Here are some of these important pointers.
1. Know what a blog is
Knowing the definition of the word blog would help a lot in your success as a blogger. The word “blog” originated from the combination of two words, “web” and “log.” These indicate that a blog is found in the World Wide Web where people can “log” in entries like pictures, ideas, videos and allow readers’ interaction. Most blogs are interactive and have different genres.
2. Opt for free webhosting at the onset
If you are a beginner and you are only blogging for fun, then you do not have to pay for services. There are many free providers you can take advantage of, like the two most popular free services, blogger.com, and wordpress.com.
These two webhosts offer sufficient features and excellent theme designs that could be used by bloggers. Each of these webhosts has advantages and disadvantages.
While free wordpress hosting could be more advantageous than blogger with regards to some specific features like image control, blogger.com hosting allows paid ads like Google AdSense, LinkedIn and many more, in its template and design. Only the premium wordpress paid account allows advertisements.
3. Select a niche that you are passionate about
After you have selected your webhosting provider, you can then select your niche. You should choose one that you are passionate about and is within your line of interest or hobby. If you are interested in writing, then you can choose the writing blogging niche.
On the other hand, if you are a physical education instructor, you may want to create a sports blog. It is very important that you select a genre about your interest because you will not find it taxing later on to write your posts (articles in a blog) if you do not have the passion for it. Most blogs fizzle out because the author could not sustain it for lack of posts to write.
4. Choose a blog title that is catchy and interesting
If you have seen marketing slogans, they are catchy and easy to remember. Your title should be the same; it should have an appropriate length and a catchy title.
A personal writing blog can have a title like: Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff, or an educational blog about clinical chemistry: ClinChemExplorer, or a blog about the Kalinga ethnic minority: TheClamor of Kalinga.
Based on the titles above, you can see that they reflect the content of the blogs.
5. Choose a blog theme that reflects the topic of your blog
A theme refers to the layout or “look” of your blog. Choose a theme that looks formal if your blog is about serious topics like law or education. If it is a news blog then you can choose a news format theme. You would certainly not use a floral theme when your topic is about cars.
6. Write your first post and then write regularly from then on
Once you have written your first post, you should write regularly. Writing regularly has several benefits:
*You will be indexed by search engines more often, making your blog more visible online. This would be favorable for since you need all the exposure you can obtain to make your blog known.
*Your readers will know when to expect new posts and they will also visit your blog regularly.
*Writing regularly would not only inform other people about your expertise, but will also improve your writing skills.
There are essential things you should also remember in writing your posts.
* Proofread for grammatical and spelling errors. You would not want your reader doubting the veracity of your post because of a misspelled word.
*Write in a conversational manner. The person came to your blog because he wants to learn about the subject you are passionate about, so talk to him like he is there in front of you.
*If your post is about information, support it with links to reliable sites, or establish your credentials in your blog “About Me” page so readers will know you have expertise on the topic.
*You may want to ask your reader’s opinion on the post. This would invite comments or reactions from them.
*Create a titillating title. Arouse the curiosity of readers with your title, something people would like to read, like “Making Money with Google AdSense, My Experience with the Program or “How to Lose Weight Fast”
*When posting your article, use paragraphs more often. As much as possible, try to make each paragraph not more than 5 lines. This format would attract more readers than big “blocks” of paragraphs that would not motivate visitors to read. Short paragraphs make the post more visually appealing.
*Use interesting graphics, images or pictures to entice your blog visitors to explore more of your content. Great pictures however should be coupled with a remarkable post. Most bloggers would say “Content is King.”
*You should always credit your image sources. There are various sources of free pictures which you can use in your posts. Ascertain however, about the copyright before using them.
*There are some owners who would simply be asking for attribution like in your creative commons, and some asking for more than that, so read the requirement first before using them. All published materials online are properties of those who published them, so you should be aware of copyright issues.
*The last but not the least, reply to comments on your posts. This would ensure your readers that you value them and their thoughts. Once you have gained rapport with your readers, you would have gained loyal readers to your blog.
7. Make your blog known by socializing
Since your blog is new, you may want to socialize at Facebook or Twitter to let people know about your post. You can also enlist your blogs in ranking sites for exposure. Ranking sites include Top Blogs, Alexa, and in search engines like Google Search, and Yahoo Search. This would help make your blog popular. You can also make use of Google Analytics to monitor the performance of your blog.
8. Blog for the right reasons
If you have created a blog to earn money primarily, then you might want to forget about that intention for a while, because you will only get frustrated. Blogging is more about sharing what you know and wanting to help people online about topics you are knowledgeable about. Online surfers would not visit regularly a blog full of ads and the like.
Gain first the trust of your visitors, before you could ever think of earning your first cent. Once you have established your online integrity, then your visitor will even volunteer to buy your stuff, whatever you are selling.
After you have established your online integrity you can then think about money matters. You can then try for Google Adsense, Blogvertise, Review Me, Infolinks and many more. These are recommended because they were proven to pay.
Be careful though with Google Adsense because they’re very strict in implementing their policies. One inadvertent click of your own ads, may cause permanent ban of your account. There are many ways to make money from your blog.
These are all the basic things that you should know as a “newbie.” You may want to adapt them to help you in your new venture. Remember; however, that there are several ways to skin a cat, so what may work for other people, may not work for you. You can experiment and try other methods once you are there, blogging is also about creativity and initiative, so get started, and welcome to the blogosphere!
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