyle blogs are meant more so to pass on advice and inspiration of sorts, but they are also most successful at selling products and services.
Six Fundamental Steps to Starting a Blog
Starting your own blog today is easy, quick, and often more cost efficient than building an entire website from scratch. There are six fundamental steps to starting your own blog.
1.What’s your Blogs purpose?
As we mentioned earlier, there are several reasons for starting a blog. If you are a business or an established organization, then choosing your topic of content should be fairly easy and formulated to incorporate your brand. If you’re a Solopreneur and have your own ideas of business and branding then you have a variety of topics or Niches to choose from. Keep in mind that whatever your choice of topic, you will have to consistently write about and update content to keep it relevant. Be sure whatever topic you choose, you leave room for discussion and commentary from your readers; your content should leave room for dialogue. Most importantly, be sure to stay in your comfort zone so that you can easily establish yourself as an authority. Your goal [or any blogs goal for that matter] is to become the go-to source of information for its chosen niche or topic.
2. Decide on a Blogging Platform
There are a variety of Blogging platforms available today; if you are blogging for personal reasons such as monitoring growth in some way, storing memories for later in life, or just as a keepsake then using a free service platform such as WordPress [.com] would be a perfect fit for you, especially if you are a novice who wants to get their hands dirty before making a major investment. Otherwise, if you are blogging for business and want to be taken serious, with no restrictions or strings attached to your intended blog than opting for a paid service platform, such as WordPress[.org]. Note: there is a difference in both WordPress Platforms and their provided capabilities; you will often hear them referred to as Free hosted[.com blogs]and Self-Hosted [paid service .org blog]. Be sure to do a thorough check into both by doing a simple Google Search to compare platforms and find out which is best fitting for your blog.
If you are serious about your blogging venture, building your blog on your own self-hosted domain is recommended. Follow this guide setup your blog in the next 20 minutes!:
3. Locate Your Desired Host
When building a blog, you will be required to choose a Host. A host is a service provider that houses your blog online; sort of like a parking spot for your blog, so that viewers might find you. One of the most trusted hosting service to date is Siteground, which offers several package plans for self-owned bloggers and even major corporation blogs, as they offer unlimited blog memberships [if applicable], the ability to incorporate an unlimited amount of pages for your blog and it’s designated domain. There are several more perks to Siteground as a provider, view their plans for a side by side comparison of their plans and a walk through guide of obtaining a host.
4. Give your blog a name
This is one of the most difficult part of creating blog for many. The blog name is the first impression of your blog. Choosing a domain name, or web address, you want to ensure that it is timeless and memorable. If you already have a domain name, you can easily take it with you to your new blog’s location. Here are some tips when choosing a domain name:
- Try to stick with the most commonly known .com domains
- Make it unique; however Create something easy to remember and even easier to spell.
- Be creative and try a well-known saying or phrase; if you aren’t sure or want to play it safe, go with your name!
5. Install WordPress
Your hosting control panel should have an option to install WordPress. It is the best choice in terms of Blogging software as WordPress is an open-source platform developed and frequently updated by a team of contributors. The install process will provide you a walkthrough guide, which is another reason most opt for WordPress, as they make it the easiest software to set up and use. You will be required to set up a new user log in credentials. See this guide for all the steps in detail.
6. Confirmation Emails & Blog Design
Once you have successfully installed WordPress you should be receiving a confirmation and welcome e-mail shortly to wrap things up. By now you should have two e-mails in your inbox; the first being your Siteground log in credentials and the second is the log in credentials for your new WordPress Blog. While you might be using your WordPress Account info more often than the Siteground info, it is still essential to have both on hand if needed. Using your new WordPress log in information, access your blog’s Admin Settings>Appearance>Theme. As shown in this tutorial, select a theme, add some menu/header and then start posting.
Blogging is all about growth and development, so go ahead and do just that; Happy Blogging!
