What’s better than being able to write in-depth articles on the things you’re passionate about? Making money from it, of course!
Blogging has provided countless people with huge opportunities and a stable career — simply because they’ve decided to publicly write about their lives, interests, and opinions. Moreover, you can use your blogging skills and partner up with different companies, or even use them to build up your own business. Indeed, Forbes reports that 53% of advertisers see blogging as a primary way to attract customers — further proving that this dot-com industry can be incredibly lucrative.
So, how do you make it as a blogger? To help make things easier for you, we’ve listed down two main things that you have to consider before your blog goes live:
You need to find a blogging platform that suits your skills.
Budding bloggers need to know that there are two main ways for your content to be published on the internet — by creating a website from scratch, or by using the services of a blog hosting platform.
The first option can be intimidating, especially if you don’t have the proper coding know-how or don’t have the cash to hire a web developer. Even if you can take on the challenge of creating your own website for your blog, you’ll have to do the necessary upkeep to keep it running smoothly. Continuing improvements is key to website maintenance, but thankfully, special tools can help with the process. Updatable notes how you can avoid code freeze with the right content management systems, and continue making changes on your site. These include adding tags, optimizing headings, and assigning different levels of permissions for users — which can be great if you’re starting a blog for your start-up or business.
If you’re not familiar with how web developing works or can’t be bothered to learn coding, you can choose from a myriad of blogging platforms to host your blog in. From WordPress to Squarespace, pick a blogging platform that doesn’t need a ton of technical skills and is easy to set up. But more importantly, your blog should be easy to navigate and use. When your blog starts to pick up, it’s crucial that you can easily change your blog’s look and add more features as you grow, so make sure that your blog hosting platform of choice allows you to do this from the get-go.
Your content will make or break your blog.
It goes without saying that the quality of your content is what drives audiences to your blog. No matter what your niche is, you have to make content that is fun, engaging, and informative. Furthermore, you also have to post consistently to be able to tailor your content depending on the current landscape of your niche. For example, if you run a tech blog, you have to keep up with the latest gadget offerings and upgrades so your audience doesn’t miss a thing. If you run a blog for a start-up or small business, constantly creating content that informs your audience about the newest offerings and news about your company will certainly help drive customers to your website.
However, you can take your content one step further by using optimizing it for search engines. Entrepreneur suggests that mastering SEO elements like keywords, descriptions, and links can help make sure that your blog posts will rank higher on search engines like Google. Through this, your content has a bigger chance of being seen online, and this itself can act as an advertising and public relations strategy for your blog.
With all this in mind, remember that proper planning and strategizing is key to building your very own blog. Our post on ‘Home Business Basics: How to Get Your Idea Off the Ground’ highlights how you need to be extremely organized to keep any online endeavor afloat. And if you’re interested in blogging, the best time to start is now. Heed our tips above and before you know it, you’ll see your blog raking in big bucks.
Written by Juniper Blooms
exclusively for startupiceland.com
