Many people don't blog just because they think it's hard, time consuming and money consuming. In fact, everything is not so scary. If desired, anyone can blog, for this you just need access to the Internet and any device that allows you to send messages. Even the absence of a computer is not an obstacle now - in some cases, an ordinary smartphone is enough.
If you want to join the huge global community of bloggers, do not be shy, anyone can blog. Where to start - a simple algorithm will tell you, literally from the first thoughts and awareness of desire to the victorious end.
What is a blog and why do you need one?
For the average Internet user, there are no significant differences between a website and a blog. By and large, these types of Internet resources differ only in structure, which is not obvious at first glance. However, a blog is easier for the average user, it is somewhat reminiscent of a notepad - a convenient form of a diary. Exactlydiaries make up a huge part of the web blogs. The owner writes there everything that comes to mind, shares music, pictures, his own opinion on any occasion, and this is also a blog. How to start creating a network diary for a beginner? It is enough to choose any free blogging platform, register and start publishing, look for friends, create your own social circle.
It's a bit more difficult to create a so-called standalone blog, located on a separate paid hosting, with a second-level domain. At the same time, your resource does not depend on the official policy of the blogging platform, which gives a certain degree of freedom. How to start a blog from scratch if you want to become the owner of a fairly popular project that benefits people? Here is a step-by-step guide that answers all questions.
Set a goal and make a plan
Why do you need a blog? This question is rarely asked by novice bloggers, so failure is quite possible. In general, there are only three reasons: a diary of interests, a resource dedicated to a hobby or profession, a commercial resource that brings profit to the owner. In most cases, it is quite difficult to combine all three goals, it is simply impractical. A personal diary is very simple, but a commercial blog should be built according to the principles that contribute to success.
How to start blogging to make money by advertising or selling some of your services or products? Make a plan and stick to it, this will help you step by step through all the necessary actions.
Example of a simpleplan:
- decide on a theme;
- compose a semantic core;
- prepare starter content pack;
- provide design;
- build a blog and run it;
- continue to support the resource with regular posts.
Your blog topic
For a profitable commercial blog, it is better to choose a narrow topic. This allows you to focus on the search queries that visitors use to find your resource. Of course, you can write about anything, not limiting yourself to one topic, but then the blog will look like a fair where food, furniture, shoes and pets are sold at the same time. It's not as bad as it sounds, it just takes a lot of effort to organize the information, and the sheer variety of topics makes blogging difficult. Where to start if you have already decided on a topic?
For example, you love traveling and decided to dedicate your Internet resource to this. The topic of travel is broad enough not to get bored, and allows you to combine stories about countries and cities, tips for tourists, the features of buying tickets and booking rooms in hotels around the world.
How and where to start a blog?
If you decide not to bother with buying a domain and hosting, there are many opportunities to create a blog without the slightest investment. This has its advantages: if at some point you do not settle with the money, then you do not risk suddenly seeing a resource “disconnected for non-payment”. On the other hand, you depend onowners of a resource that provides its space for creating blogs to everyone, you can suddenly find advertising that does not bring profit to you, or one far from perfect day find out that the service is closed. When thinking about how to start a blog and where to host it, you can not pay too much attention to the passionate supporters of standalone blogs or any particular platform. Everywhere has its advantages and disadvantages.
The most popular free blogging platforms are Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal. They are fundamentally different from each other. If "LiveJournal" is more suitable for keeping a personal diary, then "Blogger" is perfect for anything. "Wordpress" is considered a universal resource to create a blog. Where to begin? You can try all three platforms to make your choice. If you ever decide to go offline, then Wordpress will be a great training ground.
Why do I need to post regularly?
If you only have a few posts on your blog, chances are they will quickly become obsolete. As an example, news resources are best suited - it is news that becomes outdated at a record speed. How to start blogging to keep readers' attention? People want to see something new, get fresh impressions. If a visitor is interested in a topic, he will be glad to see that something new is constantly published on the selected resource,interesting and useful.
However, the muse is sometimes capricious, and if you create content on your own, it is better to take care of some stock of publications in case of departure, illness or just a prolonged lack of inspiration. A very useful feature is scheduled posting, when you post an article or other materials, marking some distant date as the publication date. It will become available to readers strictly on the day and time you set, this creates the illusion that you are there and do not let visitors get bored. You want to create a blog. How to start publishing information and what frequency to choose? Depends on the theme, not every theme has a flurry of daily updates. Stock up on materials some time in advance, this will help establish regularity.
Where can I get pictures?
Many bloggers do not hesitate to take any pictures they like from the Internet. However, images can be copyrighted, and multiple repetitions create a somewhat tainted situation for search engines. It is not enough to figure out how to start writing a blog, it is advisable to deal with sources and other types of content. Ideally, if you create images or videos yourself, but you can buy them from photographers or take them for free from photo banks, where permission is given for the free and free publication of images under certain conditions.
Where do blog readers come from?
There are several ways to attract readers to your blog. You can advertise the resource on other sitesand blogs, post an ad in such well-known systems as Google or Yandex. For personal diaries, subscribing to other blogs with similar content works well - usually the owners mutually add each other as friends, forming a kind of community, but this system does not work with commercial blogs. This is where the laws of competition come into play.
With blogging behind, how do you start attracting visitors? In search of information, Internet users usually set appropriate queries to the main search engines, Google or Yandex. The drop-down options are looked through in search of the necessary information. It is this behavioral factor that specialists rely on when optimizing a blog or website for better traffic in search engines.
Search engines and semantic core
Many beginners are wondering how to start blogging and where to get visitors. It is better to rely on search engines in this matter, and for this you need to take action even before you prepare the content. What is the semantic core that optimizers talk about so much? If you do not delve into special terms, this is the semantic content of the resource. For example, you are going to dedicate your blog to beauty and cosmetics. The backbone of the semantic core will be the main areas of cosmetology skin care, decorative cosmetics, certain types of makeup and care techniques. Already narrower themes, novelties of the beauty industry, are strung on this backbone,special articles and workshops.
If you've already created a blog, where to start the battle for visitors from search engines? If you remember, you have found the necessary information more than once by asking the appropriate question in Google or Yandex. Rest assured, you are not the only one doing this. Search engines collect and systematize user search queries, based on this, you can compile a list of key phrases that are of interest to visitors, and demand creates supply.
How do bloggers make money?
A successful blog with a steady stream of readers can make money from advertising. At the same time, advertising can be both direct and through special systems. The largest search engines offer their own products - Google Adsense and Yandex. Direct. Using simple scripts, you can place contextual advertising on your blogs and earn income from clicks and impressions.
When newbies are wondering how to start blogging, they are rarely aware of the true purpose. Therefore, attempts to monetize the blog may turn out to be a failure - from the very beginning it was necessary to take a course on the most effective commercial preparation. However, it is never too late to make appropriate adjustments, the main thing is not to be afraid to move forward!