Blogging can be a hard space to get into as a beginner. Blogging for beginners means establishing a name, a writing voice, and how to connect with your readers. Knowing what websites to use and even what to talk about can be difficult at first. Finding a topic you’re passionate about where your voice can shine is at the heart of successful blogging.
But, that’s also seemingly the easiest part. Aside from the logistics, the analytics of blogging is also challenging to grasp. This includes branding, website platforms, and even keyword usage. Ultimately, there’s a lot of hidden variables involved in blogging you might not know about. Here, we’ll help you navigate through this new territory and launch your blog.
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Blogging Guide for Beginners
The first step of blogging for beginners is deciding on a good name. Before making your blog, you need to know who you are. If you’re selling a certain product or starting a business, use that name for the website. It will make it easy for customers to see your blog and associate it with your products. Using the same name will also get you more traffic to your website and potentially increase sales.
For a beginner that doesn’t have a product to sell, you become the product. Every blogging guide will tell you that your writing voice and persona are what you want people to consume. So, take a lot of time to think about how you want your writing to sound. With this, come up with a niche that makes your writing unique and stands out. It doesn’t have to be too specific, but it shouldn’t be too general either. A great example is a vegan food blogger. A regular food blog might be too general to show up to consumers, but tack on a vegan tag to your work and it creates a niche. Knowing what you want to write about is the second step to creating a successful blog.
What to Avoid
Before we jump into what blogging for beginners really means, let’s talk about what to avoid. Remember not to get caught up in telling your readers what they want to hear. Doing that will cause you to lose your voice and persona. Being true to your persona will ultimately help your blog more than simply writing what you think a reader wants.
Another helpful tip is don’t write how you talk. Your writing can become stiff and dull when you rely on your speaking voice. You don’t put as much thought into your words when you talk. That translates into your writing if you are writing the same way that you talk. Remember your persona doesn’t have to be exactly who you are, just a part of you. The part of you that’s passionate about your blogging topic. Take that part and expand on it, work with it, and embellish it.
To enhance your writing even further, utilize organizational outlines. A clear article with a transparent sense of direction will capture a reader’s attention. If the reader is confused, there isn’t any incentive for them to finish the blog post. With a clear outline and direction, the reader can be more engaged with the writing. Don’t underestimate the power of organization. Alongside this, don’t use boring titles and headers. You want your writing to be exciting, so keep it that way!
How to Start a Blog
After you choose a topic and a name, what comes next? Learning the specifics of how to start a blog can get overwhelming if you’re unfamiliar. One of the best places to start is with the blogging community. Looking at blogs with topics similar to your ideas can give you inspiration about your own blog. It also provides insight into the competition and can help you differentiate yourself. Again, you want your blog to be unique and personable. Browsing blogs in your niche will let you visualize where you fit in the blogging space. Reading other blogs can also give you ideas for what to write about and putting your own twist on it. Never be afraid to scope out your competitors. Chances are, you’ll find something on how to start your own blog.
Websites for Blogging
Looking at other writers in your niche also allows you to see what websites they use. If you find that you really like the look of a current blog, finding the details of what site they use can help you create your own. There are tons of potential websites that can host your blog, and it can be hard to know which website is best for your blog. These platforms can come in free versions or be subscription-based. It really depends on what you’re looking to achieve with your blog, and what you’ve already established. Some platforms are marketed toward blogging for beginners. This can be useful for those just reaching into the world of blogging. Remember, you can always upgrade later! Trial and error are a great way to figure out what works best for you and your writing.
Wix is a notable resource for blogging. While it is not free, Wix offers a free 30-day trial for customers to establish a website and see if they like the platform. The cheapest version of Wix’s plans is only $14/month. This makes it very approachable for those looking to break into blogging for beginners. Wix offers a total of four plans, with the most expensive being $39/month. The variance in benefits between the plans isn’t very drastic, but still can be worthwhile. The Wix VIP plan offers a professional logo design for your website and social media files. This is great for consistency among your platforms and marketing materials. If you’re looking to really expand your blogging into something bigger, Wix is a viable option. It’s not too expensive to start out with, and there’s a lot of room for growth. Wix’s blogging community also prepares Wix customers for success by constantly offering tips and tricks for a booming blog.
Other Tips for Starting a Blog
Now that you know what website you want to use, what are the rest of the logistics? Starting a blog means more than just coming up with a name and picking a platform. While those are important decisions, there are hidden details within the world of blogging that can take you by surprise. Things like keywords, SEO, and other analytics all will impact your blog. Below, we’ll dive into some of the details about how these things can bring your writing to new audiences and get the most out of your blogging experience.
Using Keywords and Links Effectively
Keywords aren’t vital for blogging for beginners, but they become important later on. If blogging is something you plan to take seriously, keywords can boost your writing and showcase your work to new audiences. Blogging for beginners might not typically include talking about SEO, but we think it’s necessary when starting a blog!
Essentially, keywords are helpful for search engine optimization, or SEO. By including keywords in your blog posts, it’s more likely that your blog will show up when someone searches that keyword. There are different types of keywords, long-tail or short-tail. Long-tail keywords are also referred to as niche keywords and are very important when bringing traffic to your website. It can be hard to come up with the right keywords to use, and to know if they’re working. But, there are resources like Google Trends to help you visualize how often keywords are searched. This lets you know what the world is searching for and can give you timely inspiration for blog posts.
Another aspect of your blog that impacts SEO is links in your blog posts. Like keywords, they boost your posts to appear closer to the top of search results. Using links in your blog posts can be more complicated than keywords, however. There are two types of links that help improve the SEO – internal and external. An internal link directs back to a page on your blog and an external link directs to an outside source. Be careful when choosing links to use, and make sure that they are anchored in the text. Avoid phrases such as “click here for” and “check out our other post.” Links work better when they are properly embedded in the text!
Happy Blogging!
Now you know all there is to know about blogging for beginners, from deciding a name and niche to choosing the perfect keywords. After reading these tips, you are entirely prepared to be a successful first-time blogger.
One last reminder is to have patience. Blogging takes time to figure out and establish the right balance that works for you. With this, be sure to consistently look at your analytics and see if your blog is meeting your goals. It will be time-consuming, but paying attention to the details will help you in the long run. Don’t be scared to switch things up and take risks, without risks you won’t know how far you can go. We could go on about more tips to improve your blogging after you’ve gotten a head start, so we’ll leave you with this! We hope our tips and blogging guide provided some insight into the world of blogging.
FAQs:
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