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There’s something special about this post on blogging tips. Apart from being written with intent to help the new bloggers, it’s a milestone for me.
Yes, I feel proud to share with you all, that this is the 150th post on Aha!NOW. 🙂
I never thought I’d survive for this long in the Blogosphere! In the blogging world, where many stars come and go, rise and fall – I consider my stint as a lucky survivor.
Over the last three years, I faced many blogging problems, obstacles, and challenges – just like any other new blogger.
However, I feel happy that I was able to resolve and overcome them to continue my blogging journey. Along the way I’ve learned my lessons, and now I wish to share them with all of you.
As a result, I’ve created a new category of “Blogging” on Aha!NOW, where I’ll share my experiences about blogging, and invite other seasoned bloggers to do the same.
Are you thinking of becoming a blogger and wanting to create your own blog?
Well, you’re in the right place at the right time because this first post on blogging deals with that very first step of blogging.
“The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful.” ~ Ron Dawson
Why Blogging Tips on Aha!NOW
With the lack of details, tips, and ways of blogging – the blogging journey surely becomes tedious and a difficult one, which takes more of your time and effort.
Why is that you might ask?
Well, that’s because there are not many mentors to guide you, or to tell you the right way from the wrong.
And because you are new, you don’t even know whom to ask or where to seek help from.
But if you’re a new blogger, and come to know now what other bloggers learned after many months and years of blogging, won’t you have a jump start to your blogging journey!
That’s exactly what I intend doing by sharing these blogging tips with you on Aha!NOW – help you start with the right foot 🙂
“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.” ~ Brian Clark
There’s no dearth of content and posts about bloggers and blogging on the internet.
But as you know that Aha!NOW is basically a self-help blog, and it’s all about sharing experiences. Being a blogger, I just want my readers to benefit from my personal experiences, even if they’re just a drop in the ocean.
So, here are the tips on blogging, which are needed to create your own blog. 🙂
5 Steps to Create Your Own Blog
The first requirement for blogging and to become a blogger is to build your own blog.
You can also become a guest blogger without creating your own blog, but your identity as a blogger develops only after you’re a blog owner.
When I started blogging, I was like a blank board.
All I knew was that to be a blogger one should have a domain, a free blog, and something to write about.
Is that all you need to start blogging? Well, no.
But that’s how most of us started as bloggers, didn’t we?
I want you to start off better than how I did, so here are some blogging tips that also include my good and bad experiences in creating my blog.
Before I proceed further, I want the new or aspiring bloggers to know that I’ll be using some technical terms like domain name, web space, Blogger, and WordPress.
STEP 1: Decide your niche
I put this at the top of my blogging tips list because it is the most important factor to consider before you start a blog.
Before you create your own blog, you first need to know what you’ll be writing about.
For that, you’ve to look within and assess yourself. Ask yourself – what are your interests and strengths?
What are you so good at that you think is worth sharing? Do you think your ideas and thoughts will help others and be of value to them?
You may be good at understanding or resolving relationship problems, or have rich experience of parenting, or possess tons of health tips that you use in your life.
Then go ahead and share your thoughts with others by creating your blog in that respective niche. However, remember not to start with a multi-niche blog all of a sudden.
As a new blogger your blog should be niche oriented, though try to focus on a single niche or as few and specific as possible.
That way, you develop authority and people value what you offer them through your blog posts.
Later with time, you can add more niches to your blog if you wish, as I did, though you need to see that you’re able to maintain and balance them all.
It’s vital that your posts from the various niches are interlinked, so that all your niches help your blog reach greater heights.
Blogging Tip – Select one or few related niches that you’re good at. Check out relevant niche blogs on the internet and study them in all aspects to help create your own blog niche.
STEP 2: Choose an appropriate domain name
As every individual needs a name, in the same way, every newly created blog needs a domain name. I used GoDaddy to purchase my domains.
It’s good if the domain name of your blog matches with your chosen blog niche. However, be aware that Google recently struck on websites and blogs with exact match domain names.
I had no idea about the SEO relevance of a domain name when I started blogging, but I’m glad that people have accepted and liked my blog’s name for what it is now.
Blogging Tip – Choose a domain name that is short, easy to remember, relevant to your niche and in accordance to Google’s suggestions.
STEP 3: Select the correct blogging platform
I started on the Blogger platform, and continued with it for one full year.
But once I came across WordPress, which was a completely different blogging experience, I couldn’t stop myself from switching over to it.
I found that WordPress makes blogging easier, is more professional, and simple to manage as compared to a Blogger platform.
Though I understand that there can be differences in opinion and choices about the preferred blogging platform, and many bloggers still prefer Blogger, but this factor should be decided early on.
I mentioned this because I lost some of my ranking, comments, and social media counts when I migrated my blog from Blogger to WordPress.
Blogging Tip – Research about your preferred blogging platform and use it from the very beginning of your blogging journey. Avoid blog migration in later stages of blogging.
STEP 4: Get a premium theme or template
Blogger and WordPress are just the platforms or different software that are designed for blogging. If you want your blog to look good, you need to upgrade it with additional goodies.
If you’ve chosen WordPress, then you need to install a premium theme on it. Themes give you additional functions and features, and help you make your blog look different from the other blogs.
There are two major WordPress theme frameworks – Genesis and Thesis, apart from others.
And, there are also other WordPress theme providers like ThemeForest, PageLines, Catalyst, Elegant, Headway, etc. So, you can choose the one according to what you like and based on your niche.
If you’ve chosen the Blogger platform, you can get plenty of templates to change the way your blog looks like.
Blogging Tip – I’d suggest don’t go for the free themes or templates. The premium versions might cost a bit, but they give you better performance in terms of design and SEO, and peace of mind in terms of security and support.
STEP 5: Buy reliable web space
If you’ve created your blog on the Blogger platform, then you can have it for free.
But if you’ve opted for the WordPress platform, then you can choose between the free WordPress blog and a self-hosted WordPress blog.
You need to buy web space from a web hosting company if you choose the self-hosted WordPress to create your own blog.
My blog is presently hosted on web space bought on HostGator.
Remember not to go in for a hosting service that is very cheap as it might not be completely secure, reliable, or may have more downtime. More so, their customer support might not be good too!
The speed of your blog also depends on your web hosting, and this is a major factor for the success of your blog.
Here are some factors for choosing a free or commercial web host for your blog.
Blogging Tip – Choose a web host with a good track record, reputation, and helpful customer support. Poor or bad web hosting can cause harm to your blog.
“Blogging is good for your career. A well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field.” ~ Penelope Trunk
Wrapping Up
Once you follow these basic blogging tips and create your own blog, then you only need to start creating quality content.
Writing the blog post, optimizing it for the search engines, and sharing it with the blogosphere is the next exciting part of blogging.
I know that most of you are already accomplished and professional bloggers who’ve gone through this initial phase in your blogging careers. You may have experienced things which are not mentioned here as this is not a comprehensive post.
So, I’d like you to share your personal experiences, problems, obstacles, mistakes, and other blogging tips to help others achieve success in blogging, especially new bloggers or those who haven’t started blogging but are contemplating to do so.
As bloggers who have been blogging for a few years now, I feel it’s our duty to help newbies in every possible way. So, let’s join hands here and make things easy for them. 🙂
“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.” ~ Steve Shearer
Over to you
Did you have a smooth start as a blogger? If you’ve to create your own blog again from scratch, then how differently would you do it? Share your blogging tips, thoughts, and experiences in the comments below.
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