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If you’re entering the blogging world for the first time, there are some handy tips you can use to get your blog up and going. Starting a blog isn’t as challenging as it seems. Once you go through this guide, you’ll be ready to share your content efficiently and successfully.
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1. Find the Right Platform
Once you have decided what kind of content you are planning to share, it is imperative that you find a suitable platform to go with it. Many bloggers start their blogging journey with platforms like Blogger, WordPress.com, Wix, Medium, and Tumblr. But ask yourself if they truly meet your needs as a blog platform. Remember that free platforms such as WordPress.com and Blogger tend to be limiting, with their own terms and conditions. You want a blog that gives you control from the start, like WordPress.org.
2. Choose the Right Domain Name for Your Blog
Pick a domain name that’s short and easy to remember. When choosing a domain extension, a “.com” extension is a popular choice that is synonymous with online businesses and content.
The right domain broker service helps you choose from a huge list of available domain names. Don’t forget to put your important keywords and brand name in the domain name. For example, if you have a custom carpentry company based out of Ohio, then customcarpentryohio.com is a better choice than customcarpentryworks.com.
3. See If Your Blog Has a Market
The content you are sharing must appeal to users. For example, a blog about baking is likely to have a greater market than one about different types of baking sodas.
Also, to ensure blog traffic, keep your content concise, informative, attractive with images and links, and add social media connections and subscription buttons. Make your blog engaging and interactive, so users can participate in the sharing of content through comments, likes and shares.
4. Create a Content Calendar
Managing a blog can be stressful if you don’t have a schedule in place. A content calendar helps you prepare content for the foreseeable future (usually on a monthly basis). You can come up with a weekly theme or list of post types, which you assign to specific days. This will help you create content based on the requirements of your calendar. Consistency in posting is key in retaining user attention. This also helps users look forward to a particular type of content on a specific day, thereby ensuring increased footfall.
5. Always Keep a Backup of Your Blog
Don’t wait for an electricity outage that accidentally wipes out your content before you can save it. Technical glitches happen all the time, and you don’t want your blog to lose traffic as a result. So set up a day in the week for backups. Make sure all your content has a backup on a hard drive.
6. Pay Attention to SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) ensures that when a user searches for any keywords related to your blog, the search engine will pull up your blog in the search results. To make sure your blog is always on top of the list, start using SEO-related keywords and content from the very beginning. Websites like Ubersuggest give you keywords and content suggestions that you can use for your blog.
7. Deliver Good First Impressions
Make sure your blog delivers a good first impression, since the average attention span of an internet user is about eight seconds. Those eight seconds will determine whether your blog is worth exploring or not. So the Start page and the About page have to be attractive, informative and engaging.
Use colors, images, animations, and videos that offer the user an interactive experience without being cluttered, overbearing, or too busy. For your blog posts, use headlines that are witty and catchy. Videos are a popular way to attract attention, especially if they’re shot and edited well, with captions. Keep the videos short and upload several in a month.
8. Build Relationships
Finally, in order to increase blog traffic and get more recognition for your content, engage with other bloggers and networks. Socializing on blogging platforms, by way of commenting, liking, and sharing other bloggers’ posts, spark their interest in yours. By interacting with popular blogs in your niche, you are getting free visibility for your own blog. You have the opportunity to be noticed by influencers and popular bloggers, which could lead to interesting content collaborations. This in turn results in the merging of audiences and a further increase in blog traffic and popularity.