Many people get the wrong impression thinking that by now, in 2023, blogging might be dead. But think about it, where do people spend most of their time now looking for information and advice? The internet!
So no, blogging is not dead. It’s also still extremely profitable for anyone who’s willing to dedicate the time and energy to it.
I started blogging loosely around two years ago and stopped for a large chunk of time since then. I only started consistently blogging (posting around 3 or 4 times a week) around 3 months ago.
My blog is not yet grown to wear I want it to be, but it is gaining popularity and slowly growing.
Slowly, slowly growing. But, we have to remind ourselves that any growth is growth. Even if it’s not as quick as we’d want it to be.
If you’re looking to get into blogging for yourself, which I strongly recommend that you do, then there are a few basic steps that I think are essential when you’re getting started.
Keep in mind that these are just the basics that’ll give you a strong foundation when getting started.
1. Experiment to find a niche
A niche is basically the topic of your blog, or what you’re going to mainly focus on writing about.
When you’re looking online about how to start a blog, the first step people will tell you is to pick your niche. Well, how are you going to pick your niche if you haven’t actually started writing anything yet? You can’t!
Don’t let picking a niche hold you back. This was my mistake, I didn’t know what to write about so I didn’t write at all. Instead, try experimenting with different topics and see what sticks for you and your audience.
Talk about the different things you’re passionate about and know a lot about. Then, see what works for you and what your audience gives you the best feedback on.
Or, when you’re first starting out and don’t really have an interactive audience yet, see which posts perform the best and get the most views.
2. Choose a domain name
The second step I recommend you take when starting a blog is to choose a domain name. This step would be much easier if you have a niche in mind, but if you don’t that’s okay. This is because you can choose a name that’s descriptive of what you’re going to be writing about.
However, at this point you might not have chosen your niche yet, so you might need to use a different strategy.
How to choose a domain name
You might feel like getting stuck on this step and spend forever trying to pick the perfect name for your site. I advise you not to do this because there really is no “perfect” name for your site.
Think about it, there are likely plenty of blogs that you’ve seen that have names that seem so random and unrelated to what the blog is actually about.
It’s not the name that’s going to make or break your blog, it’s going to be how you build and market the nae that you choose for yourself. More like what you can do with it.
So, if you’re seriously stuck on choosing a domain name I’d first recommend trying to pick something somewhat related to the niche you have in mind. Then, I’d recommend picking something easy to spell (so people can easily search for and find you blog again). If all else fails, you can make your own name your domain name.
3. Choose a host and a blogging platform
To actually start your blog and get it on the web, you’ll need a host and a blogging platform. Be aware that both of these will cost you a little bit of money.
The host is basically the company that is going to make a space for your blog and store it on the server. I personally use Bluehost for my site and I’d recommend it to anyone else.
However if you’re not interested in Bluehost, there are still plenty of other options to choose from, you’d just have to do the research on what would work best for you.
The platform you use is what you’re going to use to write your posts and design your website, this is your blog. I personally use WordPress for my blog. I think WordPress is very user friendly and easy to get started with, so again I’d recommend it to anyone else.
However, much like the host there are other platform options out there, so you’d have to explore what would work best for you.
3. Start creating content
Once you have everything set up, I’d say you’ve already overcame one of the biggest challenges of blogging. Phew, that’s something to be proud of. Keep in mind the first step is always the hardest, and you just did it.
Now, one of the most important things you have to focus on is being consistent. Begin by writing and publishing high quality content, then do it consistently.
I’d recommend posting 3-4 times a week to start gaining traction in Google’s search engine. Keep in mind gaining traction will take quite some time, but you can do it!
You won’t always need to post this much but I’d say it’s a good goal to shoot for, especially in the beginning.
If you’re stuck on what to write about and running out of content ideas, something you can do is look at other blogs in your niche and gain inspiration from some of their posts.
I’m not saying to go and copy someone else’s post. However, I do think it’s a good idea to see what other bloggers are writing about and use it to maybe spark an idea for your own writing.
4. Promote your content
Once you start writing and publishing content consistently, it’s going to be extremely important for you to promote your own content. Promoting your content is what will draw traffic to your site. Traffic means the people who want to read your site.
It’ll take a really long time of posting consistently before Google actually trusts your site and wants to promote it. I’m talking about 6 months to a year.
Because of this, you can’t rely on organic traffic (natural traffic from Google) to get readers to your site. Especially not in the beginning. So you need to come up with a new way to get people to your site.
How to promote your content
You can get creative with the ways that you want to promote your blog and draw traffic to your site. I’d say the best, and most common, places to go to get traffic are social media, primarily Pinterest.
I use Pinterest for my blog and I recommend everyone else does the same. It’s extremely easy to use, you don’t have to add much to your posts besides a title, a description, and a link (which takes a user directly to your blog).
Pinterest also has a search engine like Google, so as your account grows Pinterest will trust you more and push your content out to more users.
Additionally, Pinterest is very visual, so you don’t have to create much besides an appealing image to go along with your post.
If you couldn’t tell, when it comes to promoting your blog, I’m a die hard Pinterest fan. But that doesn’t mean you have to use Pinterest, there are other options.
I’ve heard people use tons of different social media platforms that you could also try; Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or whatever else you think might work for you.
Whatever you choose, remember, no account will grow overnight (unless your among the few incredibly lucky) so it’s extremely important to remain consistent and give it time.
5. Stay consistent
If I haven’t said it enough already, the most important step now is to remain consistent. Find what works for you, your audience, and your blog and do it over and over and over again.
Growing a profitable blog requires a lot of hard-work, time, and patience. So give it what it needs! I promise you eventually you will get there, and you’ll be so glad you stuck with it.