You’ve probably heard it said that blogging is one of the easiest and most fun businesses to start. And it’s true! A blogging business can be started with very little investment, and if you love writing and connecting with people, it can be very rewarding. Plus, there are lots of different ways to make money from a successful blog. In this post, I’ll show you the basics of how to start a blogging business in 7 easy steps. Keep reading to learn more!
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1. Choose your niche before you start your blogging business
The first step to starting a successful blog is choosing your niche. What topics do you enjoy writing about? What are you passionate about? When selecting your niche, it’s great to choose something that you can write about consistently and that will be fun for you. The most important thing when learning to how to start a blogging business though, is making sure people will be interested in what you will write about. Do some research on current blogs you like. Are there enough people returning to those topics to sustain a blogging business?
To start a blog that makes money you need to make sure that your niche is in demand, meaning people want to know more on the topic. Type in some search words and check out how many ads are appearing at the top of Google for those words. This is an easy way to at least get an idea if there is any appeal to potential readers.
Another way to check is go to Amazon and type in a few niche phrases and see how many products they have in your niche as well as the amount of sponsored listings.
You can write the best content ever but if nobody wants to read it then it will just be a hobby-which is fine if that’s what you want!
Once you’ve chosen your niche, move on to step 2!
2. Select a platform to host your business
Now that you know what you’ll be writing about, it’s time to select a platform for your blog. There are many different blogging platforms available, so take some time to explore your options and select the one that’s right for you. WordPress is the most popular blog platform and it is what I use. It has been around since 2003 and powers more than 60% of all blogs on the internet. Starting your blog with WordPress is a good idea because it can grow with you and if you don’t start with it, you will probably want to change to it later. It is also free!
Once you’ve selected your platform, move on to step 3!
3. Choose a domain name and host
Once you’ve selected your platform, it’s time to choose a domain name for your blog. Your domain name should be reflective of your niche and/or brand, and it should be easy to remember. Once you’ve chosen your domain name, you’ll need to find a host for your site. There are many different hosting providers out there, take some time to explore your options and select the one that’s right for you and your budget. Web hosting comes at a low cost (around $5/mo) for a high quality host.
Some options to check out for your blog-
Wix
Godaddy
Hubspot
Siteground– this is what I use to host my WordPress site
Adam Enfroy has a great list and comparison for the different blogging hosts at adamenfroy.com
Once you’ve selected your domain name and host, move on to step 4!
4. Set up your blog and get ready to write
Now it’s time to set up your blog! This process will vary depending on which platform you chose in step 2; however, most platforms have pretty straightforward setup wizards that will walk you through the process step-by-step. Check your platform for “Start Blog” and follow along.
Set up a blog in 5 easy steps- WordPress tutorial.
Once your blog is all set up and looking nice, move on to step 5!
5. Write great content for your blog
This is arguably the most important step in the process of starting a successful blog. If you’re not writing great content that people actually want to read, then no one is going to want to visit or subscribe to your site—no matter how pretty or well- designed it may be. So take some time to brainstorm post ideas that will be interesting and useful to your target audience, and then get writing!
Once you’ve written a few posts, move on 6…
6. The many places to promote your content
After writing some killer content, it’s time promote it! Nothing will drive traffic to your website better than organic ranking.
Get active on social media, reach out to influential people in your niche, collaborate with other bloggers who have similar audiences. Answer questions on Quora. Post on subreddits. Guest post on popular blogs. Try monetizing your blog with Pinterest.
Building links to your site is one of the best ways to make sure you’re creating a good, long-term SEO strategy for your blog.
Start an opt-in page on your blog to get emails to use for marketing. There many email responders that will help you keep track of and even send emails for you!
By promoting effectively, you’ll start driving traffic back to your website which leads us into our last step ..
7. Make money with your new blog
Now that traffic is steadily trickling back into your website organically or through paid advertisements, it’s time turn those page views into revenue. There are lots of ways achieve this: display advertisements, create and sell products, affiliate marketing and e-commerce are a few. Pick one or two ways that sound good to you and start there. A beautiful thing about blogging is once you achieve success, making money options become endless!
Starting a blogging business sounds like a difficult job but the truth is anyone can do! These easy steps accomplish a great deal towards achieving goals!
Happy blogging!
Next check out: How To Supercharge Your Blog Income