Theoretically everyone can be a blogger. Practically, only the most motivated ones remain. Blogging is very time consuming and it will not happen by itself. To increase your reach you need to write thorough, engaging articles, be active on social media platforms, and be good at networking (online) with other bloggers. To get it started always takes more time, but once an idea is born and you get it going, it will gain momentum.
HOW TO START BLOGGING?
#1 FIND A NICHE that you are interested in and want to write about. When I started, I knew there were no informative blogs about Morocco and in English, so I started one. You can find articles about profitable niches in case you lack inspiration, but I believe that the best thing to do in order to succeed is to blog about what you are passionate about!
Don’t worry if you are passionate about more than one thing. You don’t have to stick to one subject on your blog. Love baking and travelling? Why not create a travel blog and share pastries of the world with your readers! Keen on cycling and photography? How about a site about best places for cycling and share tips for dummies on how to take good photos?
#2 BUSINESS OR PLEASURE is a decision you should make early on. You can start just for fun and transition it to a business later, but if you want it to become a business it will make your life a whole lot easier if you start out with that mindset. If you are serious about making this a business, seriously consider Sharon Gourlay’s Build Blog Freedom course. This course has completely changed the way I look at writing and running my websites.
#3 FIND A UNIQUE NAME that will resonate with readers and be memorable. This is one of the hardest tasks to begin with. Think about the topic you are covering and how readers might find you online. Consider if you want to be anonymous or if the blog will be tied to your name and personality. Most importantly, how do you want people to perceive your site and content. This should be reflected in your site’s name. Lacking in inspiration? Try word spinning services like NameBoy to automatically generate domain ideas.
#4 FIND GOOD HOSTING! This is something that you should do once and forever. Trust me, changing hosting is nothing pleasant. Before you decide to create a blog, do your research and compare prices, features, and limits. (Un)fortunately I’ve learned these lessons the hard way!
If you’re looking for hosting (and don’t want to self-host as I do), I am a long-time user of WP Engine and highly recommend their service (PS – if you want to try them out, click here to get 10% off your first month and 3 months free if you pay for a year!). Regardless who you choose, remember to do your research prior to committing. Google them, ask fellow bloggers, check forums and Facebook groups for bloggers.
#5 THINK ABOUT TOPICS to start with. Beginnings are always hard. At first I felt like a blind kid in a forest but I quickly got feedback from my readers and they helped me find topics of interest to them. Don’t get demotivated if you don’t get thousands of followers from the start. You need to take time to build your audience and your authority. Remember that 100 engaged readers are more important than 1000 fake ones.
One of my favorite travel bloggers, Girl vs Globe, wrote a post with 50 topics for a travel blog. Or this article with 52 article ideas from Time Travel Blonde. The Internet is full of inspirations and tutorials! Once you have some inspiration create a content plan and schedule the article writing into your routine.
#6 CREATE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS to find and grow your audience. Along with finding the right topics and writing your articles, being active on social media is a time consuming part of blogging. You may need to experiment a bit with the various platforms to find the right one to match your audience. Gone are the days when you had to be ‘everywhere’. Today, you should focus on the platforms that have the best engagement and reach. You may find your audience prefers Facebook, Instagram, or maybe Twitter. However, I would definitely ensure Pinterest is part of your strategy as it is more than a social media platform, it is a search engine, just like Google.
By design, I’ve made this post very basic, covering only the fundamental steps you need to take in order to start blogging. But what next? If you are serious about blogging and taking your website to the next level, I highly recommend the Build Blog Freedom course. You’ll learn so much about keywords, search engine optimization, and making your blog profitable it will easily pay for itself. You’ll start to see some of this on Writing Comes Easier as I start to apply what I’ve learned here.
Do you have any tips for starting a travel blog? Why not share your thoughts in the comments.