Quick Guide To Starting A Great Blog

There are 175,000 blogs created each day. That’s about 63.8 million a year. If you’re seriously thinking of running a successful blog, you will need to distinguish your blog from the rest. There are a number of tasks and decisions to make before going public.

Platform

Here are 3 major sites you can host your blog on:

Blogger
Wordpress
Typepad

This method is used by most new bloggers since they don’t have to worry about technical details involved with maintaining your own site. Just pick what subdomain you want (ex. strobist.blogspot.com) and customize the look using a simple interface.

If you do not prefer the subdomain method, you have the option to add a purchased domain name.

Design

Take a look at other successful blogs out there and take notice of the design they use. They are not plastered with bright yellow font, flashing text everywhere and annoying, non-suer controlled music playing in the background.

Take time to think about what you want your blog to look like because this is how you will brand yourself. If you do not know any web design, you can certainly get free templates out there for Wordpress or purchase a template that has already been made.

Here are some examples of well designed blogs:

Niche

The best way to start a blog is to pick a niche market. Concentrate your efforts on writing content for this particular niche to develop a focused blog. It will aim your blog content towards a targeted audience. Readers often search the Internet for something they need such as productivity tips, road cycling, blog tips, etc. By narrowing your content to a niche you will raise the visibility of your blog and will be labeled as an “expert”.

Content is KING

Before making your blog publicly known, it is highly recommended that there be a couple of blog posts ready to be read. By having blog posts live on your new blog, new readers will know that you are a serious blogger. Some readers come to a new blog that only has one post and they never come back.

Take time each day to think about future blog topics. Aim to write 1 to 2 blog posts each day. You don’t necessarily have to post them the same day but it is safe to have a ew blog posts ready for the days you need a break from blogging.

Consistency

Blogging consistency is key for a blog to survive. Create a blogging scheme where you plan to post to your blog every week, or twice a week, every other day, etc.

When readers notice that you hardly update your blog they will probably never return. Mark it in your calendar to dedicate at least 30 minutes to writing new blog content each day.