Many people out there are still willing to become a blogger even a successful blogger like ogbonge, makinde, blogtricks, teachmeblog, Karen Evans Larry and so on... Millions of people are creating blogs everyday. Blogging is now the most common activities among people over the internet onlike years back when blogging activities has not become rampant among the people.
The idea 💡 of not just making fun all over the internet and take your time to create a blog whatsoever is good but the question is that... how can you crate a successful blog?
Understanding blogging: Full article
What is a blog?
A blog is an online journal oftenly updated to convey informtion from the idea source to the rest of the wold. It is A place to share your thoughts and and showcase your writing skills. Many blogger blogs on technology, news, fashion...
Starting a Successful Blog
A successfully blogs are the blog that have been created over the years even maintaining its standard contents, traffic, beauty...
To consider a blog as a successful one, there are some qualities the blog must possess. Actually, this not where Im going but I need to talk about this even briefly.
Fast Loading
A blog should be faster 100x than others. Blog loading time is determined by the template and the plugins or gadgets packed to your blog. A responsive template do load faster that non responsive. Using a template like elite wordpress theme loaded xtra fast than using a heavy loading template which send your readers away your blog.
Uniqueness
The uniqueness of your contents matters to your readers. You have a blog means you have what you want to be sharing to the world, why do you wanna engage in copy and paste activities. Plagiarism is a crime which google even delete blogs and remove them from their search engine. You might even loose your readers when they've read a post on a blog and at the same time found the content on your blog, guess what...they will just leave your blog and go away.
Unique Traffic
Unique traffic are the visitors to your blog which they believe in your contents and often come back for updates. They are rest assured of whatever you posted everytime. The stable visits all time will be considered as unique traffic... If you have 3500 visits in a month, the following month you 3000, next you have 3700... You can say you have at least 3000 visits each month.
Conversion of traffic to clicks
You have you blog with ads displaying on your pages. For you to earn from your blog, readers should click on your ads. How you make your readers to turn up to ads clicking depends on the uniqueness of your content, ads graphics because eye catching graphics do get more clicks that others.
Example of this is the picture we share on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter do more like and comments over other because pictures speaks alot.
Another aspect is the design of your adsense ads... Customize your adsense ads with the colours of your blog which will motivate your readers to click on them because some readers dislike ads talkless of clicking.
Now lets get back to the matter
Step by step to start a successful blog
To create a successful blog you need to look out for:
💥 Choose a blogging platform
💥 Choose your blog design
💥 Choose your own domain
💥 Create your pages and contents
💥 Build your audience
Now let me take you through them one aftr the other
💥 Choosing a blogging platform
There many blogging platforms over the internet that provide spaces for people to store, edit, update, delete, and retrieve their contents at any convenient time which blogger choose as their favorite. These platforms provide free customizable blog templates to users to showcase the beauty of their blogs. .
Choose a preferred blogging platform
#1 Blogger.com
#2 Wordpress.com
#3 Tumblr.com
#4 Wix.com
#5 Ghost.org
#6 Medium.com
#7 Squarespace.com
#8 Typepd.com
#9. Wapka.mobi
#10. Gawker.com
#11. Drupal.com
I will run you through the most widely use: blogger and wordpress.
Blogger
As we all known that google is a powerful internet network that produce the most widely use services by the world. Google is one produce google search engine, google mail mean GMAIL, Youtube, Adword, Adsense, Blogger, Playstore, Crome, Google Drive. Blogger is powered by google which enables users to create website or blog with eye catching desing and also allow users to customize the template for free. Bloggers can show case the template to his or her taste if he or she have html codding experience. It is not advisable for who do not have html experience to play arround his blog template. Blogger also allow to you to use the platform for free even for the rest of your life only that you can not get your own personal domain but a sub domain like www.yourdomain.blogspot.com but is it free to use. Thousand of people are using blogger to share information to the world.
Blogger is one of the oldest blogging platforms out there. Currently, it’s run by Google, so all you need to sign up is your standard Google account. Similarly to WordPress.com, Blogger takes care of all the technical heavy lifting, allowing you to just focus on creating content.
Price. $0.
Hosting included? Yes, Blogger takes care of hosting your blog for no additional payment.Mbloggingzzz60.
Do you get your own domain? By default, you get a subdomain like
example.blogspot.com . You can hook up your custom domain too, but you have to acquire it separately.
Any prior skills required? / Ease of use. Blogger is easy to use, albeit a little outdated compared to some more modern solutions like WordPress.com or Medium. Setting up your blog is still very easy and quick. No skills required to start blogging under Blogger.
Designs available? Just a standard layout editor (content/sidebar). Apart from that, there’s not much you can do in terms of the design of your blog.
Plugins and extensions. No external plugins available.
Who’s Blogger perfect for?
Hobby bloggers and personal blogs.
Maybe 10 years ago Blogger could have been considered a huge hit, but right now it’s a shadow of its former self. I don’t advise using it for anything other than personal blogs.
Pros / Cons
You can get a blog started in under a minute.
Simple interface for content creation.
Hosting and subdomain included.
– Everything else.
#2. WordPress.com
WordPress.com is a hosted version of WordPress. This means that instead of having to download the software and install it yourself, all you need to do is sign up for an account at WordPress.com, and you can start blogging in a matter of minutes.
Price. Three plans available: $0 – great for basic blogging, $99 / year – great for professional blogging, $299 / year – great for advanced business solutions.
Hosting included? Yes, you get your site hosted for no additional payments.
Do you get your own domain? By default, you get a subdomain like
example.wordpress.com . You can add a custom domain as well (doing so on the free plan costs $18 / year; for paid plans a custom domain is included).
Any prior skills required? / Ease of use. Much easier to use than the self-hosted version of WordPress, due to the fact that you get much of the heavy lifting taken care of (hosting, site setup, basic configuration). You still need to go through the on-screen wizard, but it’s relatively simple. Plus, there’s the official getting started guide. After the setup phase, using this blogging platform on a daily basis to publish your posts is extra easy.
Designs available? There’s a couple of hundreds of themes to choose from, and if you opt for one of the premium plans, you also get the opportunity to customize the design you’re using. Moreso, WordPress.com keeps things simple and doesn’t deliver as many design options as self-hosted WordPress.
Plugins and extensions. Popular features like sharing, stats, comments, and polls are included, but there’s no option to install third-party plugins.
Who’s WordPress.com perfect for?
Hobby bloggers.
Anyone who wants to start a blog with no investment at all.
Professional bloggers.
Overall, WordPress.com is a simplified version of self-hosted WordPress. It delivers all of the most essential features, but also leaves a big chunk of them out. If you care only about blogging and don’t want to experiment with your site’s custom features then WordPress.com is going to be sufficient for you.
Pros / Cons
Get started in minutes.
Hosting and subdomain included.
You can use it for $0.
– No possibility to install custom themes.
– No plugins.
– WordPress.com can pull the plug on your blog at any time if they find your actions not in tune with their rules.
💥 Choose your blog Desing
Choosing a blog design is the aspect that beauty your blog. It contain html formated with css ( for blogger) including links to your pages. At times blog design contain php codes plus css (for WordPress). Blog loading time is determined by the design of your blog.
Selecting a good blog template
There are different designs to choose from free version or upgraded version which requires you to purchase to have full control on the source codes.
Things to look for in choosing a blog theme
You need to consider the leading time of the templates.
Some blog theme does not come with something like share button, related posts which can make your readers keep your readers more on your blog. Hence, you will have to play arround the codes area to add a thirdpary codes.
You need to consider the gadget or plugins on a theme before choosing because it determined the loading speed of your blog.
The layout also matter as far as a blog is concerned. Some themes come with three or or four columns. Although you can control the column in blogger and wordpress either position or the width.
I recommend just two columns blog theme for people.
Where to find free blog theme
Blogger
Bteplates.com
themexpose.com
cssauthor.com
cssauthor.com
gooyaabitemplates.com
dcrazed.com
gooyaabitemplates.com
WordPress
fabthemes.com
creativebloq.com
themegrill.com
themeforest.net
codeinwp.com
themeisle.com
justfreethemes.com
accesspressthemes.com
💥 Choose your domain name
Now to exciting part! To set up a self-hosted blog on your own domain name, you’ll need two things:
Domain name – This will be your personal blog address where people find you over and over again. For example Google’s Domain is www.Google.com. Your new blog domain name will be www.YourBlogName.com except you’ll choose what’s going to be behind YourNewBlog . The cost of a domain name is usually $10/year, but if you follow this guide all the way, I’ll show you how to get one for much cheaper.
Web hosting – This will be the home of your blog address and content that’s on the blog. Without web hosting, you’ll be unable to use your domain. Think of it as a computer hard drive that stores all your content on your blog (images, blog posts and so on). The cost of web hosting is usually somewhere between $2-5 per month. Blogger can offer you free hosting .
It’s less than an XL coffee at Starbucks, so it won’t break the bank. But it’s an important investment to your blog success.
Where should I get my domain name and hosting?
When it comes to hosting, there are only two things that matter.
Page load speed – The average amount of time (in seconds) it takes your blog to load.
Uptime – 99.9% isn’t enough (it’s 42 minutes of downtime per month). You should be aiming for 100%..
There are hundreds of different web hosting providers. They all offer you a similar service (domain + hosting) with a similar price, but since I’ve dealt with and monitored many famous and recommended web hosting companies like Bluehost, iPage, Godaddy etc…
I now only use and recommend
www.HostGator.com for domain names and web hosting.
Why? Nothing has ever come close to HostGator in terms of blog load speed and uptime.
HostGator has great performance, they are easy to use and it’s probably the best pick for beginners.
However, you can always go with another web hosting as long as it’s fast, reliable and offers unlimited storage & bandwidth. This helps you to avoid problems later on.
Now that we’ve gone through the basics of blogging platforms, it’s time to start walking the walk! With the next step, we’ll get your blog set up and running. If you’re not ready yet because you still need to think of a domain name or can’t set up a blog right away, that’s okay. Click here to sign up so that when you’re ready, you can pick up right where you left off.
Choosing a good domain name
How do I choose a good domain name?
Choosing a bad domain name is one of the most common mistakes I see bloggers make. Be sure you choose a domain name that is…
1. Easy to Remember – Don’t choose a nonsense name, something tough to spell, or a long name full of dashes. “www.best-tech-gadgets-in-the-world.com” won’t ever stick in someone’s head, but something like “www.techgeeks.com” rolls off the tongue.
2. Unique and Descriptive – You want a name that reflects who you are and what you care about. Be creative and build an identity you’re excited about!
3. Trustworthy – Domain extensions like “.com”, “.org” or “.net” are the most popular, with “.com” being the one most people think of first. Try to avoid crazy extensions like “.rocks” or “.biz”, as these are less commonly used, tougher to remember and not as trusted.
Domain Registrar
Domainking
Dot.tk
💥 Create your pages and content
Having get all the aboves inplace the next step to take your blog is to create pages like Contact page, About, Privacy Policy and at time you might want to create a page like Write for us and Advertise with us ...
It is important to creat about page which show your readers how they can get in touch with you and direct them to your social media pages.
A blog without pages like contact or about or Privacy policy page do not sometimes allow to register for adense programe.
Creating a good content
This is where some blogs or bloggers failed.
A blog with good content is sucess determined it doesn't matter how fast your blog is or the number of have or how beautiful your blog is or how much post you have on our blog once the content creation idea 💡 is poor you might loose all your traffic. Look for what your readers will love to read, write for to the love 💘 of your readers so that they can ome back and even come back for more.
They way you present the matter, the way you addressed the topic you are writing about, give examples, carry them along with the idea of what you are writing on.
💥 Building Your Audience
Now that you have set up your blog and know the basics, it’s time to make your blog successful. Audience building determines if a blog is to succeed ir fail Many beginners struggle at that point, thus, a pro blogger have put together a handful of guides to get you going easier.
If you will mind to Karen Evans
resource page here . It contains all the content that published on StartBloggingOnline.com over the past couple of years. It’s nothing too much, but enough to get you going and a bit more.
How to build a good Audience for your Blog
1. Let your family, friends and colleagues know. Get your social circle to read, comment on and share your blog posts.
2. Social media . At a minimum, create a profile and connect to family, friends, classmates and former colleagues. The goal is to expand your social circle.
3. Link to your blog in your social media profiles. Remember your goal is to let folks know about your blog and get then interested in visiting it.
4. Share your blog posts on social media . While you can automate these feeds, handcraft each one with relevant commentary to attract greater readership.
5. Stake out a claim for your blog on every social media platform. Where possible, create a profile in your blog’s name so people can find it, even if you not active on that platform.
6. Get a blog buddy . Having trouble getting motivated? Find someone else who’s also blogging and meet with each other regularly to help each other get feedback and brainstorm topics.
7. Join a community. This helps when you interact th fellow bloggers, you share ideas 💡, you ask questions, you provide solutions ro problems other bogger are facing by sharing links of your posts. You can join bloggers community on facebook
Bloggers Helping Bloggers, https://free.facebook.com/groups/1524893201126598?refid=27 Blogging Networker https://free.facebook.com/groups/170139453515011?refid=27
Blogging and promotion https://free.facebook.com/groups/685477098322986?refid=27
Bloggers funda https://free.facebook.com/groups/963015300480158?refid=27
https://free.facebook.com/groups/517883595061680?refid=27 Blogger Spots
https://free.facebook.com/groups/273825093084175?refid=27 Blogger Success https://free.facebook.com/groups/375307946198555?refid=27 Bloggers Camp https://free.facebook.com/groups/1106566496153945?refid=27 Join as many as possible it helps alot.
Useful links for you
20 ways to build a good blog audience
Conclusion
This post is not just a post you read without having something to grab from. It not a brain stormed post but i based on my experience as a blogger and some research work. If this article is helpful please do share and asd your comments.
NB:
All thanks to Karen Evans Google tream and Larry Aronson the Sources of this post
https://startbloggingonline.com
https://heidicohen.com/i-am-blogging-are-you-listening/
Google.com
